Madeline by Mary Jane Holmes

Mrs. Noah, the housekeeper, at Aikenside, was slicing vegetable oysters for the nice little dish intended for her own supper, when the head of Sorrel came around the corner of the building, followed by the square-boxed wagon, containing Grandpa Markham, who, bewildered by the beauty and spaciousness of the grounds, and wholly uncertain as to where he ought to stop, had driven over the smooth-gravelled road round to the side kitchen door, Mrs. Noah's special domain, and as sacred to her as Betsey Trotwood's patch of green.

"In the name of wonder, what codger is that? and what is he doing here? " was Mrs. Noah's exclamation, as she dropped the bit of salsify she was scraping, and hurrying to the door, she called out, "I say, you, sir, what made you drive up here, when I've said over and over again, that I wouldn't have wheels tearing up my turf and gravel?"