Instantly the terrible truth flashed upon Sherry that this woman believed her a thief, and it roused all her strength and courage. Springing to her feet and confronting her foe, she began: “And do you dare insinuate that I took the things knowingly and meant to carry them off? It is a fitting end to all the little mean tyrannies you have heaped upon me ever since I came. I have tried my best to serve you well, and you reward me by intimating that I am a thief. Oh, I can’t bear it. Will no one stand between me and this dreadful woman?” She was terribly excited, and her hands went up, beating the air frantically for a moment; then she stretched them toward Alex., as if asking for help, which he promptly gave. Taking her hands in his, he turned to Mrs. Groves and exclaimed: “Woman, leave this room at once, and never again be guilty of such an insinuation against Miss Sherman.” And Mrs. Groves left, so astonished and shocked that she fairly ran through the hall to her own room, where she sat down more shaken up than she had ever been in her life. Was the world turning topsy-turvy and she turning with it? And was Alex. Marsh crazy, and why should that girl dare to talk so to her, Mrs. Groves, matron of Maplehurst, whom all the servants held in awe, if not in fear? What did it mean? She heard what it meant when Amy came to her after the interview with Sherry was over. “Well, I never!” Mrs. Groves exclaimed, when the story came to an end. “Been masquerading as somebody else, has she? Do you call that honest and aboveboard?” Amy had undertaken Sherry’s championship, and she meant to carry it through. “Certainly,” she replied. “She told you her name was Fanny Sherman, from Buford, didn’t she?” “Yes,” Mrs. Groves admitted rather reluctantly, and Amy continued: “That was true, and if she wished to hire out as a waitress she had a right to do so. She has made a good one, and I am sorry for her. We are all sorry.” Mrs. Groves dared not say to Amy all that was in her mind. She did not like Sherry, and she did not mean to like her if she belonged to a hundred good families and Craig Saltus had known her all her life. But she was quelled, and with her head high in the air excused herself, as she must see to some of her household affairs. “I hope the girl is not going to be sick here. The land knows we have enough to do, and we are awful short with her being off.” Amy did not reply, and Mrs. Groves departed for the kitchen, talking to herself as she sometimes did when excited. Returning to Sherry’s room, Amy began to fold up the dress, which still lay upon the bed, and as she did so she said to Sherry: “May I ask why you are so interested in the chest?” Sherry hesitated, and then replied, “Because I think it belongs to Katy and me.” “Belongs to you!” Amy repeated. “What do you mean?”