1 Cup of fresh oysters. 1 Cup of milk.

1 Saltspoon of salt.

2 Tablespoons of rolled cracker-crumbs. A sprinkle of pepper.

1/4 Teaspoon of butter.

Put the milk with the cracker-crumbs into a saucepan on the stove; while it is heating pick over the oysters on a plate, and remove any bits of shell that may be among them. Have a hot omelet-pan ready to receive them, and when the milk reaches the boiling-point, put the oysters into the omelet-pan. Stir and turn them until they become plump, or while about sixty can be slowly counted; then drop the oysters into the boiling milk, take it immediately from the fire, add the salt, pepper, and butter, and serve at once. The point which requires the most attention is the cooking of the oysters in the omelet-pan. Do not let them cook quite enough, as the milk has sufficient heat to finish them. If too long exposed to the heat, the albuminous juice becomes overcooked, and the oysters consequently tough and leathery. For thickening oyster soup, two tablespoons of white sauce may be substituted for the cracker-crumbs.