"Yessir," said Rawson.
"Put some more coal on that fire; it's as cold as hell in here,"
grumbled the Colonel.
The fire was duly replenished while the Colonel took a cigarette from
his case and opened his "Bystander."
"Do you know how to cook that canned asparagus?" asked the Colonel as
Rawson turned to leave the room.
"No Sir," said Rawson.
"Well how do you think you would cook it?" asked the Colonel.
This was a poser; Rawson was evidently nonplussed.
"Would you boil it, Sir?" he ventured when the silence had become
oppressive.
"You guessed right," and the Colonel deftly flicked a burned match up
behind a picture of the local cure. "What would you do with the tough
part of the stalks?"
"I dunno, Sir." Rawson was stumped again.
"Have you ever eaten asparagus?" asked the Colonel.
"No, Sir," said Rawson, "but I've seen it in the stores."
"Well, go and boil it for five minutes with some salt," ordered the
Colonel, "and then serve dinner."
"Yessir," said Rawson, retiring to the kitchen.
"It beats hell," fussed the Colonel, "how ignorant that boy is; he
hasn't a single ray of intelligence; he carries on just like a trained
monkey; he never thinks, never."
"Yes, he does," contradicted the Captain looking up from a New York
Journal received that day, "I actually saw him thinking yesterday; I
could almost see the wheels going around; in fact, I imagined I could
hear them grating, so seldom had they been used.
Pages:
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238