Scene, or rather' Course Two, finds us_ gastronomically speaking, under German control. The weather is still warm but not violent. Or possibly, having escaped the British rose de beuf, we did not notice it. With something of a lightness in the vicinity of our heart, we sought out the dining room. The table reeled under dishes of food, but thanks to the kitchen-god,—all cold. Cold sliced meats, cold vegetables, a frosty mound that later unmasked as the raw sour eel, cool cheeses and for those who would steins of cold half and half.
But like the house in the woods to Hensel and Gretel, this was the snare to lure us in. Once seated, thick steaming soups flowed round us, sour.kraut and sausage, an aquarium assorted and stuffed fish. Our cheeks and eyes bulged, our fingers stood out like stars o- sau-one.. We tried $0 uuaeaart of am engagement gotten. "Oh, bub you have not your roast heid nothing.'
Russia next. Russia with a tiny glass of water' at each plate and nearly a decanter of water such as the hotels in small middle western towns in America use. The middle west has all sorts of water from alkali to bottled, but ita decanters never knew a liquid like this of Russia's,—vodka, More cold food lying about plates in naked salmon and cucumber shade. We took a deep breath. prepared to be disappointed: and were. The stuff was delicious. Soup.of course,—we were resigned to that,—but with complications.
plate of crisped cereal. With one graceful service of the spoon we were to convey cereal and liquid to our mouth, Jackstones at the seventh stage is a simple game in comparison with drinking soup @ da Russia.
Suddenly a baritone burst forth with a phrase from an opera we can neither spell nor' pronounce, a soprano sprang straight up like a lark from the ground in voice, and here, there, all around the table voices joined in. violin appeared, then a cello, Whether this was a regular Russian dinner and the regular Russian method of announcing. its passing or a brilliant ce-operative effort to screen the withdrawal of the cook and the roast, we have yet to learn.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.