Part 9 (2/2)
”Delicious!” I gasped.
”More delicious now than it was,” he declared, ”since those rosy lips have touched the brim,” and then he quoted the following lines with old-fas.h.i.+oned gallantry:
”'Drink to me only with thine eyes, And I will pledge with mine; Or leave a kiss but in the cup And I'll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove's nectar sup, I would not change for thine.
”'I sent thee late a rosy wreath, Not so much honoring thee As giving it a hope that there It could not withered be; But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent'st it back to me; Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself but thee!'”
He bowed low and handed me a beautiful rosebud, the same, I believe, before which Dum had stood so enthralled earlier in the morning. I took a long sniff and then pinned it in my hair, much to the old gentleman's delight.
He turned away to have another fair guest take the prescribed sip, and that naughty Mary Flannagan buried her nose in my beautiful rose and whispered:
”But thou thereon didst only breathe, And sent'st it back to me; Since when it blows and smells I swear, Not of itself but whiskee!”
CHAPTER VII
THE REASON WHY
THAT was a very merry breakfast. From my kitchen fastness I could hear the peals of laughter as Mary pretended to be a field hand, brought into the dining-room for the first time, to wait on the table. I even left my waffles for a moment to peep in the door. Dee, who was helping with the waiting, spied me and gave the a.s.sembled company the tip, and before I could get away they grabbed me and pulled me into the room where I had to listen to three rousing cheers for the cook. A batch of waffles burnt up in consequence, although I ran down the covered way like Cinderella when the clock struck twelve. A warning smell of something burning gave me to understand my time was up.
Baking waffles is a very exciting pastime. The metamorphosis that batter undergoes in almost a twinkling of an eye into beautiful crisp brown beauties is a never ending delight and joy to the cook. With irons just hot enough (and that is very hot indeed) and batter smooth and thin, smooth from much beating and thin from much milk and many eggs, I believe a baker of waffles can extract as much pure pleasure from her profession as a great musician can from drawing his bow across a choice Cremona; or a poet can from turning out successful verse; or a painter from watching his picture grow under his skilled hands.
The house-party was full up at last, and then the cook and waitress must be seated in the places of honor and be waited on by the whole crowd.
Not quite all of the crowd, I should have said, as Jessie was superior to waiting on anybody. She seemed quite scornful of us for being able to help Miss Maria.
”I have never been an adept at the domestic arts,” she said somewhat stiffly. ”I could not cook or wash dishes if my life depended on it.”
”Humph!” sniffed Dum, ”I reckon you could if you got good and hungry.
Of course you couldn't do it well, that is, not as well as Page, for she can't be equalled. As for was.h.i.+ng dishes,--you can take your first lesson after Page and Mary and Dee finish breakfast. All of these dishes have to be washed and there is no one to do it but the house-party.”
”Well, I guess not!” and Jessie looked at her pretty soft, beringed hands.
”Very well then, you can do the upstairs work! Beds must be made, you know!”
”Absurd! Do you take me for a housemaid?”
”No, I wouldn't have you for one, but you might get a job for a few hours before the folks found out about you.”
Dum's tone was rollicking and good-natured. She seemed to have no idea that she was insulting the pretty Jessie. It never entered Dum's head that anyone would s.h.i.+rk a duty that was so apparent as taking the work of Maxton in hand.
I enjoyed that breakfast very much. Harvie baked waffles for us and Wink White brought them in. The young men from Kentucky ran back and forth waiting on us, all of them making more noise and having more collisions than would have been the case had a regiment been feeding.
Shorty had already begun to grease the buck-saw preparatory to sawing up wood for Miss Maria. He and Rags had volunteered to supply the fuel.
Then the cows must be milked; the horses curried and fed; in fact, all the farm work must be done.
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