aid she.

"He's the only one," replied the Dormouse. "He's the official Beggar of
the Town. He gets $25,000 in Tenth Deferred Reorganisation Certificates
a year--which, if the Certificates pay ten cents on the dollar, as we
hope, will turn out to be a good salary in the end."

"But why does he beg? Who gets the money?" asked Alice.

"The City," said the Dormouse. "Once in a while when the Printing Plant
gets clogged up with large orders of Bonds for our various enterprises,
the City has to get hold of a few dollars of real money, so they send
Simpkins out for it. I believe he's out to-day trying to raise the
interest on the Sixteenth Mortgage Extension Bonds on the Municipal
Cigarette Plant purchased year before last. It's ten months overdue and
the former owners have asked the Government to smoke up."

"Oh!" said Alice. "Is the Printing Plant clogged up?"

"Unmercifully," said the Dormouse. "Not to say teetotally. They're
preparing their Christmas issues in Magazine form, and that means a
terrible lot of extra work. I don't believe the way things look now that
the City will be able to print the money for last January's payroll
until somewhere around the next Fourth of July, and if that's the case
poor old Simpkins will either have to work overtime or get a half-dozen
Deputy Assistant Beggars to put the town in funds. I'm expecting to have
the Police put on that job at any minute."

Alice was silent for a moment, and the Dormouse went on.

"What do you think of the Municipal Ownership of the Police idea?" he
asked.

"It's fine," said Alice. "But I thought all Cities owned their police
force."

"A great many people think that," laughed the Dormouse. "But it isn't
so."

"It is in New York and Chicago--I heard my Papa say so once," said
Alice.

Again the Dormouse laughed.

"Well," he said. "I don't want to cast any asparagus on your father's
intelligence, but he's wrong. The Police may own New York and Chicago,
but New York and Chicago don't own the police--not by a long shot."

"Who does, then?" demanded Alice.

"The Lord only knows," laughed the Dormouse. "Some people say John Doe,
and other people say the Man Higher Up, but which it is, or who either
of 'em may be, I haven't the slightest idea. Maybe they belong to the
Copper Trust."

And then with a sly wink at the little maid the Dormouse turned over and
went to sleep.

CHAPTER V

THE MUNICIPAPHONE

Armed with the Copperation Counsel's