"
"But why should the school want to steal their children? Do you mean
that they don't want them to go to school?"
"'Tis not that, sorr," the Irishman answered, "but 'tis due to some
'fire drill' business. The little ones are taught in the school that
when a bell rings--'tis the fire bell I'm m'anin'--they sh'd all march
out dacintly and in order. 'Tis a good idea, that same, an' I'm favorin'
it. But it's hard to make the children see it, so that they have to
drill them often."
"That all seems right enough," Hamilton answered.
"Ye would think so, sorr," continued the policeman "But most of these
mothers come from countries on the other side where they make them
soldiers whether they want to be or not, an' this drillin' business
scares the old folks 'most to death."
"But if it continues and nothing happens, I don't see why they should go
on being scared. You would think the children had grown used to it."
"The children! They're not makin' any trouble, it's all the parents."
"Then what started it?"
"There was some street corner lecturer here the day before yisterday,
tryin' to teach the people that children were the cause of poverty an'
that the only way to prevent poverty was to get rid of the children,
either by havin' fewer or by shippin' off the existin' surplus.
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