"What would you do?" said Miss Fortune.
Ellen was silent. Her aunt repeated the question in a sharper tone.
"I oughtn't to say what I was going to," said Ellen "I'd rather not."
"I don't care," said Miss Fortune; "you began, and you shall finish it. I will hear what it was."
"I was going to say, if we were all free I would run away."
"Well, that is a beautiful, well-behaved speech! I am glad to have heard it. I admire it very much. Now, what were you doing yesterday up on the Nose? Please to go on wiping. There's a pile ready for you. What were you doing yesterday afternoon?"
Ellen hesitated.
"Were you alone, or with somebody?"
"I was alone part of the time."
"And who were you with the rest of the time?"