d, adroit opportunist that he was, he urged upon the meeting
that they support the Health Bureau as the best hope of clearing up the
situation.

Amongst the panic-stricken, meanwhile, moved and worked the volunteer
forces of hygiene, led by the Reverend Norman Hale. Weakened and unfit
though he was, he could not be kept from the battle-ground,
notwithstanding that Dr. Merritt, fearing for his life, had threatened
him with kidnaping and imprisonment in the hospital. At Hale's right
hand were Esme Elliot and Kathleen Pierce. There had been one scene at
Greenvale approaching violence on Dr. Elliot's part and defiance on that
of his niece when her guardian had flatly forbidden the continuance of
her slum work. It had ended when the girl, creeping up under the guns of
his angry eyes, had dropped her head on his shoulder, and said in
unsteady tones:--

"I--I'm not a very happy Esme, Uncle Guardy. If I don't have something
to do--something real--I'll--I'll c-c-cry and get my pretty nose all
red."

"Quit it!" cried the gruff doctor desperately. "What d'ye mean by acting
that way! Go on. Do as you like. But if Merritt lets anything happen to
you--"

"Nothing will happen, Guardy. I'll be careful," promised the girl.

"Well, I don't know whatever's come over you, lately," retorted her
uncle, troubled.

"Neither do I," said Esme.

She went forth and enlisted Kathleen Pierce, whose energetic and
restless mind was ensnared at once by what she regarded as the romantic
possibilities of the work, and the two gathered unto themselves half a
dozen of the young males of the species, who readily volunteered, partly
for love and loyalty to the chieftainesses of their clan, partly out of
the blithe and adventurous spirit of youth, and of them formed an
automobile corps, for scouting, messenger service, and emergency
transportation, as auxiliary to Hale and Merritt; an enterprise which
subsequently did yeoman work and taught several of the gilded youth
something about the responsibilities of citizenship which they would
never have learned in any other school.

Tip O'Farrell was another invaluable aide. He had one brief encounter,
on enlistment, with the health officer.

"You ought to be in jail," said Dr. Merritt.

"What fer?" demanded O'Farrell.

"Smuggling out bodies without a permit."

"Ferget it," advised the politician. "I tried my way, an' it wasn't good
enough. Now I'll try yours. You can't afford to jug me."

"Why can