Litchfield enquirer., 1864-11-17

leave the rest of the things down there." Smelling peas was rapid work, even for unac- customed fingers, but it IS matter of taste whether the thorough smoking they had from two lively pufed cigars improved thei- flavor.
 Now what do youdo with them?' said Min nie. There an't many of them.' he added, as he looked at the little green balls rolling about in the bottom of the huge market bask- ct. and then eyed the large pile of shells on floor. ta. -. e... .-....
 " You boil them of course," was George s answer. t.e.. a-
 "Oh suppose we go down.
 Well, come along, said George, taking up the basket.
 The fire burned lightly Jennie had left all in good order, and the prospect was not bad for the amateur cooks.
 "What do you boil them Tn. George ?''
 |" Oh, anything" -.
 " But where is it r.
 In some of the closets, guess
 Susy would certainly have tainted could she have seen the overlauling of her neatly ar ranged closets that followed.
 This! Mnne dragged forth pot large enough to boil about twenty pounds of meat in.
 sYcs.'
 In they went, unwashed.
 Hot water or cold ?
 Either'
 All right; t!at's done'
 Now the asparagus how do you fix it ? wonder ifyou roast mutton in thls thing said George, bol ling up d large pudling dish 1 guess so. Put it i'll the oven, don you ?
 'Y-e-e s. Georg. determined to find a book on cookery, written by a man, the very next day.
 You boil asparagus, don't you, George 1? | Yes, hes,'s d tn thing ,het'S long and shallow; guess that's for such things. And dripping pan cam forth from the closet.
 The aspa agus fitted in like charm. as both men declared, and Water Was addeI, and all set on the range.
 The mutton went next on the pudding dish, into the oven.
 Come, let us go up stairs again it is fearfully hot here,' said George.
 : But the dinner?'
 'Oh that's got nothing to do but to cook until three o'clock
 'Oh George; here 8 the potatoes ! Another pot was produced, and the pota toes. with about two gallons of water to the half peck of Murphes on the fire.
 Smoking, chatting, reading, and q little practice on the violin, filled up the morning, though George declared it was horrid slow, and Minnie wondered what on earth women l did with themselves ..
 Half past two brought home three hungry men to dinner. ..-
 Leaving the cooks to dish up,' they all adjourned to the parlor to cool themselves That it was dusty there, was not noticed. Jen. nie had made the beds before she had left. but l .I, Iz~ early start prevented her from doing it. George Minnie's voice was rather dole full
 ''rhe fire is out | sOut!
 ( I wonder if anything is cooked l? l The asparagus is burnt fast to the pan l So is the neat The potatoes ? fl
 Broken all to pieces, foating about the water - 57..t ... The peas are all mushy, Minnie r 4 | Punctuality is the soul of din ner,' cried i Joe from the parlor it is ten minutes past three.' ., --a s
 Go set the table, growled George.
 It was unique in it's arrangements, that table, as the gentlemen sat down to dinner The meat figured on an enormous dish, with an ocean of white china surrounding the shrunken proportions. The potatoes in little Jumps, unskinned, were piled up in a frui, dish the green mess which Minnie had with infinite difficulty fshed from the meat pot was served on red eartben plate, and the stalks of asparagus were in the salad bowl The table cloth was awry, and the napkins were omitted altogether.
 Where the gravy ? was JOe's first ques ton. 5}
 There wasn't any, aa.va
 The meats burned cried one voice.
 as It's stone cold sae another.
 Whats this 2 said another, digging into the pile of peas. r tsssEas.aas E.
 sFaugh r followed daring attempt to cal some asparagus. .a.s
 "Never mind," said Joe. ''Rome was no built in day. Give us some bread and but ter, and pickles, George" No, not pickles. preserves" said Charley "Susy locked both up," said Harry, laugh: ling. She declared woman put them up and if we wanted them, we must prepare then for ourselves" Minnie produced the strawberries. and som sugar, and the gentlemen declared they hat dined superbly. You fellows clear away" said Minnie sswe're tired"
 6 You wash up, don't you ?" queried Joe. !. Yes" } 1" Where's the water 2" ! q. In the hydrant." ag
 aWhat do we wash 'em in ?" !" Pan, guess" Away went Joe on voyage of inyestiga- ton. and soon returned with atin dish fnll C water. The "leavings" as Harry termed th