The firm of Speigelheim & Co., makers of boys' caps, occupied onefloor of the building, fifty feet in width and some eighty feetin depth. It was a place rather dingily lighted, the darkestportions having incandescent lights, filled with machines andwork benches. At the latter laboured quite a company of girlsand some men. The former were drabby-looking creatures, stainedin face with oil and dust, clad in thin, shapeless, cottondresses and shod with more or less worn shoes. Many of them hadtheir sleeves rolled up, revealing bare arms, and in some cases,owing to the heat, their dresses were open at the neck. Theywere a fair type of nearly the lowest order of shop-girls--careless, slouchy, and more or less pale from confinement. Theywere not timid, however; were rich in curiosity, and strong indaring and slang.