Pour some boiling water out of a tea-kettle through a clean cloth
spread over the top of a broad stew-pan; for by observing this process
the eggs will be nicer and more easily done than when its impurities
remain in the water. Set the pan with the strained water on hot coals,
and when it boils, break each egg separately into a saucer. Remove the
pan from the fire, and slip the eggs one by one into the surface of the
water. Let the pan stand till the white of the eggs is set; then place
it again on the coals, and as soon as the water boils again, the eggs
will be sufficiently done. Take them out carefully with an egg-slice,
and trim off all the ragged edges from the white, which should thinly
cover the yolk. Have ready some thin slices of buttered toast with the
crust cut off. Lay them in the bottom of the dish, with a poached egg
on each slice of toast, and send them to the breakfast table.