"I am," said Mrs. Hopkins, shortly, "and you have been."
"I!" protested Sam, innocently. "Why, I was sound asleep when you came in. I don't know what's been goin on. Is it time to get up?"
"What have you been doing downstairs?" demanded Mrs. Hopkins, sternly.
"Who says I've been downstairs?" asked Sam.
"I'm sure you have. I heard you."
"It must have been somebody else."
"There is no one else to go down. Neither the deacon nor myself has been down."
"Likely it's thieves."
But Mrs. Hopkins felt convinced, from Sam's manner, that he was the offender, and she determined to make him confess it.
"Get up," she said, "and go down with me."