So Peter took the letter to McGivney, and said suspiciously, “What kind of a Red plot is this?”

McGivney read the letter, and said, “Red plot?  How do you mean?”

“Why,” explained Peter, “it says `Daughters of the American Revolution.’”

And McGivney looked at him; at first he thought that Peter was joking, but when he saw that the fellow was really in earnest, he guffawed in his face.  “You boob!” he said.  “Didn’t you ever hear of the American Revolution?  Don’t you know anything about the Fourth of July?”

Just then the telephone rang and interrupted them, and McGivney shoved the letter to him saying, “Ask your wife about it!” So when Gladys came in, Peter gave her the letter, and she was much excited.  It appeared that Mrs. Warring Sammye was a very tip-top society lady in American City, and this American Revolution of which she was a daughter was a perfectly respectable revolution that had happened a long time ago; the very best people belonged to it, and it was legal and proper to write about, and even to put on your letterheads.  Peter must go home and get himself into his best clothes at once, and telephone to the secretary that he would be pleased to call upon Mrs. Warring Sammye at the hour indicated.  Incidentally, there were a few more things for Peter to study.  He must get a copy of the social register, “Who’s Who in American City,” and he must get a history of his country, and learn about the Declaration of Independence, and what was the difference between a revolution that had happened a long time ago and one that was happening now.

So Peter went to call on the great society lady in her grey stone mansion, and found her every bit as opulent as Mrs. Godd, with the addition that she respected her own social position; she did not make the mistake of treating Peter as an equal, and so it did not occur to Peter that he might settle down permanently in her home.  Her purpose was to tell Peter that she had heard of his lecture about the Red menace, and that she was chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lady Patronesses of the Home for Disabled War Veterans in American City, and she wanted to arrange to have Peter deliver this lecture to the veterans.  And Peter, instructed in advance by Gladys, said that he would be very glad to donate this lecture as a patriotic contribution.  Mrs. Warring Sammye thanked him gravely in the name of his country, and said she would let him know the date.

Peter went home, and Gladys made a wry face, because the lecture was to be delivered before a lot of good-for-nothing soldiers in some hall, when it had been her hope that it was to be delivered to the Daughters themselves, and in Mrs. Warring Sammye’s home.  However, to have attracted Mrs. Warring Sammye’s attention for anything was in itself a triumph.  So Gladys was soon cheerful again, and she told Peter about Mrs. Warring Sammye’s life; one picked up such valuable knowledge in the gossip at the manicure parlors, it appeared.