THE BOOMERANG
The lawn fête was a tremendous success, and every farmer's wife was
proud of her satin badge bearing the monogram: "W. P. L.," and the
words: "FORBES FOR REPRESENTATIVE."
Certain edibles, such as charlotte-russe, Spanish cream, wine jellies
and mousses, to say nothing of the caviars and anchovies, were wholly
unknown to them; but they ate the dainties with a wise disregard of
their inexperience and enjoyed them immensely.
The old butler was a general in his way, and in view of the fact that
the staff of servants at Elmhurst was insufficient to cope with such a
throng, he allowed Louise to impress several farmers' daughters into
service, and was able to feed everyone without delay and in an abundant
and satisfactory manner.
After luncheon began the speech-making, interspersed with music by the
band.
Louise made the preliminary address, and, although her voice was not
very strong, the silent attention of her hearers permitted her to be
generally understood.
She called attention to the fact that this campaign was important
because it promised more beautiful and attractive houses for the farmers
and townsmen alike.
"We had all grown so accustomed to advertising signs," she said, "that
we failed to notice how thick they were becoming or how bold and
overpowering. From a few scattered announcements on fence boards, they
had crowded themselves into more prominent places until the barns and
sheds and the very rocks were daubed with glaring letters asking us to
buy the medicines, soaps, tobaccos, and other wares the manufacturers
were anxious to sell. Every country road became an advertising avenue.
Scarcely a country house was free from signs of some sort. Yet the
people tamely submitted to this imposition because they knew no way to
avoid it. When Mr. Forbes began his campaign to restore the homesteads
to their former beauty and dignity, a cry was raised against him. But
this was because the farmers did not understand how much this reform
meant to them. So we gave them an object lesson. We painted out all the
signs in this section at our own expense, that you might see how much
more beautiful your homes are without them. We believe that none of you
will ever care to allow advertising signs on your property again, and
that the quiet refinement of this part of the country will induce many
other places to follow our example, until advertisers are forced to
confine themselves to newspapers, magazines and circulars, their only
legitimate channels. This much Mr. Forbes has already done for you, and
he will now tell you what else, if he is elected, he proposes to do."
Kenneth then took the platform and was welcomed with a hearty cheer. He
modestly assured them that a Representative in the State Legislature
could accomplish much good for his district if he honestly desired to do
so. That was what a Representative was for--to represent his people. It
was folly to elect any man who would forget that duty and promote only
his own interests through the position of power to which the people had
appointed him. Mr. Forbes admitted that he had undertaken this campaign
because he was opposed to offensive advertising signs; but now he had
become interested in other issues, and was anxious to be elected so that
he could carry on the work of reform. They needed more school-houses for
their children, and many other things which he hoped to provide as their
Representative.
During this oration Beth happened to glance up at the house, and her
sharp eyes detected the maid, Eliza, standing shielded behind the
half-closed blind of an upper window and listening to, as well as
watching, the proceedings below. Then she remembered how the girl had
been laughing and talking with Mr. Hopkins, when she first saw her, and
with sudden dismay realized that Eliza was a spy in the service of the
enemy.
Her first impulse was to denounce the maid at once, and have her
discharged; but the time was not opportune, so she waited until the
festivities were ended.
It had been a great day for the families of the neighboring farmers, and
they drove homeward in the late afternoon full of enthusiasm over the
royal manner in which they had been entertained and admiration for the
girls who had provided the fun and feasting. Indeed, there were more
kindly thoughts expressed for the inhabitants of Elmhurst than had ever
before been heard in a single day in the history of the county, and the
great and the humble seemed more closely drawn together.
When the last guest had departed Beth got her cousins and Kenneth
together and told them of her discovery of the spy.
Kenneth was at first greatly annoyed, and proposed to call Martha and
have the false maid ejected from the premises; but Patsy's wise little
head counselled caution in handling the matter.
"Now that we know her secret," she said, "the girl cannot cause us more
real harm, and there may be a way to circumvent this unscrupulous
Hopkins and turn the incident to our own advantage. Let's think it over
carefully before we act."
"There's another thing," said Beth, supporting her cousin. "I'm
interested in the mystery surrounding the girl. I now think I was wrong
in suspecting her to be the lost Lucy Rogers; but there is surely some
romance connected with her, and she is not what she seems to be. I'd
like to study her a little."
"It was absurd to connect her with Lucy Rogers," observed Kenneth, "for
there is nothing in her character to remind one of the unhappy girl."
"Except her looks," added Beth. "She's the living image of Mrs. Rogers."
"That isn't important," replied Louise. "It is probably a mere
coincidence. None of us have ever seen the real Lucy, and she may not
resemble her mother at all."
"Mrs. Rogers claims she does," said Beth. "But anyhow, I have a wish to
keep this girl at the house, where I can study her character."
"Then keep her, my dear," decided Kenneth. "I'll set a couple of men to
watch the gates, and if she goes out we'll know whom she meets. The most
she can do is to report our movements to Mr. Hopkins, and there's no
great harm in that."
So the matter was left, for the time; and as if to verify Beth's
suspicions Eliza was seen to leave the grounds after dusk and meet Mr.
Hopkins in the lane. They conversed together a few moments, and then the
maid calmly returned and went to her room.
The next day Mr. Hopkins scattered flaring hand-bills over the district
which were worded in a way designed to offset any advantage his opponent
had gained from the lawn fête of the previous day. They read: "Hopkins,
the Man of the Times, is the Champion of the Signs of the Times. Forbes,
who never earned a dollar in his life, but inherited his money, is
trying to take the dollars out of the pockets of the farmers by
depriving them of the income derived by selling spaces for advertising
signs. He is robbing the farmers while claiming he wants to beautify
their homes. The farmers can't eat beauty; they want money. Therefore
they are going to vote for the Honorable Erastus Hopkins for
Representative." Then followed an estimate of the money paid the farmers
of the district by the advertisers during the past five years, amounting
to several thousands of dollars in the aggregate. The circular ended in
this way: "Hopkins challenges Forbes to deny these facts. Hopkins is
willing to meet Forbes before the public at any time and place he may
select, to settle this argument in joint debate."
The girls accepted the challenge at once. Within two days every farmer
had received a notice that Mr. Forbes would meet Mr. Hopkins at the
Fairview Opera House on Saturday afternoon to debate the question as to
whether advertising signs brought good or evil to the community.
The campaign was now getting hot. Because of the activity of the
opposing candidates every voter in the district had become more or less
interested in the fight, and people were taking one side or the other
with unusual earnestness.
Mr. Hopkins was not greatly pleased that his challenge had been
accepted. He had imagined that the Forbes party would ignore it and
leave him the prestige of crowing over his opponent's timidity. But he
remembered how easily he had subdued Kenneth at the school-house meeting
before the nominations, and had no doubt of his ability to repeat the
operation.
He was much incensed against the girls who were working for Kenneth
Forbes, for he realized that they were proving an important factor in
the campaign. He even attributed to them more than they deserved, for
Uncle John's telling activities were so quietly conducted that he was
personally lost sight of entirely by Mr. Hopkins.
Mr. Hopkins had therefore become so enraged that, against the advice of
his friends, he issued a circular sneering at "Women in Politics." The
newspapers having been subsidized by the opposition so early in the
game, Mr. Hopkins had driven to employ the circular method of
communicating with the voters. Scarcely a day passed now that his corps
of distributors did not leave some of his literature at every dwelling
in the district.
His tirade against the girls was neither convincing nor in good taste.
He asked the voters if they were willing to submit to "petticoat
government," and permit a "lot of boarding-school girls, with more
boldness than modesty" to dictate the policies of the community. "These
frizzle-headed females," continued the circular, "are trying to make
your wives and daughters as rebellious and unreasonable as they are
themselves; but no man of sense will permit a woman to influence his
vote. It is a disgrace to this district that Mr. Forbes allows his
girlish campaign to be run by a lot of misses who should be at home
darning stockings; or, if they were not able to do that, practicing
their music-lessons."
"Good!" exclaimed shrewd Miss Patsy, when she read this circular. "If
I'm not much mistaken, Mr. Hopkins has thrown a boomerang. Every woman
who attended the fête is now linked with us as an ally, and every one of
them will resent this foolish circular."
"I'm sorry," said Kenneth, "that you girls should be forced to endure
this. I feared something like it when you insisted on taking a hand in
the game."
But they laughed at him and at Mr. Hopkins, and declared they were not
at all offended.
"One cannot touch pitch without being defiled," said Mr. Watson,
gravely, "and politics, as Mr. Hopkins knows it, is little more than
pitch."
"I cannot see that there is anything my girls have done to forfeit
respect and admiration," asserted Uncle John, stoutly. "To accuse them
of boldness or immodesty is absurd. They have merely gone to work in a
business-like manner and used their wits and common-sense in educating
the voters. Really, my dears, I'm more proud of you today than I've ever
been before," he concluded.
And Uncle John was right. There had been no loss of dignity by any one
of the three, and their evident refinement, as well as their gentleness
and good humor, had until now protected them from any reproach. It had
remained for Mr. Hopkins to accuse them, and his circular had a wide
influence in determining the issue of the campaign.