Much less is expected of the lower servants, who belong to the kitchen, and have less to do with the family in general, and little or no personal contact with their masters. They perform their round of duties with little responsibility, and are regarded as much lower in the social scale of servants, of which we have seen there are many degrees. The little _gozen-taki_, or rice-cook, who works all day in the kitchen, may be a fat, red-cheeked, frowsy-haired country girl,--patient, hard-working, and humble-minded,--willing to pother about all day with her kettles and pans, and sit up half the night over her own sewing, or the study of the often unfamiliar art of reading and writing; but entirely unacquainted with the details of etiquette, a knowledge of which is a necessity to the higher servants,--sometimes even thrown into an agony of diffidence should it become necessary to appear before master or mistress. Some of the customs of the household, in regard to servants, are quite striking to a foreigner. When the master of the house starts out each morning, besides the wife and children who see him off, all the servants who are not especially occupied--a goodly number, sometimes--come to the front door and bow down to bid him good-by. On his return, also, when the noise of the _kuruma_ is heard, and the shout of the men, who call out "_O kaeri!_" when near the house, the servants go out to greet him, and bowing low speak the customary words of salutation. To a greater or less degree, the same is done to every member of the family, the younger members, however, receiving a smaller share of the attention than their elders. When, as very often happens, a guest staying for any length of time in a family, or a frequent visitor, gives a servant a present of money or any trifle, the servant, after thanking the donor, takes the white paper bundle to the mistress of the house, and shows it to her, expressing his gratitude to her for the gift, and also asking her to thank the giver. This, of course, is always done, for a gift to a servant is as much of a favor to the mistress as a present to a child is to its mother. When a servant wishes to leave a family, she rarely goes to her mistress and states that she is dissatisfied with her position, and that some better chance has been offered her. Such a natural excuse never occurs to the Japanese servant, unless he be a _jinrikisha_ man or _bettō_, who may not know how to do better; for it is a very rude way of leaving service. The high-minded maid will proceed very differently.