第4章

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。