"So they have in Egypt, for anything I know," said her aunt; "one would be about as much good now as t'other. Mrs. Lowndes that ain't far off. Put on your bonnet, Ellen, and run over there, and ask her to let me have a little bees'-wax. I'll pay her in something she likes best."
"Does Mrs. Lowndes keep bee-hives?" said Ellen, doubtfully.
"No; she makes the bees'-wax herself," said Miss Fortune, in the tone she always took when anybody presumed to suppose she might be mistaken in anything.
"How much shall I ask for?" said Ellen.
"Oh, I don't know a pretty good piece."
Ellen was not very clear what quantity this might mean. However, she wisely asked no more questions, and set out upon her walk. It was hot and disagreeable; just the time of day when the sun had most power, and Mrs. Lowndes' house was about half-way on the road to Alice's. It was not a place where Ellen liked to go, though the people always made much of her; she did not fancy them, and regularly kept out of their way when she could. Miss Mary Lawson was sitting with Mrs. Lowndes and her daughter, when Ellen came in and briefly gave her aunt's message.
"Bees'-wax," said Mrs. Lowndes "well, I don't know How much does she want?"
"I don't know, Ma'am, exactly: she said a pretty good piece."
"What's it for, do you know, honey?"
"I believe it's to put in some tallow for candles," said
Ellen; "the tallow was too soft, she said."