g," said a workman, putting in some
S.P.C.A. receiving boxes, with a grin, while the three children--and
children are always more or less little savages--grinned
sympathetically. But it was a very real sorrow for Daisy's mistress.
There was no reason for alarm; it was only a sprain, caused by her
mistress' catching the animal by the leg when she was giving her a
bath. Her friends were told to take her home, bathe the leg with
warm water, and keep her as quiet as possible. Her mistress, still
with a troubled face, wrapped her carefully in the black shawl she
was wearing, so that only the puppy's little white head and big,
soft eyes peeped out, and the small procession moved away.
In a special feature story designed to show how much more intelligently
the first woman judge in this country could deal with cases of
delinquent girls in the juvenile court than could the ordinary police
court judge, a writer selected several cases that she had disposed of in
her characteristic way. The first case, which follows, he decided could
best be reported _verbatim_, as by that method he could show most
clearly the kindly attitude of the judge in dealing with even the least
appreciative of girls.
The first case brought in the other day was that of a girl of 16,
who hated her home and persisted in running away, sometimes to a
married sister, and sometimes to a friend. She was accompanied by
her mother and older sister, both with determined lower jaws and
faces as hard as flint. She swaggered into the room in an impudent
way to conceal the fact that her bravado was leaving her.
"Ella," said Miss Bartelme, looking up from her desk, "why didn't
you tell me the truth when you came in here the other day? You did
not tell me where you had been. Don't you understand that it is much
easier for me to help you if you speak the truth right away?"
Ella hung her head and said nothing. The older sister scowled at the
girl and muttered something to the mother.
"No," refused the mother, on being questioned. "We don't want
nothing more to do with her."
"Humph," snorted Ella, "you needn't think I want to come back. I
don't want nothing more to do with you, either."
Miss Bartelme often lets the family fight things out among
themselves; for in this way, far more than by definite questioning,
she learns the attitude of the girl
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