A'knock at, the door saved
Nancy from an answer.
It was old Noah, the porter,
lie held a letter in his hand.
“it's for Mis’ Anne Leavitt
and I'm blessed if I know which
one of yez so, I sez, I’ll jes’ take
it to the two of yez and let you
loss up fer it l”
It was not unusual for the two
girls to find their mail confused.
They generally distinguished by
the handwriting or the post
marks. But now they both stared
at the letter they took from
Noah’s had.
It was addressed in a fine, old
fashioned hand writing.
“I can’t recognize it,” ex
claimed one Anne Leavitt.
“I’m sure I never saw it be
fore!” cried the other.
“isn’t this exciting? Let me
see the postmark. F-r-c-e-d-o-in!"
spelled Nancy. “1 never heard
of.it,’’ she declared.
“I believe it's mine! T have
some relatives—or did have—a
great aunt or something, who
lived near ft” place like that way
up on North Hero, Island. I’d
fprgott.cn all about them. Open
it, Glaire, and let’s see what it
is.”
j 1 ‘‘You never told us about any
mint oh any North Hero Island!
II sounds likefo romance, Anne,”
accused Nancy, who thought she
know everything about lmr
frjppd.
Aune laughed. “T don’t won
der you think so. I just barely
remember father speaking of her.
Readi it, Claire 1”
Claire’had seized the letter and
opened it. “It is signed ‘Your
loving aunt.’ Isn’t it the most
ridiculous mystery? Why
wouldn’t it have been something
else besides an aunt!”
“Well, I’m awfully afraid it is
for me. ,Wc never could both
have aunts on Nortli Hero Isl
and. do on, blessed child—I’m
prepared for the worst!' ’
Claire rose dramatically.
“My dear Niece,” she read,
adding: “I want you to know,
Anne, that she honors you by
spelling that with a capital.”
“Of later years it lias been a
matter of deep regret to me that
though the same Jjlood runs in
our veins we are like strangers,
and that you have been allowed
to grow to womanhood without
knowing the home of your fore
fathers von this historic island.
It as for that reason that now,
after considerable debate with
my conscience, *1 am writing to
you at your college address
which I have obtained through
a chance article in an Albany
newspaper (‘that was the Senior
Play writeup,’ interrupted
Nancy, excitedly) to urge you to
uvait yourself of the earliest op
portunity to visit me iu the old
liomc.
“I feel the burden and respon
sibility of my increasing years,
and I know that soon I will be
called to that land where our
forefathers have gone before us.
You are, 1 believe, my nearest of
kin—the family, ns you must
know, is dying out and I would
have preferred that you had been
a boy—I will tell you frankly
thatA am considering changing
my will and that upon your visit
depends whether or not you
will be my beneficiary. I would
wish to leave .the home and iny
worldly wealth—the wealth of
the past Leavitts, to a Leavitt,
but before I can do so to the sat
isfaction of my own conscience,
I must know that you arc a
Leavitt and that you have been
brought up with a true knowl
edge and respect for what being
u Leavitt demands of you.
“I await your reply with anx
iety. Your visit will give me
pleasure and I assure you that
you will learn to love the spot on
which, for so many generations,
your ancestors have lived.”
“Your loving aunt,
“Sabrina Leavitt.”
“Well, I’ll be-” In all her
college vocabulary Anne could
not find a word to express her
feelings.
“Isn’t that rapturoust A great
aunt and a fortune! Aiul will
you please tell me why she had
to etebate with her conscience t”
cried Claire.
Nancy was gleeful over Anne's
wrath.
( . "I’m glad she’s yours, Annie
(darling! Dad always said the
x- whole world was my only kin,
tmt I never ran against anyone
who wanted to look me over be
fore she left me a fortune! Who
ever hoard of North flero Tslaml
and whore in goodness is itt”
“I remember, now, that her
name was awfully queer—Aunt
Sa-something or other, and North
Hero Island isn’t utterly un
known, Nancy, to the can’t even
remember! i wish it had hap
pened to Lake Champlain. I saw
it once on a road-map when I was
touring last fall with Professor
and Mrs. Scott, and Professor
Seott said it was a locality pic
turesquely historic—I remem
ber.”
Claire turned the letter over
and over.
‘‘I think it's all awfully thrill
ing! An aunt you can’t even re
member ! I wish it had happened
to me! It would be something so
different. It’s just like a story.
But what a lot she does think of'
her forefathers!”
‘‘Well, the Leavitts are a very
old family and they are a New
England family, too, although I
was Lorn in California,” inter
rupted Anne with a dignity that
would have gladdened the great
aunt’s heart.
Nancy was again provoked to
merriment.
‘‘Dad aiwayssaid that the only
other Leavitt he knew was a cow
puncher! He could lick anyone
on the plains.”
Anne jguored this. She was
frowning in deep thought.
‘‘The tiresome part is that—
if I don’t go—if I tell her about
going to Russia—-she may write
to my guardian!”
All three were struck dumb at
the thought. Anne had not con
sulted her guardian before she
had impulsively enlisted her ser
vices in Madame Breshkovsky’s
cause. Because she was three
months past 21, legally ho could
not interfere, but being so newly
of age she had not had the cour
age to meet his protest. So she
bad simply written that she was
planning a long trip with friends
and would tell him of the details
when they had been completed.
A letter lay now in her desk
which she intended to mail the
day before she sailed. It would
be too late, then, for him to in
terfere. If her conscience
troubled her a little about this
plan, she told herself that the
cause justified her'action.
And now this Aunt Sa-some
thing might upset everything!
‘‘I wish I could remember
more about those relatives up
there—father and mother used to
laugh whenever they mentioned
the old place. I always imagined
they were dreadfully poor! She
must he a terrible old lady—you
can sort of tell by the tone of
her letter. Oh, dear!”
‘‘What will you dot” echoed
Claire, still thinking it a much
more attractive adventure than
T».* *
4UU3>litl .
“ I have it!” crieil Anne: “ You
shall go in my place, Nancy!”
“ I! I should say not! Are
you stark crazy, Anne Leavitt t”
Anne seized her excitedly by
the shoulder. “You could do it
as easy as anything in the world,
Nancy. She’s never laid eyes on
me and I know my father never
wrote to her. You’ll only have
to go there for three or four
weeks
“And pose as a real Leavitt
when I’m a Leavitt that just be
longs to Dad! Well, I won’t do
it!” replied Nancy, stubbornly.
“Nan-cy, please listen! You
wouldn’t have to do or say a
tiling—she’d just take it for
granted. And you could always
make some excuse to go away
if--”
“If it looked as though I was
goiug to be found out! Whv,
it’d be like living oil a volcano.
And I’d be sure to always say
the wrong thing!”
“But you could try it,” im
plored Anne. “It would make
eveything simple and you’d be
doing your bit, tfcen, for Madame
Breshkovsky! Think of all she
told us of the suffering in Russia.
Surely you could do a little
thing now to help! And if Aunt
did like you and left me her
money, it would really be you
and we’d give it to the cause 1”
'‘ It'd bo acting a lie, ’ ’ broke in
Nancy.
“Oh, not exactly, Nancy, for
you really are Anne Leavitt and,
anyway, it’s just as though you
were my other half. Way back
I know we are related. If you
don’t love me well enough to
help me out now—well, I’m dis
appointed. I’ll never forget it 1”
Poor Nancy, mindful of the
long separation that lay before
her anil her friend, cried out in
protest.
"Oh, Anne, doii’t say that!”
Cairo, her eves brilliant with
lexcitemcnt chimed in:
j "Nancy, it's a hopc-to-die ad
venture. Maybe you could make
up no end of stories and plays
out of the things that happen up
[there! And, anyway, you can
finish the ‘Child’ and come to
Merrycliffe that much sooner!”
Claire had advanced the most
appealing argument. North
Hero Island certainly sounded
more inspiring than a stuffy flat
in Harlem with six small Finne
gans one floor below. And it
was on adventure.
Anne Jhastened to take advan
tage of the yielding she saw in
Nancy’s face.
[ "You can stay here with me
until I have to go to New York,
and we can look up trains and I
can tell you all about my fore
fathers, though I really don’t
know a single tiling. But she
won’t expect you to know
don’t you remember she wrote
that she regretted my being
brought up without knowing the
home of ray forefathers. And if
you just ant as though you want
ed more than anything else in the
world to learn all about the
Leavitts, she’ll , just love it and
she’ll tell you everything you
havo to know!”
"It’s the most thrilling ro
mance,” sighed Claire, envi
ously.
"Sounds more to me like a
conspiracy, and can’t they put
people in jail for doing things
like that ?” demanded Nancy.
"Oh, Nancy, you’re so literal
—as if she would, way up there
on an island next to nowhere!
And anyway, think of the boys
who perjured themselves to get
into the service. Wasn’t that
justified?”
Nancy, being in an unpleasant
mood, started to ask what that
had to do with her pretending to
be an Anne Leavitt who she
wasn’t, when Big Anne went on
in a hurt tone:
■ well, we won t tans auoui it
anymore! I’ll have to give up
going to Russia and my whole
life will be spoiled. And I am
disappointed—I thought onr
friendship meant something to
you, Nancy.”
“Anne! There isn’t a thing
I wouldn’t do for you! You’re
next dearest to Dad. For you
I’ll go to—Freedom or any
old place. *1’ll do my best to be
you to the dot and I’ll pay hom
age to your forefathers and will
ask not a penny of the legacy—
Anne read no irony in her
tone. Her dignity flown, she
caught her friend in a strangling
hug. “Oh, Nancy, you darling,
will you? I’ll never forget it!
We’ll write to her right away—
or you will. From this very min
ute you arc Anne Leavitt!”
“I wish I could go, too,” put
in Claire. “Perhaps I can coax
Barry to motor up that way.”
“Don’t you dare!” cried
Nancy iu consternation. “It
would spoil it all. I’ll write to
you every day everything that
happens. Goodness, if I’m as
seared when I face your Aunt
Sa-something as I am right now
when I think about it, she’ll
know at a glance that I'm just
an everyday Leavitt and not the
child of her forefathers!”
“Hark!” Claire lifted a sil
encing finger. “The seniors are
singing.”
The linos they loved drifted to
them.
“Lift the chorus, speed it on
ward,
Loud her praises tell!”
“Let’s join them.” Suddenly
Claire caught a hand of each.
“Girls, think ot it—what it
means—it’s the last time—it’s all
over!” Her pretty face was
tragic.
Big Anne, with a vision of
Russia in her heart, set her lips
resolutely.
“Don’t look baek—look
ahead!” she cried, grandly.
But in Nancy’s mind as, her
arms linked with her chums’,
she hurried off to join the othe^
seniors in their last sing, the
troubling question echoed: “To
what?”
CHAPTER II.
Webb.
A clatter of departing hoofs, a
swirl of dust—and Nancy wes
left alone on the hot’ railo&d
platform of North Hero. Her
heart had seemed to fix itself in
one painful lump in her throat.
She was so very, very to
facing her adventure!
“If you please, can you tell
me in what way I can reach
Freedom!” Her faltering voice
halted the telegraph operator as
he was about to turn the corner
of the station.
“Freedom f Well now, old
Webb bad ought V been here
for the train. Isn-t, often Webb
misses seein’ the engine come ini
Just you go in and sit down,
Miss, he’ll come along,” and
scarcely had tvk» encouraging
words passed the man’s lips
than a rickety, three seated, can
opied topped wagon, marked
“Freedom Stage” turned the
come/.
“Hey, Webb, here’s a lady
passenger goin’ along with you
to Freedom! And did you think
the express would wait for
you 1”
Webb and bis dutsy, rusty and
rickety wagon was a welcome
sight to poor Nancy. It had al
| ready seemed to her that her
■ journey was endless and that
| Freedom must be in the farthest
! corner of the world. For the
first few hours she had been ab
sorbed by her grief at parting
with Anne. But a night in a
funny little hotel in Burlington
had given her time to reflect
upon her undertaking and it
had assumed terrible proportions
in her eyes. The courage and
confidence she had felt with her
chums, hack in the room in the
dormitory, deserted her now.
“Goin to Freedom you say,
Miss!” the man Webb asked, a
great curiosity in bis eyes. “ Wal,
you jes’ come along with me !
Had an order forTobiasesthat set
me late, but we’ll git thar. Climb
up here, Miss,” and with a flour
ishing aside of his reins he mads
room for her on the dusty seat he
occupied.
Mnimif lintwl n.l li a-u 1. a
-—
and climbed easily over the wheel
into the seat he had indicated.
Then with a loud “get-ap” and
a flourish of his whip they rum
bled off on the last leg of
Nancy’s journey.
“Ain’t ever been to Freedom
be-fore?” he asked as they turned
the corner of the maple shaded
street of the little town, and the
horses settled down into a steady
trot. “Reckon not or old Webb
’ud have known ye—ain’t any
folks come and go on this her*
island thet I don’t know,*’ he
added with pride, dropping his
reins for a better study of his
passengers
The air was fragrant with
spring odors, the great trees met
in a quivery archway overhead,
the meadow lands they passed
were richly green; Nancy’s fail
ing spirites began to soar! She
threw a little smile toward the
old man.
“I’ve never been in Freedom
before—though I’m a Leavitt,”
aha/ventured.
Her words had the desired ef
fect. The man straightened with
interest.
“Wat, bless me, are ye one o’
Miss SabrinyV folks? And a
goih’ to Happy House when ye
ain’t ever seen it?”
Nancy nodded. “I’m Anne
Leavitt,” she answered care
fully. “And I have never seen
ray Aunt Sabrina. So I have
come up from college for a little
visit. And I think everything is
lovely,” she finished, drawing
a long breath, “though, goodness
knows, I thought I’d never get
here!”
jShe was uncomfortably con
scious that the put man was re
garding her with open concern.
“Funny', no one ain’t heard a
word about it! So ye ’re Miss
Sabriny’s great-niece and a-com
in’ to Happy House from your
school fer a visit!”
“Why, yes, why not!”
“Wal, I was jes’ thinkin’
you’d never seen Happy House.
And 1 guess most folks in Free
dom’s forgotten Miss Sabriny
lied any folks muck—count of the
trouble!’’
“Oh, what trouble, please, Mr.
Webbl
The old man shook his reins
vigorously against the horses’
backs.
“Webb, you’re an old fool—
an old, dodderin’ fooll Of course
this here trouble was a long spell
ago, Miss, and don’t belong to
Leavitts young like you. I
a’pose it want much, anyways,
and I guess Miss Sabriny her
self’s forgotten it else you
wouldn’t be a coinin’ to Happy
House! I’m an old man, missy,
and thar ain't been ranch in
Freedom as I don’t know about,
but an old un’d ought a know
’nough to keep his tongue in his
head. Only—you come to Webb
if anything bothers you and you
needn’t call me Mr. Webb, eith
er, for though I’m one of Free
dom’s leadin’ cit-zuns and they’d
never be a Memorial Day or any
kind of Fourth of July doin’s in
Freedom without me—nobody
calls me Mister Webb and you
jus’ come to me-”
Nancy, forgetful now of thi
pleasant things about her,
frowned. _
(To b* Contlnui 1 next week.)
| Gland Theory of Crime. _j
Elizabeth M. Heath, i
IlfE HAVE discovered our glands,
ell Far many years as many as
® * 500,000 or 1,000,000, perhaps, our
endecerine organs have been with us,
'Unobserved except by certain patient
scientists. At last they are coming
Into their own. Led by their better
known member, thyroid, the whole
endocrine famly, pituitary, suprarenal
et al, are marching into small talk.
In the last few months the hitherto
unsuspected cndocrines have an
swered to an appalling number of
charges. A young hospital nurse de
clares that a malicious thyroid made
hor steal a friend’s fur coat. A prom
inent scientist charges that their se
cretions oro all that stand between
our wearisome civilized state and the
hairy coats, the facial contours, the
prehensile toes, and, presumably, the
simple customs of the apes.
There seems to. bd something In
these glands, something to engage
the attention of plain and sober citi
zens, a solid foundation of fact under
the extravagant superstructure raised
by the catchword intellectuals. It
isn’t hard to believe that we achieved
our present intellectual pinnacle
through the kind action of the
thymus gland in retarding the growth
of the human skull.
Murder, assault, arson, vandalism,
theft, and a host of other crimes are
often results of a disturbance in the
ductless glands, says Dr. Max <S.
Schlapp. Love, hate and greed have
hitherto been accepted as the mo
tives that fill the criminal courts,
but glands! This is something else
again. Moreover, continues Dr.
Schlapp, the condition, and with It
the tendency to crime, can be com
pletely cured In many cases.
For most people, the horror of
crime lies in the Intention of the
criminal. Deliberate murder, unless
to avenge an intolerable Injury,
arouses a storm of public hatred; but
the automobile driver, whose nerve
fails at a critical moment, incurs
only censure and the loss of his li
cense.
Some years ago a young man
named Archie Daniels went out walk
ing with a young lady. They had
formerly been engaged, but the affair
was broken off by the girl’s parents
In favor of a more prosperous suitor.
After thoy had covered a few blocks
In silence, Archie drew a pistol, ap
parently purchased for the purpose,
and shot the girl down without a
word.
The supposition is obvious. Rath
er than let her find contentment, per
haps even happiness, with another
man, ho sacrificed her to his jeal
ousy. His sentence, life imprison
ment, seemed light for such criminal
egotism.
However, to understand what hap
pened to Awhie it is necessary to
know something about the machin
ery of the human mind. Every mus
| cular act. from the most simple to
the most complex, is caused by an
explosion or a series of explosions of
unstable protoplasm in the motivat
ing centers of the bralitj These ex
plosions release the’ commands, or
outgoing impulses, that set the j
muscles In motion. Thj explosions j
themselves are caused by impulses
coining in from either the intellec
tual or emotional centers of the
brain.
Perhaps the most important single
element in this process is the strength
that must be developed by an In
coming impulse to cause the explo
sion which releases an outgoing im
pulse. This is particularly important
A JOKER.
RISE of Victory bonds to above par
may be accounted for. in part,
by the "discovery” of a large
banking institution in Wall street
that under the new tax law all cor
poration holdings of Liberty and Vic
tory bouds, as well as other govern
ment securities, are exempt from all
taxation. It is also the opinion of
these bankers that there is nothing
to prevent the corporations from in
vesting as large a part of their sur
plus as they deem fit In such obli
gations, the Income of which would
also be exempt.
Under the revenue act of 1918, only
specific Issues of the war loans were
exempt In this manner, along with a
few other government securities, cor
porations holding them being obli
gated to pay surtaxes after reaching
stated amounts, and includes income
tax.
Now, because of this joker slipped
into the revenue bill by the "finan
cial bloc” in congress plans are be
ing made by Wall street’s rich tu
form corporations to carry govern
ment bonds, so that the individuals
may claim exemption for the total
amount of interest received from
such holdings.
By hook or crook the average citi
zens are going to be forced to pay
for tiie last war, Just as they have
always paid for wars. The poor, who
made real sacrifices to help the gov
ernment, have been forced by chang
ing conditions to give up their bonds
aVlosses. The burdens will rest un
equally on their shoulders. And 'tt
will always fall upon them, until they
wake up and take an intelligent in
terest in political elections, instead
of being misled by catchy phrases
and personal abuse levied at this or
that public man.
The Paris chamber of deputies Is con
sidering a housing enactment that thoy
hope will put a premium on large fam
ilies. It is proposed to rent more cheap
ly to large families than to small ones.
The flats to be so rented are to be c«n
atructsd by the government.
i New York Times.
In its application to impulses from
Hie emotional Center Of the brain. _
If the threshold uf functional ac
ilvlty in the emotional center is nor- *
mal, a percept or concept passing
ruin the tperceptlye ' or intellectual | >
:enter will not cause an emotional
ivavo of sufficient intensity to over
come the Inhibition which would na
turally come to the motivating from
lie intellectual center. If, however.
:he functional threshold in the emot
ional center where low, the wave of
feeling would release an impulse so
itrong that no inhibition of prudence - -4
would stop it, and all consideration
tf an Intellectual character would
oe overwhelmed and the motivating
center would Issue Us commands to
Lho muscles.
Too high an explosion point has
the effect of deadening all feeling.
It produces dullness and inertia. Too
low an explosion point produces the
person who goes off half cocked, who
yields to the slightest pressure on
the trigger of his emotions. It Is
with this latter class thatjjwe are
mainly concerned, for they contribute
heavily to the total of emotional
crime.
At this point the ductless glands re
enter the discussion, for it Is their
behavior that pushes the explosion
point up or down the scale of normal
ity, according to the following laws:
The point at which the unstable
protoplasm in the motivating centers
of the brain will explode Is deter
mined by the chemical content of
Ihe blood.
If there is a disproportion of hor
mones, as the secretions of the duct
less glands are called, there Is a dis
turbance of the balance of the ex
plosion thrcshqjds in the groups of
cells in 'the nervous system, the se
cretions acting selectively on such
colls.
Under these creumstances it Is Im
portant to know what causes varia
tion in the secretion of hormones, ft
has beerr discovered that the glands
are affected by foreign toxins Intro
duced Into the system, and that they
are also affected by the patient’s
mental condition—such emotions as
fear, anxiety, anger, pain, etc. Under
repeated or continued nervovjs strain
a vicious circle Is established, the.pa
tient’s emotionality Increases the se
cretion of hormones, and these se
cretions make. Ills emotions still more
unstable. This process frequently ,
continues until the explosion point
is far below normal, and the patient ,
Is the helpness victim of his Impulses. •
Perhaps most Important 6f all dis
coveries about the ductless glands Is
that the amount of hormones in the
blood can be controlled by means of
therapeutics, and, while knowledge
on this subject is by no means com
plete, remarkable results have been
obtained, notably In connection with ^—
the thyroid gland. y,,
That is what happened to Archie
Daniels. His long brooding over liis
unhappy love affair stimulated his
ductless glands to Increased secretion.
IDs ijxplosion point was lowered with
iaii-reaslng velocity, and he became
not only more inclined to worry, but
also more inclined to carry out the
action suggested by the circum
stances. His nerves put prossure
upon jijm to end an unbearable sit- Jfk \
uation by killing both himself and 'r
the girl, but the first shot relieved the *
tension, and the fact that ho never
completed the act proves that H was m
the result not of resolve, but of irre
sistible Impulse. His wave of ffellns _
wiped out all considerations of right
and wrong, all inhibitions from the
intellectual side of his brain, but
when it had spent itself in action
these reasserted their hold. His re
morse was so deep that he wished to
expiate his guilt in the electric chair.
“Come East, Young Man.
Prom the Concord Monitor.
Years ago a native of New Hampshire
coined the famous phrase, *'Qo west
young man, and grow up with the coun
try,” and thereby gave great Impetus
to emigration from New England.
Today the state of New Hampshire
is at the head of a movement to at
tract settlers back to the farms of old
New' England. “Como east, young man,
is the modern slogan.
A committee sent out by farm and
civic organizations of New Hampshire
is new working in Ohio, where farm
lands are pretty well taken up, to en
courage the overflow farm talent to turn
east instead of w'est or north. The move
ment is to be extended to other states.
There are many reasons why the
campaign should be successful. Modern
methods of farm development, modern
farm machinery, better methods of fruit
and stock raising have changed the
problem of New England farmers. Mar
kets are many and hauls short:
The free, wide spaces of the west wm
tempt the man who wants to do nls
farming on a majestic scale, but the
man to whom Intensive work upon m
smaller acreage appeals may find suc
cess In almost any of the older sections
of the country.
Railways and Foreign Ships.
From the Boston Transcript.
Representatives of American railways
who met with a Joint committee of the
shipping hoard and the Interstate Com
merce commission to consider the ques
tion of exclusive and preferential con
tracts between the roads and foreign
steamship lines, expressed themselves,
with one exception, as willing to abro
gate or modify such agreements If they
were asked to do so by the proper au
thorities. The exception was the Chi
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, which was
represented as demanding some assur
ance that it would have business under
the new order of things to take the place
of that which It might lose through the
ending of the old. It was stated that
in the caee of the Grand Trunk, a f*
elgn system. Immediate definition of the
road's attitude In the matter could not
be given, hut there was a pretty plain
suggestion of what might happen.
There can. of course, be no disagree
ment with the proposition stated by
Commissioner Thompson of the shipping
board that .this country having under
taken to build up and maintain a great
merchant marine. It is the duty of
American enterprises, and particularly
those that are beneficiaries of govern
ment support, to make every effort to
contribute to the sucessful operation of
American shipping. Mr. Tfi«npson. tn \'
addition to laying down this general
principle, called attention to the fact
that an exelustve or preferential agree
ment between an American railroad ami
a foreign flag shipping concern appeared
to be contrary to the Intent or congress
as expressed in section it of the ship
ping act.
