Page:The web (1919).djvu/381

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

were to patrol the shores of the sound to catch sight of any answering signals from the sea. The patrols were duly set, and, sure enough, the light began to show as brilliant and mysterious as could be asked. It seemed to swing at an altitude of about two hundred feet above the woods. It occurred to one of the naval officers on watch that with the aid of his powerful night glass and a convenient perpendicular presented by the side of the barn, he might triangulate the position of the light. He had not been at this very long when he broke out into laughter and announced that what they had taken to be a mysterious light was only a star rendered abnormally brilliant by the refractive effect of the damp night air. Its later disappearances were accounted for by the later rise in altitude, when of course the light would cease to be distinguishable from others of like altitude. Taking it all in all, this about finished the cases of the many mystic lights which were reported from time to time.

Litchfield, Connecticut, up near the stern and rockbound coast, offers a good example of sober-going loyalty. There were only fifty-one cases of seditious talk and twenty of propaganda, whereas the selective service regulation involved 734 cases.

Ansonia, Connecticut, was honored by the presence of a Russian Soviet Society called the "Society Lunch," which had regular meetings and was organizing other societies in nearby towns. Sometimes this society would get a speaker from the outside, such as the editor of the Russian Voice, published in New York. The city of Ansonia did not like these things, inasmuch as they tended to promote anarchy and foster revolution. The division had one of its operatives among the membership, he having joined the society for the purpose of reporting on its activities. What the society did became henceforth a matter of interest not only to its membership, but also to the local body of A. P. L. vigilantes.

The Chief of Norwalk, Connecticut, worked in close touch with the police of his city and was on the lookout for the various alien enemies reported from headquarters. He says: "No alien enemy actually apprehended in my district. The only way we can account for it is that they were afraid to come here."