Evening star., 1925-04-26

begun to worry the Organization
a good deal. For one thing, he got
the most enormous publicity: he was
! so outrageous that everybody talked
about him and everything he said or
did was news for the newspapers.
They were all against him, but he was
such good copy they couldn't help
from playing him up on the front
| page. And another advantage he
had, he worked the -'underdog" sym
! pathy to a Standstill. He posed as
the one single figure struggling for
| the helpless masses against q horde
OF powerful scoundrels who We're try
/ ing to run the steam roller" over him.
| No doubt that got many votes, but
! what brought him the most support
was his promises. He promised the
| whole United Statesto everybody that
voted for him and to the crowd of
heelers that he'd worked up into a
kind of Opposition organization"
Wen, along toward the day of the
primary, we took a count of noses,
and it scared us. Personally speak
ing, 1t scared me worse as a patriot
II he could put 1t over our people like
that. what sort of people were we
| getting to be?
Another thing in his favor was that
he had the wet" element behind him,
and hadn't hurt himself with the
| 'dryS." He simply kept off the sub
| ject and let his friends whisper to
both sides, whereas George Brooks
had come out square and taken the
| position that prohibition was now a
part of the Constitution and there
fore must be absolutely enforced,
which got the vets" against him, of
course. They worked hard. so hard,
in fact, that it was really an issue
| the issue-and then we saw that Milt
Letting had to be forced into declaring
| himself openly. II he went to the
''drys" he'd lose most of the "wets,''
who'd be sore, of course, after all the
whispering; and If he went to the
'wets" there were enough "drys" to
make 1t pretty sure he'd be beat ten.
| We decided to wait for a speech he
was booked TO make at Eaglesfield. a
| little town 32 miles from here, and
| then we'd pin him down.
NOW, here's where the queer part
comes in. Old Truett Pettibone
| had died, back in 1915, and a trust
company and board of directors was
running the works for Josie. Her
husband got killed just before the
armistice, and one day that Winter
heard she was coming back TO live
there again, for a while. anyway, and
then / heard she'd arrived, and was
| settling herself in the house; but
didn't see her until one afternoon as /
was going by there ] took a notion to
| go in and present my respects.
We talked about how the town had
changed and about who had married,
who among the young people she'd
known. and then l mentioned kind of
! pointedly that George Brooks WASH I
married yet.
He's the finest young man in the
United States today, Josie" l told her.
| He's having career that makes all
| his old friends mighty proud of him.
! He didn't let on what he was going
! through at your wedding: he took his
medicine like a man; but he never
| got over it, / told her. Hes never
! looked at any girl since"
Well, she seemed TO be kind OF sur
/ prised-I don't mean about George.
but suppose she wasn't used to any
4 body's comnig right out at her with
! things like that. Still, she laughed
and said she'd seen George and
thought he was looking very well.
Yes" I told her. Washington life
| agrees with him. They say it's a
mighty nice climate. l should think
yourself, Josie
Then she surprised me; she came
right out with it fiatter than / had.
Not as the wife of a Congressman, "
she said And she laughed again. Il
don't think I'd like it at all"
We'll. you mightnt have to do
much of that" L told her, and l
laughed, too. because she kept on
laughing. George is liable to go a
f0h HnilSP
Representatives"
Isn't that charming, she said. ana
! lust then George Brooks himself
walked in. And he hadn't been there
| three minutes when Milt Letting
showed up, too. What's more, l saw
right away they'd both of them been
| there often before.
l was just going to get out and
leave her and George alone, but when
| Milt came in / decided TO stay lit
| tie longer. TT seems like old times,
! | said. II mean it seems like old
| times seeing you three young people
| together. Do you take any interest
\ in American politics, Josie?" l asked
| her. DO you think you'll take our
! naturalization papers and vote? Our
| two friends here are both candidates" "
"Oh, yes, l know" she said laugh
| ing, but both George Brooks and AIilt
! LeHlnB SOL hlUu VI Icd
Miss JOSIE" / told her, you GER
tainly ought to go and hear some of
the speeches. They'd interest you a
| whole lot" 1 told her. Especially
some of Milt' s.
"Oh, no." he came back at me. I've
| never been an orator; George has al
! ways been the orator. 1 only talk to
| the people,
Yes. / should say you do" I said,
| and then / turned to Josie again.
you mustn't miss hearing Milt." 1
| told her. He's going to make a
| great speech at Eaglesfield about a
| week from now, and you could mo-
, tor over there for it"
AIilt said he was afraid she'd be
bored if she went, and he gave me a
hardish look that showed he under
stood what / was up to. If he didn't
make one of his usual TRADES the
crowd would be disappointed, while if
he did, why, Josie was an intelligent
woman, and she'd certainly know
what to think of him. Besides, it was
Eaglesf1eld where we were going to
heclle him into a corner, though. of
course. he didn't know that.
X X X x
PRETTY soon Milt began telling
stories about some of the rough
neck workers of his twelfth ward
and I'll have to say this for him-he
knew how to tell a story, and he
made Josie laugh more than / guess
shed probably laughed since before
the war. The truth is. laughed once
or twice myself: L couldn't help it.:
but 1 didn't intend to sit there and
see him do it all, with poor George
never saying a word, so l waited till
in bn -