SIGNS OF THE TIMES
"If she is really Lucy Rogers, she'll be missing tomorrow morning," said
Beth when she had told her cousins of the encounter in the corridor.
But Eliza Parsons was still at Elmhurst the next day, calmly pursuing
her duties, and evidently having forgotten or decided to ignore the
young man who had so curiously mistaken her for another. Beth took
occasion to watch her movements, so far as she could, and came to the
conclusion that the girl was not acting a part. She laughed naturally
and was too light-hearted and gay to harbor a care of any sort in her
frivolous mind.
But there was a mystery about her; that could not be denied. Even if she
were but a paid spy of Erastus Hopkins there was a story in this girl's
life, brief as it had been.
Beth was full of curiosity to know this story.
As for Tom Gates, he had been so horrified by his mistake that he tried
to avoid meeting Eliza again. This was not difficult because the girl
kept pretty closely to the linen room, and Tom was chiefly occupied in
the library.
Kenneth had little chance to test his secretary's abilities just then,
because the girls pounced upon the new recruit and used his services in
a variety of ways. Tom Gates's anxiety to give satisfaction made him
willing to do anything, but they refrained from sending him often to
town because he was sensitive to the averted looks and evident repulsion
of those who knew he had recently been a "jail-bird." But there was
plenty for him to do at Elmhurst, where they were all as busy as bees;
and whatever the young man undertook he accomplished in a satisfactory
manner.
Saturday forenoon the three girls, with Kenneth, Mr. Watson and Uncle
John, rode over to Fairview to prepare for the debate that was to take
place in the afternoon, leaving only Tom Gates at home. As Mr. Hopkins
had thrust upon his opponent the task of naming the place and time, the
Republican candidate was obliged to make all the arrangements, and pay
all the costs. But whatever the girl managers undertook they did well.
So the Opera House had been in the hands of a special committee for two
days, the orchestra had been hired, and the news of the joint debate had
spread far and wide.
The party from Elmhurst lunched at the Fairview Hotel, and then the
girls hurried to the Opera House while Kenneth remained to attend a
conference of the Republican Committee. These gentlemen were much
worried over the discovery of a scheme to trade votes that had been
sprung, and that Forbes and Reynolds were being sacrificed for Hopkins
and Cummings. Mr. Cummings was called into the meeting, and he denied
that the trading was being done with his consent, but defiantly refused
to make a public announcement to that effect.
The matter was really serious, because every vote lost in that way
counted as two for the other side, and Hopkins's rabid hand-bills had
influenced many of the more ignorant voters and created endless disputes
that were not of benefit to the Republican party.
"As nearly as we can figure from our recent canvass," said Mr.
Cunningham, the chairman, "we are fast losing ground, and our chances of
success are smaller than if no interest in the election had been
aroused. Hopkins has cut our majority down to nothing, and it will be a
hard struggle to carry our ticket through to success. This is the more
discouraging because Mr. Forbes has spent so much money, while Hopkins's
expenses have been very little."
"I do not mind that," said Kenneth, quietly. "It was my desire that the
voters should fully understand the issues of the campaign. Then, if they
vote against me, it is because they are not worthy of honest
representation in the Legislature, and I shall in the future leave them
to their own devices."
The committee adjourned a little before two o'clock with rather grave
faces, and prepared to attend the debate at the Opera House. Mr.
Cunningham feared this debate would prove a mistake, as it would give
Hopkins a chance to ridicule and brow-beat his opponent in public, and
his greatest talent as a speaker lay in that direction.
As Kenneth and his supporters approached the Opera House they heard loud
cheering, and from a band-wagon covered with bunting and banners, in
which he had driven to the meeting, descended the Honorable Erastus. He
met Kenneth face to face, and the latter said pleasantly:
"Good afternoon, Mr. Hopkins."
"Ah, it's Forbes, isn't it?" replied Hopkins, slightingly. "I've met you
before, somewheres, haven't I?"
"You have, sir."
"Glad you're here, Forbes; glad you're here," continued the
Representative, airily, as he made his way through the crowd that
blocked the entrance. "These meetings are educational to young men.
Girls all well, I hope?"
There was a boisterous laugh at this sally, and Mr. Hopkins smiled and
entered the Opera House, while Kenneth followed with the feeling that he
would take great delight in punching the Honorable Erastus's nose at the
first opportunity.
The house was packed full of eager spectators who had come to see "the
fun." Although the girls had taken charge of all the arrangements they
had devoted the left side of the ample stage to the use of the Hopkins
party, where a speaker's table and chairs for important guests had been
placed. The right side was similarly arranged for the Forbes party, and
between the two the entire center of the stage was occupied by a group
of fifty young girls. Above this group a great banner was suspended,
reading: "The Signs of the Times," a catchword Mr. Hopkins had employed
throughout the campaign. But the most astonishing thing was the
appearance of the group of girls. They all wore plain white slips, upon
which a variety of signs had been painted in prominent letters. Some
costumes advertised baking-powders, others patent medicines, others
soaps, chewing tobacco, breakfast foods, etc. From where they were
seated in full view of the vast audience the girls appeared as a mass of
advertising signs, and the banner above them indicated quite plainly
that these were the "Signs of the Times."
Mr. Hopkins, as he observed this scene, smiled with satisfaction. He
believed some of his friends had prepared this display to assist him and
to disconcert the opposition, for nothing could have clinched his
arguments better than the pretty young girls covered with advertisements
of well known products. Even the Eagle Eye Breakfast Food was well
represented.
After the orchestra had finished a selection, Mr. Hopkins rose to make
the first argument and was greeted with cheers.
"We are having a jolly campaign, my dear friends," he began; "but you
musn't take it altogether as a joke; because, while Mr. Forbes's erratic
views and actions have done little real harm, we have been educated to
an appreciation of certain benefits we enjoy which otherwise might have
escaped our attention.
"This is a progressive, strenuous age, and no section of the country has
progressed more rapidly than this, the Eighth District of our great and
glorious State. I may say without danger of contradiction that the
people I have the honor to represent in the State Legislature, and
expect to have the honor of representing the next term, are the most
intelligent, the most thoughtful and the most prosperous to be found in
any like district in the United States. (Cheers.) Who, then, dares to
denounce them as fools? Who dares interfere with these liberties, who
dares intrude uninvited into their premises and paint out the signs they
have permitted to occupy their fences and barns and sheds? Who would do
these things but an impertinent meddler who is so inexperienced in life
that he sets his own flimsy judgment against that of the people?"
The orator paused impressively to wait for more cheers, but the audience
was silent. In the outskirts of the crowd a faint hissing began to be
heard. It reached the speaker's ear and he hurriedly resumed the
oration.
"I do not say Mr. Forbes is not a good citizen," said he, "but that he
is misguided and unreasonable. A certain degree of deference is due the
young man because he inherited considerable wealth from his uncle,
and--"
Again the hisses began, and Mr. Hopkins knew he must abandon personal
attacks or he would himself be discredited before his hearers. Kenneth
and his supporters sat silent in their places, the three girls, who were
now well known in the district, forming part of the Republican group;
and none of them displayed the least annoyance at the vituperation Mr.
Hopkins had employed.
"I have already called your attention in my circulars," resumed the
speaker, "to the fact that advertising signs are the source of large
income to the farmers of this district. I find that three thousand,
seven hundred and eighty-three dollars have been paid the farmers in the
last five years, without the least trouble or expense on their part; and
this handsome sum of money belongs to them and should not be taken away.
Stop and think for a moment. Advertising is the life of every business,
and to fight successfully the great army of advertisers whose business
is the life-blood of our institutions is as impossible as it is absurd.
Suppose every farmer in this district refused to permit signs upon his
property; what would be the result? Why, the farmers of other sections
would get that much more money for letting privileges, and you would be
that much out of pocket without suppressing the evil--if evil can attach
to an industry that pays you good money without requiring either
investment or labor in return."
After continuing in this strain for some time, Mr. Hopkins announced
that "he would now give way to his youthful and inexperienced opponent,"
and asked the audience to be patient with Mr. Forbes and considerate of
"his extraordinary prejudices."
Hopkins's policy of discrediting his opponent in advance was not very
effective, for when Kenneth arose he was more enthusiastically cheered
than Hopkins had been. The meeting was disposed to be fair-minded and
quite willing to give Mr. Forbes a chance to explain his position.
"The arguments of our distinguished Representative are well worthy of
your consideration," he began, quietly. "It is only by understanding
fully both sides of an argument that you can hope to arrive at a just
and impartial decision. Mr. Hopkins has advocated advertising signs on
the ground that your financial gain warrants permitting them to be
placed upon your premises. I will not deny his statement that three
thousand, seven hundred and eighty-three dollars have been paid the
farmers of this district by advertisers in the last five years. It is
quite likely to be true. I have here the report of the Department of
Agriculture showing that the total amount paid to farmers of the eighth
district in the last five years, for produce of all kinds, is eleven
millions, five-hundred thousand dollars."
A murmur of amazement rose from the audience. Kenneth waited until it
had subsided.
"This seems surprising, at first," he said, "and proves how startling
aggregate figures are. You must remember I have covered five years in
this estimate, as did Mr. Hopkins in his, and if you will figure it out
you will see that the yearly average of earnings is about six hundred
dollars to each farmer. That is a good showing, for we have a wealthy
district; but it is not surprising when reduced to that basis. Mr.
Hopkins slates that the farmers of this district received three
thousand, seven hundred and eighty-three dollars during the last five
years for advertising signs. Let us examine these figures. One-fifth of
that sum is seven hundred and fifty-six dollars and sixty cents as the
income to you per year. We have, in this district, twenty-five hundred
farmers according to the latest reports of the Bureau of Statistics, and
dividing seven hundred and fifty-six dollars and sixty cents by
twenty-five hundred, we find that each farmer receives an average of
thirty and one-quarter cents per year for allowing his fences and
buildings to be smothered in lurid advertising signs. So we find that
the money received by the farmers from the advertising amounts to about
one-quarter of one per cent of their income, a matter so insignificant
that it cannot affect them materially, one way or another.
"But, Mr. Hopkins states that you give nothing in return for this
one-quarter of one per cent, while I claim you pay tremendously for it.
For you sacrifice the privacy of your homes and lands, and lend
yourselves to the selfish desire of advertisers to use your property to
promote their sales. You have been given an example of clean barns and
fences, and I cannot tell you how proud I am of this district when I
ride through it and see neatly painted barns and fences replacing the
flaring and obtrusive advertising signs that formerly disfigured the
highways. Why should you paint advertising signs upon your barns any
more than upon your houses? Carry the thing a step farther, and you may
as well paint signs upon your children's dresses, in the manner you see
illustrated before you."
At this, Louise made a signal and the fifty children so grotesquely
covered with signs rose and stepped forward upon the stage. The
orchestra struck up an air and the little girls sang the following
ditty:
"Teas and soaps,
Pills and dopes,
We all must advertise.
Copper cents,
Not common sense.
Are the things we prize.
We confess
Such a dress
Isn't quite becoming,
But we suppose
Hopkins knows
This keeps business humming."
As the girls ceased singing, Kenneth said:
"To the encroaching advertiser these signs of
the times are considered legitimate. There is no
respect for personal privacy on the advertiser's
part. Once they used only the newspapers, the
legitimate channels for advertising. Then they
began painting their advertising on your fences.
When the farmers protested against this the advertisers
gave them a few pennies as a sop to
quiet them. After this they gave you small sums
to paint the broad sides of your barns, your
board fences, and to place signs in your field. If
you allowed them to do so they would paint signs
on the dresses of your children and wives, so
callous are they to all decency and so regardless
of private rights. Look on this picture, my
friends, and tell me, would you prefer to see this--or this?"
At the word each child pulled away the sign-painted
slip and stood arrayed in a pretty gown
of spotless white.
The surprise was so complete that the audience
cheered, shouted and laughed for several minutes
before silence was restored. Then the children
sang another verse, as follows:
"Now it is clear
That we appear
Just as we should be;
We are seen
Sweet and clean
From corruption free:
We're the signs
Of the times--
Fair as heaven's orbs.
If we look good,
Then all men should
Vote for Kenneth Forbes!"
The cheering was renewed at this, and Mr. Hopkins became angry. He tried
to make himself heard, but the popular fancy had been caught by the
object lesson so cleverly placed before them, and they shouted: "Forbes!
Forbes! Forbes!" until the Honorable Erastus became so furious that he
left the meeting in disgust.
This was the most impolite thing he could have done, but he vowed that
the meeting had been "packed" with Forbes partisans and that he was
wasting his time in addressing them.
After he was gone Kenneth resumed his speech and created more
enthusiasm. The victory was certainly with the Republican candidate, and
the Elmhurst people returned home thoroughly satisfied with the result
of the "joint debate."