t doubt, something was wrong. The forewoman
rather surmised what the trouble was and smiled behind the shelter of
her newspaper. She knew these girls and was quite sure that the
difficulty, whatever it was, would be brought to her for settlement. As
she had said to Julie, she loved her girls, and they in turn loved and
trusted her.

In this instance she had not long to wait. Presently the girls cast
aside napkins and lunch boxes and moved toward the corner of the room
where their forewoman was waiting. She watched their approach in smiling
silence. Slightly in advance of the others came a small, impetuous
figure, a painfully thin, cross-eyed girl of fifteen, whose abundant
crop of freckles had earned for her the sobriquet of "Speckles." She had
answered to that name for so long now that she had almost forgotten she
ever owned any other. She was impulsive, good-hearted, and a general
favorite in spite of her rather sharp little tongue. Rushing up to the
forewoman's desk, she said excitedly:

"Miss Merton, it can't be true, what Louise has just been telling us,
that you are going to let that horrid Julie Benoit come back again. You
surely wouldn't take her back, would you, Miss Merton?"

"Yes, it is perfectly true," replied the forewoman calmly. "Julie will
return to us next Monday, and I hope all my girls will do everything
they can to make her feel that we are glad to have her back."

"But we're not glad. We don't want her back," cried one girl.

"Why it's impossible after what she did," added another.

"I, for one, wouldn't work in the same room with a girl like that," said
a third, with a toss of her head. "I wouldn't dare leave any of my
belongings out of my sight for a single instant."

"That's just the trouble," chimed several all at once. "We wouldn't feel
safe for a moment knowing there was a thief amongst us."

During this outburst the forewoman sat quietly watching the indignant
faces before her. Then she said very gravely:

"Girls, I think we all misjudged Julie, and really almost owe her an
apology. I have asked her pardon, and though I do not expect you to do
the same, I do ask you to receive her back with kindness."

"Misjudged her! Apology!" gasped Speckles. "She took that money, didn't
she?"

"Yes."

"And a person who takes money that belongs to someone else is a thief,
isn't she?"

"Yes, certainly."

"Well then, I say a thief is a thief, and I don't see where any
misjudging comes in," a