The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-02-17

Mary was pancake maker in restau
rant. II was her duty 10 stand in show
window on Broadway and pour batter
upon the griddle Thousands OF persons
stopped before the window every day, ana
waiched Mary as she deity creased the
oriddle or with turn of her hand Topped
the pancakes over 10 be Drowned on the
other side Mary had been selected fol
the lob because she was pretty Her
selection proved 10 be prolltaoie invest
,nept for her employer Those persons
who were insensible to the charms oil pan
cakes were not insensible to the attrac
tions of beauty, and so many came n TO
eat the cakes and TO wish that Mary was
a waitress rs well as n cook.
One day, when the bubble were rising
from the freshly poured batter ana Mary
stood waiting with her spatula IN her
hand, young nan stopped before the
window His dark eyes TOOK IN me
smoking griddlc, the rounded arm above
il. and the white brow which was wrlnklcd
I'm the effort to determine when the cakes
were properly done brown. She looked up
and their eyes met Then he passed on
What dark eyes he had thought Mary
What nice looking girl that was thought
he And all day long Mary looked up
from the pancakes, half expecting to see
those eyes looking into hers Even the
bubbles in the pancakes seemed to take
ON the expression OF his eyes and TO look
at her from the griddlc with stare Of
admiration As for the young man-who
was Il clerk in a 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 OF the restaurant and was greeted
with a glance from pair Of bright eyes
and an evidently studied desire to he
graceful in turning the cakes. After
week had passed h. left his boarding
house earlier than usual one morning and
stopped AT the restaurant to get his break
fast Mary saw him come ia. She did
not turn her head NJ give any sign Oi
recognition but she listened with bent
head and attentive ear for his order. II
came like this
Some pancakes, please"
How carefully She poured ont that batch
upon the griddle With what an anxious
eve she watched the edges harden and the
center Of the cakes become perforated
with holes like those in Il sponge! And
when the cakes were done to most de
hghtful brown on one side, she he'd each
one up on her spatula and creased the
griddle anew before putting the cakes on
again, so that they should not stick ia the
griddle.
In her eagerness 10 bake the cakes 10
turn she burned one Of them, and 50 in
IL 81 4 ,a
and began once again Meanwhil' she
stole furtive glance at the young man,
who was drumming oh his pla'e 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, aud
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 Tie said TO himself, as he cut
u section Of the full moon Of buckwheat:
"Wcll, | never ate pancakes like those
before They're 50 light and flaky, and
the strip 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 IL was perfectly nat
ural that they should not be, for was not
Mary anxious 10 see how nc enjoyed them,
and did not she wake an excuse To leave her
post and 40 10 the other end of the rcstau-
rant 10 get a new piece Of pork To grease
the griddle so that she might steal
glance at him as she went by? And when
Jack had eaten his cakes and had fingered
twice as long as usual over his coffee, 50
that he could feast his eyes as well as his
palate, he arose 10 go and their eyes met
for lust one fleetiag glance. Jack flushed
and said TO himself that il was caused by
the coffee Mary's face was tingcd with
crimson, but Of course it was due To the
heat o; the griddle And SO the days
came and went Each was attracted 10
the other by the loadstone of love Each
one fearful to make oyertureS 10 the other
for fear that the illusion would he dis
PEELED But the mysterious alchemst was
busy mixing the sweet potion which each
of these young hearts drank. The potion
in Mary's heart conjurcd up visions OF
what a 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 q mailed
knight CllhklliE iliO INC IcSlduiuHl 10 IT,
fresh himself with q plate of pancakes
ana emp oi coffee ere he 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. IL
saw him smile at Miss Bellows today"
And SO between her hopes and her fears
Mary fell asleep and dreamed of pancake
and her iavorite customer, and only
awoke when the sun was shining IN the
window, and she hurried down to the res
taurant SO tina; she might see her Knight
as soon as possible and catch Il glance
from his dark eyes
In the meantime Jack had not been
idle. He had cultivated the acquaintance
of the proprietor OF the restaurant Hy
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 u 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 10 Blackwell's Island at various