d
more'n once, Bill."

"I would have unloaded it," responded the other, "I would have
unloaded the cussed things more than once, but I had nothing else to
bring you, and I thought they'd look mighty fine standing up on the
table with an apple in each mouth and their tails curled up, as I've
seen them at the barbecues."

"So they would, so they would, Bill; but ye never could have kept 'em
on the table. No amount of cookin' would have ever taken the speed out
of them pigs. Ef ye had nailed 'em to the table they'd have taken the
table and cabin with 'em. It's better as it is, Bill; so cheer up and
we'll git at the cookin'."

* * * * *

Cooking is more than an art; it is a gift. Genius, and genius alone,
can prepare a feast fit for the feaster. Woe be to the wretch who sees
nothing in preparing food for the mouth of man save manual labor. Such
a knave should be basted on his own spit. An artist in eating can
alone appreciate an artist in cooking. When food is well prepared it
delights the eye, it intoxicates the nose, it pleases the tongue, it
stimulates the appetite, and prolongs the healthy craving which it
finally satisfies, even as the song of the mother charms the child
which it gradually composes for slumber.

The Old Trapper was a man of gifts and among his gifts was that of
cooking. For sixty years he had been his own _chef_, with a continent
for his larder, and to more than one gourmand of the great cities the
tastiness and delicacy of his dishes had been a revelation--more than
one epicure of the clubs had gone from his cabin not only with a full
but a surprised stomach.

It is easy to imagine the happiness that this host of the woods
experienced in preparing the feast for the morrow. He entered upon his
labors, whose culmination was to be the great event of the year, with
the alacrity of one who had mentally discussed and decided every point
in anticipation. There was no cause for haste, and hence there was no
confusion. He could not foretell the number of his guests, but this
did in no way disconcert him. He had already decided that no matter
how many might come there should be enough. In Wild Bill he had an
able and willing assistant, and all through the afternoon and well
into the evening the two men pushed on the preparation for the great
dinner.

The large table, constructed of strong maple plank, was sanded and
scoured until it shone almost snowy white. On it was pl