The Lafayette gazette. [volume] (Lafayette, La.) 1893-1921, 1894-02-03

|aeAln: CsrtaanAy m the eyes u the stx
- the other side Of the table reed
the qnestion: Will he take ham and
Bostonf The rooms vsAs full OF nctl-
ding plunlesS 4 never. before had the
4aihtest concerkio of the magnihcence
Of feminine headgeaF. How could Z
give my modest order In. sach IN 49,
semblage, with full certainty that
the waitress would announce Il in .
voice like tho trump Of DOOM I have
becn . retlaor severe employer Of type;
writer girla. When my dictated letters
have been signed yours Truly with
. capitol 4, have raised : row about
IL and have felt certain superiority
afterwards. But 1t this .Esaoment. when
eight hundred ~ them had me prac-
tically alone. oh. how they did get
square with me! This Was their place,
and they knew the etiquette in use and
didn't. And they all looked at Inc
once more, even those that were back
to me, until felt 50 emall that 1
couldn't find anything on the bill of
fare that was small enough to go In
side of me. And rs they laol<ed at me
they all chewed serene1y. and even the
sloppy young man was afraid of them,
and brushed things into their napkins
instead of ON their dresses. When I
had given my order all the girls looked
at their plates again in . hurry, in orr
der to emphasize the fact that It was,
were interested, and whether it subse-
quent1y killed mo or not was q matter
of total indifference to them.
Presently the naughty typewriter
girl opposite me deigned to raise her
eyes as far as my necltie. Then. the
girl next to her also looked a. It. Orig
inally It was a light colored tie. and If
we had q decent system of street clean
ing in New York, it would be 80 to-
day. But the dust does fly dreadfully.
I had fancied, indeed, that the part
which was exposed to view looked we'll
enough; but when the girls riveted
their gaze upon 1t, my soul becnme har-
Joined in the game, and their glances
pressed SO heavily on that tie that
could feel the shirt-stud underneath It
being gradually forced into my bosom.
Two or three girls at the table beyond
turned around They knew instino-
lively where to look.
My eyes fell before this concentrated
fire. 1 bowed my head. not in defer
ence wholly. but with the idea Of get
ting my chin low enough to cover the
necl.tie. As did SO I saw, with the
corner of an eye, this notice on the
wall:
Himself ns Te Snail n' Ss Esst,ca
S........ .........4
It fitted my case exactly, and yet
the promise involved in it seemed
to be scantily fulfilled. began
to open some eggs with trem-
bling hand. large piece of
the shell fell into my glass. tried
to fish it out with a spoon which. such
was my agitation, knocked against the
glass like one of those tappers in q shop
window, inviting people to come in
and be robbed. Then all the girls
shifted their gaze from my necktie to
the piece of shell. Under such circum-
stances. I was not likely to catch it.
''Lct me send it back and get yon
another said kindly voice behind
me. 1t was the male superintendent
of the establishments. an exceptionally
polite and obliging young man. had
never been SO glad to see a male of my
species before. 1t brought my courage
back. / arose and abused that gentle
youth for every fault of omission and
commission known to the restaurant
business. Hetoolx it with the bland
est courtesy. Suddenly. grown brave,
1 turned to see what effect my asser-
ton of dignity had had upon the girls.
They were all gone. One o'clock had
struck and they had gone back to ham
mcr some more holes in our language.
Perceiving this, I apologized meekly to
the superintendent, and then sat down
and ate the cold egg, shell and all.
HOWARD EJEI DING.