the first time she has been caught at it," corrected the head
of the store detectives.

"It is my weakness," sobbed the girl. "Sometimes an irresistible
impulse to steal comes over me. I just can't help it."

She was sobbing convulsively. As she talked and listened there seemed
to come a complete breakdown. She wept as though her heart would break.

"Oh," exclaimed the man, "can it! Cut out the sob stuff!"

"And yet," mused Constance half to herself, watching the girl closely,
"when one walks through the shops and sees thousands of dollars' worth
of goods lying unprotected on the counters, is it any wonder that some
poor woman or girl should be tempted and fall? There, before her eyes
and within her grasp, lies the very article above all others which she
so ardently craves. No one is looking. The salesgirl is busy with
another customer. The rest is easy. And then the store detective steps
in--and here she is--captured."

The girl had been listening wildly through her tears. "Oh," she sobbed,
"you don't understand--none of you. I don't crave anything. I--I
just--can't help it--and then, afterwards--I--I HATE the stuff--and I
am so--afraid. I hurry home--and I--oh, what shall I do--what shall I
do?"

Constance pitied her deeply. She looked from the wild-eyed,
tear-stained face to the miscellaneous pile of material on the table,
and the unwinking gaze of the store detectives. True, the girl had
taken a very valuable diamond ring, and from herself. But the laces,
the trinkets, all were abominably cheap, not worth risking anything for.

Constance's attention was recalled by the man who beckoned her aside to
talk to the salesgirl who had waited on her.

"You remember seeing this lady at the counter?" he asked of the girl.
She nodded. "And that woman in there?" he motioned. Again the salesgirl
nodded.

"Do you remember anything else that happened?" he asked Constance as
they faced Kitty Carr and he handed Constance the ring.

Constance looked the detective squarely in the face for a moment.

"I have my ring. You have the other stuff," she murmured. "Besides,
there is no record against her. She doesn't even look like a
professional bad character. No--I'll not appear to press the
charge--I'll make it as hard as I can before I'll do it," she added
positively.

The woman, who had overheard, looked her gratitude. The detectives were
preparing to argue. Constance hardly knew what she was saying, as she
hurried on befo