"But I tell you," said Peter, "what I've thought. I've got a wifethat's a wonder, and just now while we were talking about it, Ithought, if I could only get Edythe in here for a few days, I'd findout everything about all the people in your home, your relatives aswell as your servants."
"Is she a professional detective?" asked the banker.
"Why no, sir," said Peter. "She was an actress, her name was EdytheEustace; perhaps you might have heard of her on the stage."
"No, I'm too busy for the theatre," said Mr. Ackerman.
"Of course," said Peter. "Well, I dunno whether she'd be willing todo it; she don't like having me mix up with these Reds, and she'sbeen begging me to quit for a long time, and I'd just about promisedher I would. But if I tell her about your trouble maybe she might,just as a favor."
But how could Peter's wife be introduced into the Ackerman householdwithout attracting suspicion? Peter raised this question, pointingout that his wife was a person of too high a social class to come asa servant. Mr. Ackerman added that he had nothing to do withengaging his servants, any more than with engaging the bookkeepersin his bank. It would look suspicious for him to make a suggestionto his housekeeper. But finally he remarked that he had a niece whosometimes came to visit him, and would come at once if requested,and would bring Edythe Eustace as her maid. Peter was sure thatEdythe would be able to learn this part quickly, she had acted itmany times on the stage, in fact, it had been her favorite role. Mr.Ackerman promised to get word to his niece, and have her meet Edytheat the Hotel de Soto that same afternoon.
Then the old banker pledged his word most solemnly that he would notwhisper a hint about this matter except to his niece. Peter was mosturgent and emphatic; he specified that the police were not to betold, that no member of the household was to be told, not even Mr.Ackerman's private secretary. After Mr. Ackerman had had this dulyimpressed upon him, he proceeded in turn to impress upon Peter theidea which he considered of most importance in the world: "I don'twant to be killed, Gudge, I tell you I don't want to be killed!" AndPeter solemnly promised to make it his business to listen to allconversations of the Reds in so far as they might bear upon Mr.Ackerman.
When he rose to take his departure, Mr. Ackerman slipped histrembling fingers into the pocket of his jacket, and pulled out acrisp and shiny note. He unfolded it, and Peter saw that it was afive hundred dollar bill, fresh from the First National Bank ofAmerican City, of which Mr. Ackerman was chairman of the board ofdirectors. "Here's a little present for you, Gudge," he said. "Iwant you to understand that if you protect me from these villains,I'll see that you are well taken care of. From now on I want you tobe my man."
"Yes, sir," said Peter, "I'll be it, sir. I thank you very much,sir." And he thrust the bill into his pocket, and bowed himself stepby step backwards toward the door. "You're forgetting your hat,"said the banker.
"Why, yes," said the trembling Peter, and he came forward again, andgot his hat from under the chair, and bowed himself backward again.
"And remember, Gudge," said the old man, "I don't want to be killed!I don't want them to get me!"
Section 54
Peter's first care when he got back into the city was to go to Mr.Ackerman's bank and change that five hundred dollar bill. Thecashier gazed at him sternly, and scrutinized the bill carefully,but he gave Peter five one hundred dollar bills without comment.Peter tucked three of them away in a safe hiding-place, and put theother two in his pocketbook, and went to keep his appointment withNell.
He told her all that had happened, and where she was to meet Mr.Ackerman's niece. "What did he give you?" Nell demanded, at once,and when Peter produced the two bills, she exclaimed, "My God! theold skint-flint!" "He said there'd be more," remarked Peter.
"It didn't cost him anything to say that," was Nell's answer. "We'llhave to put the screws on him." Then she added, "You'd better let metake care of this money for you, Peter."
"Well," said Peter, "I have to have some for my own expenses, youknow."
"You've got your salary, haven't you?"
"Yes, that's true, but--"
"I can keep it safe for you," said Nell, "and some day when you needit you'll be glad to have it. You've never saved anything yourself;that's a woman's job."
Peter tried to haggle with her, but it wasn't the same as hagglingwith McGivney; she looked at him with her melting glances, and itmade Peter's head swim, and automatically he put out his hand andlet her take the two bills. Then she smiled, so tenderly that hemade bold to remind her, "You know, Nell, you're my wife now!"
"Yes, yes," she answered, "of course. But we've got to get rid ofTed Crothers somehow. He watches me all the time, and I have no endof trouble making excuses and getting away."
"How're you're going to get rid of him?" asked Peter, hungrily.
"We'll have to skip," she answered; "just as soon as we have pulledoff our new frame-up--"
"Another one?" gasped Peter, in dismay.
And the girl laughed. "You wait!" she said. "I'm going to pull somereal money out of Nelse Ackerman this time! Then when we've made ourkilling, we'll skip, and be fixed for life. You wait--and don't talklove to me now, because my mind is all taken up with my plans, and Ican't think about anything else."
So they parted, and Peter went to see McGivney in the AmericanHouse. "Stand up to him!" Nell had said. But it was not easy to do,for McGivney pulled and hauled him and turned him about, upside downand inside outwards, to know every single thing that had happenedbetween him and Nelse Ackerman. Lord, how these fellows did hang onto their sources of graft! Peter repeated and insisted that hereally had played entirely fair--he hadn't told Nelse Ackerman athing except just the truth as he had told it to Guffey andMcGivney. He had said that the police were all right, and thatGuffey's bureau was stepping right on the tail of the Reds all thetime.
"And what does he want you to do?" demanded the rat-faced man.
Peter answered, "He just wanted to make sure that he was learningeverything of importance, and he wanted me to promise him that hewould get every scrap of information that I collected about the plotagainst him; and of course I promised him that we'd bring it all tohim."
"You going to see him any more?" demanded McGivney.
"He didn't say anything about that."
"Did he get your address?"
"No, I suppose if he wants me he'll let you know, the same asbefore."
"All right," said McGivney. "Did he give you any money?"
"Yes," said Peter, "he gave me two hundred dollars, and he saidthere was plenty more where that came from, so that we'd work hardto help him. He said he didn't want to get killed; he said that acouple of dozen times, I guess. He spent more time saying that thananything else. He's sick, and he's scared out of his wits."
So at last McGivney condescended to thank Peter for hisfaithfulness, and went on to give him further orders.
The Reds were raising an awful howl. Andrews, the lawyer, hadsucceeded in getting a court order to see the arrested men, and ofcourse the prisoners had all declared that the case was a put-upjob. Now the Reds were preparing to send out a circular to theirfellow Reds all over the country, appealing for publicity, and forfunds to fight the "frame-up."
They were very secret about it, and McGivney wanted to know wherethey were getting their money. He wanted a copy of the circular theywere printing, and to know where and when the circulars were to bemailed. Guffey had been to see the post office authorities, and theywere going to confiscate the circulars and destroy them all withoutletting the Reds know it.
Peter rubbed his hands with glee. That was the real business! Thatwas going after these criminals in the way Peter had been urging!The rat-faced man answered that it was nothing to what they weregoing to do in a few days. Let Peter keep on his job, and he wouldsee! Now, when the public was wrought up over this dynamiteconspiracy, was the time to get things done.
Section 55
Peter took a street car to the home of Miriam Yankovitch, and on theway he read t
he afternoon edition of the American City "Times." Theeditors of this paper were certainly after the Reds, and no mistake!They had taken McCormick's book on Sabotage, just as Nell hadpredicted, and printed whole chapters from it, with the mostmenacing sentences in big type, and some boxed up in little framesand scattered here and there over the page so that no one couldpossibly miss them. They had a picture of McCormick taken in thejail; he hadn't had a chance to shave for several days, and probablyhadn't felt pleasant about having his picture taken--anyhow, helooked ferocious enough to frighten the most skeptical, and Peterwas confirmed in his opinion that Mac was the most dangerous Red ofthem all.
Columns and columns of material this paper published about the case,subtly linking it up with all the other dynamitings andassassinations in American history, and with German spy plots andbomb plots. There was a nation-wide organization of these assassins,so the paper said; they published hundreds of papers, with millionsof readers, all financed by German gold. Also, there was adouble-leaded editorial calling on the citizens to arise and savethe republic, and put an end to the Red menace once for all. Peterread this, and like every other good American, he believed everyword that he read in his newspaper, and boiled with hatred of theReds.
He found Miriam Yankovitch away from home. Her mother was in a stateof excitement, because Miriam had got word that the police weregiving the prisoners the "third degree," and she had gone to theoffices of the Peoples' Council to get the radicals together and tryto take some immediate action. So Peter hurried over to theseoffices, where he found some twenty-five Reds and Pacifistsassembled, all in the same state of excitement. Miriam was walkingup and down the room, clasping and unclasping her hands, and hereyes looked as if she had been crying all day. Peter remembered hissuspicion that Miriam and Mac were lovers. He questioned her. Theyhad put Mac in the "hole," and Henderson, the lumber-jack, was laidup in the hospital as a result of the ordeal he had undergone.
The Jewish girl went into details, and Peter found himselfshuddering--he had such a vivid memory of the third degree himself!He did not try to stop his shuddering, but took to pacing up anddown the room like Miriam, and told them how it felt to have yourwrists twisted and your fingers bent backward, and how damp andhorrible it was in the "hole." So he helped to work them into astate of hysteria, hoping that they would commit some overt action,as McGivney wanted. Why not storm the jail and set free theprisoners?
Little Ada Ruth said that was nonsense; but might they not getbanners, and parade up and down in front of the jail, protestingagainst this torturing of men who had not been convicted of anycrime? The police would fall on them, of course, the crowds wouldmob them and probably tear them to pieces, but they must dosomething. Donald Gordon answered that this would only make themimpotent to keep up the agitation. What they must try to get was astrike of labor. They must send telegrams to the radical press, andgo out and raise money, and call a mass-meeting three days fromdate. Also, they must appeal to all the labor unions, and see if itwas possible to work up sentiment for a general strike.
Peter, somewhat disappointed, went back and reported to McGivneythis rather tame outcome. But McGivney said that was all right, hehad something that would fix them; and he revealed to Peter astartling bit of news. Peter had been reading in the papers aboutGerman spies, but he had only half taken it seriously; the war was along way off, and Peter had never seen any of that German gold thatthey talked so much about--in fact, the Reds were in a state ofperpetual poverty, one and all of them stinting himself eternally toput up some portion of his scant earnings to pay for pamphlets andcirculars and postage and defence funds, and all the expenses of anactive propaganda organization. But now, McGivney declared, therewas a real, sure-enough agent of the Kaiser in American City! Thegovernment had pretty nearly got him in his nets, and one of thethings McGivney wanted to do before the fellow was arrested was toget him to contribute some money to the radical cause.
It wasn't necessary to point out to Peter the importance of this. Ifthe authorities could show that the agitation on behalf of McCormickand the rest had been financed by German money, the public wouldjustify any measures taken to bring it to an end. Could Petersuggest to McGivney the name of a German Socialist who might bepersuaded to approach this agent of the Kaiser, and get him tocontribute money for the purpose of having a general strike calledin American City? Several of the city's big manufacturing plantswere being made over for war purposes, and obviously the enemy hadmuch to gain by strikes and labor discontent. Guffey's men had beentrying for a long time to get Germans to contribute to the GooberDefense fund, but here was an even better opportunity.
Peter thought of Comrade Apfel, who was one of the extremeSocialists, and a temporary Pacifist like most Germans. Apfel workedin a bakery, and his face was as pasty as the dough he kneaded, butit would show a tinge of color when he rose in the local to denouncethe "social patriots," those party members who were lending theiraid to British plans for world domination. McGivney said he wouldsend somebody to Apfel at once, and give him the name of theKaiser's agent as one who might be induced to contribute to theradical defense fund. Apfel would, of course, have no idea that theman was a German agent; he would go to see him, and ask him formoney, and McGivney and his fellow-sleuths would do the rest. Petersaid that was fine, and offered to go to Apfel himself; but therat-faced man answered no, Peter was too precious, and no chancemust be taken of directing Apfel's suspicions against him.
Section 56
Peter had received a brief scrawl from Nell, telling him that it wasall right, she had gone to her new job, and would soon have results.So Peter went cheerfully about his own duties of trying to hold downthe protest campaign of the radicals. It was really quiteterrifying, the success they were having, in spite of all the bestefforts of the authorities. Bundles of circulars appeared at theirgatherings as if by magic, and were carried away and distributedbefore the authorities could make any move. Every night at the LaborTemple, where the workers gathered, there were agitators howlingtheir heads off about the McCormick case. To make matters worse,there was an obscure one cent evening paper in American City whichcatered to working-class readers, and persisted in publishingevidence tending to prove that the case was a "frame-up." The Redshad found out that their mail was being interfered with, and wereraising a terrific howl about that--pretending, of course, that itwas "free speech" they cared about!
The mass meeting was due for that evening, and Peter read anindignant editorial in the American City "Times," calling upon theauthorities to suppress it. "Down with the Red Flag!" the editorialwas headed; and Peter couldn't see how any red-blooded, 100%American could read it, and not be moved to do something.
Peter said that to McGivney, who answered: "We're going to dosomething; you wait!" And sure enough, that afternoon the paperscarried the news that the mayor of American City had notified theowners of the Auditorium that they would be held strictlyresponsible under the law for all incendiary and seditiousutterances at this meeting; thereupon, the owners of the Auditoriumhad cancelled the contract. Furthermore, the mayor declared that nocrowds should be gathered on the street, and that the police wouldbe there to see to it, and to protect law and order. Peter hurriedto the rooms of the Peoples' Council, and found the radicalsscurrying about, trying to find some other hall; every now and thenPeter would go to the telephone, and let McGivney know what hallthey were trying to get, and McGivney would communicate with Guffey,and Guffey would communicate with the secretary of the Chamber ofCommerce, and the owner of this hall would be called up and warnedby the president of the bank which held a mortgage on the hall, orby the chairman of the board of directors of the PhilharmonicOrchestra which gave concerts there.
So there was no Red mass meeting that night--and none for many anight thereafter in American City! Guffey's office had got itsGerman spy story ready, and next morning, here was the entire frontpage of the American City "Times" given up to the amazing revelationthat Karl von Stroeme, agent of the German government, and reputedto b
e a nephew of the German Vice-chancellor, had been arrested inAmerican City, posing as a Swedish sewing-machine agent, but inreality having been occupied in financing the planting of dynamitebombs in the buildings of the Pioneer Foundry Company, now beingequipped for the manufacture of machine-guns. Three of von Stroeme'sconfederates had been nabbed at the same time, and a mass of papersfull of important revelations--not the least important among thembeing the fact that only yesterday von Stroeme had been caughtdealing with a German Socialist of the ultra-Red variety, anofficial of the Bread and Cake-Makers' Union Number 479, by the nameof Ernst Apfel. The government had a dictagraph record ofconversations in which von Stroeme had contributed one hundreddollars to the Liberty Defense League, an organization which theReds had got up for the purpose of carrying on agitation for therelease of the I. W. W.s arrested in the dynamite plot against thelife of Nelse Ackerman. Moreover it was proven that Apfel had takenthis money and distributed it among several German Reds, who hadturned it in to the defense fund, or used it in paying for circularscalling for a general strike.
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