he says
is disloyal to our government and calculated to do much harm,
especially if widely circulated. This is no time to criticise the men
who are working hard to win the war; we should render them faithful
support. The task before us is difficult and it will require a united
country to defeat our enemies. I must talk to Jake Kasker."

"Won't it be better to let the authorities deal with him?" suggested
the girl. "They're certain to get him, in time, if he goes on this way.
I believe I frightened him a bit this afternoon, but he's too dull to
take warning. Anyhow, I shall relate the whole interview to Chief
Farnum to-morrow morning."

This she did, but the Chief gave her little satisfaction.

"No one pays any attention to Kasker," he said.

"He's a German, and a traitor!" she insisted. "A woman's intuition is
seldom at fault, and I'm convinced he's responsible for this latest and
most dreadful circular," and she laid it before him.

"A girl's intuition is not as mature as a woman's intuition," the Chief
answered in an impatient tone. "You force me to say, my dear young
lady, that you are dabbling in affairs that do not concern you. I've
plenty of those circulars on file and I'm attending to my duty and
keeping an eye open for the rascal who wrote them. But there is no
proof that Kasker is the man. The federal officers are also
investigating the case, and I imagine they will not require your
assistance."

Mary Louise flushed but stood her ground.

"Isn't it the duty of every patriotic person to denounce a traitor?"
she inquired.

"Yes, if there is proof. I think you are wrong about Kasker, but if you
are able to bring me proof, I'll arrest him and turn him over to the
federal agents for prosecution. But, for heaven's sake, don't bother me
with mere suspicions."

Mary Louise did not accept this rebuke graciously. She went away with
the feeling that Chief Farnum was, for some reason, condoning a crime,
and she was firmly resolved to obtain the required proof if it could be
secured without subjecting herself to the annoyance of such rebuffs as
the one she had just endured.

"We ought not to permit such a snake in the grass to exist in dear old
Dorfield," she told her girl associates. "Let us all try to discover
absolute proof of Kasker's treachery."

The other Liberty Girls were as indignant as Mary Louise, but were too
intent on their present duties to pay much attention to Jake Kasker.
For the Liberty Gir