"Yes, sir," with increasing agitation.
"Well, what did you do there?"
"Has he told on me, your Honor?" she gasped, with a sudden flood of tears.
"What he has done is no concern of yours. You are under oath to tell the whole truth. There was a single gas-jet burning in the covered passage-way, was there not?"
"Yes, sir," sobbing violently.
"Has Miss Mildred Jocelyn ever wronged you?"
"N—no, sir, not that I know of."
"Now tell me just what occurred under that gas-jet."
"I'll tell your Honor the whole truth," the girl burst out, "if your Honor'll let me off this time. It's my first offence, and we're poor, and I was driven to it by need, and he promised me that Miss Jocelyn wouldn't suffer anything worse than a warning to find another place."
Believing that her accomplice had betrayed her, she told the whole story without any concealment, fully exonerating Mildred. Although the judge maintained his stern, impassive aspect throughout the scene, he hugely enjoyed the floor-walker's dismay and confusion, and his tortured inability to warn the girl to deny everything.