At one o'clock the supper-rooms were opened, and there
was a really magnificent supper, with "all the delicacies of the
season," and wine in abundance of every sort. And the old hands, who
would appear knowing, used to say to new-comers, "Never mind the
champagne--you can get that anywhere--but stick to the Rhine wine: it
comes from the old boy's own vineyards." To tell the truth, the scene
at that supper used to be a somewhat discreditable one. The spreading
of such a banquet before such an assemblage of animals as had gone up
into that ark was a leading them into unwonted temptation which was
hardly judicious. Not that the foreigners were by any means the worst
offenders against decent behavior there. If they carried away bushels
of bonbons in their loaded pockets, the Italians would consign to the
same receptacles whole fowls, vast blocks of galantine, and even
platefuls of mayonnaise, packed up in paper brought thither for the
purpose. They were like troops plundering a taken town. Despite the
enormous quantity of loot thus carried off, inexhaustible fresh
supplies refurnished the board again and again till all were
satisfied. I never saw English or Americans pocket aught save
bonbons, which seemed to be considered fair game on all sides, but the
quantity of these that I have seen made prizes of was something
prodigious.
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