tfully, "that I ever mixed up
in this dreadful thing."

"I'm not sorry," returned Josie. "Chasing traitors isn't the
pleasantest thing in the world, even for a regular detective, but it's
a duty I owe my country and I'm sufficiently interested to probe the
affair to the extent of my ability. If I fail, nothing is lost, and if
I win I'll have done something worth while. Here's another name on the
list of suspects you gave me--Annie Boyle, the hotel-keeper's
daughter."

"Don't bother about Annie, for goodness' sake," exclaimed Mary Louise.
"She hasn't the brains or an opportunity to do any harm, so you'd
better class her with Kasker and the butcher."

But Josie shook her head.

"There's a cross opposite her name," said she. "I don't intend to
shuffle Annie Boyle into the discard until I know more about her."

CHAPTER XII
JOSIE BUYS A DESK

The "Liberty Girls' Shop" was proving a veritable mint. Expenses were
practically nothing, so all the money received could be considered
clear profit. It was amusing to observe the people who frequented the
shop, critically examining the jumble of wares displayed, wondering who
had donated this or that and meantime searching for something that
could be secured at a "bargain." Most of the shrewd women had an idea
that these young girls would be quite ignorant of values and might mark
the articles at prices far below their worth, but the "values" of such
goods could only be conjectural, and therefore the judgment of the
older women was no more reliable than that of the girls. They might
think they were getting bargains, and perhaps were, but that was
problematic.

The one outstanding fact was that people were buying a lot of things
they had no use for, merely because they felt they were getting them
cheaply and that their money would be devoted to a good cause.

Mrs. Brown, who had given the Shop a lot of discarded articles,
purchased several discarded articles donated by Mrs. Smith, her
neighbor, while Mrs. Smith eagerly bought the cast-off wares of Mrs.
Brown. Either would have sneered at the bare idea of taking "truck"
which the other had abandoned, had the medium of exchange not been the
popular Liberty Girls' Shop. For it was a popular shop; the "best
families" patronized it; society women met there to chat and exchange
gossip; it was considered a mark of distinction and highly patriotic to
say: "Oh, yes; I've given the dear girls many really valuable things to
sell. Th