Kitty did not think so; he was arching his neck and purring in acknowledgment of Alice's soft touch.
"No, my dear; he is the most sensible of cats, no doubt, but he could by no means understand such an order. No, we must let him trot on after us, and when he gets tired I'll carry him; it won't be the first time, by a good many."
They set off with a quick pace, which the weather forbade them to slacken. It was somewhat as Miss Fortune had said, an ugly afternoon. The clouds hung cold and gray, and the air had a raw chill feeling, that betokened a coming snow. The wind blew strong, too, and seemed to carry the chillness through all manner of wrappers. Alice and Ellen, however, did not much care for it; they walked and ran by turns, only stopping once in a while, when poor Captain's uneasy cry warned them they had left him too far behind. Still he would not submit to be carried, but jumped down whenever Alice attempted it, and trotted on most perseveringly. As they neared the foot of the mountain, they were somewhat sheltered from the wind, and could afford to walk more slowly.
"How is it between you and your aunt Fortune now?" said Alice.
"Oh, we don't get on well at all, Miss Alice, and I don't know exactly what to do. You know I said I would ask her pardon. Well, I did, the same night after I got home, but it was very disagreeable. She didn't seem to believe I was in earnest, and wanted me to tell Mr. Van Brunt that I had been wrong. I thought that was rather hard; but at any rate I said I would; and next morning I did tell him so; and I believe all would have done well if I could only have been quiet; but Aunt Fortune said something that vexed me, and almost before I knew it I said something that vexed her dreadfully. It was nothing very bad, Miss Alice, though I ought not to have said it, and I was sorry two minutes after; but I just got provoked, and what shall I do? for it is so hard to prevent it."
"The only thing I know," said Alice, with a slight smile, "is to be full of that charity which among other lovely ways of showing itself, has this that it is 'not easily provoked.' "
"Then you know one thing, at any rate, that is to be watched and prayed and guarded against; it is no little matter to be acquainted with one's own weak points."