But this being in no sense a fulness as yet, a
second service was requested, and two more solid
slabs of chocolate gave weight and dignity to the
solitary dinner — so much so that Harvey was about
to weigh himself again, but saved the expense by
noticing on the machine that each delivery of the
mechanism supplied the purchaser with just one
ounce of chocolate ; so he stepped on to the next
instrument in the line, which happened to be a slot
fortune-teller. The fig-paste and lemon-drops had
already begun their fatal work, so it was with quiet
heroism the diner saw, as though in letters of fire,
in the fortune-teller, these words : “A serious ill-
ness threatens you. That which you don’t expect
is sure to come true.”
With a heavy sigh the poet moved on to the next
machine, which told for a penny what number of
spectacles should be secured to make the eyesight
3*
The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish .
normal. “ I’ll take that in place of the punch,” said
the poet to the eye-tester. Another penny was ven-
tured for bon-bons as dessert, but it slipped into the
wrong slot and brought forth postage-stamps. An-
other one perfumed the handkerchief, into which,
he told me, he wept copiously as the train at last
rolled into the station.
“And if ever I miss another train,” concluded
my poet-friend, “and have to draw on my imagina-
tion, I’ll pretend I’m Nebuchadnezzar, and browse
on the grass of the fields.”
I read in the Sun that the boys and
girls were gathering autumn leaves
in the country, and a poetical descrip-
I " T "" tion of the azure haze in the air, the
sunshine of gold, and the splashed colors of the
rainbow painted on th'fe foliage, set me to think-
ing. I had really allowed myself to forget for
the moment that God was visiting anywhere near
me, and I was fired by a sudden desire to go and
witness some of His transformation scenes outside
the city gates. I had one friend in the country
whom I knew would welcome me ; so I telegraphed
to Nym Crinkle at his house in the Ramapo hills,
and this was his reply :
Nymsden.
Come on up. I have a new Alderney cow to show you; a
short-horn bull ; the dog has pups ; the ground is covered
with chestnuts and apples, and the sun rises every morning
where you can see it. Crinkle.
Nym met me at Spring Valley as the 4.57 train
came in. He was on the back seat, with an extra
coat for me because, as he said, I probably thought
it was just as warm eight hundred feet above my
New York office. “ Rube ” drove, and remarked as
we bowled along over the road that if I’d go to
36 The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish.
the “ smithy” with him the next day he would let
me see the sore foot of the nigh horse.
Page 11
Presented as published in 1895. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
But this being in no sense a fulness as yet, a second service was requested, and two more solid slabs of chocolate gave weight and dignity to the solitary dinner — so much so that Harvey was about to weigh himself again, but saved the expense by noticing on the machine that each delivery of the mechanism supplied the purchaser with just one ounce of chocolate ; so he stepped on to the next instrument in the line, which happened to be a slot fortune-teller. The fig-paste and lemon-drops had already begun their fatal work, so it was with quiet heroism the diner saw, as though in letters of fire, in the fortune-teller, these words : “A serious illness threatens you. That which you don’t expect is sure to come true.”
With a heavy sigh the poet moved on to the next machine, which told for a penny what number of spectacles should be secured to make the eyesight
3*
The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish .
normal. “ I’ll take that in place of the punch,” said the poet to the eye-tester. Another penny was ventured for bon-bons as dessert, but it slipped into the wrong slot and brought forth postage-stamps. Another one perfumed the handkerchief, into which, he told me, he wept copiously as the train at last rolled into the station.
“And if ever I miss another train,” concluded my poet-friend, “and have to draw on my imagination, I’ll pretend I’m Nebuchadnezzar, and browse on the grass of the fields.”
I read in the Sun that the boys and girls were gathering autumn leaves in the country, and a poetical descrip- I " T "" tion of the azure haze in the air, the sunshine of gold, and the splashed colors of the rainbow painted on the foliage, set me to thinking. I had really allowed myself to forget for the moment that God was visiting anywhere near me, and I was fired by a sudden desire to go and witness some of His transformation scenes outside the city gates. I had one friend in the country whom I knew would welcome me ; so I telegraphed to Nym Crinkle at his house in the Ramapo hills, and this was his reply :
Nymsden.
Come on up. I have a new Alderney cow to show you; a short-horn bull ; the dog has pups ; the ground is covered with chestnuts and apples, and the sun rises every morning where you can see it. Crinkle.
Nym met me at Spring Valley as the 4.57 train came in. He was on the back seat, with an extra coat for me because, as he said, I probably thought it was just as warm eight hundred feet above my New York office. “ Rube ” drove, and remarked as we bowled along over the road that if I’d go to
36 The Bachelor and the Chafing-dish.
the “ smithy” with him the next day he would let me see the sore foot of the nigh horse.