The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1888-09-27

had the floor undisputably to itself. It
licked cheerfully
stephen, your necktie is crooked" said
Denise.
Then resumed my seat; and the stiffness
was restored. Tick-tack, tick-tack, went the
clock.
"Well, wonder. why they don't come"
yentured DR.. Gluck, at five minutes past the
hour.
"0h,. we must give them some minutes
grace" Denise responded French people
are never so punctual as Others
And then, besides," l answered, 'they'Ie
strangers IN strange land. They may have
some trouble finding the place."
:, Why, they'll come in carriage, won't
theyY" the doctor queried. They're awful
swells, you know"
silence.
At ten minutes past 7,-"Well, it is funny
tney have not lost their way" And she
went to the bay window, and stood there
looking down into the street.
By quarter PAST the hour, we had all be-
come rather 6dgety.
81 proposed that we sit down and eat our
dinner" said the master of the house. I've
had nothing to eat since noon, and didn't
get anything to brag of even then. L shall
die of starvation Ii l have to 60 hungry much
longer. The first commandment in the Book
and minute of a dinner. These people de-
serve a lesson. Shall tell Mary to put on
the soup?"
But. Of course the master of the house
was promptly snubbed, and his proposition
contemptnously secuted by his female sub
jects.
At twenty minutes past we got false
alarm. We heard the click of the elevator
door, out in the hail. That meant that the
elevator had stopped at our floor. "Ah, at
last lqra they ~ mr. m
thought; and we quickly resumed our COM
pany manners, which we had some time
since put aside. In breathless suspense we
anticipated the ringing Of the doorbell. But
time passed. and it didn't ring. Gradually
we sank back into our former state of relaxa-
ton.
There are few experiences in this life more
trying to the nerves than waiting. Every
body can bear witness to the truth OF that
assertion. Even under tue most favorable
conditions waiting is bad enough, but wait
ing while the pangs of hunger gnaw your
vitals, and odors of delicious edibles spice the
air, it Is too much for flesh and blood. My
mouth was watering; The void within me
ached. well, l can't and won't stand this
any longer" broke out at half past 7. 81
shall either go mad or die Now, then, Mrs.
Ormlzon, it's for you to choose. DO you
wish to see me fall dead at your feet, or be-
come raying maniac under your very eyes,
or will you have the dinner served at onceT'
"Oh, no" poor Mrs. OrmiZon pleaded, I'VE
must wait a little longer But why do Zey
not Gomez. Som sing must ave 'appened."
Ordinarily my wife's foreign accent is
scarcely perceptible, but at moments of emo
tional disturbance-when she is distressed,
delighted, angered, deeply touched, especial
ly amused-whenever, in brief, her emotion
al equilibrium is in any wise deranged-it
betrays itself. AT these junctures she has
difficulty with her this; and, as is frequently
the case with French people, her aspirates
develop an alarming cockney-like tendency
to misplace themselves.
well, think they re unpardonably rude"
put in DR.. Gluck. She had discarded her
book, and her foot was beating tattoo upon
the carpet.
swell, I'll wait just five minutes longer,
and not another second" / conceded, taking
out my watch and holding it open in my
hand.
But at the expiration of those five minutes
Denise wrung from me five minutes more.
And SO, to cut a long story Short so it went
on, in stretches of five minutes each, until
the clock struck s. Meanwhile the vital
question, "Why don't they Gomez" we had
debated from every point of view. OF course
And why didn't they send us word of any
sort? We exhausted ourselves in futile
speculations. A3
Possibly they had lost our address; that
was exceedingly improbable. for to our knowl-
edge they had at least three separate copies
of it-Denise's note of invitation, her visit
ing card md my visiting card, not to men,
tion letters containing it which they had re-
ceiyed before they left France; but even as
Stunning that they had lost it, they need only
to look in the directory to find it again. Our
frame of mind was anything but amiable.
1t is we'll that they did not hear some of the
remarks we made about them.
'Oh, DEAR" sighed madame, at the eighth
stroke, Il suppose it is useless to wait any
longair, but-but l sink-it is perfectly cru
ellie of Zem."
There were tears in her voice, and no won
der. Her disappointment must have been
bitter indeed. So much labor lost So
much hope, so much ambition, come TO
naughtl 1t was too bad. Our hearts were
moved to pity-Dr. Gluck's and mine. The
doctor tried to comfort her. ''Never mind,
dear. They're the losers, you know"
But her face continued to wear look of
ing DR.. Gluck's observation by the light OF
facts, thought in my sordid soul how false
was the old commonplace, the Loser. pays.
We passed gloomily through the folding
doors that led from the parl0r into the din
ing room, and silently arranged ourselves
around the table.
All, but the dinner 1t is not for nothing
that Gallo blood pours through the veins Of
Mrs. Onion. The dinner was superb, it
was dream, it was a triumph of art. Moth
ing astronomical could have surpassed 1t,
unless its own younger self. An hour earli-
er it had doubtless been degree lovelier,
but even at its advanced age, when the fire
and flavor OF youth were perhaps somewhat
spent, it was a dinner to consume with rap
ture, to remember with wistful regret. Its
excellence lay not in its substance chiefly,
but in the indescribable atmosphere that
attached to it, in the magical and impalpable
bouquet that it had caught from Mrs. Ormi-
IONS fingers.
1t was not exclusively French dinner; it
was cosmopolitan. The culinary science of
Germany, that OF the Jewry, and that OF
France, were impartially represented; yet
the whole had delectable French twang.
To name its con stituent parts would serve
no purpose. Suppose that wished to con-
vey to you an adequate conception of the
witchery of a certain beautiful woman whom
| know, and to inspire in your bosom the
worshipful admiration which deem her
due; by printing here a catalogue of her
featnres-by informing you that she possess
es hair, forehead, eyes, nose, lips, chin.
etc., etc.-should | accomplish my aim?
Why then ssould bewilder you with an
enumeration of the good things that went to
make up Mrs. Ormizon's dinner? To say
that we began with the succulent oyster,
and in smooth and leisurely succession pro-
ceeded through sardellen paste on toast, broth
of clans, Droiled lobster, Sweetbread patties,
filet of beef with fresh mushrooms, string
beans, canvas-back duck, salad with vinaigre
Pestragon, Bavarian cream to the fruit
cheese, coffee and cOgnac-would be to de-
base that dinner from the plane of the SUBJ
lime to the plane OF the commonplace
1t was fluent melody, sweetly played in
tune-piano, cresendo, forte, diminuendo,
tinale-to which the wines contributed an
harmonious counterpoint-though Mrs. Or
NIXON would only let me open the claret and
the Rhine wine, whereas her original project
had included sherry and champagne be-
sides. But my poor pen falters. To appre-
ciate the repast in question, one must have
eaten it. 1t carried life to the body, cheer to
the soul, while it imbued the mind with
high and serene optimism. 1t was, more
over, monument to the genius and energy
of my practical little wife. If DIR. Marsac
had kept his appointment, be would have
been compelled to swallow his doubts along
with his oysters. But
What are words said for
At all about it,
Ii he 1t was made for
Could do without it?
The miscreant failed us; and Denise's ex-
hibition of her practical abilities was made
made in vain.
Miss Gluck and /, however, did it full JUS
tice. We mellowed, we expanded, we sue
cumbed completely to its fascination; and