Wichita eagle., 1888-03-24
THE PANCAKE MAKER.


window on Broadway and pour batter
upon the griddle. Thousands of person.
stopped before the window every day, ant
watched Mary as she deity creased The
griddle or with a turn of her hand Topped
the pancakes over to be Drowned on tn.
other side. Mary had been selected fol-
the Job because she was pretty. Hel
selection proved TO be a profitable invest
ment for her employer. Those persons
who were insensible TO the charms of pan
cakes were not insensible to the attrac
tons of beauty, and SO many came in te
eat the cakes and to wish that Mary was
a waitress us well rs cook
One day, when the bubbles were rising
from the freshly poured batter and Mary
stood waiting with her spatula in heI
hand, young man stopped before the
window. His dark eyes took in the
smoking griddle, the rounded arm above
it, and the white brow which was wrinkled
in the effort to determine when the cakes
were properly done brown. She looked up
and their eyes met. Then ne passed o.
What dark eyes he had! thought Mary
What a nice looking girl that was thought
he. And all day long Mary looked up
from the pancakes, half expecting to see
bubbles in the pancakes seemed to take
on the expression of his eyes and to look
at her from the griddle with a stare of
admiration. AS for the young man-who
was a clerk in dry goods store-a
rounded arm seemed to beckon him to
come in and eat pancakes and become
saturated with maple sugar
Every morning he stopped at the win
dow a nj ta6
with q glance from pair of bright eyes
and an evidently studied desire to be
graceful in turning the cakes. After a
week had passed he left his boarding
house earlier than usual one morning and
stopped at the restaurant to get his break
fast. Mary saw him come in. She did
not turn her head nor give any sign Of
recognition. but she listened with bent
head and attentive ear for his order. 1t
came like this:
''Some pancakes, pleaser'
How carefully she poured out that batch
upon the griddle! With what an anxious
eye she watched the edges harden and the
center of the cakes become perforated
with holes like those in a sponge! And
when the cakes were done to most de-
Gghtful brown on one side, she held each
one up on her spatula and creased the
Griddle anew before putting the cakes on
again, so that they should not stick to the
griddle.
In her eagernesS to bake the cakes to q
turn she burned one Of them, and so in
disgust she threw the whole batch away
and began once again. Meanwhile she
stole a furtiye glance at the young man,
who was drumming on his plate with his
knife and watching admiringly the curve
of Mary'S graceful neck and the dainty
coil of hair on the back of her head, and
which Jack wished was against his shout
der. At last the pancakes were done to
the fair cooks liking and were placed be.
fore Jack. He said to himself, as he cut
q section of the full moon of buckwheat:
"Well, 4 never ate pancakes like those
before. They're so light and flaky, and
the sirup is real true maple sugar, and
not made of watered molaSses."
Jack didn't add that the cook was
charming, but he thought it all the same.
The next batch of cakes which Mary
cooked was not as well done as the one
Jack was eating. 1t was perfectly nat
ural that they should not be, for was not
Mary anxious to see how he enjoyed them.
and did not she make an excuse to leave her
post and 40 to the other end of the restau-
rant TO get a new piece of pork to grease
the Griddle, so that she might steal a
glance at him as she went by? And when
Jack had eaten his cakes and had fingered
twice as long rs usual over his coffee, so
that he could feast his eyes as well as his
palate, he arose TO 60 and their eyes met
for just one fieeting glance. Jack flushed
and said TO himself that il was caused by
the coffee. Mary's face was tinged with
crimson, but of course it WIS due TO the
heat of the griddle. And so the days
came and went. Each was attracted to
the other by the loadstone of love. Each
one fearful TO make overtures TO the other
for fear that the illusion would be dis
PEELED. But the mysterious alcbemiSt was
busy mixing the sweet potion which each
OF these young hearts drank. The potion
in Mary's heart conjured up visions of
what glorious man Jack must be as she
lay awake at night in the dark with her
eyes wide open. Then she closed her eyes
tight, and thought of him as a mailed
knight clanking into the restaurant to re-
fresh himself with q plate of pancakes
and cup of coffee ere Re started out in
search of his hearts desire But I'm
afraid he don't care for me- thought
Mary, opening her eyes again in fear. II
saw him smile st Miss Bellows today"
And so between her hopes and her fears
Mary fell asleep and dreamed of pancakes
and her favorite customer and only
awoke when the sun was shining in the
window, and she hurried down to the res
taurant so that she might see her knight
as soon as possible and catch a glance
from his dark eyes.
In the meantime Jack had not been
idle. He had cultivated the acquaintance
of the proprietor of the restaurant. By
careful questioning he had learned that
Mary was one of the many girls who had
been rescued by the Five Points mission
when she was mere child. Mary's
mother had died in tenement In Baxter
street from consumption, brought on by
the neglect and unkindness Of her hus-
band. Since her death the husband had
gone on from bad to worse. only saved
from killing himself by his excuses by
being sent TO Blackwell's Island at various
intervals for at least eight months in each
year. During one of his sprees he had
signed paper which committed his little
daughter 10 the care of the mission. And
so Mary had grown up TO be an exemplary
young woman and the pride OF her bene-
factors.
Jacks curiosity was awakened to find
out what kind of man Mary's father
was and so he started out one night to
search for him. He spent three nights
after working hours in the search, and
found him at last in a miSerably souaGa