Ellery took the list from her hand and looked it over.

“Hum!” he said musingly.  “Am I supposed to recognize these—­er—­class distinctions?”

“Yes.  That is, not in meetin’ or sewin’ circle or anything like that, or not out and out and open anywhere.  But you want to cultivate a sort of different handshake and how-dy-do for each set, so’s to speak.  Gush all you want to over an aristocrat.  Be thankful for advice and always so glad to see ’em.  With the poor relations you can ease up on the gush and maybe condescend some.  Town folks expect condescension and superiority; give it to ’em.  When it comes to scum, why—­well, any short kind of a bow and a ‘Mornin’ ’ll do for them.  ’Course the Lord, in His infinite mercy, made ’em, same as He did potato bugs, but it’s necessary to keep both bugs and them down to their proper place.”

She delivered this in the intervals between trips to the kitchen with the dinner dishes.  The minister listened with a troubled expression on his face.

“Mrs. Coffin,” he said, “I guess I’m dull.  There was a Scotch professor at college and the fellows used to say his bump of humor was a dent.  Maybe mine isn’t much better.  Are you joking?”

Keziah stacked the cups and saucers.

“I ain’t jokin’,” she declared.  “I’ve been a poor relation in this village for a good while and my brother was a shoemaker and on the upper fringe of the town-folk class.  My humor bump would have to stick up like Cannon Hill afore I could see any joke in that.”

“But you’re not seriously advising me to treat a rich man differently from a poor one?”

“Not openly different—­no.  But if you want to steer a perfectly safe course, one that’ll keep deep water under your keel the whole voyage, why, there’s your chart.”

Mr. Ellery promptly tore the “chart” into small pieces.

“I’m going out,” he said.  “I shall be back by supper time.”

Mrs. Coffin eyed him grimly.

“Goin’ to run it blindfold, are you?” she asked.

“Yes, I am.”

Her grimness disappeared and she smiled.

“I’ll have your supper ready for you,” she said.  “Bring back a good appetite.”

The young man hesitated on the threshold.

“Mrs. Coffin,” he demanded, “would you have called only on the aristocrats at first?”

She shook her head, smiling still.

“No,” she replied, “not me.  I’ve always taken risks.  But I didn’t know but you might be a safe sailor.  It saves a lot of trouble in this world.”

“How about the next?”

“Oh, well, perhaps even the scum may count for somethin’ over there.”  She turned to face him and her smile vanished.  “Go on, Mr. Ellery,” she said.  “Go and call where you please.  Far be it from me that I should tell you to do anything else.  I suppose likely you hope some day to be a great preacher.  I hope you will.  But I’d enough sight rather