On the
right hand of the door was the cupboard, and a short range of
shelves, which held in ordinary all sorts of matters for the
table, both dishes and eatables. Floor and shelves were well
painted with thick yellow paint, hard and shining, and clean
as could be; and there was a faint pleasant smell of dairy
things.
Ellen did not find out all this at once, but in the course of
a day or two, during which her visits to the buttery were
many. Miss Fortune kept her word, and found her plenty to do;
Ellen's life soon became a pretty busy one. She did not like
this at all; it was a kind of work she had no love for; yet no
doubt it was a good exchange for the miserable moping life she
had lately led. Any thing was better than that. One concern,
however, lay upon poor Ellen's mind with pressing weight — her
neglected studies and wasted time; for no better than wasted
she counted it. "What shall I do?" she said to herself, after
several of these busy days had passed; "I am doing nothing — I
am learning nothing — I shall forget all I have learnt
directly. At this rate, I shall not know any more than all
these people around me; and what _will_ Mamma say? — Well, if I
can't go to school, I know what I will do," she said, taking a
sudden resolve — "I'll study by myself! I'll see what I can
do; it will be better than nothing, any way. I'll begin this
very day!"
With new life Ellen sprang up stairs to her room, and
forthwith began pulling all the things out of her trunk to get
at her books.
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