Soon from within the oven, partly hid By embers piled upon the cumbrous lid, The baking powder biscuits nestling there With wholesome exhalations charged the air. A pot of beans suspended by a wire Swung like a pendulum above the fire, And answered every flame's combustive kiss With roundelay of bubble and of hiss, While in the esculent commotion swam The residue of what was once a ham. Though epicures, who yearn for fowl and fish, May scorn this plain and inexpensive dish, So free from the extravagance of waste, Yet succulent and pleasant to the taste, Of all the varied products of the soil, The bean is most esteemed by those who toil. Removed, in place less prominent and hot, One might have seen the old black coffee pot, And watched the puffs of aromatic steam Rise on the background of the firelight's gleam. A pleasant sibilation filled the room, As with an unctuous savor or perfume The bacon sizzled in the frying-pan, The bane and terror of dyspeptic man; But those who labor for their daily bread Of sedentary ills have little dread. The simple yet salubrious repast Was on the rustic table spread at last. No cut-glass flashed and sparkled in the light, Nor burnished silver service met the sight. No butter dish, nor sugar bowl was seen, The grains of sugar, white and saccharine, Imprisoned in a baking powder can, Rose in a wilderness of pot and pan. The butter firkin stood upon a shelf Where every one could reach and help himself. The nibbling rodent and destructive moth Found naught to lure them in the shape of cloth. No tablespread of costly linen lent Its white disguise or figured ornament To catch the bacon or the coffee stain. Nor was there cup or plate of porcelain, For empty cans, stripped of their labels, bare, And pie tins held the same positions there. * * * * * All congregated 'round the simple spread And ate the beans and baking powder bread, [Blank Page] With all the satisfaction and delight That crown the hungry miner's appetite; Not gluttony, that enemy to health, That often follows in the trail of wealth, But wholesome relish, which the laboring poor Enjoy, who eat their fill, but eat no more. [Illustration: "Arrayed in Nature's pristine dress This was, indeed, a wilderness." _See page 29._]