couldswearoffonthatkindofdissipationforawhile，butI
guess，judgin’bythelooksofthatparsonage，whatI’vedonesofarisonlypractice。“Shepaused，glancedkeenlyatherfriendandasked：“Why！what’sthematter？Youdon’tactnighsogladasIthoughtyou’dbe。“
Gracesaidofcourseshewasglad；butshelookedtroubled，nevertheless。
“Icanhardlymakeitseempossible，“shesaid。“Isitreallysettled——yoursalaryandeverything？AndwhatwillyoudoaboutyourpositioninBoston？“
“Oh，I’llwriteCousinAbnerandtellhim。Lordloveyou，HEwon’tcare。He’llfeelthathedidhisdutyingettin’metheBostonchanceandifIdon’ttakeit’tain’thisfault。HISconscience’llbeclear。Landsakes！ifIcouldcleanhouseaseasyassomefolkscleartheirconsciencesIwouldn’thaveabackachethisminute。
Yes，thewagesareagreedon，too。Andtotin’themaroundwon’tmakemybackacheanyworse，either，“sheaddeddrily。
Graceextendedherhand。
“Well，AuntKeziah，“shesaid，“I’meverandeversogladforyou。
Iknowyoudidn’twanttoleaveTrumetandI’msureeveryonewillbedelightedwhentheylearnthatyou’regoingtostay。“
“Humph！thatincludesLavinyPepper，ofcourse。Ical’lateLaviny’sdelightwon’tkeepherupnights。ButIguessIcanstanditifshecan。Now，Grace，whatisit？YouAIN’Trealpleased？
Whynot？“
Thegirlhesitated。
“Auntie，“shesaid，“I’mselfish，Iguess。I’mgladforyoursake；
youmustn’tthinkI’mnot。ButIalmostwishyouweregoingtodosomethingelse。YouaregoingtoliveintheRegularparsonageandkeephousefor，ofallpersons，aRegularminister。Why，sofarasmyseeingyouisconcerned，youmightaswellbeinChina。YouknowUncleEben。“
Keziahnoddedunderstandingly。
“Yes，“shesaid，“Iknowhim。EbenHammondthinksthatparsonageisthepresencechamberoftheEvilOne，Ipresumelikely。But，Grace，youmustn’tblameme，andifyoudon’tcallI’llknowwhyandIshan’tblameyou。We’llseeeachotheronceinawhile；I’lltakecareofthat。And，deary，IHADtodoit——Ijusthadto。Ifyouknewwhataloadhadbeentookoffmymindbythis，you’dsympathizewithmeandunderstand。I’vebeenhappierinTrumetthanIeverwasanywhereelse，thoughI’veseensomedarktimeshere，too。Iwasbornhere；myfolksusedtolivehere。MybrotherSollivedanddiedhere。Hisdeathwasaheavytroubletome，buttheheaviestcametomewhenIwassomewhereselseand——
well，somehowI’vehadafeelin’that，iftherewasanyrealjoyseverplannedoutformewhileI’monthisearth，they’dcometomehere。Idon’tknowwhenthey’llcome。There’stimeswhenIcan’tbelievetheyeverwillcome，but——There！there！everybodyhastobearburdensinthislife，Ical’late。It’savaleoftears，’cordin’toyouCome-Outerfolks，thoughI’veneverseenmuchgoodinwearin’alongfaceandacrapebathin’suitonthataccount。
Hey？Whatareyoulistenin’to？“
“IthoughtIheardacarriagestop，thatwasall。“
Mrs。Coffinwenttothewindowandpeeredintothefog。
“Can’tseeanything，“shesaid。“’Tain’tanybodyforhere，that’ssure。Iguesslikely’twasCap’nElkanah。HeandAnnabelweregoin’todriveovertoDenborothisafternoon。Shehadsometrimmin’tobuy。TakesmorethanfogtoseparateAnnabelDanielsfromdressmakin’。Well，there’salittlemorepackin’todo；thenIthoughtI’dgodowntothatparsonageandtakeawhackatthecobwebs。Ineversawsomanyinmyborndays。You’dthinkallthespidersfromheretoOstablehadbeenholdin’campmeetin’inthatshut-uphouse。“
Thepackingtookaboutanhour。Whenitwasfinished，thecarpetrolledup，andthelastpieceoflinenplacedintheoldtrunk，Keziahturnedtoherguest。
“Now，Gracie，“shesaid，“IfeelasthoughIoughttogototheparsonage。Ican’tdomuchmore’nlookatthecobwebsto-night，butto-morrowthosespidershadbetterputontheirascensionrobes。Theendoftheworld’scomin’forthem，eventhoughitmissedfirefortheMilleriteswhentheyhadtheirdoin’safewyearsago。Youcanstayhereandwait，if’twon’tbetoolonesome。
We’llhavesupperwhenIgetback。“
Gracelookedtempted。
“I’veagoodmindtogowithyou，“shesaid。“IwanttobewithyouasmuchasIcan，andHEisn’tthereyet。I’mafraidunclemightnotlikeit，but——“
“Sho！Comealong。EbenHammondmaybeachronicsuffererfromacuteCome-Outiveness，butheain’taninny。Nobody’llseeyou，anyway。Thisfog’slikecharity，it’llcoveraheapofsins。Docomerightalong。WaittillIgetonmythings。“
Shethrewashawloverhershoulders，drapedawhiteknitted“cloud“overherhead，andtookfromanailakey，attachedbyastrongcordtoablockofwoodeightincheslong。
“Elkanahleftthekeywithme，“sheobserved。“Nodangeroflosin’
it，isthere。Mightaswelllosealumberyard。OldParsonLangleytieditupthisway，sohewouldn’tmisshismoorin’s，I
presumelikely。Thepooroldthingwassonearsightedandabsent-
mindedalongtowardthelastthattheysayheusedtohireNoahMyrick’sboytocomeinandlookhimovereverySundaymornin’
beforechurch，so’stobesurehehadn’tgothiswigonsternforemost。That’sthewayZebMayotellstheyarn，anyhow。“
Theyleftthehouseandcameoutintothewetmist。Then，turningtotheright，inthedirectionwhichTrumet，withunconsciousirony，calls“downtown，“theyclimbedthelongslopewherethemainroadmountstheoutlyingridgeofCannonHill，passedCaptainMayo’sbighouse——thefinestinTrumet，withtheexceptionoftheDanielsmansion——anddescendedintothehollowbeyond。Here，atthecornerwherethe“LighthouseLane“beginsitswindingwayovertherollingknollsanddunestothelightandthefishshantiesonthe“oceanside，“stoodtheplain，straight-up-and-downmeetinghouseoftheRegularsociety。Directlyoppositewasthelittleparsonage，alsoverystraightupanddown。Bothwerepaintedwhitewithgreenblinds。ThisstatementissuperfluoustothosewhorememberCapearchitectureatthisperiod；practicallyeverybuildingfromSandwichtoProvincetownwaswhiteandgreen。
Theyenteredtheyard，throughthegapinthewhitefence，andwentaroundthehouse，pastthedrippingevergreensandthebare，wetlilacbushes，tothesidedoor，thelockofwhichKeziah’skeyfitted。Therewasalockonthefrontdoor，ofcourse，butnoonethoughtofmeddlingwiththat。Thatdoorhadbeenopenedbutonceduringthelatepastor’sthirty-yeartenantry。Ontheoccasionofhisfuneralthemournerscameandwent，aswasproper，bythatsolemnportal。
Mrs。Coffinthrustthekeyintothekeyholeofthesidedoorandessayedtoturnit。
“Humph！“shemuttered，twistingtonopurpose；“Idon’tseewhy——
Thismustbetherightkey，because——Well，Ideclare，ifitain’tunlockedalready！That’ssomeofCap’nElkanah’sdoin’s。Foracritterasfussyandparticularaboutsomethings，he’scarelessenoughaboutothers。Mercyweain’thadanytrampsaroundherelately。Comein。“
Sheledthewayintothediningroomoftheparsonage。TwooftheblindsshadingthewindowsofthatapartmenthadbeenopenedwhensheandCaptainDanielsmadetheirvisit，andthedimgraylightmadetheroommorelonesomeandforsakeninappearancethanadeepergloomcouldpossiblyhavedone。Theblackwalnutextensiontableinthecenter，closedtoitssmallestdimensionsbecauseParsonLangleyhadeatenaloneforsomanyyears；theblackwalnutchairssetbackagainstthewallatregularintervals；theragcarpetandbraidedmats——homemadedonationsfromtheladiesoftheparish——onthegreenpaintedfloor；thedolorouspicturesonthewalls；“DeathofWashington，““StoningofStephen，“andastillmoredeadly“fruitpiece“committedinoilsyearsagobyanowdeceasedboatpainter；ablackwalnutsideboardwithsomeblue-and-
whitecrockeryuponit；agilt-framedmirrorwithanotheroutrageinoilsemphasizingitsupperhalf；dustovereverythingandthecobwebsmentionedbyKeziahdrapingthecornersoftheceiling；
thiswasthediningroomoftheRegularparsonageasGracesawituponthis，herfirstvisit。Thedustandcobwebswere，inhereyes，theonlynovelties，however。Otherwise，theroomwaslikemanyothersinTrumet，and，iftherehadbeenoneortwopaintingsofships，wouldhavebeentypicalofthebetterclass。
“Phew！“exclaimedKeziah，sniffingdisgustedly。“Mustyandshutupenough，ain’tit？Downhereinthedampness，and’speciallyinthespring，itdon’ttakeanytimeforahousetogetmustyifitain’tairedoutregular。Mr。Langleydiedonlythreemonthsago，butwe’vebeencandidatin’eversinceandthecandidateshavebeenboardedround。There’sbeenenoughof’em，too；we’reawfulhardtosuit，Iguess。That’sit。Doopensomemoreblindsandawindow。Freshairdon’thurtanybody——unlessit’sspiders，“withaglareattheloathedcobwebs。
Theblindsandawindowbeingopened，morelightenteredtheroom。
Graceglancedaboutitcuriously。
“Sothisisgoingtobeyournewhomenow，AuntKeziah，“sheobserved。“Howqueerthatseems。“
“Um——h’m。Doesseemqueer，don’tit？Mustseemqueertoyoutobesoneartheheadquartersofeverythingyourunclethinksiswicked。
Smellofbrimstoneany，doesit？“sheaskedwithasmile。
“No，Ihaven’tnoticedit。You’vegotalotofcleaningtodo。I
wishIcouldhelp。Lookatthemudonthefloor。“
Keziahlooked。
“Mud？“sheexclaimed。“Why，so’tis！Howintheworlddidthatcomehere？Wetfeet，sure’syou’reborn。Man’sfoot，too。Cap’nElkanah’s，Iguesslikely；thoughtheprintsdon’tlookhardlybigenoughforhis。Elkanah’sconvincedthathe’sagreatmanandhisbootsbearhimoutinit，don’tthey？Thosemarksdon’tlookbroadenoughforhisunderstandin’，butIguesshemade’em；nobodyelsecould。Here’sthesettin’room。“
Shethrewopenanotherdoor。Aroomgloomywithblackwalnutandfragrantwithcamphorwasdimlyvisible。
“Cheerful’satomb，ain’tit？“wasMrs。Coffin’scomment。“Well，we’llgetsomelightandairinhereprettysoon。Here’sthefronthallandthere’sthefrontstairs。Theparlor’sofftotheleft。
Wewon’tbotherwiththatyetawhile。ThislittleplaceinhereiswhatMr。Langleyusedtocallhis’study。’Halloa！howthisdoorsticks！“
Thedoordidstick，andnoamountoftuggingcouldgetitopen，thoughGraceaddedhereffortstothoseofKeziah。
“’Tain’tlocked，“commentedMrs。Coffin，“causethereain’tanylockonit。Iguessit’sjustswelledandstuckfromthedamp。
Thoughit’sodd，Idon’tremember——Oh，well！nevermind。Let’ssweetenupthissettin’roomalittle。Openawindowortwoinhere。We’llhavetohurryifwewanttodoanythingbeforeitgetsdark。I’mgoin’intothekitchentogetabroom。“
Shehurriedout，returninginamomentortwowithabroomandamostdisgustedexpression。
“How’sabodygoin’tosweepwiththat？“shedemanded，exhibitingthefrayedutensil，thebusinessendofwhichwasworntoastub。
“Morelikeashovel，enoughsight。Well，there’sprettynighdustenoughforashovel，somaybethis’lltakeoffthetoplayers。
S’poseI’llevergetthishousefitforMr。Ellerytoliveinbeforehecomes？Iwonderifhe’saparticularman？“
Grace，whowasstrugglingwitharefractorywindow，pausedforbreath。
“I’msureIdon’tknow，“shereplied。“I’veneverseenhim。“
“NorIeither。SolwassobadtheSundayhepreachedthatI
couldn’tgotomeetin’。Theysayhissermonwasfine；allaboutthosewhogodowntotheseainships。That’swhatgottheparishcommittee，Iguess；they’realloldsalts。Iwonderifhe’sasfine-lookin’astheysay？“
MissVanHornetossedherhead。Shewasresting，priortomakinganotherassaultonthewindow。
“Idon’tknow，“shesaid。“AndI’msureIdon’tcare。Idon’tlikegood-lookingministers。“
“Dearyme！You’redifferentfrommostfemalesinthistown，then。
Andyouspokeofhisgoodlooksyourselfthisverymornin’。Whydon’tyoulikethegood-lookin’ones？“
“Oh，becausethey’realwaysconceitedandpatronizingandsuperior——
andspoiled。IcanjustimaginethisMr。Elleryofyoursstruttingaboutinsewingcircleorsociables，withAnnabelandGeorgiannaLothropandtherestsimperingandgushingandgettinginhisway：’OMr。Ellery，IdidsoenjoythatsermonofyoursSunday！’and’OMr。Ellery，itwasSOgoodofyoutocomethisafternoon！’Pooh！I’mgladI’maCome-Outer。NotthatIwouldsimperoverhimifIwasn’t。Hecouldn’tpatronizeme——notmorethanonce，atanyrate。“
Keziahwasgreatlyamused。