It
ended with "Oh, if I could just see you, and kiss you, and put
my arms round you, Mamma, I'd be willing to die!"
This letter was dispatched the next morning by Mr. Van Brunt;
and Ellen waited and watched with great anxiety for his return
from Thirlwall in the afternoon.
CHAPTER XV.
Mother earth rather than aunt Fortune.
The afternoon was already half spent when Mr. Van Brunt's ox-
cart was seen returning. Ellen was standing by the little gate
that opened on the chip-yard; and with her heart beating
anxiously, she watched the slow-coming oxen; — how slowly they
came! At last they turned out of the lane, and drew the cart
up the ascent; and stopping beneath the apple tree, Mr. Van
Brunt leisurely got down, and flinging back his whip, came to
the gate. But the little face that met him there quivering
with hope and fear made his own quite sober. "I'm really _very_
sorry, Miss Ellen" — he began.
That was enough. Ellen waited to hear no more, but turned
away, the cold chill of disappointment coming over her heart.
She had borne the former delays pretty well, but this was one
too many, and she felt sick. She went round to the front
stoop, where scarcely ever anybody came, and sitting down on
the steps, wept sadly and despairingly.
It might have been half an hour or more after, that the
kitchen door slowly opened, and Ellen came in.
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