[Sidenote: Theft]
It was the closing day of the school year in a Chicago ward school. The
manual training department was left open in order that those who had not
taken home their last piece of handiwork might get it as they left the
schoolhouse that day. Mr. Ireland, the director in this department, had
an errand on the floor above, so he called to two boys, Julius and
Henry, and said, “Boys, stay here till I come back, will you? Don’t let
anyone take anything out of the room while I’m gone.” “All right,” they
replied.
Footnote 3:
Osborne, _Society and Prisons_, p. 155. Yale Press.
Half an hour later Charles went to the room to get his finished
bird-house, and behold, it was gone! Julius and Henry joined Charles and
Mr. Ireland in the search. The bird-house was simply not in the room.
Mr. Ireland pointed out the exact spot where he left it. Julius and
Henry confessed to having seen it there, but said they knew nothing
about how it got away.
Mr. Ireland offered to make Charles a new bird-house, but Charles would
not accept the offer. Mr. Ireland gave his ’phone number to Julius and
Henry, telling them if they heard of the bird-house to let him know. He
also promised to let Charles know if anything was heard of it, and thus
dismissed the matter. Charles felt keenly that Mr. Ireland had taken the
whole matter too lightly. Nothing whatever was said about the
disobedience of Julius and Henry after promising to guard the room.