This done, Ellen went upstairs to her aunt. Dr. Gibson always came early, and she and her room must be put in apple-pie order first. It was a long and wearisome job. Ellen brought the basin for her to wash her face and hands; then combed her hair and put on her clean cap. That was always the first thing. The next was to make the bed; and for this, Miss Fortune, weak or strong, wrapped herself up and tumbled out upon the floor. When she was comfortably placed again, Ellen had to go through a laborious dusting of the room and all the things in it, even taking a dust-pan and brush to the floor if any speck of dust or crumbs could be seen there. Every rung of every chair must be gone over, though ever so clean; every article put up or put out of the way; Miss Fortune made the most of the little province of housekeeping that was left her; and a fluttering tape escaping through the crank of the door would have put her whole spirit topsy-turvy. When all was to her mind, and not before, she would have her breakfast. Only gruel and biscuit, or toast and tea, or some such trifle, but Ellen must prepare it, and bring it upstairs, and wait till it was eaten. And very particularly it must be prepared, and very faultlessly it must be served, or with an impatient expression of disgust Miss Fortune would send it down again. On the whole Ellen always thought herself happy when this part of her day was well over. When she got down this morning she found the kitchen in nice order, and Nancy standing by the fire in a little sort of pause, having just done her breakfast dishes. "Well!" said Nancy, "what are you going to do now?" "Put away these dishes, and then churn," said Ellen. "My goodness! so you are. What's going to be for dinner, Ellen?" "That's more than I know," said Ellen, laughing. "We have eaten up Mrs. Van Brunt's pie and washed the dish; there's nothing but some cold potatoes." "_That_ won't do," said Nancy. "I tell you what, Ellen, we'll just boil pot for to-day; somebody else will send us something by to-morrow most likely." "I don't know what you mean by 'boil pot,'" said Ellen. "Oh, you don't know everything yet, by half. _I_ know--I'll fix it. You just give me the things, Miss Housekeeper, that's all you've got to do; I want a piece of pork and a piece of beef, and all the vegetables you've got." "All?" said Ellen. "Every soul on 'em. Don't be scared, Ellen; you shall see what I can do in the way of cookery; if you don't like it you needn't eat it. What have you got in the cellar?" "Come and see, and take what you want, Nancy; there is plenty of potatoes and carrots and onions, and beets, I believe; the turnips are all gone." "Parsnips out in the yard, ain't there?" "Yes, but you'll have to do with a piece of pork, Nancy; I don't know anything about beef."