As Sally picked it up, a heavy object slipped from one of the pockets, thudding against the tin of the locker floor.
She stooped quickly to retrieve it, and then, embarrassed, tried to shield the article from view. But she could not hide it from Penny who stood directly behind. The object that had fallen from the jacket was a small coupling of brass!
CHAPTER
8
OVERHEARD IN THE GATEHOUSE
“Why, where did that come from?” Sally murmured as she fingered the piece of metal. “I never put it in my locker.”
Confused, she raised bewildered eyes to Penny. Just then the locker room door opened and a forelady came in. Miss Grimley’s keen gaze fastened upon the brass coupling in Sally’s hand. Awkwardly, the girl tried to hide it in a fold of her slacks.
“What do you have?” the forelady asked, moving like a hawk toward the girls.
“Why, nothing,” Sally stammered.
“Isn’t that a piece of brass?” Miss Grimley demanded. “Where did you get it?”
“I found it in my locker.”
“In your locker!”