CHAPTER V
The Dinner


The sun was now terminating his diurnal course, and the lights were
glittering on the festal board. When the ladies had retired, and the
Burgundy had taken two or three tours of the table, the following
conversation took place:--

_Squire Headlong._
Push about the bottle: Mr Escot, it stands with you. No heeltaps. As
to skylight, liberty-hall.

_Mr Mac Laurel._
Really, Squire Headlong, this is the vara nectar itsel. Ye hae
saretainly discovered the tarrestrial paradise, but it flows wi' a
better leecor than milk an' honey.

_The Reverend Doctor Gaster._
Hem! Mr Mac Laurel! there is a degree of profaneness in that
observation, which I should not have looked for in so staunch a
supporter of church and state. Milk and honey was the pure food of the
antediluvian patriarchs, who knew not the use of the grape, happily
for them.--(_Tossing off a bumper of Burgundy._)

_Mr Escot._
Happy, indeed! The first inhabitants of the world knew not the use