Olympian Nights

Dinin

ighly polished ebony. I had never seen their like before, save in an occasional bit of statuary in Italy, wherein marbles of differing hue and shade had been ingeniously used by the sculptor to give color to his work. The boys themselves, as

said one of them, showing a set o

e chair. When I was seated,

ut it, but in a community like Olympus gods are really at a discount, and the black particle was so like

ff, reaching as it did around to the back of his ears. "I ain' no gord. I'se j

bo; and where were you born?" I a

. "I guess yo's on'y foolin', massa. Me? Wh

, eh-like To

Topsy?" he

gger girl that became ve

, shaking his head. "We ain' niggers, eider,

ied. The wor

t nothin' borned 'bout us. Never knowed who pap was. Man jess

flesh and dress had all of the texture of marble, but now the question came up as to th

ng but a very good-looking little nigger. You can

' de truf. Me an' him was chiselled out o' brack marble by pap. Ef we'd been borned

e only statuary, you can move about,

ne chiselled us, an' Joop'ter he came 'long wid Miss' Juno an' when he seed us he said: 'Dare you is, Juno! Dem boys'll make mighty good buttonses foh de hotel.' Juno she laffed, an' said dat was so, on'y she couldn't see as we had many buttons. 'Would you like to have 'em?' Joop'ter ast, and she said

once before, as far as I knew, he had exerted to give to a bit of sculpture all the flush

is sort of thing o

em feed de Trojan Hoss, an' de Cardiff Giant. He brang bofe dem freaks to life, an' now he can't get rid ob 'em. Dat Trojan Hoss suttinly am a berry debbil. He stans up gentle as a lamb tel

r before had suspected that the famous beast had a sense of humor in his makeup. I was

e in front of the chair. "Dat's de third an' lass cal

ous dining-room on the forty-eighth, the broad corridor runs round and round and round again with an upward incline that is barely perceptible-indeed, not perceptible at all either to the eye or to the muscles of the leg. And while there are the most speedy elevators connecting all the various floors, one can, if one chooses, walk from cellar to roof of this marvell

her soon "toted" me to the entrance of the din

ady, sir," said the h

ration. I seemed to recognize the man at once, and, as I had freq

non?" I said, slipping a s

say that one of the magic properties of the garment I wore was that whatever I put my hand into my pocket for, I got. As a travelled American, realizing the potency under similar conditions of that heavy and ugly coin, I instinctively sought for it in my pocket and it was there. I do not attempt

ollar and escorting me to my table. "We do not often have visi

ndow which seemed to open out upon

ews, sir?" Memnon

h-news from home,

r merely fam

ly,"

d the pleasure of seeing my two boys eating their supper and challenging each o

nger, not getting the strawberry, however, which in a quick moment, between bl

Washington merely by looking through a window. There were the President and

h of crime

n, fingering the push-butt

t you've go

body else might see. And I did not wish to lose my respect for people who were leaders in the highest walks of social life. Still, a great many things that have happened since in high life have not been wholly surprising to me. I have furthermore so ordered my own goings and comings since that time that I have

a small wafer about as larg

that, Memn

of melon,

s it?" I

said, with a smile. "It is one of a

have eaten melons, and I have dreamed melons, but never in either ex

emnon-anoth

imprudent, sir. That wafer was constr

"quite right. Six hundred melons are enough fo

das," sai

her rich,"

r a half portion at a Paris café, if y

aid I, "is the peculi

eggs laid by the goose of whom you have probably read in the Per

t, Memnon, I can't digest a solid gold omel

his head showed, making his mouth lo

seem to think. The eggs are solid, but the omelet is not. It is, indeed, only six karats fine. The alloy consists largely of l

im. My politeness was well repaid, for nothing more delicate in the way of an omelet has ever titillated my palate. There was a slight metallic taste about it at first, but I soon got over that, just as I hav

a small object that looked like a Hamburg st

ved, "and coffee direct f

were

id, as the delicate morsel actual

ies of a bovine existence. It is fed on the most delicate fodder, especially prepared by chemists under the direction of ?sculapius. The cattle, instead of toughening their muscles by walking to pasture, are waited upon by co

ould think a moderately active cal

ey are ready for killing they are as tender as humming birds' tongues," said Memno

d far more humane than that of fatteni

s fresh from the dairy of the gods. You

non. "Fresh every morning. You must ask the

at?" I

gainst Pales, who is in charge of the dairymaids, got into the field one night and sowed a lot of chicory in with the coffee, and the result was that the next

mean to say

sture our cows on a coffee farm, and, instea

ul idea!

From ours, it does not seem so strange. We are used to marvels

tuously-my-ah-my appetite is somewhat ta

f you wish," he replied, simply, as if

I am acclimated. I never eat heavily for the fir

ll right, but there was a suggestion of pain in my right side. I could not make up my mind if it wer

idn't wish to ea

ir and the two little bla

take you to the Zoo

I. "I'm all ready. A li

moved

the chair door upon me, Memnon handed m

his, Memno

ed me to keep for yo

ded it for y

ace f

ut, really, I couldn't, you know.

ffended you, Memnon. I meant it all right.

t, sir. I supposed you didn't wish to

n my pocket. "Thank you for your car

teeth. "I don't take offence at anything so trifling. Had you ha

hion which made me feel keenl