A few more such shrieks and--people will begin to wonder."
Without so much as a glance at Esther she passed on to her own room.
"Don't mind her!" The indignant girl tried to draw the trembling woman
close. But Aunt Amy cowered away. Five minutes had undone the work of
weeks. All the doctor's carefully laid foundations were crumbling.
Esther, wrung with pity and remorse, stroked the grey hair in silence.
She expected an outbreak of childish tears, but it did not come. Rather,
the shivering grew less and presently Aunt Amy raised her head.
"It was she--Mary--who took it?" she asked in a whisper.
"Yes. But remember I have promised to get it back."
Aunt Amy looked at her blankly. She did not seem to hear.
"I never guessed it was Mary. Never! But now I know. I'll never be
fooled again."
"Know what?" asked Esther uneasily. There was a look in Aunt Amy's eyes
which she disliked, a sly, cool look--more nearly mad than any look she
had ever surprised there. "Tell me what it is that you know," she
repeated coaxingly.
But Aunt Amy would not tell.
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