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Eighth Day: Lane

There was not much left to be done the next morning. Aunt Jane went in very early to Mrs. Lane's to superintend the making of the sandwiches. "They must be cut thin, and they must be small," said she to Edith, "if you want them to be good. Those dreadful lumps of thick bread with great mats of ham between that some people mistake for sandwiches, are fit only for savages, and ours are to be eaten by civilized beings."

Then she showed Edith how to butter the bread, so that the slices should exactly fit, one on the other; the chopped ham was scattered thickly over the lower one, a little mustard wet up with vinegar was sprinkled lightly upon it, and then the matching slices were neatly fitted down and pressed together. Afterward each double slice was cut into several pieces, easy to be handled.

Then the biscuits were split and buttered, and each stuffed egg was wrapped in its piece of tissue paper. The tea and coffee were first turned into pitchers, where cream was added with a moderate amount of sugar, and then poured into bottles, which were made secure by having a piece of cloth tied down tightly over each cork. Some additional sugar was carried along in a well-washed pickle bottle, this being more easily managed than a paper, and a supply of salt was not forgotten. "I can't imagine," said Mr. Lane to Mrs. King, as they were all seated at their pleasant lunch in a shady grove, "how you have managed to remember everything. My idea of a picnic is that some of the most important articles are always found to have been left behind when the time comes to use them." "I always begin by making a list of everything that can possibly be needed," replied she. "At home, where we have these gipsy parties very often, I keep a permanent one, and just vary it as occasion requires. I never feel safe without it, because it is often the most obvious things that are forgotten, every one thinking them a matter of course. Now, we have reduced gipsying to such a system that our picnics are nearly as well served as our dinner-tables."

It is pleasant to be able to say that the good things which our young friends had expended so much labor upon proved very satisfactory. The veal loaf was especially liked, while Grace's ornamented pies and Edith's pretty stuffed eggs were much admired by the young people. There was only one thing that would have pleased them better; they would have liked to do some of the cooking on the spot. "That's all very well for young ladies and gentlemen who want to make a frolic of it," said Aunt Jane, "but we old folks like to rest when we get out into the woods; we don't want to work. If I have to do that, I'd rather it should be in my own comfortable kitchen." "I can tell you we're very thankful to have such a pleasant excursion as this, any way you like to manage it, Aunt Jane," said Rose, speaking for the rest; and they all agreed with her.