Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-03-10

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 a most de-
| lightful 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
| Srddle.
In her eagerness to bake the cakes to a
| turn she burned one of them. and so in
! disgust she threw the whole batch away
| and began CnCe again. Meanwhile she
| stole Il furtive glance at the young man.
who was drumming on mis- 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, and
which Jack wished was against his shoul
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
p section of the full moon of buCkwheat:
''Well, / never ate pancakes like those
before. They're so light and fiaky, and
the sirup is real true maple sugar, and
not made of vatered 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 20 TO the other end of the restau-
rant to get IL 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, so
that he could feast his eyes as well as his
palate, he arose to go and their eyes met
for just one flceting glance. Jack flushed
and said to h.lself that it was caused by
the coffee. Mary's face was tinged with
crimson, but of course it was 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 alChemist was
busy mixing the sweet potion which each
of these young hearts drank. The potion
in Mary's heart coniured up visions of
what glorious man Jack must be as she
lay awake ut night in the dark with her
eyes wide open. Then she closed her eyes
tight, and thought of him as n mailed
knight clanking into the restaurant 10 re-
fresh himself with a plate of pancakes
and cup of 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. II
saw him smile at 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 a mere child. Mary's
mother had died in a 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 eXcesses by
being sent 10 Blackwell's Island at various
intervals for at least eight months in each
year. During one of his sprees he had
signed n paper which committed his little
daughter to 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 a man Nlary'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 miserably sQualld
room on the top floor of tenement house
in Pearl street. He was far gone on the
road to the grave. The neighbors did
what they could for him, which was not
much. for they weil, very poor. So Jack
sat up with him late into the night. \
feeble kerosene lamp burned on the man
tel and the corners of the room were filled
with shadows. Mr.. Rogers fell into an
uneasy slumber toward midnight and
muttered in his dreams about the good
things he had to eat when his wife was
alive. In his incoherent remarks he men
toned roast beef and gravy. Then he
awOke.
Il was dr'amin' iv tn foine feedin'
had afore Mollie died. Aye, by, but she
could cook tn grub. An TIL pancakes
she could bake was like honey in yer
mouth. | wisht had some of them cakes
now, so do. think they'd be putin
life Until me. -
Next morning when Jack went to get
his breakfast, as usual, he asked the pro-
proprietor TO permit him TO have an inter
view with Mary. She came, fluttering
and paling, into the back part of the res
Lauraut.
Miss Rogers" said Jack, all of a
tremble, because his love was so nea-, Il
saw your father last night"
My father" gaspcd Mary in alarm.
where was he;"
''In back room on the top floor of a
tenement in Pearl street"
Was he we'll" whispered Mary, not
daring to look Jack in the face. but drop
ping her eyes upon her snowy apron and
absent mindedly smoothing out wrinkle.