of great mental disturbance.

"Don't wait," said I. "Bring in the dinner. At least, enough for me. I
don't believe any one else will be here."

The waiter looked bewildered, but he obeyed. I took my seat at the place
where my card lay, at the middle of one side of the table, and spread my
napkin in my lap. The head-waiter waited on me himself, and one or two
other waiters came in to stand around, and take away dishes, and try to
find something to do.

It was a capital dinner, and I went carefully through all the courses. I
was hungry. I had been saving up some extra appetite for this dinner,
and my regular appetite was a very good one.

I had raw oysters,

And soup,

And fish, with delicious sauce,

And roast duck,

And croquettes, made of something extraordinarily nice,

And beef _a la mode_,

And all sorts of vegetables, in their proper places,

And ready-made salad,

And orange pie,

And wine-jelly,

And ice-cream,

And bananas, oranges and white grapes,

And raisins, and almonds and nuts,

And a cup of coffee.

I let some of these things off pretty easy, toward the last; but I did
not swerve from my line of duty. I went through all the courses, quietly
and deliberately. It was a dinner in my honor, and I did all the honor I
could to it.

I was leaning back in my chair, with a satisfied soul, and nibbling at
some raisins, while I slowly drank my coffee, when the outer door
opened, and Uncle Chipperton entered.

He looked at me in astonishment. Then he looked at the table, with the
clean plates and glasses at every place, but one. Then he took it all
in, or at least I supposed he did, for he sat down on a chair near the
door, and burst out into the wildest fit of laughing. The waiters came
running into the room to see what was the matter; but for several
minutes Uncle Chipperton could not speak. He laughed until I thought
he'd crack something. I laughed, too, but not so much.

"I see it all," he gasped, at last. "I see it all. I see just how it
happened."

And when we compared our ideas of the matter, we found that they were
just the same.

I wanted him to sit down and eat something, but he would not do it. He
said he wouldn't spoil such a unique performance for anything. It was
one of the most comical meals he had ever heard of.

I was glad he enjoyed it so much, for he paid for the whole dinner for
ten, which had been prepared at his order.

When we reached the street, Uncle Chip