"Oh, yes," said Ellen, smiling; "Margery showed me nicely."
He brought her a pail of water from the spout, and stood by with a pleased kind of look, while she carefully lifted the cover and rinsed down the little bits of butter which stuck to it and the dasher; took out the butter with her ladle into a large wooden bowl, washed it, and finally salted it.
"Don't take too much pains," said he; "the less of the hand it gets, the better. That will do very well."
"Now, are you ready?" said Nancy, coming down stairs, "cause dinner is. My goodness! ain't that a fine lot of butter? there's four pounds, ain't there?"
"Five," said Mr. Van Brunt.
"And as sweet as it can be," said Ellen. "Beautiful, isn't it? Yes, I'm ready as soon as I set this in the cellar and cover it up."
Nancy's dish the pork, potatoes, carrots, beets, and cabbage, all boiled in the same pot together was found very much to everybody's taste, except Ellen's. She made her dinner off potatoes and bread, the former of which she declared, laughing, were very porky and cabbagy; her meal would have been an extremely light one, had it not been for the custard- pie.
After dinner, new labours began. Nancy had forgotten to hang on a pot of water for the dishes; so, after putting away the eatables in the buttery, while the water was heating, Ellen warmed some gruel, and carried it, with a plate of biscuit, upstairs to her aunt. But Miss Fortune said she was tired of gruel, and couldn't eat it; she must have some milk porridge; and she gave Ellen very particular directions how to make it. Ellen sighed only once as she went down with her despised dish of gruel, and set about doing her best to fulfil her aunt's wishes. The first dish of milk she burnt; another sigh and another trial; better care this time had better success, and Ellen had the satisfaction to see her aunt perfectly suited with her dinner.
When she came down with the empty bowl, Nancy had a pile of dishes ready washed, and Ellen took the towel to dry them. Mrs. Montgomery, who had been in an uncommonly quiet fit all day, now laid down her knitting, and asked if Ellen would not come and read to her.
"Presently, Grandma, as soon as I have done here."