“It was a matter of family pride that led Burnett, in spite of this attitude, to elect the boy a second vice-president; and it was merely the obligation the boy felt he owed his father that made him accept it. And Dicky let it go at that. He came down nearly every morning, and sat around until lunch-time mostly for the sake of seeing that his father did not duck into an alley somewhere and bolt a cup of coffee and a doughnut. At twelve o’clock he broke in upon the sanctity of Burnett’s private office, removed his hat and coat from the hat-rack, and stood by the roll-top desk until his father rose with a scowl and put his arms through the sleeves. Then Dicky led him round the block to a decent hotel, where he made him eat slowly and deliberately a plate of soup, an omelet, and whole wheat bread without butter. With equal insistence he refused to allow him to eat apple pie, squash pie, mince pie, cream pie, or crullers. Dicky generally postponed his own lunch until later.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
2 ounces of stale bread (one large slice). 1 gill of boiling water. 1 gill of cold milk. 1 level teaspoonful of salt. 2 eggs. 1 tablespoonful of butter. Have the bread free from crust. Pour the boiling water over it. When soft, add the salt and milk, and break up with a spoon. Beat the yolks and whites of the eggs separately, and stir into the bread mixture. Put the butter in a frying-pan of good size, and set on the fire. When hot, turn in the omelet, and cook until it begins to set; drawing it back a little, as you would a plain omelet. Fold, and brown slightly. Turn out on a hot dish, and serve at once.
Sources: The passage is from Frederick Orin Bartlett, Joan and Co., free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Parloa, Miss Parloa's Young Housekeeper of 1893, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — ochre cloth, pear stamp.