Page:Boys Life of Booker T. Washington.djvu/144

128 the dinner hour visiting the country people near Copenhagen. He was late getting home, and he was terrified when he realized that he might be late for dinner. To keep the King and Queen waiting would be a terrible offense. He dressed as rapidly as he could. But in his haste, he pulled his necktie to pieces,—the only one he had fit for the occasion! He pinned it together the best he could and put it on; but he says that he was in great distress throughout the dinner lest the tie come to pieces again.

He reached the palace just in time for the dinner. He was taken directly to the King, who led him to where the Queen was standing, and presented him to her. She was very cordial and gracious. She spoke English perfectly; and Washington was again surprised to find that she, too, was thoroughly familiar with affairs in the United States, and that she also knew about Tuskegee.

There was a very distinguished group of people present. The dinner was given in the magnificent Summer Palace, and everything was truly royal in its elegance and splendor. Washington says, "As I ate food for the first time in my life out of gold dishes, I could not but recall the time when as a slave boy I ate my syrup from a tin plate."