The Press., 1907-06-26
Old Fashioned
 Strategy
 By r0Hbur 80'"s Copyright. 1908. by c. H. sutclfre

The instant you laid your eyes on her you felt quite sure that her grand 1 mother, had selected her clothes.
 That is not just the way the girls at the Empire lunch room, No. 5, express ed 1t. Kitty Behman, who had al ways queened it over the force of black frocked, white aproned wait Fesses, patted her marceled locks plac- idly and remarked:
 "Well. his nibs sure picked a lemon in that"
 That" otherwise Sally Loftus. sat in 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 hex quiet glance travelled to the group of gossiping girls. Incl dentally they took In other things. At one table the ice had melted in the butter dish and water trickled over the mahogany surface. On another table the glass sugar bowl was nearly emp ty. A soiled napkin and butter plate had been leftsat a third table.
 The girl wbo looked as if her grand mother bought her clothes fingered the round buttons on her queer cashmere basque, and then her well manicured nails tapped gently against the old fashioned brooch at her throat. Inside the chased circle of gold reposed braid ed 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 white aproned youth poured a stream of white dough on hot griddIes.
 The young man, who was Ralph Put nam, son of the owner of the Empire circuit of lunch rooms, started back to the kitchen, and as he passed the new cashier he flung her a glance that was almost appealing. She met him with one oddly reassuring and fully understanding. He frightened per eeptibly, but as he passed the group of girls near the coffee counter the light died cut, of his eyes once more
 Kitty Behman smiled up at him fa- miliarly. '-.
 ''Where'd you get the Christmas tree ornament, Ralph? There's one thing sure. You needn't worry about any of the boys copping her out. She's had her fortune read old maid by every clairvOyant in town, or miss my guess"
 ''Her father went to school with mine. She comes of very good family" he said apologetically.
 Gee, but it's fine to have a pullg' was Kitty's contemptuous reply.
 Ralph wandered into the kitchen. More than eyer he hated the lunch room and everything connected with it. 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 then his somewhat unreasonable parent could not understand why his bookish son could not walk, diploma in hand, into an Empire lunch room and man. age 1t as well as the other young men in the same position of responsibility who had served their apprenticeship, even to cooking griddle cakes in the window. Ralph had trouble auditing his accounts, settling quarrels in the kitchen and preserving some sem bIance of discipline among the pert waitreSses.
 All this-and more-Sally Loftus learned before the breakfast rush set in. It was a sOggy day, and gradually discontent seemed to permeate the room. A tired looking stenOgrapher in bedraggled skirts was arguing with a waitress because her toast had been burned. The waitress replied tartly that some folks expected lot for 10 cents. Ralph stood helplessly at the table, afraid to take a hand in the ar gument, but when the waitress finally dounced to the coffee counter he step ped In awkwardly and told the patron he would bring her some fresh toast. After he had done this he paused wea- rily at Sally's elbow. She crossed her hands demurely on the marble ledge and said quietly:
 ''I was so glad to see you reprimand that waitress. She was very imperti- nent, and we ought to make every cus- toner feel that she wants to breakfast here regularly. Don't you think sor'
 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.
 "We have a lot of regulars" he said in the same apOlogetic tone he had em- ployed to Kitty Behman.
 "But we want a lot more. We ought to have every place at these tables taken between 7:8O and 9 o'clock"
 Suddenly Ralph started down the narrow aisle. For the first time he mo- eced the water dribbing from the but ter plates. He appreciated the saucy waitress and said with q funny at tempt at sternness which was quite 9ost on the astonished girl:
 Clean ID those butter plates, and
 st you ever again tell customer 6A1 vents tOo muaA SaR hAR m0nAz.