"A new employee named Sally Barker."
"Good enough, Joe. That ought to take the heat off the others for awhile at least."
The name startled Penny who instantly wondered if one of the speakers might be Sweeper Joe. Confirming her suspicion, the man came out of the inner room a moment later. Seeing her, he stopped short and his jaw dropped.
"What you doin' here?" he demanded gruffly.
"Waiting for Mr. Gandiss," Penny replied. "And you?"
Joe did not answer. Mumbling something, he pushed past her and went off toward the main factory building.
"He's certainly acting as if he deliberately planned to get Sally into trouble," she thought resentfully.
Clayton, the gateman, showed his face a moment later, and he too acted self-conscious. As he checked a car through into the factory grounds, he glanced sideways at Penny, obviously uneasy as to how much she might have overheard.
"Been here long?" he inquired carelessly.
"No, I just came," Penny answered with pretended unconcern. "I'm waiting for my father."
The men did not come immediately. However, as Penny loitered near the gatehouse, she saw Sally Barker hurriedly leaving the factory building.
"Ain't you off early tonight?" the gateman asked as she approached.
"I'm off for good," Sally answered shortly. Her face was tear-stained and she did not try to hide the fact that she had been crying.
"Fired?"
"That's right," Sally replied. "Unjustly too!"
"Shoo, you don't say!" the gateman exclaimed, sympathetically. "What did they give you the can for?"
Sally, in no mood to provide details, went on without answering. Penny ran to overtake her.
"I'll walk with you to the boundaries of the grounds," she said quickly. "Tell me what happened."
"Just what you would expect," Sally shrugged. "They asked me a lot of questions in the personnel office. I told the truth--that I knew nothing about that putrid piece of brass that turned up in my locker! Then they gave me a nice little lecture, and said they were sorry but my services no longer were required. Branded as a thief!"
"Don't take it so hard, Sally," Penny said kindly. "Someone probably planted the brass in your locker."
"Of course! But I can't prove it."
"Why not appeal to Mr. Gandiss? He likes you and--"
"No," Sally said firmly, kicking at a piece of gravel on the driveway, "I'll ask no favors of Mr. Gandiss. He would have me reinstated, no doubt, but it would be too humiliating."
"Do you know of anyone in the factory who dislikes you?"
Sally shook her head. "That's the funny part of it. I'm not acquainted with anyone. I just started in."
"How about Joe the Sweeper?"
"Oh, him!" Sally was scornful. "He caught me in the hall the other day and tried to get fresh. I slapped his face!"
"Then perhaps he was the one that got you into trouble."
"He's too stupid," Sally dismissed the subject.
"I'm not so sure of that," returned Penny thoughtfully.
The girls had reached the street and Sally's bus was in sight.
"What will you do now?" Penny asked hurriedly. "Get a job at another factory?"
"I doubt it," Sally replied, fishing in her pocketbook for a bus token. "I'll help Pop on the River Queen. If I do take another job it won't be until after the sailboat races."
"I'd forgotten about that. When is the race?"
"The preliminary is in a few days--next Friday. The finals are a week later."
"I hope you win," said Penny sincerely. "I'll certainly be on hand to watch."
The bus pulled up at the curb. Swing-shift employes, arriving at the factory for work, crowded past the two girls. Impulsively Sally turned and squeezed Penny's hand.
"I like you," she said with deep feeling. "You've been kind. Will you come to see me sometime while you're here?"
"Of course! I've not brought back those clothes I borrowed yet!"
"I'll look for you," Sally declared warmly. "I feel that you're a real friend."
