d you say?"

"Yes, my lord. They are plentiful in the forests."

Again Lord Upperton smacked his lips.

"By Jove, Dapper, it is superb!" he exclaimed.

"Will you try some succotash, my lord?" Ruth inquired.

"There you have me again. What a name!"

"It is an Indian name, my lord," said Mrs. Adams.

"Oh ho! Indian. They told me I should find the people lived like the
savages. Succotash! what is it?"

"Succotash, my lord, is a mixture of beans and Indian corn."

"Beans! beans! Do you eat beans over here?" his lordship asked.

"We do, my lord," Mrs. Adams replied, "and we think them very
nutritious and palatable, notwithstanding the maxim, '_Abstincto a
fabis_.' Possibly you may be a disciple of Pythagoras, and believe
that the souls of the dead are encased in beans, and so think it
almost sacrilegious for us to use them as food."

Lord Upperton looked up in astonishment. Was it possible that ladies
in the Colonies were acquainted with the classics?

"In England we feed our sheep on beans," his lordship replied; "and
may I ask what is Indian corn?"

"Possibly you may call it maize in England. When our fathers came to
this country they found the Indians used it for food, and so ever
since it has been known as Indian corn."

"Beans for sheep; corn for savages. Pardon me, madam, but I am not a
sheep, nor yet quite a savage with a tomahawk. Thank you, but I don't
care for any succotash."

"Better take some, Upperton. It is positively delicious," said Mr.
Dapper, after swallowing a spoonful.

Lord Upperton poked the mixture with his spoon and then tasted it.

"It isn't so very nasty," he said, and took a second spoonful. "By
Jove, it isn't bad at all. Bless me, the more I eat the better I like
it."

His plate was quickly cleaned.

"Pardon me, Miss Newville, but the succotash is so superb that I dare
violate good manners, which I am sure you will overlook, and pass my
plate for more."

"You see, my lord, what you have gained by trying it. If you had not
tasted it, you would have gone back to England and told the nabobs
that the people in the Colonies eat just such nasty things as the
sheep-men feed to their flocks; but now you can torment them by
describing the dainty delicacies of the Colonies."

"By Jove! That's a capital idea, Dapper. It will make the Macaronies
mad as March hares."

"Please fill your glasses, ladies and gentlemen, and we will drink the
health of our most gracious sovereign,"[46]