Was it not so, Mr.West ?" "That is about it," I said.

"Personal service, such as waiting on tables, was considered menial, and held in such contempt, in my day, that persons of culture and refinement would suffer hardship before condescending to it." "What a strangely artificial idea," exclaimed Mrs.Leete wonderingly.
"And yet these services had to be rendered," said Edith.
"Of course," I replied.

"But we imposed them on the poor, and those who had no alternative but starvation." "And increased the burden you imposed on them by adding your contempt," remarked Dr.Leete.
"I don't think I clearly understand," said Edith.

"Do you mean that you permitted people to do things for you which you despised them for doing, or that you accepted services from them which you would have been unwilling to render them?
You can't surely mean that, Mr.West ?" I was obliged to tell her that the fact was just as she had stated.

Dr.
Leete, however, came to my relief.
"To understand why Edith is surprised," he said, "you must know that nowadays it is an axiom of ethics that to accept a service from another which we would be unwilling to return in kind, if need were, is like borrowing with the intention of not repaying, while to enforce such a service by taking advantage of the poverty or necessity of a person would be an outrage like forcible robbery.