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by K. J. Williams (Author)
Pauline, the cow, may have been President Taft's favorite birthday present, but Precious Pauline was his daughter, Helen's, best friend. When the treasured dairy cow doesn't arrive at the Wisconsin Dairy Show as expected, President Taft assigns his FBI agents to find her.
But Helen is determined to find Pauline first. She disguises herself as a boy in her brother's clothes and persuades her cousin Mary to cover for her. After finding Pauline's cow bell at the train station, Helen buys a ticket to Chicago. Stepping off the train, she promptly steps in cow poop. She follows the cow poop trail to a place where sad cows roam restlessly in a circular pen--a slaughterhouse. She searches the crowded pen but doesn't spot Pauline. But by the time she returns to the station, the last train for the day has left.
Helen fakes a limp and convinces the ticket master to let her sleep in the back office after she notices a man in the shadows watching her through the windows. With no money for tomorrow's train and little food, Helen prays for protection for both her and for dear Pauline.
Meanwhile, at the White House, cousin Mary lies to Mother Taft to explain Helen's absence at dinner. She hints that Helen possibly has poison ivy after spending the day in the orchard. Mary sets up a marble game to convince the maid who delivers the food tray that Helen went to bed early.
Back in Chicago, as Helen is leaving the train station office, the man trailing her comes through the door. Helen dashes to the back door and sneaks out. As she tries to figure out why the strange man in a suit is following her, she spies hoof prints in the mud. She remembers Joseph, the White House carriage keeper, who cares for Pauline, telling about the cow's crooked foot. Helen searches the hundreds of hoof prints in the dirt and notices a few that look odd. To Helen's horror the crooked prints lead her back to the slaughterhouse!
When she arrives there, Helen climbs the platform, searching frantically through the mud-caked cattle for Pauline. She hears heavy footsteps approaching and turns to see the mysterious man close behind. While she hides under the slaughterhouse platform, close to the fence, she notices a cow who seems to be looking at her. And under all the dirt and mud, this cow has white and black spots. Is it Pauline? Helen takes out the cow's bell and jingles it. The curious cow lifts her head higher and begins to struggle through the herd to reach Helen. Finally, she is close enough for Helen to reach over the fence and hug her.
Just then the man who has been following her approaches.
Helen faces him, trying to be brave. "Before you kidnap me, I must get Pauline back on the train to the White House. My father is the president of the United States, and he misses his pet cow."
The mystery man took off his sunglasses. "I know, Helen. I work for your father." He is an FBI agent who was sent to look for Pauline but accidentally discovered Helen when he noticed a 'boy' in fancy clothes acting strange and hanging out around the slaughterhouse. About the time the White House staff suspected Helen was missing, John, the FBI agent, telegraphed them saying he had located the president's daughter.
When Pauline, Helen, and John return to Washington, DC, President Taft and his family meet them at the train station with a band playing, a welcoming crowd, and a parade in Pauline's honor. Helen does get a scolding from the President and her brother Charles, but she also receives lots of hugs from Mary and First Lady, Mother Taft.
Before Mary leaves the White House to go home, Helen explains what happened to Pauline. It seems on the way to Wisconsin, Pauline's train car got switched onto a train going to Chicago. She was then unloaded and mixed into the herd of beef cattle headed to the slaughterhouse.
