Evening star., 1919-04-06

road and Cabin John run.
rock hill rises on the south edge OF
the creek, and the north side et tha'
hill has been ripped open and gouged
out by hand drills and gunpowder'
The vast wound blasted In TINS NH
and the greenery that spring was
unfolding there suggested a resting
place and. Of course. a lunch. ihe
Rambler sat down on the root OF
beech tree and. instead of calling
waiter or walking up to the luneh
counter, drew from his pocket a nam
sandwich with q slice of ham In II.
It Is very difficult to buy one OF these
sandwiches now. They have to be
made at home. The outer husk OF
this ham sandwich was built up OF
two thick pieces of that kind OF
bread which boys and girls IN tnls
part Of the world used to call Johnny
cake. The interior furnishing OF the
sandwich was a slice OF ham whicn
some persons of un-nice speech
might call a hunk. There was de-
lectable amount of fat on 1t and about
1t hovered the fragrance OF moss
roses, heliotrope. orange blossoms
and lilac. 1t had been boiled In cab
bage.
1t ought not to be expected by the
most impatient reader OF these RAM
bling lines that man. resting IN an
ancient, worn-out quarry, could eat
sandwich of such SAVIOR and dimen-
sions without giving hospitable en-
tertainment to some OF those va
grant thoughts, vagaries or tramp
notions which stray into ones head
and which are sometimes called rev.
cries or reflections.
X n
There, surrounded by quarry walls
and surrounding his sandwich, the
Rambler could not. or did not. resist
thinking Of his good. though rich
friends lunching in the city. His
fancy drew a picture Of them sitting
At tables with dishes that were flt to
Get before q king. but lacking that
lupine, ursine or raven appetite
which comes to man after hard
Walking in the country. And as the
Rambler writes the phrase. "Fit to set
before a king" there comes into your
memory just as into his that old
childhood song:
Sing a song Of siIpence,
Pockets full Of rye.
Four.and- twenty blackbirds
! Baked In a pie.
/ When the pie was opened
The birds began to sing;
Wasn't that q dainty dish
70 set before kingf
Fancy drew for the Rambler not
only a picture Of his good though
fich friends back home at table. 1t
drew a picture Of some Of them taxi
ing an appetizer as a prandial prel-
ude. In some cases. or in some
glasses. the appetizer contained a
green olive: in other cases, or in other
glasses, 1t was a scarlet cherry. To
the Rambler the green olive looked
like an emerald-as big as the emer-
AID in bishops ring-lying at the
bottom Of a pool of merry water.
margined by crystal strand. and
from that joyous little lake came the
incense of juniper trees. The scar
let cherry looked like a priceless
ruby that had run away from ra-
3ah's treasure casket and plunged it.
belf into q tiny amber sea whose every
ripple was smile and whose sweet
perfume suggested that an arch ma
gician had stolen lilies from celes-
fial fields and distilled their souls
Then, in fancy, of course. the Ram
bier saw his rich and august friends
tuck big white napkins under their
chins and nibble indifferently at a
salad. bit Of toasted cracker and a
bit Of ravishing green RoQuefort. He
saw them daily tenderly with hors
d'oeuvres and ices and then lift to
their unhungry lips little glasses Of
cordial to warm away the cramps of
indigestion. And, as in his fancy he
sees those little cordial glasses, there
comes into his memory these lines
from Milton's Comus:
Here dwell NO frowns nor anger; from these
gates
Sorrow flies afar. See. here be all the pleasure,
That fancy can beget on youthful thoughts,
When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns
And first behold this cordial julep here,
That flames and dances in its crystal bounds
With spirits Of balm and fragrant sirup.
mixed.
Not that Nepenthes. which the wife Of Thonc
In Egypt gave to Jove-born Helena,
1s OF such power TO stir up Joy as this.
Then the Rambler bit another chunk
out Of his big homemade sandwich
Rnd wiped his mouth with the back
Of his hand.
4 4
Fancy persisted in haunting the
Rambler as he sat on the root of the
big beech tree. He could see hundreds
Of the rich men of Washington going
to luncheon at the Willard, Shoreham,
Raleigh. Powhatan, Ebbitt, Washing
ton. Harrington, National, Metropoli-
tan and 81. James. They passed out