Once when we were without a maid, and very busy 

 in the studio, we didn't have time to prepare course 

 dinners, so we chucked thirteen different kinds of 

 vegetables in a big aluminum preserving kettle and 

 went off about our business of being great. After 

 several hours we came to, and remembering the pot 

 a-boiling, gave a yell of dismay; we were so sure it 

 was burnt I think we had no time to use the stairs — ■ 

 the banisters were more expedite. 



Now if that pot had contained a chicken it would 

 have gone to glory; but lo and behold! there were 

 our faithful vegetables philosophically stewing away, 

 sending forth a fragrance that was like a patch quilt 

 of odors. And when we sat down to sample the 

 thirteen courses compressed into one we found a dish 

 delectable enough to make LucuUus and Sulla resur- 

 rect before their time. 



Of course we had so much left over, after we'd 

 gorged ourselves, the next day was provided for 

 too; and by merely adding a preponderance of 

 tomato, the stew was metamorphosed on Tuesday 

 (we'll say it was Monday when this kitchen vaudeville 

 began), so on Tuesday the meal was quite different. 

 On Wednesday, by the addition of much cabbage 

 and little disks of bacon, still another culinary 



205 



