With an impatient gesture, her aunt snatched the box from her hand, pushed Ellen out of the buttery, and shut the door. The old lady kissed and fondled her, as if she had done what she had only tried to do; smoothed down her hair, praising its beauty, and whispered
"Never mind, deary you'll read to Grandma, won't you?"
It cost Ellen no effort now. With the beginning of kind offices to her poor old parent, kind feeling had sprung up fast; instead of disliking and shunning, she had begun to love her.
There was no dinner for any one this day. Mr. and Mrs. Van Brunt came to an early tea; after which, Ellen was sent to dress herself, and Mr. Van Brunt to get some pieces of board for the meat-choppers. He came back presently with an armful of square bits of wood; and sitting down before the fire, began to whittle the rough sawn ends over the hearth. His mother grew nervous. Miss Fortune bore it as she would have borne it from no one else, but vexation was gathering in her breast for the first occasion. Presently, Ellen's voice was heard singing down the stairs.
"I'd give something to stop that child's pipe!" said Miss Fortune; "she's eternally singing the same thing over and over something about 'a charge to keep' I'd a good notion to give her a charge to keep this morning; it would have been to hold her tongue."
"That would have been a public loss, I think," said Mr. Van
Brunt, gravely.
"Well, you are making a precious litter!" said the lady, turning short upon him.
"Never mind," said he, in the same tone "it's nothing but what the fire'll burn up, anyhow; don't worry yourself about it."
Just as Ellen came in, so did Nancy by the other door.
"What are you here for?" said Miss, Fortune with an ireful face.