no one to speak to. She stood irresolute in the middle of the
floor. Everybody seemed to be busily engaged with somebody
else; and whenever an opening on one side or another appeared
to promise her an opportunity, it was sure to be filled up
before she could reach it, and, disappointed and abashed, she
would return to her old station in the middle of the floor.
Clerks frequently passed her, crossing the store in all
directions, but they were always bustling along in a great
hurry of business; they did not seem to notice her at all, and
were gone before poor Ellen could get her mouth open to speak
to them. She knew well enough now, poor child! what it was
that made her cheeks burn as they did, and her heart beat as
if it would burst its bounds. She felt confused, and almost
confounded by the incessant hum of voices, and moving crowd of
strange people all around her, while her little figure stood
alone and unnoticed in the midst of them; and there seemed no
prospect that she would be able to gain the ear or the eye of
a single person. Once she determined to accost a man she saw
advancing toward her from a distance, and actually made up to
him for the purpose, but with a hurried bow, and "I beg your
pardon, Miss!" he brushed past. Ellen almost burst into tears.
She longed to turn and run out of the store, but a faint hope
remaining, and an unwillingness to give up her undertaking,
kept her fast. At length one of the clerks in the desk
observed her, and remarked to Mr. St. Clair, who stood by,
"There is a little girl, Sir, who seems to be looking for
something, or waiting for somebody; she has been standing
there a good while." Mr. St. Clair, upon this, advanced to
poor Ellen's relief.