Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-06-27
MR.. y MEEk'S y DINNER.
WONDER. james," said Mrs.

ooooooooooooooooooeooeoooe
Get WONDER. james," said Mrs
Meek. doubtfully, to her hus
= band one morning, IL 70,
could get your own dinner tonight
You see I've had to let the servant *
On her holidays for a day or two. aud
they want me desperately 1t the Won
ans Aid and Relief baxar, to help then
with their high tea from 4:30 to $50
II you thought you could manage b,
yourself"
"I'll try to survive IT," observed Nj
Meek. good.nntureily. II don't fame,
II will prove fatal"
"1'll get roast and cook II this morn
ing. then" went on Mrs. Meek, cheer
fully. "nnd you can have It cold fol
dinner"
"Thnnk you." replied Mr.. Meek. "you
will do nothing Of the kind. fancy
haven't gone camping pretty much
every year Of my life for nothing.
suspect I can manage a hot dinner
about as well rs most women"
Mrs. Meek had her doubts. and, un.
ssAC "OSs WIVES SAVtCSScu tuCus
Mr. Meek viewed his wifc's doubts
with supreme contempt, and, unlike
most husbands, expressed II.
Thus II finally resulted that Mrs.
Meek abandoned NIL idea Of prepa ring
Mr.. Meek's dinner for him, and bctooE
herself to the baxar. So Il resulted,
Furthermore. that Mr.. Meek left his
Office about 4 o'clock that afternoon.
and proceeded to collect. on his way
home. the necessary supplies for q
dainty little dinner.
An alluring display OF chickens were
the frst thing to catch his eye, and he
was Just on the point Of securing one
Of thcm. when, by good luck, or more
probably through the natural sagaclty
Of the man, he rccollcctcd that--wcll,
that you don't, rs rule, cook chickens
as they are. In the momentary reac.
tion that followed this feat Of mem.
CRY. he bought a couple Of mutton
chops aud three tomatoes.
I'll have good, plain, old.fashioned
English dinner" thought he, as no hur.
eied past the dcceitful chickens, with
something almost akin to rcproacl,.
"None Of your nniky, poultry dinners
for me!'
by jovew he exclaimed q momen.
later. I'll have IN apple pudding anil
some oyster soup to begin on"
He was 20 ticklcd with this idea thu,
be promptly rushed into grocery shop
and purchased half peck Of their best
eating apples, and then hurried home
without thought Of the cab he was
to order for bis wife at $40 sharp.
BY o o'clock he had the fire going
beautifully. and everything ready for
Q start.
BY O o'clock he was Just beginning
to enjoy the thing; the tomatoes were
stewing divinely; the potatoes were
boiling to their hearts. content: and the
milk for the oyster soup was slmmering
contentedly on the back Of the stove.
Tho oysters. by the by, had not ar.
rived.
Dear me-" thought tho ambitious
gentleman, II wish had thought OF Il
In time. and I'd have had somo oyster
patties for sort Of final dessert. Hell.
10. what's this? BY thunder. II that
everlasting pig.headed woman hasn't
left me some cold ham and q custard
pie! BY the Lord Harry. for 9 cents I'd
throw the whole thing out Into the
back yard!'
The natural docility Of his nature,
however, prevailed. and he left tho
obnoxious viands unmolested, and pro.
ceeded with his dinner. At $50 he put
the chops on to broil. "'as In tho good
old days Of yore"--this poetic allusion
to the style Of cooking being Occasi0nCd
by ono Of them accidentally dropping
into the fire, whence he rescued Il with
great presence Of mind by the Joint as.
sistance Of the stove litter and ono OF
the best table napkins. BY the time the
chop was thus rescued. both II and thu
table napkin were fairly we'll done
to say nothing stronger. This trining
difficulty he got over by putting the |
erring chop on the window sill to cool. |
and the napkin into the fire-to do tho |
other thing.
This accomplished. and with ono chop
gently cooking ON the gridiron and tho |
other one cooling on the window sill,
he started to construct the paste for his
apple pudding. This proved most far.
chatting. He placed q large quantity
Of -four In q small bowl, emptled q Jug
Of water on top Of It, added butter to
taste, and proceeded to mold It deftly
Into shape, as he had often seen hls
wife do. The fi0ur and water promptly
forsoOk the bowl and took themselves
to his hands. Then the milk for the
soup began to burn, just as the potatoes
boiled dry. he rushed to the rescue and
left the major portion Of the paste fair.
" evenly divided between the handles
Of the two saucepans and the stove lift.
er. At this juncture the tomatoes starr.
cd In to see II they couldn't surpass tho
milk In burning. They succeeded. The
rat. which was accustomed to q O:3O
dinner. walked OF with the chop on
The window sill. while the chop ON the
lire grew beautifully black on tho
down SIDE" 10 many things were
now burning all at the same time TINT
Mr.. Meek gave up oil hope Of trying to
discover which one was burning most.
Let the dashed things burn till they're
sick Of IT" was the extremely broad.
minded way In which he summed up
The situation. With the astuteness that
,harac terixed him as distinguished
from his fellow men, he at once gave