with him, for all that. He too felt that 'things were wrong
somehow,' and had a pleasure in joining the side of revolt for
revolt's sake.

Now in the same house with them dwelt a young woman of about
nineteen years old; she occupied a garret, was seldom seen about,
and had every appearance of being a simple, laborious girl, of the
kind familiar enough as the silent victims of industrialism. One day
the house was thrown into consternation by the news that Miss
Barnes--so she was named--had been arrested on a charge of stealing
her employer's goods. It was true, and perhaps the best way of
explaining it will be to reproduce a newspaper report which Sidney
Kirkwood thereafter preserved.

'On Friday, Margaret Barnes, nineteen, a single woman, was indicted
for stealing six jackets, value 5_l_., the property of Mary Oaks,
her mistress. The prisoner, who cried bitterly during the
proceedings, pleaded guilty. The prosecutrix is a single woman, and
gets her living by mantle-making, She engaged the prisoner to do
what is termed "finishing off," that is, making the button-holes and
sewing on the buttons. The prisoner was also employed to fetch the
work from the warehouse, and deliver it when finished. On September
7th her mistress sent her with the six jackets, and she never
returned. Sergeant Smith, a detective, who apprehended the prisoner,
said he had made inquiries in the case, and found that up to this
time the prisoner had borne a good character as an honest,
hard-working girl. She had quitted her former lodgings, which had no
furniture but a small table and a few rags in a corner, and he
discovered her in a room which was perfectly bare. Miss Oaks was
examined, and said the prisoner was employed from nine in the