circles of a leaden pallor. An assertive, masterful little woman,
born and reared in decent poverty, still Thorny claimed descent from
one of the first families of Maryland, and talked a good deal of her
birth. Her leading characteristic was a determination never, even in
the slightest particular, to allow herself to be imposed upon, and
she gloried in stories of her own success in imposing upon other
people.

Miss Thornton's desk stood at the inner end of the long room,
nearest the door that led out to the "deck," as the girls called the
mezzanine floor beyond, and so nearest the little private office of
Mr. George Brauer, the arrogant young German who was the
superintendent of the Front Office, and heartily detested by every
girl therein.

When Miss Thornton wanted to be particularly annoying to her
associates she would remark casually that "she and Mr. Brauer"
thought this or that, or that "she suggested, and Mr. Brauer quite
agreed" as to something else. As a matter of fact, she disliked him
as much as they did, although she, and any and every girl there,
would really have been immensely pleased and flattered by his
admiration, had he cared to bestow it. But George Brauer's sea-blue
eyes never rested for a second upon any Front Office girl with
anything but annoyed responsibility. He kept his friendships
severely remote from the walls of Hunter, Baxter & Hunter, and was
suspected of social ambitions, and of distinguished, even noble
connections in the Fatherland.

This morning Miss Thornton and Mr. Brauer had had a conference, as
the lady called it, immediately after his arrival at nine o'clock,