Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-07-04
O.. HENRY STORIES
Copyright by Mcclure Company
No. l
Cupid
In Which Victuals Triumph.

ing tobacco and listening to the pour
ing rain and meditating on the many
yicissitudes that come to man during
the seventy years or so Immediately
preceding his funeral.
Il must have dOZed little De1ore
morning, for my eyes were smut anu
when | opened them it was daEllSht'
and there stood Name with her mar
all done up neat and correct and her
eyes bright with admiration of ex-
istence.
".Gee whiz, Jeff she exclaims, but
I'm hungry, / could eat "a
Il looked up and caught her eye.
Her smile went back in, and she gave
me cold look of suspicion. Ihen
laughed and laid down on the floor TO
laugh easier. 1t seemed funny to me.
BY nature and geniality am a hearty
laugher, and l went the limit When
l came to Name was sitting with her
back to me, all contaminated with dig
nifty.
Don't be angry, Name | says,
'for l couldn't help it. It's the funny
could only see it,
"'You needn't tell stories, sir said
Name. cool and advised. My hair Is
all right | know what you are laugh
ing about. Why. Jeff, look outside,
she winds up, peeping through chink
between the logs l opened the little
wooden window and looked out. The
entire river bottom was Hooded, ana
the knob of land on which the house
stood was an island in the middle Of
rushing stream of yellow water nun
dred yards wide. And it was still
raining hard. All we could do was TO
stay there till the dove brought in the
olive branch.
Il am bound to admit that converse
lions and amusements languished dur
ing that day. / was aware that Name
was getting q too prolonged one Slded
view of things again, but l had no
way 10 change it. Personally 1 was
wrapped ND in q desire to eat. l had
hallucinations Of hash and visions of
ham. and l kept saying to myself all
the time: 'Whatn you have TO eat,
Jeff? What'Il you order now, old man,
when the waiter cOmesE / picks out
to myself all sorts of favorites from
the bill Of fare and imagines them
coming. | guess it's that way with all
very hungry men. They can't get their
cogitations trained on anything but
something to eat 1t shows that the
little table with the broken legged cas-
ter and the imitation Worcester sauce
and the napkin covering up the coHee
stains is the paramount issue, AFTER
ALL instead of the question OF 1mmor-
tality or peace between nations.
Il sat there. muSing along, arguing
with myself quite heated as to how
Ia have my steak-with mushrooms or
a Ia creole. Name was on the other
seat pensive, her head leaning on her
hand. Let the potatoes come home
fried | states in my mind, and brown
the hash in the pan, with nine poached
eggs on the side l felt careful in my
own pockets to see if / could find a
peanut or grain or two of popcorn.
might came on again with the riy-
er still rising and the rain still falling.
| looked at Name and | noticed that
desperate look on her face that girl
always wears when she passes an ice
cream lair. l knew that poor girl was
huugry-maybe for the first time in her
life. There was that anxious look in
her eve that Il woman has only when
she has missed a meal or feels her
skirt coming unfastened in the back.
1T was about II o'clock or so on the
second night when we sat, gloomy, III
our shipwrecked cabin. kept jerk
ing my mind away from the subject
of food. but it kept Topping back again
before l could fasten it. | thought OF
everything good to eat l had ever
heard Of. l went away back TO my
kidhood and remembered the hot bis
cult sODped in sorghum and bacon
gravy with partially and respect Their
trailed along up the years, pauslng al
green apples and salt, tiapjacks anC
maple. I've hOminy fried chicken OlC
VIRGINIA style. corn on the cob, spare
ribs and sweet potato pie and wount
IN with Georgia Brunswick stew
which is the top notch of good things
TO eat. because it comprises 'em all.
"They say Il drowning man sees {
panorama of his whole life pass before
him. Well, when a mans starving III
sees the ghost of every meal he eve
ate set out before him and he invent
new dishes that would make the for
time of a chef. If somebody Woult
collect the last words of men WIZ
starved to death they'd have to sif
'em mighty fine to discover the sent
ment. but they'd compile into cook
book that would sell into the millions
II guess | must have had my con
science pretty well inflicted with Gull
nary meditatons, for, without intend
ing to do so, says, out loud. to tn
imaginary waiter. Cut it thick an
have it rare, with the French fried
and six. soft scrambled. on toast
Name turned her head quick as
wink. Her eyes were sparkling, an
she smiled sudden.e7~~-~e,~,, .--...-s~s-~e
MEDIUM for me- she rattles on