Gem works as an all-round domestic help for Mrs. Appleby in the sugar Estate compound. Mistress has given her a brand new pair of beautiful blue shoes that her sister sent from England, but which were much too big for her. They fit Gem perfectly and match her new dress too. She will wear them to the jump-up at the dance hall on Saturday night. She hopes to dazzle the girls who unkindly call her large feet ‘paddy mashers’.