“It was a mistake,” admitted Miss Cornelia.  “But they got the lot cheap.  And no other manse children ever thought of playing there.  Mr. Meredith shouldn’t allow it.  But he has always got his nose buried in a book, when he is home.  He reads and reads, or walks about in his study in a day-dream.  So far he hasn’t forgotten to be in church on Sundays, but twice he has forgotten about the prayer-meeting and one of the elders had to go over to the manse and remind him.  And he forgot about Fanny Cooper’s wedding.  They rang him up on the ’phone and then he rushed right over, just as he was, carpet slippers and all.  One wouldn’t mind if the Methodists didn’t laugh so about it.  But there’s one comfort—­they can’t criticize his sermons.  He wakes up when he’s in the pulpit, believe me.  And the Methodist minister can’t preach at all—­so they tell me. I have never heard him, thank goodness.”

Miss Cornelia’s scorn of men had abated somewhat since her marriage, but her scorn of Methodists remained untinged of charity.  Susan smiled slyly.

“They do say, Mrs. Marshall Elliott, that the Methodists and Presbyterians are talking of uniting,” she said.

“Well, all I hope is that I’ll be under the sod if that ever comes to pass,” retorted Miss Cornelia.  “I shall never have truck or trade with Methodists, and Mr. Meredith will find that he’d better steer clear of them, too.  He is entirely too sociable with them, believe me.  Why, he went to the Jacob Drews’ silver-wedding supper and got into a nice scrape as a result.”

“What was it?”

“Mrs. Drew asked him to carve the roast goose—­for Jacob Drew never did or could carve.  Well, Mr. Meredith tackled it, and in the process he knocked it clean off the platter into Mrs. Reese’s lap, who was sitting next him.  And he just said dreamily.  ’Mrs. Reese, will you kindly return me that goose?’ Mrs. Reese ‘returned’ it, as meek as Moses, but she must have been furious, for she had on her new silk dress.  The worst of it is, she was a Methodist.”

“But I think that is better than if she was a Presbyterian,” interjected Susan.  “If she had been a Presbyterian she would mostly likely have left the church and we cannot afford to lose our members.  And Mrs. Reese is not liked in her own church, because she gives herself such great airs, so that the Methodists would be rather pleased that Mr. Meredith spoiled her dress.”

“The point is, he made himself ridiculous, and I, for one, do not like to see my minister made ridiculous in the eyes of the Methodists,” said Miss Cornelia stiffly.  “If he had had a wife it would not have happened.”

“I do not see if he had a dozen wives how they could have prevented Mrs. Drew from using up her tough old gander for the wedding-feast,” said Susan stubbornly.

“They say that was her husband’s doing,” said Miss Cornelia.  “Jacob Drew is a conceited, stingy, domineering creature.”