work.'

"Prompted by curiosity, I shortly afterwards looked in at the kitchen
door. 'While you prepare the table, madame,' the man of all work was
saying, 'shall I arrange the coffee for the hot water?'

"'Do you know how to do it?' she asked.

"'Oh, yes, madame,' the good Isaac replied. 'In a little hut in Alsace,
where I was born, I was obliged to learn to do all things. My father and
my mother had no daughter, and I had to be their daughter as well as
their son. I learn to cook the simple food. I milk the cow, I rub the
horse, I dig in the garden, I pick the berries in the woods.' As he
talked Isaac was not idle; he was busy with the coffee.

"'That is very interesting,' said Anita to me; 'where there are no
daughters among the poor the sons must learn a great deal.'

"I remained at the kitchen door to see what would happen next. There was
a piece of dough upon a floury board, and when Anita went to lay the
table the Alsatian fairly flew upon the dough. It was astonishing to see
with what rapidity he manipulated it. When Anita came back she took the
dough and divided it into four portions. 'There will be two rolls apiece
for us,' she said. 'And now, Isaac, will you put them into the stove?
The back part is where we bake things. We are going to have some lamb
chops and an omelet,' she said to me as she approached the hamper.

"'Ah, madame,' cried the Alsatian, 'allow me to lift the chops. The raw
meat will make your fingers smell.'

"'That is true,' said Anita; 'you may take them out.' And then she went
back to the dining-room.

"Isaac knelt by the hamper. Then he lifted his eyes to the skies and
involuntarily exclaimed: '_Oh, tonnerre!_ They were not put by the ice.'
And he gave a melancholy sniff. 'But they will be all right,' he said,
turning to me. 'Have trust.' The man of all work handled the chops, and
offered to beat the omelet; but Anita would not let him do this: she
made it herself, a book open beside her as she did so. Then she told
Isaac to put it on the stove, and asked if I were ready for breakfast.
As she turned to leave the room I saw her assistant whip her omelet off
the stove and slip on it another one. When or where he had made it I had
no idea; it must have been while she was looking for the sugar.

"'A most excellent breakfast,' said I, when the meal was over; and I
spoke the exact truth.

"'Yes,' said Anita; 'but I think I shall do better after I have had more
practice. I wonder if tha