The Worthington advance., 1897-04-01
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=
AN OMELET.
BY FREDERICK PALMER.
copyright, 1872

BY FREDERICK PALMER.
s Copyright. 1872
Prof. Hilsdrup tugged at the bell
I rope for the second time and glared
more savagely than ever at the beauti-
ful thing in crispy brown and yellow
/ lying between two sprigs of parsley.
I Such q frown when aimed at such an
i omelet was unworthy of any fair
Il minded man. All of Mrs. Hodgson's
omelets were wonderful, and this was
! one of her best. 1t looked so light as
to. enjoin haste in eating it lest a
{ draught should take it out Of the open
I, window into the garden as easily as if
y 1t were a thistle blow; so appetizing
as to pardon beforehand the breach of
good manners in crying aloud for an
other as soon as one had finished it.
But the professor regarded it as On
Z enemy which had treacherously stolen
into his presence with murderous in
tent. Aggravation had followed aggra-
vation ever since he began the day an
/ hour ago with the headache which
promised bilious attack in the near"
future.
When he had taken Mrs. Hodgson's
drawing-rooln floor with sitting-room
looking out on a delightful little gar
den and the bare walls of the British
= museum some three months before, just
as the winter was breaking, and settled
down to work on his Isaac Newton
and His Compeers," such an omelet had
come up in the company Of a well-load-
- 1~-0o o11fo o,f
AS he pushed his chair back from the
platewith only faint trace of yellow left
ON it, he determined to have that ONE
let's counterpart every morning. He
had it and enjoyed it with the leisurely
taste that enriches life for a man of
"a, until friend who introduced him
to mutton pie luncheons in the British
museum restaurant assured him that
eggs in any form whatever were the
making of biliousness.
In truth, between mutton pies and
hard work, the professors stomach was
quite out of order. He imagined it to
be worse than it was, thus making it
worse than it otherwise would have
= been, and blamed all to the omelet. TO
send up an omelet after he had ordered
q mutton chop appealed to him on this
particular morning as downright mutt
ny. Mrs. Hodgson was getting him
altogether too much in her power, he
thought. He tugged at the bell and
scowled, and determined to have an
understanding" at once.
"Good morning, professor" said Mrs.
Hodgson herself, as she entered.
"Don't you know" growled the pro-
fessor, that 1 am of a bilious temper
ament and omelets are not good for
me?"
Zone Of my omelets?" she asked,
doubtfully. She had never seen the
professor in such a mood before.
"Al omelets are alike, madam!"
"Mine are no better than anybody's
else!" she gasped.
MADAM" continued the professor, in
a cold, hard voice, II told Harriet last
night that most especially wanted a
mutton chop for breakfast
''Then-I ate it'll"
''You ate it?"
"Yes-I didn't know. Harriet didn't
Say anything to me about it. sup
posed you would have an omelet, as
you always have had."
'Always! Always for three months!
It's a wonder that have anything in
my body except liver!" He tried to
annihilate the omelet with one glance
and Mrs. Hodgson with another.
"When I saw only one chop in the
larder," said Mrs. Hodgson, her natural
snap and dignity returning, Il supposed
It was for me, of course, as usually
have a mutton chop for breakfast"
"Ah! You don't eat your own ONE
lets!"
"You don't eat your own manu-
scripts!" she replied, with asperity. IF
you will wait only few minutes, l
will send out for chop" she added,
more pleasantly.
NO." said the professor, sitting down
at the table with the air of a martyr,
mo. I am a busy man, Mrs. Hodgson
, I will eat this now that it is here.
And, Mrs. Hodgson, wish you would
not interfere with the papers on my
desk any more. Don't touch my desk
Arrange nothing! Throw away any
thing you find on the floor"
''But, sir, you showed me how to fix
them when you first came, and yor
said did it so nicely and saved yor
lot of trouble
. That was too much. The professor
, felt that his dignity was at stake.
:. ''Mrs. Hodgson," he thundered, g.
!. shall leave when my week is up"
She tossed her1head and said: every
+ WE'LL" with aggravating sweetness
= The professor settled down to his break
fast, muttering something about ''im
pudent women" Once out in the hall
Mrs. Hodgson stamped her foot and ex
claimed: 1.-THE old foOl!"
z The omelet tasted uncommonly well
as if to tantalize him. He ate it all
81 ~ 4o 4lo lost r,oD,onf which +o,,