f earnin' my livin' right here.
I'm goin' to keep house for the new minister."

The girl turned, her hat in her hand.

"Oh!" she cried in utter astonishment.

Keziah nodded. "Yes," she affirmed. "That was what Elkanah's proposal
amounted to. Ha! ha! Deary me! When he said 'proposal,' I own up for
a minute I didn't know WHAT was comin'. After Kyan I was prepared
for 'most anything. But he told me that Lurany Phelps, who the parish
committee had counted on to keep house for Mr. Ellery, had sent word her
sister was sick and couldn't be left, and that somebody must be hired
right off 'cause the minister's expected by day after to-morrow's coach.
And they'd gone over every likely candidate in town till it simmered
down to Mehitable Burgess. And Cap'n Zeb Mayo spoke right up in the
committee meetin' and gave out that if Mehitable kept house for Mr.
Ellery he, for one, wouldn't come to church. Said he didn't want to hear
sermons that was inspired by HER cookin'. Seems she cooked for the Mayos
one week when Mrs. Mayo had gone to Boston, and Cap'n Zeb declares his
dreams that week was somethin' awful. 'And I'm a man with no nerves and
mighty little imagination,' he says. 'Land knows what effect a dose of
Mehitable's biscuits might have on a MINISTER.'

"And so," continued Keziah, "they decided Mehitable wouldn't do, and
finally somebody thought of me. I have a notion 'twas Zeb, although
Cap'n Elkanah did his best to make me think 'twas himself. And the cap'n
was made a delegate to come and see me about it. Come he did, and we
settled it. I went down to the parsonage with him before dinner and
looked the place over. There's an awful lot of sweepin' and dustin' to
be done afore it's fit for a body to live in. I did think that when I'd
finished with this house I could swear off on that kind of dissipation
for a while, but I guess, judgin' by the looks of that parsonage, what
I've done so far is only practice." She paused, glanced keenly at her
friend and asked: "Why! what's the matter? You don't act nigh so glad as
I thought you'd be."

Grace said of course she was glad; but she looked troubled,
nevertheless.

"I can hardly make it seem possible," she said. "Is it really
settled--your salary and everything? And what will you do about your
position in Boston?"

"Oh, I'll write Cousin Abner and tell him. Lord love you, HE won't care.
He'll feel that he did his duty in gettin' me the Boston chance and if I
don't take it 'tain