rom the darkest ocher to the brightest yellow. It always gave me
great pleasure to watch a tree-cake come into being. Toward the back
wall of a huge fireplace stood a low half-dome, built of bricks, the
top projecting forward like a roof, the bottom slanting toward the
back. Along this slanting part was built a narrow charcoal fire about
four feet long and by it were placed two small iron supports, upon
which a roasting spit was laid, with a contrivance for turning it.
However, the spit resting upon the supports proved to be something
more than a mere rod. In fact the spit itself was run lengthwise
through a hollow wooden cone, which had a covering of greased paper
over its outer surface, and the purpose of which was to form a core
for the tree-cake. Then, with a tin spoon fastened upon a long stick,
the cook began to pour on a thin batter, which at first dripped off in
a way that made the method of application appear futile, and this
continued for a considerable length of time. But from the moment that
the batter became more consistent, and the dripping slower, hope began
to revive, and in a few hours the splendidly browned and copiously
jagged tree-cake was taken off the wooden cone. All this had a
symbolical significance. The successful completion of this _piece de
resistance_ inspired confidence in the success of the feast itself.
The tree-cake cast the horoscope, so to speak, of the whole affair.

I shall pass over the kitchen activities on the day of the
entertainment and describe instead the feast itself. Along extension
table was moved into my mother's parlor--the only room available for
the purpose--and soon stood well set in front of the moire sofa with
the three hundred silver studs. The guests were not seated at the
table till the candles were lit. The man who presided over the banquet
always sat with his back toward the Schinkel mirror, whereas all the
other guests could, with little or no inconvenience, observe
themselves in the glass.

So far as I can recall they were always gentlemen's dinner parties,
with twelve or fourteen persons, and only on rare occasions did my
mother appear at the table, then usually accompanied by her sister,
who often visited us for months at a time in the winter season and was
in those days still very young and handsome. It was always a specially
difficult matter to assign her a suitable place, and only when old Mr.
von Flemming and Privy Councillor Kind were present was she i