Such a
display of silver and cut glass! Such snowy linen, and such
unimaginable viands! There were piles of sandwiches, each one half a
bite for a fairly hungry man. There was jellied game, and caviar, and
a pate of something strange and spicy. Nothing was what one would have
expected--there were eggs inside of baked potatoes, and ice cream in
some sort of crispy cake. The crackers looked like cakes, and the
cakes like crackers, and the cheese was green and discouraging. But a
bowl of strawberries and cream held out a rich promise at the end, and
Samuel took heart.
"Fall to," said the host; and then divining the other's state of mind,
he remarked, "You needn't serve, Peters," and the men went away, to
Samuel's vast relief.
"Don't mind me," added Lockman laughing. "And if there's any question
you want to ask, all right."
So Samuel tasted the food of the gods; a kind of food which human
skill and ingenuity had labored for centuries to invent, and for days
and even weeks to prepare. Samuel wondered vaguely where all these
foods had come from, and how many people had had a hand in their
preparation; also he wondered if all those who ate them would become
as beautiful and as dazzling as his young friend.
The friend meanwhile was vastly diverted, and was bent upon making the
most of his find. "I suppose you'd like to see the place?" he said.
"I should, indeed," said Samuel.
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