Again another day of hard work had passed for the Cartwrights. Rancher Ben Cartwright and his three sons, Adam, Hoss and Little Joe, had spent all day with the herd.
Like each day the faithful cook Hop Sing had prepared a delicious meal. Because Hoss and Little Joe still some business to take care of Ben and Adam have gone already to home. Thereby they were first in.
“What is that for a delicious smell?”, asked Adam.
“That smells strongly to the chicken soup special of Hop Sing. Come Adam, we go try it first”, answered Ben.
They jumped off their horses and ran to the kitchen where indeed a large pan on the cooker stood. The smell of chicken soup hung in the kitchen and living room. Ben caught the ladle, stopped the ladle in the pan and. got out a full ladle. He tasted the cooking and nodded favorable. Curiously if he was Adam caught a gravy spoon and caught also he a spoon soup. Adam got the divine stuff into his gullet.
“That tastes terrific. We are taking a bowl already”, said Adam.
Ben grabbed two bowls out of the cupboard and filled them. A moment later father and son Cartwright were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying the chicken soup special.
“Pa, what are we lucky with such a cook like Hop Sing. I don’t know any other cook who can cook and bake as delicious as ours”, said Adam said after the second bowl of soup.
“Indeed. That’s why I will never fire him. Even if he threatens to quit I refuse to accept it. Another bowl?”, asked the rancher.
Adam nodded like he had gotten a really wanted gift with Christmas. Ben grabbed the bowls and filled them again.
This ritual continued for a while until the pan was empty.
“Pa, I have bad news to announce”, Adam said seriously.
The rancher looked at his eldest son and asked worried, “You are not going to tell me that.....”
Adam nodded.
“That is terrible. Is there some pudding?”, asked Ben.
Adam looked into the freezing and saw to his relief a delicious jelly pudding standing.
“Pa, here is our dessert”, said Adam said smiling.
He divided the pudding in two and went to sit at the table.
This also had disappeared into the stomachs of Ben and Adam very soon. Quickly they did the dishes and after that they went to the living room. Ben went to read the newspaper and Adam a book like each evening.
Just much later Hoss and Little Joe came home.
“Dadburnit. What am I hungry”, said Hoss.
“Let’s hope that pa and Adam haven’t started yet already”, his brother answered.
They went inside and smelled the smell of the chicken soup special. Hoss rubbed in his hands and said licking his lips, “Delicious chicken soup special. I really feel like it.”
“Boys, Adam and I have already eaten. So, go ahead in the kitchen”, Ben said dry.
The two brothers went quickly to the kitchen to fill their stomachs.
When they looked around they saw the large pan standing the large pan.
“Joe, sit down. Then I will serve you”, Hoss said kind-hearted.
Little Joe went to sit down while his brothers grabbed two bowls. Hoss had the soup-ladle already tight when he got the scare of his life. All the invectives he knew came singing out of his gullet. Little Joe jumped up and ran to the cooker to look into the pan.
“Dadburnit. What a mean trick of pa and Adam!”, groaned Hoss.
Little Joe got a sneaky idea.
“I fry an egg for us and you tallow the sandwiches. we eat that just that egg on bread. the delicious smell of the fried egg will attract pa and Adam to the kitchen and then they may watch while we eat. That will teach them not to leave anything for us”, he said.
Hoss said, “Hop Sing said that he had made a jelly pudding. That one is for us.”
He looked into the cooling and again the invectives flew through the kitchen.
Little Joe knew enough.
Like usual the plan of Little Joe failed and Ben and Adam stayed away from the kitchen. But the fried eggs also became black so that the brothers ate bread with butter.
That evening two Cartwrights went to sleep satisfied with full stomachs and two very unsatisfied with an empty stomach.