butlers exacted
commissions from tradespeople, so he had been told. Of course it was all
wrong, a pernicious system and all that, but they did do it. And many
employers winked at the system. Hapgood was an exceptional fellow,
really quite exceptional. Aunt Lavinia had treated him as one of the
family, almost. Captain Dan, to whom these statements were made, was
stubbornly indignant. He wouldn't wink at a thief, and he wouldn't fire
him and then hire him over again, either. If "that everlastin' sneak
showed his white-washed face on the premises again, he'd have that face
damaged." All the captain hoped for was a chance to inflict the damage.

So Cousin Percy, finding Daniel obdurate, tried his influence upon
Serena, whom he regarded, and justly, as the real head of the house. But
Serena, too, refused to consider Mr. Hapgood's re-employment. She had
talked with Azuba, and Azuba had declared that she should leave in "just
about two-thirds of a jiffy" if the butler came back. "When he comes
into my kitchen," she said, "I get out. I should hate to quit the folks
I'd worked for the biggest part of my life, but there's some things I
won't stand. He's one of 'em. Don't talk to me about HIM!"

Mr. Hapgood was not re-engaged nor forgiven, and Hungerford kindly
volunteered to find a competent successor. He would make some inquiries
among his friends, the right sort of people, he said, and his manner
indicated that the said people were accustomed to employing butlers in
droves.

Azuba, therefore, was left with all the domestic cares upon her hands.
These hands were quite competent, had they been disengaged, but just
now they were full. Azuba was "advancing," just as she had proclaimed
to Captain Dan that she intended to do. She read "The Voice" and
kindred literature a great deal, and quoted from her readings at every
opportunity. Denied admittance to the Chapter, in spite of Gertrude's
efforts in her behalf--Gertrude had warmly advocated the formation of
a Servants' Branch--she had made search on her own hook and suddenly
announced that she had found what she was looking for. This, so she
affirmed, was an organization called "The Free Laborers' Band," and it
met in a hall somewhere or other, though no one but its members seemed
to know just where that hall was. Serena made inquiries, but neither
servants nor mistresses had ever heard of the "Band." Gertrude, when she
heard of it, at first seemed to be much amused, and laughed he