As soon as your kettle is in order and the stock in it, drain off the water from the beans; put them into the stock and set at once over the fire where it will come to a boil slowly. As soon as that takes place, set it a little one side, and it will simmer, not _quite_ boil, till time for dinner. It will take some four or five hours to make the beans perfectly tender. Half an hour before straining, add a teacupful of tomato catsup and half a pint of canned tomatoes or six fresh ones. Let it cook a little more briskly for a half-hour, then rub through a coarse sieve or colander, and serve hot. In preparing stock for this soup, the savory herbs and mushrooms may be omitted, also the tomatoes, as it is better to add them just before the beans are done, and strain all together. Some like to squeeze a few drops of lemon-juice into soup when in their plates, and it is well to have a quarter of a lemon put on a small saucer or cup-plate by every one at the table, so that they can add it if agreeable. An excellent _beef soup_ can be made from the bones left from a roast. Cut the bones apart, and crack them to pieces with a broad hatchet kept for that purpose only, as the good husband may object to having his carefully kept hatchet used by “women folks,” and _you_ may be equally unwilling to take articles that have been used you know not for what. Cover the bones with cold water, and set on the range where they will simmer, _not boil_, between three and four hours. When the meat is so tender as to slip easily from the bones, scrape it all off and set it aside; put the stock thus made in a stone pot and cover closely, after it is cold. We should have said in former directions that stock must not be covered up till cold, then closed carefully. The next day remove every particle of the fat; warm the stock enough to strain it; cut up one onion (if you and your family like them), two or three potatoes, one turnip, a few bits of cauliflower or cabbage, if desired, and two carrots. Put these in the stock, adding, if you like, a half-pint of rich stock; add pepper and salt to your liking, half a teacupful of tomato catsup, a table-spoonful of rice washed clean, or “star” macaroni. Boil one hour, and dish without a second straining. Of course all these seasonings and vegetables must be varied or modified to suit the special tastes of different families. The meat cut from the bone may be made into nice “force-meat balls,” and put into the soup when dished for the table. To make these balls, rub the meat smooth in a marble mortar. If very dry, moisten with a spoonful of rich stock. When smooth, season with salt, pepper, a little thyme, summer savory, and green parsley chopped fine. Beat one egg light and stir in, thickening the whole with cracker crumbs, enough to roll into small balls the size of a large walnut, and fry in boiling lard, or place on a dish and bake a clear, even brown, and put into the soup the last thing before sending to the table.