, 1888-04-12
TIE PANCAKE MAKER.

| upon the griddle. Thousands of persons
| stopped before the window every day, ami
| watched 80 - she dcftl ~ creased the
| grid'lC With II turn of her hand Hoped
| the u' tes over to be Drowned on the
| othc '.lc. Mary had been selected fol
| the - because she was pretty. Her
| selet 'cd proved to be profitable invest
meit for her employer. Those persons
wio werc inscnsibc to The charms of pan
| cakes wore not inseusiblc to the attruc
ton {. beauty, and so many came IN to
e.. the cakes and to wish that Mary was
a waitress as well us cook.
One day, wheh the bubbles were rising
from the freshly poured batter, ana Mary
stood waiting with her spatula in her
hand, young man stopped before the
window. His dark eyes took In the
smoking griddlc the rounded arm above
1t, and the white brow which was wrinklcd
In 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 lool,
at her from the griddle with stare of
admiration. As for the young man---w no
was clerk in a dry goods store-a
rounded arm seemed to beckop lin to
come in and eat pancakes and become
saturated with maple sugar.
Every morning he stopped Mt the win
dow OF the restaurant aud was greeted
with glance from pair of bright eyes
and an evidently studied desire to be
graceful in turning the cakes. After II
week had passed he left his boarding
house earlier than usual one morning and
stopped mt the restaurant to get his break.
fast. Mary saw him come in. She did
not turn her head Lor give any sign Of
recognition, but she listened with bent
head and attentive ear for his order. 1t
came like this;
''Somc pancakes, pleaser'
How carefully she poured out that batch
upon the griddlc. With what an anxious
eye she watched the edges harden and the
center of the cakes become perforated
with holes like those in spongcl And
when the cakes were done to 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 Ulat they should not stick to the
griddle.
In her eaScrness to bake the cakes to n
tnrn she burned one of them, and so in
disgust she threw tho whole batch away
and began once agnil. Meanwhil, she
stole IL furtive glance at the young man.
who was drumming on his rla,c with his
knife and watching admirinGly the curve
of Marys graceful neck and thc Gainty
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. lie said to himself, as he cut
n section Of the full moon OF buckwheat:
well, never nte pancakes like those
before. They're SO light aud flaky, and
the sirup is real true maple sugar, and
not made OF watercd molasses." "
Jack didn't add that the cook was
charming, but no thought it all the same
The next batch OF cakes which Mary
cooked was not as well donc as the one
Jack was eating. 1t was perfectly nat
ural that they should not be, for was not
Mary anxious to sec how he enjoyed them.
and did not she make an excuse to leave her
post and go to the other end Of the restau-
rant to get new piece of pork to grease
the Erlddle, SO that she might steal n
glance Mt him as she went byS And when
Jack had eaten his ca;es 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 60 and their eyes met
for just one ileeting glance. Jack flushed
and said to himself that 1t 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 alchcmist was
busy mixing the sweet potion which each
Of these young hearts drank. The potion
III Mary's heart conjured up visions of
what n glorious man Jack must be as she
Iay awake ut night in the dark with her
eyes wide open. Then she closed her eyes
tight, and thought of him as q mailed
knight clanking into the restaurant to re-
fresh himself with plate Of pancakes
and cup Of coffee ere he started out in
search of his hearts desire. '.But oI'm
afraid he don't care for me-" thought
Mary, opening her eyes again in fear. 81
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, anu she hurrcu down 10 the res
taurant SO that she might see her knight
rs soon as possible and catch 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 thut
Mary wns one Of the many girls who had
been rescued by the Five Points mission
when she was mere child. Mnry's
mother had died in II 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 Iy
being sent To Blackwcll's Island at various
intervals for at least eight months in each