"Good morning!" said he. "How d'ye do to-day?"
"Very well, Mr. Van Brunt."
"I wish you'd look a little redder in the face. Don't you be too busy. Where's Nancy?"
"Oh, she's busy, out with the clothes."
"Same as ever upstairs? What are you going to do for breakfast, Ellen?"
"I don't know, Mr. Van Brunt; there isn't anything cooked in the house; we have eaten everything up."
"Cleaned out, eh? Bread and all?"
"Oh, no, not bread; there's plenty of that, but there's nothing else."
"Well never mind; you bring me a ham and a dozen of eggs, and I'll make you a first-rate breakfast."
Ellen laughed, for this was not the first time Mr. Van Brunt had acted as cook for the family. While she got what he had asked for, and bared a place on the table for his operations, he went to the spout and washed his hands.