be plump. Now, she recalled with a twinge of envy that the
accused girl had been of an aristocratic slimness of form. "Oh,
did you know her?" she questioned, without any real interest.

Smithson answered with that bland stateliness of manner which was
the fruit of floor-walking politeness.

"Well, I couldn't exactly say I knew her, and yet I might say,
after a manner of speaking, that I did--to a certain extent. You
see, they put her in my department when she first came here to
work. She was a good saleswoman, as saleswomen go. For the
matter of that," he added with a sudden access of energy, "she
was the last girl in the world I'd take for a thief." He
displayed some evidences of embarrassment over the honest feeling
into which he had been betrayed, and made haste to recover his
usual business manner, as he continued formally. "Will you
please let me know when Mr. Gilder arrives? There are one or two
little matters I wish to discuss with him."

"All right!" Sarah agreed briskly, and she hurried on toward the
private office.

The secretary was barely seated at her desk when the violent
opening of the door startled her, and, as she looked up, a cheery
voice cried out:

"Hello, Dad!"

At the same moment, a young man entered, with an air of care-free
assurance, his face radiant. But, as his glance went to the