§ 55
Peter took a street car to the home of Miriam Yankovitch, and on the
way he read the afternoon edition of the American City "Times." The
editors of this paper were certainly after the Reds, and no mistake!
They had taken McCormick's book on Sabotage, just as Nell had predicted,
and printed whole chapters from it, with the most menacing sentences in
big type, and some boxed up in little frames and scattered here and
there over the page so that no one could possibly miss them. They had a
picture of McCormick taken in the jail; he hadn't had a chance to shave
for several days, and probably hadn't felt pleasant about having his
picture taken — anyhow, he looked ferocious enough to frighten the most
skeptical, and Peter was confirmed in his opinion that Mac was the most
dangerous Red of them all.
Columns and columns of material this paper published about the
case, subtly linking it up with all the other dynamitings and
assassinations in American history, and with German spy plots and bomb
plots. There was a nation-wide organization of these assassins, so the
paper said; they published hundreds of papers, with millions of readers,
all financed by German gold. Also, there was a double-leaded editorial
calling on the citizens to arise and save
the republic, and put an end to the Red menace once for
all. Peter read this, and like every other good American,
he believed every word that he read in his newspaper, and
boiled with hatred of the Reds.
He found Miriam Yankovitch away from home. Her mother was in a
state of excitement, because Miriam had got word that the police were
giving the prisoners the "third degree," and she had gone to the offices
of the Peoples' Council to get the radicals together and try to take
some immediate action. So Peter hurried over to these offices, where he
found some twenty-five Reds and Pacifists assembled, all in the same
state of excitement. Miriam was walking up and down the room, clasping
and unclasping her hands, and her eyes looked as if she had been crying
all day. Peter remembered his suspicion that Miriam and Mac were lovers.
He questioned her. They had put Mac in the "hole," and Henderson, the
lumber-jack, was laid up in the hospital as a result of the ordeal he
had undergone.
The Jewish girl went into details, and Peter found himself
shuddering — he had such a vivid memory of the third degree himself! He
did not try to stop his shuddering, but took to pacing up and down the
room like Miriam, and told them how it felt to have your wrists twisted
and your fingers bent backward, and how damp and horrible it was in the
"hole." So he helped to work them into a state of hysteria, hoping that
they would commit some overt action, as McGivney wanted. Why not storm
the jail and set free the prisoners?
Little Ada Ruth said that was nonsense; but might they
not get banners, and parade up and down in front of the
jail, protesting against this torturing of men who had not been
convicted of any crime? The police would fall on them, of course, the
crowds would mob them and probably tear them to pieces, but they must do
something. Donald Gordon answered that this would only make them
impotent to keep up the agitation. What they must try to get was a
strike of labor. They must send telegrams to the radical press, and go
out and raise money, and call a mass-meeting three days from date. Also,
they must appeal to all the labor unions, and see if it was possible to
work up sentiment for a general strike.
Peter, somewhat disappointed, went back and reported
to McGivney this rather tame outcome. But McGivney said
that was all right, he had something that would fix them;
and he revealed to Peter a startling bit of news. Peter had
been reading in the papers about German spies, but he had
only half taken it seriously; the war was a long way off,
and Peter had never seen any of that German gold that
they talked so much about — in fact, the Reds were in a state
of perpetual poverty, one and all of them stinting himself
eternally to put up some portion of his scant earnings to pay
for pamphlets and circulars and postage and defence funds,
and all the expenses of an active propaganda organization.
But now, McGivney declared, there was a real, sure-enough
agent of the Kaiser in American City! The government
had pretty nearly got him in his nets, and one of the things
McGivney wanted to do before the fellow was arrested was
to get him to contribute some money to the radical cause.
It wasn't necessary to point out to Peter the importance
of this. If the authorities could show that the agitation
on behalf of McCormick and the rest had been financed
by German money, the public would justify any measures taken to bring it
to an end. Could Peter suggest to McGivney the name of a German
Socialist who might be persuaded to approach this agent of the Kaiser,
and get him to contribute money for the purpose of having a general
strike called in American City? Several of the city's big manufacturing
plants were being made over for war purposes, and obviously the enemy
had much to gain by strikes and labor discontent. Guffey's men had been
trying for a long time to get Germans to contribute to the Goober
Defense fund, but here was an even better opportunity.
Peter thought of Comrade Apfel, who was one of the extreme
Socialists, and a temporary Pacifist like most Germans. Apfel worked in
a bakery, and his face was as pasty as the dough he kneaded, but it
would show a tinge of color when be rose in the local to denounce the
"social patriots," those party members who were lending their aid to
British plans for world domination. McGivney said he would send somebody
to Apfel at once, and give him the name of the Kaiser's agent as one who
might be induced to contribute to the radical defense fund. Apfel would,
of course, have no idea that the man was a German agent; he would go to
see him, and ask him for money, and McGivney and his fellow-sleuths
would do the rest. Peter said that was fine, and offered to go to Apfel
himself; but the rat-faced man answered no, Peter was too precious, and
no chance must be taken of directing Apfel's suspicions against him.
