of his civilian clothes, one suit was recovered from the second-hand dealer who had purchased them, and he went to camp in it.
One Saturday night a young man of stentorian voice, wearing classical shell-rimmed glasses, appeared at a prominent down-town corner, mounted a soap-box and shouted, "Step closer, gentlemen. I have no bombs, no T. N. T., no lyddite, no dynamite or powder explosives of any kind. Step closer though and I'll treat you to some talk-bombs." In the vanguard of those who stepped closer were two A. P. L. operatives. Five minutes later the orator, Herbert Blank, alias Herbert C, deserter from the British army, was registered at the county jail. The shell-rimmed glasses and his predilection to Bolsheviki oratory had proved his downfall. They had been mentioned in a bulletin asking his apprehension, sent out from Chicago headquarters of the Department of Justice and received that morning in Minneapolis headquarters.
The leading man of the theatrical company which scored the biggest hit of any troupe playing Minneapolis last winter applied his cold cream and other theatrical embellishments for his Saturday matinee performance under the eyes of an A. P. L. operative whilst he confessed to the operative that it was quite possible that he should have registered for the draft, although he had not. At the request of the New York A. P. L. headquarters, this man was examined, and although he carried with him a sworn statement from his father to the effect that he had been born prior to June 5, 1886, coöperation with the Toledo A. P. L. had developed evidence that this was not true. Before the interview was concluded, ample evidence was secured to warrant the arrest of the actor, but his role was so prominent and there was such a certainty that the company would be compelled to cancel all of its engagements with distinct losses to all its members, that mercy was shown and he was allowed to continue the performance until such a time as his draft status could be adjusted. For several weeks, during the travels of the company, he was compelled to report daily at the offices of the U. S. Department of Justice in the various cities visited.
One night a squad of operatives, led by the Chief, visited
