"His school? it's a mile or so the other side of my house."
"And how far is it from your house to Aunt Fortune's?"
"A good deal better than two mile; but we'll be there before long. You ain't tired, be you?"
"No," said Ellen. But this reminder gave a new turn to her thoughts, and her spirits were suddenly checked. Her former brisk and springing step changed to so slow and lagging a one, that Mr. Van Brunt more than once repeated his remark that he saw she was tired.
If it was that, Ellen grew tired very fast; she lagged more and more as they neared the house, and at last fell quite behind, and allowed Mr. Van Brunt to go in first.
Miss Fortune was busy about the breakfast, and as Mr. Van Brunt afterwards described it, "looking as if she could have bitten off a ten-penny nail," and, indeed, as if the operation would have been rather gratifying than otherwise. She gave them no notice at first, bustling to and fro with great energy, but all of a sudden she brought up directly in front of Ellen, and said
"Why didn't you come home last night?"
The words were jerked out rather than spoken.
"I got wet in the brook," said Ellen, "and Mrs. Van Brunt was so kind as to keep me."
"Which way did you go out of the house yesterday?"