Earl Derr Biggers

“ I'm the most downhearted man in Washington. All day I am buffeted about the War Department—by tea-time I am desolate—I long for some one to confide in. It happens daily. It will happen to-morrow. Would you mind very much if I asked you to invite me to tea—”
Jimmy had been known as a fast worker all his life, but he paused now in his badinage, amazed. An expression of deep unhappiness was on the fine face of the girl. ”

“ And because, as time went on, Cleek met only traitors, he became gradually convinced that all men were traitors, and he dreamed of the day when, elected by the votes of traitors, he should become the leader of the nation.
You asked for it—and you got it. You wanted to meet the Red-haired Rooster of the Rapaho, and now that unpleasant experience has been yours. And if you are a little sick at the picture of him, perhaps you will turn all the more readily back to the subject of Jimmy Blaine's heart. ”

“ If he had the prestige his tiny soul craves, he would make our nation the greatest word-power history has known.
He hasn't that prestige yet; he is only a Congressman from the banks of the Rapaho. Let us not attempt to place the Rapaho. In these troubled times, people are rather touchy. Suffice it to say that it flows lazily through a congressional district somewhere between Fifth Avenue and the trained seals that disport on the rocks around the Golden Gate. Cyrus P. Cleek is a misfortune that might befall as patriotic a section of the country as ever thrilled to “The Star Spangled Banner.” ”

“ After all the dark nights and lean days, they hope on. They wonder if some one they love has returned. So they come tearing down the ruined street, and then they see who it is, and—my friend said—it would break your heart. They just put their tails between their legs and go sadly back—back to guard the pile of bricks that used to be home, the pile of sticks and stones where a warm fire used to wait for them, and a juicy bone, and the affection of their people. ”

“ They don't understand what it's all about, but they stand on guard till they die of starvation.”
Cleek bowed his head over Tommy's back.
“War is war,” he said.
“You bet it is,” said Jimmy. “And Tommy knows that now. He's fighting—he's fighting with the British—he's fighting like the devil. They tell me—the men on the British mission who brought him over here on a furlough—that he seems to realize it when the enemy is on the run. He's wild with joy.” ”

“ Jimmy Blaine could never be sure, but he had the feeling that Cleek had kissed the scar!”
“They wait—the dogs,” repeated Cleek softly. “They wait by the ruins for their masters to come home.”
Another pause. Cleek got slowly to his feet, and the dog dropped to the rug.
“American soldiers,” said Cleek, “will in God's good time pass through the pitiful towns of Belgium on their way to the Rhine. At the point of their bayonets they shall drive back the misguided creatures of the most shameless autocracy the world has ever known. ”

“ I notice others sacrificing their incomes and hurrying down here to work for their government for a dollar a year. Somehow, they don't act like men who started a war to get rich out of it. They act more like farseeing patriots.”
“You talk a lot for a child,” said Cleek, ruffled. “You don't understand all the undercurrents—”
“Father!” rebuked Mary Will.
“I understand this,” said Jimmy Blaine. “There's a terrible menace stalking the world to-day in the form of an idea—an idea made in Germany. By spies and treachery and the power of mighty armies that idea hopes to make the world it's slave ”

“ You're upholding the hands of the men who could carry it through in cold blood. If you have your way, the war will end in a German victory and the eyes of Germany will turn greedily to America—to Rapaho—to your own kennels. You are the friend in this country of the war of lust and loot!”
THERE was a silence. Jimmy was aware of Mary Will, her eyes shining upon him; he was aware of a strangely humble Cleek, rubbing the back of a comfortable and happy Tommy. Suddenly Cleek lowered his head and buried his great face in the hair of Tommy's back. ”

“ This is a nice, safe attic.'”
“Perhaps,” said Cleek, “if we talk of something else—”
“Have you read 'The Bryce Report?'” inquired Jimmy. “A calm, quiet report written by an unexcitable old gentleman who doesn't know how to lie! Do you realize what the German idea means when German armies are on the make and think they see victory ahead? Let me tell you—”
AND while Cleek writhed, Jimmy proceeded to tell him, All the horrors of the Belgian invasion, all the suffering of the poor souls caught up in the terrible current of war, he laid bare. ”

“ But Belgian atrocities can't reach him. Reason can't reach him. Emotion can't reach him. Nothing can reach him. He's solid stupidity—just a statue of clay built by Cleek to Cleek.”
“I'm asking you to watch me. The War Department wont be annoyed again. They'll never see me after this. I've got my work cut out for me. To-morrow at five I begin it.”
“Go to bed,” advised Porter. “Go to bed, and sleep off this insanity. And in the morning tell me that to-morrow at five is off for all time.” ”

“ They tell me it's one of the most heartbreaking features of the invasion. Many a Belgian village is just a pile of ruins, not a soul left there—except the dogs. They hang round the pile of débris that was once their home, waiting, waiting—”
“Waiting for what?” The hand of Cleek patted Tommy's back abstractedly.
“Waiting for their masters—the men who will never come back. A friend of mine who did relief-work over there told me about it. When a stranger approaches the ruins, the dogs all run to him—sort of eager and pathetic-like. You see, they're hoping. They're hoping still. ”

“ The girl looked surprised.
“You don't like Washington?”
“A man with a grievance,” said Jimmy, “is sitting beside you. I came here to get into the army—to wear a uniform—and Washington has turned me down cold.” ”

“ The average young man would have given up right there, but Jimmy Blaine wasn't the average young man. So he hurried to Washington and sat on the aforesaid doorstep, and now that we have him firmly planted there, I am willing, dear reader, to succumb to your wishes. For I know that you also have a great urge—an overwhelming desire. Your eyes are straying back to the title, and you long to meet the Red-haired Rooster of the Rapaho. ”

“ That is, he can if he is strong enough to beat out the bunch of huskies who are choking Washington at this minute, screaming that they want to help their country behind the lines—just as far behind as they can get. ”

“ When Jimmy Blaine awoke the next morning in Jimmy Porter's guest-room, he discovered in himself a much worried young man. As he lay there planning his campaign, the vast difficulties ahead of him came one by one into his mind and appalled him. But though the great enthusiasm of the night before had faded for all time, he was no less determined. The bigger the job, the greater the glory!
“{di|F}}OR a man who has sworn to make a patriot of Cyrus P. Cleek,” spoke Porter at the door, “you are getting rather late. Better get up and get busy.” ”

“ He opened his mouth, and the words flowed out; he pointed out that Rapaho was safe from invasion, that it was against any mix-up with “them foreigners in the old country.” He raved that it was a rich man's war. He declared that those Americans who had business at sea and were murdered there got what they deserved. He asserted that “Germany had been very patient with us.”
A horrified nation that had forgotten the Red-haired Rooster in its excitement now realized that he was still in Congress. ”