"
"You hadn't ought to ha' let her go, Ma'am, in all this sun,"
said Miss Lowndes.
"I declare," said Mrs. Lowndes, "she scared me so, I hadn't
three idees left in my head. I wish I knew where she was,
though, poor little soul!"
Ellen was far on her way to the mountain, pressed forward by a
fear that knew no stay of heat or fatigue: they were little to
her that day. She saw nothing on her way; all within and
without were swallowed up in that one feeling; yet she dared
not think what it was she feared. She put that by. Alice knew:
Alice would tell her; on that goal her heart fixed, to that
she pressed on; but oh! the while, what a cloud was gathering
over her spirit, and growing darker and darker! Her hurry of
mind and hurry of body made each other worse; it must be so;
and when she at last ran round the corner of the house and
burst in at the glass door, she was in a frightful state.
Alice started up and faced her as she came in, but with a look
that stopped Ellen short. She stood still; the colour in her
cheeks, as her eyes read Alice's, faded quite away; words, and
the power to speak them were gone together. Alas! the need to
utter them was gone too. Alice burst into tears, and held out
her arms, saying only, "My poor child!" Ellen reached her
arms, and strength and spirit seemed to fail there. Alice
thought she had fainted; she laid her on the sofa, called
Margery, and tried the usual things, weeping bitterly herself
as she did so.
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