第7章

abouthowyoucametocomehereandwhatyouthinkofitfar’syou’vegot，andwhatyourviewsareoncertainpointsinthecreed。

Likewise，whoyourfolkswereandwhethertheywaswelloff，andafewthingslikethat。Thenthey’llwanttoseewhatkindofclothesyouwearand——“

“Whew！“Ellerywhistled。“You’reunfoldingapleasantprospectforme，Imustsay。AmIsupposedtobecatechizedonallofmyprivateaffairs？“

“Ofcourse！Aministerhasn’tgotanyprivateaffairs；he’sapubliccharacter。There！“shelaughed，asshepouredthecoffee，“Imustn’tdiscourageyou。Butdon’tyouseethateverymother’sson——and，forthatmatter，everydaughterandchildren’schilduntothethirdandfourthgeneration——feelthat，solongastheypaypewrentorputacentinthecollection，theyownashareinyou。Andwealwayskeepawatchonourinvestmentsdownthisway。That’stheYankeeshrewdnessyoureadsomuchabout，Iguess。“

Theministerabsentlyplayedwithhisspoon。

“I’mafraidyou’reacynic，“hesaid。

“No，no，Iain’t。Thoughsometimes，considerin’everything，IfeelasthoughIhadexcuseenoughifIwantedtobelongtothattribe。

Butyou’reyoung。Youmustn’tmindmysayin’that；ifyouwasold，ofcourse，Iwouldn’ttalkaboutages。Butyouareyoungandthisisyourfirstchurch。Soyoumuststartright。I’mnocynic，blessyou。I’vegottrustinhumannatureleft——mostkindsofhumannature。IfIhadn’t，I’dhavemoremoney，Is’pose。Perhapsyou’venoticedthatthosewhotrustagooddealareusuallypoor。

It’sallright，Mr。Ellery；yougoandtakeyourwalk。AndI’llwalkintothatpantrycloset。It’llbeagooddeallikewalkin’

intotheSloughofDespond，butChristiancameoutontheothersideandIguesslikelyIwill，ifthesupplyofsoapsudsholdsout。“

When，promptlyatteno’clock，theministerreturnedfromhiswalk，hefoundMrs。Rogerswaitinginthesittingroom。Itisaprimequalificationofanalertreportertobefirstonthesceneofsensation。Didamawasseldombeaten。Mr。Ellery’scatechismbegan。BeforeitwasoverKeziahopenedthedoortoadmitMissPepperandherbrother。“Kyan“wasnervousandembarrassedinthehousekeeper’spresence。Laviniawasaglacier，movingmajesticallyandfreezingasitmoved。Keziah，however，wasnoteventouchedbythefrost；shegreetedthepaircordially，andbeggedthemto“takeofftheirthings。“

Itwasdinnertimebeforethecatechizersdeparted。Thecatechizedcametothetablewithanimpairedappetite。Helookedtroubled。

“Don’tletitworryyou，Mr。Ellery，“observedKeziahcalmly。“I

thinkIcansatisfyyou。Honestandtrue，Iain’thalfasbadasyoumightthink。“

Theministerlookedmoretroubledthanbefore；alsosurprised。

“Why，Mrs。Coffin！“hecried。“Couldyouhear——“

“No，no！Icouldn’thearnothin’inthatclosetexceptmyownopinionondirtanddust。ButifIwasasdeafasthemanthatsetonthepowderkeganddroppedhispipeashesintoit，itwouldn’thavemadeanydifference。Themansaidaftertheypickedhimupthattheyneedn’thavebeensorough，he’dhavemovedwithoutbein’

pushedifthey’dhavemadesignstheywantedtousethekeg。AndifIwasoutinthenextlotI’dhaveknownwhatyouwaslistenin’

tointhatsittin’room。Theyhintedthattheywererealsorryforyou，but’twasn’tanyofTHEIRdoin’s。Theparishcommittee，bein’

justmen，wasapttomakemistakesincertainmatters。OfcourseeverythingMIGHTbewellenough，andifyouwa’n’tTOOparticularaboutcookin’andsoon，why——Anyhow，youmustn’tthinkthatTHEY

werecriticisin’。’Twasonlythattheytookaninterestand——

Thatwasaboutit，wasn’tit？“

“Mrs。Coffin，I——Ihopeyoudon’tthinkIpaidanyattentiontotheirremarks——ofthatkind，Imean。Honestly，Ididmybesttostopthem。Isaid——“

“Manalive！I’mnotworried。Whyshouldyoube？Weweretalkin’

abouttrustjustnow——orIwas。Well，youandI’llhavetotakeeachotherontrustforawhile，untilweseewhetherwe’regoin’

tosuit。IfyouseeanythingthatI’mgoin’wrongin，Iwishyou’dtellme。AndI’lldothesamebyyou，ifthat’sagreeable。You’llhearalotofthingssaidaboutme，butifthey’reverybadIgiveyoumywordtheyain’ttrue。And，toberealfrank，I’llprobablyhearsomeaboutyou，whichI’lltakeforwhatthey’reworthandconsiderin’whosaid’em。That’sagoodwholesomeagreement，I

think，forbothofus。Whatdoyouthink？“

JohnEllerysaid，withemphasis，thathethoughtwellofit。Hebegantorealizethatthiswoman，withherbluntcommonsense，waslikelytobeapilotworthhavinginthedifficultwaterswhichhemustnavigateasskipperoftheRegularchurchinTrumet。Also，hebegantorealizethat，assuchaskipper，hewasmostinexperienced。AndCaptainDanielshadspokenhighly——

condescendinglybuthighly——ofhishousekeeper’squalificationsandpersonality。Sotheagreementwasratified，withreliefonhispart。

ThefirstSundaycameandwithitthefirstsermon。HereadthatsermontoKeziahonSaturdayeveningandsheapprovedofitasawhole，thoughshecriticisedsomeofitsdetails。

“Don’tbeafraidtoputinplentyofsalt，“shesaid。“Whereyou’vegottheChristianlifeandspiritwrittendownasbein’likeaquiet，peacefulhome，freefromalldistrust，andlikethat，whydon’tyouchangeittoagoodsafeanchorage，wherethesoulcanrideforeverwithoutfearofbreakersorno’theastersorthedangersbesettin’themarineronaleeshore。They’llunderstandthat；itgetsrighthometo’em。There’sscarcelyamanorawomaninyourcongregationthatain’tbeenoutofsightoflandforweeksonastretch。“

ThebreakfasthouronSundaywouldbeatnineo’clock，insteadofseven，asonweekdays，shetoldhim。

“TrumetlaystobedSundaymornin’s，“sheexplained。“It’salmostapartofitsreligion，asyoumightsay，andliveduptomoreconscientiousthansomeotherparts，I’mafraid。Sixdaysshaltthoulaborandwearcomfort’bleclothes；andontheseventhyoumustbelazyanddressup。LikewiseyoumusthavebakedbeansSaturdayforsupper，aswe’rehavin’’em，andmorebeanswithfishballsnextmornin’。Thatis，ifyouwanttobeorthodox。“

Theservicebeganateleveno’clock。Athalfpasttenthesexton，oldMr。JubalKnowles，rangthe“firstbell，“aclangingfive-

minutereminder。Twentyminuteslaterhebeganonthesecondandfinalcall。Mr。Ellerywasready——andnervous——beforethefirstbellhadfinishedringing。ButKeziah，enteringthesittingroomdressedinblackalpacaandcarryingthehymnbookwithhernameingiltlettersonthecover，forbadehisleavingtheparsonagethusearly。

“Ishallgoprettysoon，“shesaid，“butyoumustn’t。Theministerain’texpecteduntilthelastbell’s’mostdone。ParsonLangleyusedtowaituntiltheWinslowswentin。GaiusWinslowisawidowermanwholivesuptothewestendofthetownandhe’sgotninechildren，allboys。You’llknow’embecausetheyalwaysdrivedowntomeetin’inonecarryallwithawhitehorse。Gaiusisaspunctualasaboardin’-housedinner。TheoldparsonusedtowaituntilthelastWinslowhadtoddledupthemeetin’-housestepsandthenhe’dcomeoutofthissidedoorwithhissermoninhishand。

It’saprettygoodruletorememberandsaveswatchin’theclock。

Besides，it’swhatwe’vebeenusedto，andthatgoesagoodwayswithsomefolks。Good-by，Mr。Ellery。You’llseemeinthethirdpewfromtheback，ontherightside，wishin’youluckjustashardasIcan。“

So，asincouplesorfamilygroups，afootorinallsortsofvehicles，themembersofTrumet’sRegularsocietycametothechurchtoheartheirnewminister，thatfunctionarypeepedundertheparlorwindowshadeoftheparsonageandwaited，fidgettingandapprehensive，fortheWinslows。Theyarrivedatlast，andwerenothardtorecognize，fortenindividualspackedintoonecarriagearehardtooverlookanywhere。AsGaius，withtheyoungestinhisarms，passedinatthechurchdoor，JohnEllerypassedoutoftheparsonagegate。Thelastbellclangeditsfinalstroke，thevibrationsceased，therustleofskirtsandthesoundsofdecorouscoughingsubsidedandweresucceededbythedryrattleofthehymn-

bookpages，theorgan，presentedbyCaptainElkanahandplayedbyhisdaughter，uttereditspreliminarygroan，theservicebegan。

Outsidethespringbreezestirredthebuddingsilver-leafs，thedistantbreakersgrumbled，thecrowsinthepinesnearCaptainEbenHammond’staverncawedribaldanswerstothescreaminggullsperchedalongthetopofthebreakwater。AndseatedononeofthehardbenchesofthelittleCome-Outerchapel，GraceVanHorneheardher“UncleEben，“who，asusual，wasconductingthemeeting，speakof“themwho，inpurpleandfinelinen，withorgansandtrumpetsandvainshows，aregatheredelsewhereinthiscommunitytohearahiredpriestmakeamockofthegospel。“(A-MEN！)

ButJohnEllery，the“hiredpriest，“knewnothingofthis。Hedidknow，however，thathewasthecenterofinterestforhisowncongregation，thepeopleamongwhomhehadbeencalledtolabor。

Theirpraiseorcriticismmeanteverythingtohim；thereforehepreachedfordearlife。

AndKeziahCoffin，inthethirdpewfromtheback，watchedhimintently，hermindworkinginsympatheticunisonwithhis。Shewasnotonetobegreatlyinfluencedbyfirstimpressions，butshehadbeenfavorablyimpressedbythisyoungfellow，andhadalreadybeguntofeelthatsenseofguardianshipandpersonalresponsibilitywhich，lateron，wastomakeCaptainZebedeeMayonicknametheminister“Keziah’sParson。“

Thesermonwasasuccess。

CHAPTERIV

INWHICHKEZIAH’SPARSONDECIDESTORUNITBLINDFOLD

OnMondayafternoontheministermadeafewcalls。Keziahmadeoutashortlistforhimtofollow，a“sortofchartofthemainchannel，“shecalledit，“withthesafeportsmarkedandtheshoalsandriskyplaceslabeleddangerous。“

“Yousee，“shesaid，“Trumetain’tacourseyoucannavigatewithyoureyesshut。Wedivideourselvesintoaboutfoursets——

aristocrats，poorrelations，townfolks，andscum。ThearistocratsarethebigbugslikeCap’nElkanahandtheotherwell-offseacaptains，afloatorashore。They’mostallgototheRegularchurchandtheparishcommitteeissteeredby’em。Thepoorrelationsaremainlywidowsandsuch，whosehusbandsdiedorwerelostatsea。MostofthemareRegulars。Thetownfolksarethosethatstayashoreandkeepstoreorrunsaltworksorsomethin’。

Andthescumworkaroundonoddjobsorgofishin’。So，ifyoureallywanttobesafe，youmustcallonthearistocratsfirst，afterthatonthepoorrelations，andsoondown。Youwon’tbebotheredwithscummuch；they’remainlyCome-Outers。“

Ellerytookthelistfromherhandandlookeditover。

“Hum！“hesaidmusingly。“AmIsupposedtorecognizethese——er——

classdistinctions？“

“Yes。Thatis，notinmeetin’orsewin’circleoranythinglikethat，ornotoutandoutandopenanywhere。Butyouwanttocultivateasortofdifferenthandshakeandhow-dy-doforeachset，so’stospeak。Gushallyouwanttooveranaristocrat。BethankfulforadviceandalwaysSOgladtosee’em。Withthepoorrelationsyoucaneaseuponthegushandmaybecondescendsome。

Townfolksexpectcondescensionandsuperiority；giveitto’em。

Whenitcomestoscum，why——well，anyshortkindofabowanda’’Mornin’’’lldoforthem。’CoursetheLord，inHisinfinitemercy，made’em，sameasHedidpotatobugs，butit’snecessarytokeepbothbugsandthemdowntotheirproperplace。“

Shedeliveredthisintheintervalsbetweentripstothekitchenwiththedinnerdishes。Theministerlistenedwithatroubledexpressiononhisface。

“Mrs。Coffin，“hesaid，“IguessI’mdull。TherewasaScotchprofessoratcollegeandthefellowsusedtosayhisbumpofhumorwasadent。Maybemineisn’tmuchbetter。Areyoujoking？“

Keziahstackedthecupsandsaucers。

“Iain’tjokin’，“shedeclared。“I’vebeenapoorrelationinthisvillageforagoodwhileandmybrotherwasashoemakerandontheupperfringeofthetown-folkclass。MyhumorbumpwouldhavetostickuplikeCannonHillaforeIcouldseeanyjokeinthat。“

“Butyou’renotseriouslyadvisingmetotreatarichmandifferentlyfromapoorone？“

“Notopenlydifferent——no。ButifyouwanttosteeraperfectlySAFEcourse，onethat’llkeepdeepwaterunderyourkeelthewholevoyage，why，there’syourchart。“

Mr。Ellerypromptlytorethe“chart“intosmallpieces。

“I’mgoingout，“hesaid。“Ishallbebackbysuppertime。“

Mrs。Coffineyedhimgrimly。

“Goin’torunitblindfold，areyou？“sheasked。

“Yes，Iam。“