Page:Side talks with girls (1895).djvu/217

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The Mantle of Charity
205

and the noise of that sin is heard far and wide, and there is no one to speak. Immediately under my own eye something happened not long ago that proved how utterly foolish it was to judge people without proof, and, indeed, how sinful it was to judge them at all. A young woman at a watering-place lost a brooch; she declared it was stolen, and insisted that she believed it to have been taken, not by some of the servants, but by some of the young girls in the house who had frequently visited her room and admired her jewels. She did not openly accuse these girls, but whispered her accusation until three of them found themselves almost ostracized. She went away, and after her departure one of these girls appeared, wearing, as it was said, the stolen pin. This was house gossip for a week, and at the end of that time a woman declared her intention to speak to the girl. She asked her where she got the pin. The girl told her it had been sent to her by her father for a birthday gift. She was then told that it was believed that she was a thief. Her father was telegraphed for, and when he discovered the state of affairs he had a detective brought. While a close search was being made a letter arrived from the woman who had lost the pin. In it she said: "I forgot to tell you, but three weeks ago I found my brooch hidden away among some lace just where I had put it