Mary Louise and the Liberty Girls by L. Frank Baum

Josie O'Gorman, after resigning from the Liberty Girls, became -- so she calmly stated -- a "loafer. " She wandered around the streets of Dorfield in a seemingly aimless manner, shopped at the stores without buying, visited the houses of all sorts of people, on all sorts of gossipy errands, interviewed lawyers, bankers and others in an inconsequential way that amused some and annoyed others, and conducted herself so singularly that even Mary Louise was puzzled by her actions.

But Josie said to Mary Louise: "My, what a lot I'm learning! There's nothing more interesting -- or more startling -- or, sometimes, more repulsive -- than human nature."