an, in a cold voice. "You have
really helped us, although you should have omitted those traitorous
words. They poisoned a deed you might have been proud of."

"We don't agree, Colonel," replied Kasker, with a shrug. "When I talk,
I'm honest; I say what I think." He turned and walked away and Colonel
Hathaway looked after him with an expression of dislike.

"I wonder why he did it?" whispered Mary Louise, who had overheard the
exchange of words and marked Kasker's dogged opposition.

"He bought the bonds as a matter of business," replied Laura Hilton.
"It's a safe investment, and Kasker knows it. Besides that, he may have
an idea it would disarm suspicion."

"Also," added Alora Jones, "he took advantage of the opportunity to
slam the war. That was worth something to a man like Kasker."

CHAPTER II
MARY LOUISE TAKES COMMAND

When Mary Louise entered the library the next morning she found her
grandfather seated at the table, his head resting on his extended arms
in an attitude of great depression. The young girl was startled.

"What is it, Gran'pa Jim?" she asked, going to his side and laying a
hand lovingly on his shoulder.

The old gentleman looked up with a face drawn and gray.

"I'm nervous and restless, my dear," he said; "that's all. Go to
breakfast, Mary Louise; I--I'll join you presently."

She sat down on the arm of his chair.

"Haven't you slept well, Gran'pa?" she asked anxiously, and then her
eyes wandered through the open door to the next room and rested on the
undisturbed bed. "Why, you haven't slept at all, dear!" she cried in
distress. "What is wrong? Are you ill?"

"No, no, Mary Louise; don't worry. I--I shall be all right presently.
But--I was terribly disappointed in last night's meeting, and--"

"I see. They didn't subscribe what they ought to. But you can't help
that, Gran'pa Jim! You did all that was possible, and you mustn't take
it so much to heart."

"It is so important, child; more important, I fear, than many of them
guess. This will be a desperate war, and without the money to fight--"

"Oh, the money'll come, Gran'pa; I'm sure of that. If Dorfield doesn't
do it's duty, the rest of the country will, so you mustn't feel badly
about our failure. In fact, we haven't failed, as yet. How much did
they subscribe last night?"

"In all, a hundred and thirty thousand. We have now secured barely a
third of our allotment, and only five days more to get the balance!"

Mary Louise refl