ebook," said Mary
Louise, "and I think I've got every word of it." She slipped the book
in her bag and picked up the circular. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kasker!"

The German seemed bewildered; he ran his fingers through his bushy hair
as if trying to remember what he had said.

"Wait!" he cried, as she turned away. "I've changed my mind about those
goods; I'll send some over to your shop to be sold."

"Don't do it," she replied, "for we won't accept them. Only those whose
patriotism rings true are allowed to help us."

Then she marched out of the big store, the proprietor at the desk
staring at her fixedly until she had disappeared.

"That's it, Jake," he said to himself, turning to his papers; "you talk
too much. If a man prints a thing, and nobody knows who printed it,
he's safe."

CHAPTER VIII
THE DETECTIVE'S DAUGHTER

"I'm pretty sure, Gran'pa Jim," said Mary Louise that evening, "that
I've trailed the traitor to his lair, and he's none other than--Jake
Kasker!"

This was the first time she had mentioned her suspicion of Kasker to
him, and her statement was received by the colonel with moderate
surprise, followed by a doubtful smile.

"I know Jake," he remarked, "and while he is uneducated and his mind is
unformed concerning most things outside the clothing business, I should
hesitate to accuse him of downright disloyalty."

"He's a German, and sympathizes with the Kaiser," asserted Mary Louise.

"Did he say that?"

"Well, not in so many words."

"A German-American is not usually pro-German," the colonel declared,
"for Germans who come to America come to escape the militarism and
paternalism of the Junkers, which is proof in itself that they
disapprove of what we term kaiserism. I know that Kasker talks
foolishly against the war and resents the drafting of his son, but I
think he is a good American at heart. He has bought Liberty Bonds more
liberally than some who proclaim their patriotism from the housetops. I
don't fear these outspoken objectors, my dear, as much as those who
work slyly in the dark--such as the writers of those disgraceful
circulars."

"I practically accused Kasker of sending out those circulars," said
Mary Louise, "and his defense was very lame and unconvincing. Listen,
Grand'pa, to what he said. I took the speech down in shorthand, and
that worried him, I'm sure."

The colonel listened and shook his head gravely.

"Yes, Jake Kasker talks too much," he confessed, "and much that