The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1903-03-28

VI Gil AOul IL Will DG WdIIu anu COZy
here, and to rake and poke a fire
seems to be about the pleasantest oc-
cupation in the world ; then, when
everything outside is frozen hard, it
is glorious to see my little stove in
the corner, red and glowing, defiant
ly fighting the cold"
With these words he brought out
a rusty tin pot, filled it with water,
and placed it on the stove; then he
set the table for supper. His dishes,
which he kept in a small cupboard,
consisted of two cups, one small and
high, painted with blue forget-me-
nots, and one broad and fiat, without
a handle. Next he brought out a
battered butter dish, tin box con-
tanning tea, and a cardboard collar
box, now promoted to the dignity of
a sugar howl. His most precious bit
of crockery, however, was tea-cad-
dy of brown clay, which he always
handled with extreme care, as it was
an heirloom and most precious relic.
Two plates and two knives, the latter
as widely different as table knives
could possibly be, a two-pronged fork
that had most uncomfortable habit
of slipping from its handle, and two
battered teaspoons of German silver,
completed the outfit.
The table set, not without a GER
tain grace, he cast on it an affection
ate eye, and remarked, with the great
est satisfaction, "All my own it's
nice, after all, to have little start to-
ward housekeeping !"
In the meantime the water had
commenced to boil, and Huhnchen
produced from the larger package FIVE
eggs, which he at once commenced to
boil, with the help of his watch. He
then set by some fresh water for the
tea, bought out an enormous loaf of
bread, and then, with an air of the
utmost satisfaction, seated himself be-
side me on the sofa, carefully select
ing valley adjoining my own, and
the meal began.
After my friend had finished his
first egg, he took a second one, and
regarded it thoughtfully.
Now look at this egg," he said
cit contains an entire chicken it
needs only to be Matched and when
the hen is grown, she lays more eggs
from which more hens are produced,
and so it goes on, generation after
generation-I see them before me in
numberless focks. I take this egg,
and with one gulp the whole brood
vanishes; that's what 1 call feast
ing p
And so we ate and slipped our tea.
One queer little yellow egg was left
over, and we decided to divide it.
AS my friend dexterously tapped the
egg with his knife, he remarked:
Zone occasionally finds most curious
examples among common eggs the
low. eggs IKE this feaIiy bereve
this is pheasant's egg; once had
one in my collection that looked just
like this
He carefully loosened his half from
the shell and tasted it thoughtfully.
Then, leaning back, with half-closed
eyes, he murmured, with CASTRO
nomic smirk, "Great A pheasant's
egg, by Jove !"
The meal finished, misfortune
confronted us. Although there was
plenty of tobacco-for the the small
er package contained ten cents worth
of this precious weed-my friend own
ed but one battered old pipe. "That's
all right" said he. after a moments
pause. Here's Don Quixote' +" Git
may be said i'll passing that this vol
ume, in addition to the Bible and
few scientific works, constituted his
library; J zone of us will smoke while
the other reads you as guest will
have the first chance at the pipe.
Now we have everything nicely ar
ranged.
Then, as I filled the pipe, and he
thoughtfully slipped the balance of his
tea, new idea came to him.
''It is wonderful" he said, "when
one thinks that, in order that I may
here peacefully sip my tea and you
smoke your pipe, the industrious
Chinaman in far distant lands, and
the negro beneath the sun of the
tropics, toll and slave for us. And
that is not all the ocean greyhounds
buffet wind and wave, and the cara
vans toll through the burning desert !;
the proud millionaire merchant, who
lives in a palace in Hamburg, must
bestow on us his thoughts and care,
and often his commercial ventures
worry him so that he cannot sleep,
while we are stretched comfortably in
our beds dreaming all sorts of beauti-
ful dreams, letting him fret out his
life SO that we may enjoy our tea and
tobacco. 1t makes it taste twice as
good when I think of all that"
All, it never occurred to him that
the tea-leaves we were enjoying prob
ably grew on a willow-tree on the
banks of a sluggish stream in our
OWE Fatherland, and that the tobacco,
at the best, came from Ukermark a
town in Germany where an inferior
grade of tobacco is raised, or perhaps
could even trace its origin to the self
same beet-root grown in the fertile
soil about Magdeburg, the mother of
the sugar with which we sweetened
our tea
Then we buried ourselves again in
the adventures of the eternal Don
Quixote, and the evening slipped
peacefully and pleasantly away.
AS 1 made my way to my friend s
house, these and similar pictures fash
ed through my mind, and a great
longing came over me for the happy
days beyond recall. How would l
find my old friend? Had contact
with the rude world soured his sunny
nature, and made of him nothing but