As the party were all gathered, it was time to set to work. The fire in the front room was burning up finely now, but Miss Fortune had no idea of having pork-chopping or apple-paring done there. One party was despatched down-stairs into the lower kitchen; the others made a circle round the fire. Every one was furnished with a sharp knife, and a basket of apples was given to each two or three. Now it would be hard to say whether talking or working went on best. Not faster moved the tongues than the fingers; not smoother went the knives than the flow of talk; while there was a constant leaping of quarters of apples from the hands that had prepared them into the bowls, trays, or whatnot, that stood on the hearth to receive them. Ellen had nothing to do: her aunt had managed it so, though she would gladly have shared the work that looked so pretty and pleasant in other people's hands. Miss Fortune would not let her; so she watched the rest and amused herself as well as she could with hearing and seeing; and standing between Alice and Jenny Hitchcock, she handed them the apples out of the basket as fast as they were ready for them. It was a pleasant evening that. Laughing and talking went on merrily; stories were told; anecdotes, gossip, jokes, passed from mouth to mouth; and not one made himself so agreeable, or had so much to do with the life and pleasure of the party, as Alice. Ellen saw it, delighted. The pared apples kept dancing into the bowls and trays; the baskets got empty surprisingly fast; Nancy and Ellen had to run to the barrels in the shed again for fresh supplies. "Do they mean to do all these to-night?" said Ellen to Nancy, on one of these occasions. "I don't know what _they_ mean, I am sure," replied Nancy, diving down into the barrel to reach the apples; "if you had asked me what _Miss Fortune meant_, I might ha' given a guess." "But only look," said Ellen — "only so many done, and all these to do! — Well, I know what 'busy as a bee' means now, if I never did before." "You'll know it better to-morrow, I can tell you." "Why?" "Oh, wait till you see. I wouldn't be you to-morrow for something, though. Do you like sewing?" "Sewing!" said Ellen. But "Girls! girls! — what _are_ you leaving the door open for!" sounded from the kitchen, and they hurried in. " 'Most got through, Nancy?" inquired Bob Lawson. (Miss Fortune had gone downstairs.) "Han't begun to, Mr. Lawson. There's every bit as many to do as there was at your house t'other night." "What on airth does she want with such a sight of 'em," inquired Dan Dennison. "Live on pies and apple-sass till next summer," suggested Mimy Lawson. "That's the stuff for my money!" replied her brother; "taters and apple-sass is my sass in the winter." "It's good those is easy got," said his sister Mary; "the sass is the most of the dinner to Bob, most commonly." "Are they fixing for more apple-sass down-stairs?" Mr. Dennison went on rather drily.