“Let me go with you,” Penny said, taking Sally by the arm.
Without conversation, they made their way between the long rows of machines to the locker room. There Sally sank down on a bench, burying her face in her hands.
“I’m nervous and upset tonight,” she excused herself. “I can’t seem to get the hang of machine work.”
“Why not give it up? Do you really need the money so badly?”
“No,” Sally admitted truthfully. “I’ve set my heart on a college education, but Pop could raise the money somehow. It’s just that he’s had financial troubles the past year, and I wanted to help out.”
“Some persons aren’t cut out to be factory workers,” Penny resumed. “Do you realize that you nearly lost several of your fingers tonight?”
“Yes,” Sally agreed, her freckled face becoming deadly sober. “I’ll always be grateful to you. What Mr. Gandiss said in his office upset me. I wasn’t thinking of my work.”
“I thought that might be it. Well, forget the entire matter if you can.”
Sally nodded and getting up, drank at the fountain. “I’ll have to go back to work now,” she said with an effort. “First, I’ll get myself a clean hanky.”
With a key which she wore on a string about her neck, the girl opened her locker. On the floor lay a leather jacket that had fallen from its hook.