The man comes to the narrator's house to try and sell him a picture of the latter's house. The narrator is obsessed with the fact that the elderly man has hook hands, and invites him into his house to see how he will hold a cup of coffee.
A stranger comes to the narrator’s house with a picture of his property, drawn to the old man's hook hands. The narrator invites him inside to illustrate how the man would handle a cup of coffee.