Edward naively told him that he could come as early as
Doctor Holmes liked--by breakfast-time, he was assured, as Edward was
all alone! Doctor Holmes's amusement at this ingenuous note may be
imagined.
Within the hour the messenger brought back this answer:
MY DEAR BOY:
I shall certainly look for you to-morrow morning at eight o'clock to
have a piece of pie with me. That is real New England, you know.
Very cordially yours,
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES.
Edward was there at eight o'clock. Strictly speaking, he was there at
seven-thirty, and found the author already at his desk in that room
overlooking the Charles River.
"Well," was the cheery greeting, "you couldn't wait until eight for
your breakfast, could you? Neither could I when I was a boy. I used
to have my breakfast at seven," and then telling the boy all about his
boyhood, the cheery poet led him to the dining-room, and for the first
time he breakfasted away from home and ate pie--and that with "The
Autocrat" at his own breakfast-table!
A cosier time no boy could have had.
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