Things were wrong somehow, and it seemed to him that 'if
only we could have universal suffrage--'
Sidney was only eighteen, and strong in juvenile Radicalism, but he
had a fund of common sense, and such a conclusion as this of poor
John's half-astonished, half-amused him. However, the man's
personality attracted him; it was honest, warm-hearted, interesting;
the logic of his pleadings might be at fault, but Sidney sympathised
with him, for all that. He too felt that 'things were wrong
somehow,' and had a pleasure in joining the side of revolt for
revolt's sake.
Now in the same house with them dwelt a young woman of about
nineteen years old; she occupied a garret, was seldom seen about,
and had every appearance of being a simple, laborious girl, of the
kind familiar enough as the silent victims of industrialism. One day
the house was thrown into consternation by the news that Miss
Barnes--so she was named--had been arrested on a charge of stealing
her employer's goods. It was true, and perhaps the best way of
explaining it will be to reproduce a newspaper report which Sidney
Kirkwood thereafter preserved.
'On Friday, Margaret Barnes, nineteen, a single woman, was indicted
for stealing six jackets, value 5_l_.
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