"I—I'm not a very happy Esmé, 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 Esmé.
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."