"_So comes a reckoning when the banquet's o'er,--
The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more._"
THERE couldn't be a better time than the present in which to have a
smoke-talk, mesdames. There, there, now, pray don't be alarmed; I've
no notion of passing round any of the popular brands of cigars.
Neither would I so much as offer you cigarettes, albeit the latest
scientific utterance has pronounced them harmless.
No, our talk shall be of some of the smoked and salted viands that,
while they may not perhaps come under the head of delicacies or
indelicacies of the season, are decidedly appetizing, and quite worthy
of having considerable attention given to the best ways and means of
serving them.