"Well, I don"t know whatever"s come over you, lately," retorted her uncle, troubled.
"Neither do I," said Esme.
She went forth and enlisted Kathleen Pierce, whose energetic and restless mind was ensnared at once by what she regarded as the romantic possibilities of the work, and the two gathered unto themselves half a dozen of the young males of the species, who readily volunteered, partly for love and loyalty to the chieftainesses of their clan, partly out of the blithe and adventurous spirit of youth, and of them formed an automobile corps, for scouting, messenger service, and emergency transportation, as auxiliary to Hale and Merritt; an enterprise which subsequently did yeoman work and taught several of the gilded youth something about the responsibilities of citizenship which they would never have learned in any other school.
Tip O"Farrell was another invaluable aide. He had one brief encounter, on enlistment, with the health officer.
"You ought to be in jail," said Dr. Merritt.
"What fer?" demanded O"Farrell.
"Smuggling out bodies without a permit."
"Ferget it," advised the politician. "I tried my way, an" it wasn"t good enough. Now I"ll try yours. You can"t afford to jug me."
"Why can"t I?"
"I"m too much use to you."
"So far you"ve been just the other thing."
"Ain"t I tellin" you I"m through with that game? On the level! Doc, these poor b.o.o.bs down here _know_ me. They"ll do as I tell "em. Gimme a chance."
So O"Farrell, making his chance, did his work faithfully and well through the dismal weeks to follow. It takes all kinds of soldiers to fight an epidemic.
Those two st.u.r.dy volunteers, Miss Elliot and Miss Pierce, were driving slowly along the fringe of the Rookeries,--yes, slowly, notwithstanding that Kathleen Pierce was acting as her own chauffeur,--having just delivered a consignment of emergency nurses from a neighboring city to Dr. Merritt, when the car slowed down.
"Did you see that?" inquired Miss Pierce, indicating, with a jerk of her head, the general topography off to starboard.
"See what?" inquired her companion. "I didn"t notice anything except a hokey-pokey seller, adding his mite to the infant mortality of the district."
"Esme, you talk like nothing human lately!" accused her friend. "You"re a--a--regular health leaflet! I meant that man going into the corner tenement. I believe it was Hal Surtaine."
"Was it?"
"And you needn"t say, "Was it?" in that lofty, superior tone, like an angel with a new halo, either," pursued her aggrieved friend. "You know it was. What do you suppose he"s doing down here?"
"The epidemic is the "Clarion"s" special news. He spends quite a little time in this district, I believe."
"Oh, you believe! Then you"ve seen him lately?"
"Yes."
Miss Pierce stared rigidly in front of her and made a detour of magnificent distance to avoid a push-cart which wasn"t in her way anyhow. "Esme," she said.
"Yes?"
"Did you give me away to him?"
"No. He didn"t give me an opportunity."
"Oh!" There was more silence. Then, "Esme, I was pretty rotten about that, wasn"t I?"
"Why, Kathie, I think you ought to have written to him."
"I meant to write and own up, no matter if I did tell you I wouldn"t.
But I kept putting it off. Esme, did you notice how thin and worn he looks?"
The other winced. "He"s had a great deal to worry him."
"Well, he hasn"t got our lawsuit to worry him any more. That"s off."
"Off?" A light flashed into Esme"s face. "Your father has dropped it?"
"Yes. He had to. I told him the accident was my fault, and if I was put on the stand I"d say so. I"m not so popular with Pop as I might be, just now. But, Esme, I _didn"t_ mean to run away and leave her in the gutter.
I got rattled, and Brother was crying and I lost my head."
"That will save the "Clarion,"" said Esme, with a deep breath.
Kathleen looked at her curiously, and then made a singular remark. "Yes; that"s what I did it for."
"But what interest have you in saving the "Clarion"?" demanded Esme, bewildered.
"The failure of the "Clarion" would be a disaster to the city," observed Miss Pierce in copy-book style.
"Kathie! You should make two jabs in the air with your forefinger when you quote. Otherwise you"re a plagiarist. Let me see." Esme pondered.
"Hugh Merritt," she decided.
Kathleen kept her eyes steady ahead, but a flood of color rose in her face.
"I had an awful fight over it with him before--before I gave in," she said.
"Are you going to marry Hugh?" demanded Esme bluntly.
The color deepened until even the velvety eyes seemed tinged with it. "I don"t know. _He_ isn"t exactly popular with Pop, either."
Esme reached over and gave her friend a surrept.i.tious little hug, which might have cost a crossing pedestrian his life if he hadn"t been a brisk dodger.
"Hugh Merritt is a _man_," said she in a low voice: "He"s brave and he"s straight and he"s fine. And oh, Kathie, dearest, if a man of that kind loves you, don"t you ever, ever let anything come between you."
"h.e.l.lo!" said Kathleen in surprise. "That don"t sound much like the Great American Man-eating Pumess of yore. There"s been a big change in you since you sidetracked Will Douglas, Esme. Did you really care? No, of course, you didn"t," she answered herself. "He"s a nice chap, but he isn"t particularly brave or fine, I guess."
A light broke in upon her:
"Esme! Is it, after all--"
"No, no, no, no, NO!" cried the victim of this highly feminine deduction, in panic. "It isn"t any one."
"No, of course it isn"t, dear. I didn"t mean to tease you. h.e.l.lo! what have we here?"