"Not one of the servants, I am sure," said Miss Middleton. "They have lived with us too long for us not to know that they would confess if they were guilty; and who else has been in the house to-day?"
Miss Melissa suddenly started forward.
"Sister Adaline, you forget! Some one—there have been others! Do you not remember?"
"Others? What others?"
"Surely you remember!"
"Melissa, do be more explicit, I beg of you!" cried Miss Joanna. "It is so easy to say what you mean, if you would only try it. Who else has been in the house?"
"Dear Joanna, you are so abrupt! Dorcas, you remember?"
But Miss Dorcas had discovered a mistake in her knitting, and was busy counting.
"Four, five, six, seven," she said aloud, to show them that she could not speak.
"I am astonished that you have the heart to knit, when the Middleton bowl is broken, Dorcas!" exclaimed Miss Joanna. "Melissa, kindly tell us what you mean."