Yet her teaspoon was not
silver; her knife could not boast of being either sharp or
bright; and her fork was certainly made for anything else in
the world but comfort and convenience, being of only two
prongs, and those so far apart that Ellen had no small
difficulty to carry the potato safely from her plate to her
mouth. It mattered nothing; she was now looking on the bright
side of things, and all this only made her breakfast taste the
sweeter.
Ellen rose from the table when she had finished, and stood a
few minutes thoughtfully by the fire.
"Aunt Fortune," she said at length, timidly, "if you've no
objection, I should like to go and take a good look all
about."
"Oh, yes," said Miss Fortune, "go where you like; I'll give
you a week to do what you please with yourself."
"Thank you, Ma’am," said Ellen, as she ran off for her bonnet;
"a week's a long time. I suppose," thought she, "I shall go to
school at the end of that."
Returning quickly with her white bonnet, Ellen opened the
heavy kitchen door by which she had entered last night, and
went out. She found herself in a kind of long shed. It had
very rough walls and floor, and overhead showed the brown
beams and rafters; two little windows and a door were on the
side. All manner of rubbish lay there, especially at the
further end. There was scattered about and piled up various
boxes, boards, farming and garden tools, old pieces of rope
and sheepskin, old iron, a cheese-press, and what not.
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