All in a garden fair; the simple story of three boys ... - University Library

ALL AV A GARDEN FAIR. 273
eyes. Only from Allen,. who was imaginative,
a faint shiver cscai)e(l witli a wliispered trem-
bling of the lips as if caused by the rolling of a
few r's.
' Sup[)er,' said thrir Iiost, a spoon in one
hand and a fork in tlu' other, * supper, like all
good things, is a French invention. T do not
boast, my friends, I merely state a fact. No
one knew what sui)per could be before the time
of the Regent—the first mm of modern times
who understood how to live. We will imagine
ourselves—for this evening only— in the time of
the Regent; we will feast like him, we will talk
like him— that is, at a respectful distance ; we
will dismiss the laccpieys and seivants '—he
spoke as if his one little maid was a complete
staff— * and we will wait ui)()n eacji other—that
is, we will wait u])()ii C'lairi'. My dear, let me
find for you, among all these cutlets, the
sweetest, the best cooked, the most delicious/
It would have been impossible for the most
generous of hosts, had his eyes been turned
ui)on Olinthus at tliis moment, to escape the
VOL. I.