Page:Girls of Central High on the Stage.djvu/40

30 must have nudged that purse off the counter with my elbow. I—I My dear girl! will you forgive me?"

She stepped forward and opened her arms to Jess. She was not only a well dressed lady, but she was a handsome one, and her smile, when she chose to allow it to appear, was winning. The anger and indignation Jess had felt began to melt before this apology and the lady's frank manner.

"I—I suppose it was a natural mistake," stammered Jess.

"Not if she'd known you, Miss Jess," Griff said, quite sharply for him. "Nobody who knew you or your mother would have accused you of taking a penny's worth that didn't rightfully belong to you."

Jess, whose heart was still sore from the blow she had received at Mr. Closewick's grocery, thought this was very kind of Griff. And they owed his father, too! If there were tears standing in her eyes they were tears of gratitude.

"You see, my dear," said the lady, her voice very pleasant indeed now, "I did not know you as well as young Mr. Vandergriff seems to."

"We—we go to school together," explained Jess, weakly, and found herself drawn into the arms of the lady.