"Now that we know her secret，"she said，"the girlcannot cause us more real harm，and there may be a way to circumventb this unscrupulous Hopkins and turn the incident to our own advantage.Let's think it over carefully before we act.""There's another thing，"said Beth，supporting her cousin."I'm interested in the mystery surrounding the girl.I now think I was wrong in suspecting her to be the lost Lucy Rogers；but there is surely some romance connected with her，and she isnot what she seems to be.I'd like to study her a little.""It was absurd to connect her with Lucy Rogers，"observed Kenneth，"for there is nothing in her character to remind one of the unhappy girl.""Except her looks，"added Beth."She's the living imageof Mrs.Rogers.""That isn't important，"replied Louise."It is probably a mere coincidence.None of us have ever seen the real Lucy，and she may not resemble her mother at all.""Mrs.Rogers claims she does，"said Beth."But anyhow，I have a wish to keep this girl at the house，where I can study her character.""Then keep her，my dear，"decided Kenneth."I'll set acouple of men to watch the gates，and if she goes out we'll know whom she meets.The most she can do is to report our movements to Mr.Hopkins，and there's no great harm in that."So the matter was left，for the time；and as if to verify Beth's suspicions Eliza was seen to leave the grounds after dusk and meet Mr.Hopkins in the lane.They conversed together a few moments，and then the maid calmly returned and went toher room.
The next day Mr.Hopkins scattered ？aring hand—bills over the district which were worded in a way designed to offset any advantage his opponent had gained from the lawn fête of the previous day.They read："Hopkins，the Man of the Times，is the Champion of the Signs of the Times.Forbes，who never earned a dollar in his life，but inherited his money，is trying to take the dollars out of the pockets of the farmers by depriving them of the income derived by selling spaces for advertising signs.He is robbing the farmers while claiming he wants to beautify their homes.The farmers can't eat beauty；they want money.Therefore they are going to vote for the Honorable Erastus Hopkins for Representative."Then followedan estimate of the money paid the farmers of the district by theadvertisers during the past five years，amounting to several thousands of dollars in the aggregatea.The circular ended in this way："Hopkins challenges Forbes to deny these facts.Hopkins is willing to meet Forbes before the public at any time and place he may select，to settle this argument in joint debate."The girls accepted the challenge at once.Within two days every farmer had received a notice that Mr.Forbes would meet Mr.Hopkins at the Fairview Opera House on Saturday afternoon to debate the question as to whether advertising signs brought good or evil to the community.
The campaign was now getting hot.Because of the activity of the opposing candidates every voter in the district had become more or less interested in the ？ght，and people were taking one side or the other with unusual earnestness.
Mr.Hopkins was not greatly pleased that his challenge had been accepted.He had imagined that the Forbes party would ignore it and leave him the prestige of crowing overb his opponent's timidity.But he remembered how easily he had subduedc Kennethat the school—house meeting before the nominations，and had nodoubt of his ability to repeat the operation.
He was much i n c e n s e dd against the girls who were working for Kenneth Forbes，for he realized that they were proving an important factor in the campaign.He even attributedto them more than they deserved，for Uncle John's telling activities were so quietly conducted that he was personally lost sight of entirely by Mr.Hopkins.
Mr.Hopkins had therefore become so enraged that，against the advice of his friends，he issued a circular sneering ata "Women in Politics."The newspapers having been subsidized by the opposition so early in the game，Mr.Hopkins had driven to employ the circular method of communicating with the voters.Scarcely a day passed now that his corps of distributors did not leave some of his literature at every dwelling in the district.
His tirade against the girls was neither convincing nor in good taste.He asked the voters if they were willing to submit to "petticoat governmentb，"and permit "a lot of boarding—school girls，with more boldness than modesty"to dictate the policies of the community."These frizzle—headed females，"continued the circular，"are trying to make your wives and daughters as rebellious and unreasonable as they are themselves；but no man of sense will permit a woman to in？uence his vote.It is a disgrace to this district that Mr.Forbes allows his girlish campaign to be run by a lot of misses who should be at home darning stockings；or，if they were not able to do that，practicing their music—lessons.""Good！"exclaimed shrewd Miss Patsy，when she readthis circular."If I'm not much mistaken，Mr.Hopkins hasthrown a boomerang.Every woman who attended the fête is now linked with us as an ally，and every one of them will resent this foolish circular.""I'm sorry，"said Kenneth，"that you girls should be forcedto endure this.I feared something like it when you insisted on taking a hand in the game."But they laughed at him and at Mr.Hopkins，and declaredthey were not at all offended.
"One cannot touch pitcha without being defiledb，"said Mr.Watson，gravely，"and politics，as Mr.Hopkins knows it，is little more than pitch.""I cannot see that there is anything my girls have done to forfeitc respect and admiration，"asserted Uncle John，stoutly."To accuse them of boldness or immodesty is absurd.They have merely gone to work in a business—like manner and used their wits and common—sense in educating the voters.Really，my dears，I'm more proud of you today than I've ever been before，"he concluded.
And Uncle John was right.There had been no loss of dignity by any one of the three，and their evident re？nement，as well as their gentleness and good humor，had until now protected them from any reproach.It had remained for Mr.Hopkins to accuse them，and his circular had a wide in？uence in determining the issue of the campaign.