The conversation and
sprightliness of the host fed the minds of his guests as generously
as his bread strengthened their hearts, or his wine, in the
Psalmist's words, made their faces to shine. Men were they, every
one of them possessed of a sound mind in a sound body; and both were
well feasted at this hospitable table.
The dishes were despatched in a leisurely and orderly manner, as
became men who knew the value of both soul and body, and sacrificed
neither to the other. When the cloth was drawn, and the wine-flasks
glittered ruby and golden upon the polished board, the old butler
came in, bearing upon a tray a large silver box of tobacco, with
pipes and stoppers and a wax candle burning, ready to light them, as
then the fashion was in companies composed exclusively of gentlemen.
He placed the materials for smoking upon the table as reverently as
a priest places his biretta upon the altar,--for the old butler did
himself dearly love the Indian weed, and delighted to smell the
perfume of it as it rose in clouds over his master's table.
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