The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-15
The EVENING STOR r
oid-Fashioned Strategy.
(By Wilbur Bates.3

her you felt quite sure that her grand
mother had selected her clothes.
That is not just the way the girls at
the Empire Lunch Room No. ex-
pressed it. Kitty Behman, who had
always queened it over the force of
black-frocked. white-aproned wait
resses. Patted her Marcelled locks pla-
cidly and remarked:
Well. his nibs sure picked lemon
That" otherwise Sally LOTUS, sat
in the cashiers booth near the en-
trance, arranging small change in neat
piles Her head. crowned by brown
locks. parted demurely and almost
severely in the middle, was bent above
her work, but her quiet glance trav-
eled to the group of gossiping girls
incidentally they took in other things
At one table the ice had melted in the
| butter dish and water trinkled over
the mahogany surface. On another
table the glass sugar bowl was nearly
empty A soiled napkin and butter
plate had been left at third table.
The girl who looked as If her grand
mother bought her clothes fingered the
round buttons on her queer cashmere
basque and then her weil-manicured
nails tapped gently against the old
fashioned brooch at her throat. In
side the chased circle of gold reposed
| braided strands of hair the exact shade
of the girls Her glance finally rested
on the sloping shoulders of the young
man who stood by the big plate glass
window where a wht.e-aproned youth
poured a stream of white dough on
hot griddles.
The young man who was Ralph Put
nam, son of the owner of the Empire
circuit of lunch rooms. started back
to the kitchens. and as he passed the
new cashier he flung her a glance
that was almost appealing She met
him with one oddly reassuring and
I ffrll ono n
perceptibly, but as he passed the group
of girls near the coffee counter the
light died out of his eyes once more.
Kitty Behman smiled up at him IA
military.
"Where'd you get the Christmas
tree ornament, Ralph? There's one
thing sure; you needn't worry about
any of the boys coping her out. She's
every clairvoyant in town, or / miss
my guess"
Her father went to school with
mine. She comes of very good fam
lily" he said apologetically.
Gee. but it's fine to have pull,
with Kitty's contemptuous reply.
Ralph wandered into the kitchen.
More than ever he hated the lunch
room and everything connected with
1t. And in truth he was not entirely
to blame. His father had sent him
from private school to college, where
he had taken the classical courses, and
ent could not understand why his
bookish son could not walk, diploma
III hand, into an Empire lunch room
and manage 1t as'-Eell as the other
young men in the same position of re-
spOnsib1l1fy who had served their ap-
premiership, even to cooking grfddle
cakes in the window. Ralph had trou-
BILE auditing his accounts, settling
quarrels in the kitchen and preserving
some semblance of discipline among
the pert Mattresses.
All this-and more-Sally LOTUS
learned before the breakfast rush set
in. n It was a soggy day and gradually
discomfort seemed to permeate the
room. A tired looking stenographer
in bedraggled skirts was arguing with
q waitress because her toast had been
burned. The waitress replied tartly
that some folks expected a lot for ten
table. afraid to take a hand in the ar
gument but when the waitress finally
hounced to the coffee counter, he
stepped in awI5wardly and told the pa
toast. After he had done this, he
paused YEARLY at Saliy's elbow. She
crossed her hands demurely on the
marble ledge and said quietly:
''I was glad to see you reprimand
that waitress She was very imperti- |
nent. and we ought to make every Gus
toner feel that she wants to break |
fast here regularly. Don't you think |
so 2"
Ralph started He had not called |
down the saucy waitress. He had /
merely tried to undo the mischief she |
had wrought. Now he wished he had /
scolded her before the customer.
I'VE have a lot of regulars" he said
in the same apologize tone he had en- |
ployed to Kitty Behman.
But we want lot more. We ought |
to have every place at these tables
taken between 1880 and 9 o'clock
Suddenly Ralph started down the
narrow aisle. For the first time he
noticed the water dribbling from the
butter plates. He approached the
saucy waitress and said with a funny
a. tempt at sternness which was quite
lost on the astonished girl:
..CIean up those butter plates, and I
don't you ever again tell a customer
she wants too much for her money.
:'What do you thing of that?" de-
the girl with an injured ex-
preston as she turned to q helper
whats come over him p
Something had come over Ralph
Putnam, a curious sense of panic He
hurried back to the cashiers desk and
leaned against it as If for support. He
almost expected to see the reprimand-
ed girl dash out, because never before
had he dared assert his authority. But
instead the girl really cleaned up the
butter dishesEand the girl whose
bought her clothes
watched her do it from the tail OF an
observing eSe~
sally Lotus had busy day, but
when she was relieved at O'Clock.
she was not ready for home. She en-
tered RaIph's tiny private office, some
slips in hand
Twill you please help me with the
accounts. she asked in friendly
tones.
why you don't have to-the other
II know, but want to learn every
thing about the business and / know
you can teach me-"
Ralph fairly gasped, but he spread
1921 Is Sins nd hills hefnra