Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-31

ate the first mouthful he had ever earned,
and 1t gave him whimsical sense of pleas
ure that the mouthfm in question was
neither more nor less than crust OF
bread. the heel of a loaf. and very dry at
that. Yet he washed 1t down with q
cup OF lukewarm coffee 1t seemed the
sweetest morsel he had ever swallowed.
Across from him at the table sat Beppo,
the little Italian violinist, who played rag
time during the dinner hour--shriil, rhyth-
mic tunes loud enough to echo above the
rattle of cutlery and the hum of voices. He
had come to America hoping TO do great
things and after many futile attempts to
get a hearing, had ended-oh, the shame.-
| in the Cafe Bavaria, where he earned bare
| ly enough to keep himself and had nething
| at all left over to send to the little Iessa
| who had promised to marry him. and was
| patiently waiting IN Italy for the letter
which would bid her cross the sea. What
| discouragements Beppo had faced alone, In
| a strange land Phillip could only nan
| guess; yet the young musician was hope
| full, with the sunshiny temperament OF
italy. 1.-THE bad luck, it cannot always
! last" he declared Something will hap
pen soon!' And 1T did.
a few nights later the diners In PrutSki S
I restaurant had their curiosity raised TO
! fever heat by the entrance OF two guests
| clearly not of the vicinity Nothing SO
| lovely as the small dark girl, with her
velvet suit and soft furs had ever been
| seen in the Cafe Bavaria. i. The man, 100
was distinguished looking. They took the
! only vacant table in the room, and the ex-
! cIl0Q ana tCStdHC IfutShl SEM HIS iiN"t
t stylish waiter 10 receive their order He
| seemed a long time about it, and when ne
went toward the kitchen he was as white
! as 4 sheet
| The girls escort cast a supercilious
| glance about the room.
| .'Jovei" he said. What sights and
sounds! You've always wanted to explore
! Miss Gresham, and this should satisfy YOU
! Chance has favored us / don't suppose
! we could have happened in on queerer
place than this if we'd searched all even
ing. l didn't know there was anything
at that young violinist that slim. dark
eyed fellow. Seems as If he'd stepped
straight out of an Italian opera CaVai-
| be some gentleman's gentleman down on
! his luck. He really has quite an air. L
wonder if you've noticed him Why, my
dear Miss Gresham you're not i'll or
Phillip set out their dinner with a shak
| ing hand. What god of nischance had sent
! lnez to the Cafe Bavaria? 1t was KINDER
! of her not to recognize him, of course, yet
one look, one word to say that she under
| stood
| But how could she understand? What
| could she know of the struggle that had
| brought him to this? A common waiter in
| a cheap cafe How she must loathe de
| spse him. Yet since she had seen him 1t
| was too late to turn back; he must play
| his humliating role to the finish and he
| took her escorts generous tip with low
! Thank you. SIR though the money seemed
| to scorch his fingers
The young with lneZ ratified on ir-
| repressibly.
| 'By the way what's become of young
| Grantly?" he queried. Il never knew MN :;
| but used to hear about him a good deal.
t He seems to have dropped out of every
| thing. They say he's had fuss with his
! father and gone west"
Wherever he is, and whatever he is do
| ing, l am sure that he Is doing it honor
| ably and WE'LL" said Inez clearly.
| AT which speech, for no accountable rea-
| son, the waiter turned brick red and
| dropped q cup, greatly to the surprise of
! Prutski, who considered Phillip the deftest
| of his servants. But Prutski was destined
| to a series of surprises, for next day
| stuffy choleric, Hurried old gentleman ar
| rived in a cab and carried off the stylish
| waiter but not before an excited CONVEX
sation had ensued to which Prutski list
| encd aSape.
What do yor mean SIR the old gentle
man demanded, by coming down to such
| Il place this?
| Prutskf gasped Surely every one knew
| that the Cafe Bavaria was the finest res
| taurant in the block
But Phillip faced his questioner sQuarely.
| only thing ! could get to tide over.
Idlers cant be chosers. Third-rate brains
are more of a drug on the market than L
had at first supposed"
Third rate" spluttered his father.
| Nonsense, sir; you haven't given yourself
fair chance! Look at you! You're as
| haggard and out Of heel as a-as al
| won laiK OF II, SIT lnefe ) peeh d p4dce
in my Office ready and waiting for you
| ever since you left college It's waiting
| for you still. There. sir, not a world
! won't hear 1t. son of mine in a cafe like
| this It's monstrous! It's ridiculous! And
! all this time l thought you were cruising
with the Gorhams. Why. bless my soul,
if it hadn't been for Inez Gresham
Philip flushed hotly She-she told
you--?" he stammered.
His father chuckled.
she came down to my office this morn
ing for half an hours confidential chat
OH she said it was none of her business
that she had no right to interfere, but
somehow or other she managed to state
things pretty plainly-more plainly than
| I've heard them stated for some time. She
wasn't a bit afraid of me, either. BY
George, sir, l believe I enjoyed it! That
young woman has a mind of her own!''
Bless herr cried Philip. his face
a-glow. There isn't girl in ten thou
sand who
There there" said his father, humor-
ousIy, tell all that to her! From what
I've seen l think she'll be willing to listen.
And now, sir, how much longer are you
going to keep me waiting? There's a CAP
at the door. In with you.
Not" said Philip, It'll l have received
my money" and the astonished Prutskt
paid him without a murmur, and stood at
the door of his Bavar!an restaurant gazing
after the retreating cab with bewildered
expression on his fat, dark face-a Devil
derment which deepened few evenings
later when little Beppo gave notice that
he would play no more In Prutski's res
taurant.
Good luck had at last come to the little
musician. Some mysterious and influential
friend had gained him hearing, and he
was to play with an uptown orchestra.
And to this day Prutsk talks of Beppo, and
of the stylish waiter, declaring the whole
affair is past his comprehendIng.