The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-08-21

first strawberry shortcake was BEN
efficiently sent him. At once he was on
the alert; he cultivated new acquaint
ances for the purpose of pumping them;
he refused dinner invitations for the
purpose of trying restaurants where
there hrked Il possibility Of the ex.
istence of the one and only kind of
shortcake. He became in time an
authority on strawberry shortcake; he
knew every decelving menu that bore
sold Fashioned Shortcake' IN shame
less black letters on its front; he had
interviewed managers, lectured walters,
dragged chefs from their rightful
places into the embarrassing glare OF
the dining room. Once he had even
made a tour of the smaller New Eng
land towns in hopes that honesty and
shortcake would remain intact amid
simple, bucolic surroundings. At an
other time he had eaten two dinners in
one evening for fear that change
would be made in cooks at one or other
of the restaurants if he waited even a
day, yet never, and here appears the
unbelievable tragedy of our tale, had
no found the shortcake of which he was
in search; yet he was not discouraged
nor had he been made bitter; it is pos
sible that his nature lacked n certain
sweetness, q calm that it would have
had If he had met with success earlier
in life, but otherwise the only differ
ence was an ardor that increased with
every year and a staunch philosophy
that enabled him TO continue his
search IN spite of nightly disappoint-
ments.
The old gentleman now sat drumming
bis fingers on the table and bracing
himself for the waiter return. lie
knew he was not to receive anything
fit to eat-has it been mentioned that
he always spoke so of the shortcake
Offered him and after the first damn
ing. taste bore out his words by re-
every one else follow his examDle-so
ne got out his overcoat, pulled on one
glove, and, sitting on the edge of the
chair with his hat on his knee, would
almost have gone home if it had not
been that the bill was still unpaid and
that an emphatic "Bah' would GER
family be necessary. 1t was; concoc-
tion OF such mcssiness was put before
him that he gave his customary snort
followed by the "Bah," 3" and declining
to descend to a taste, he slapped down
some money with such violence that
| the waiter upset the shortcake on the
floor and stalked from the place. Now
a stalk is invariably impressive. es-
pecially from the side and rear views,
but il is seldom comforting to the
stalker, 1t leaves him with a hollow
feeling in the small of his back-a
sense of damp misery that if extreme
! drives one to immediate and opposite
action, That is why, after having
slammed 4 door (even if you only do
1T mentality and stalked from the
house: you are apt to give a coin to the
first begGar you meet. This is purely
selfish and IS merely done to take the
taste of the talk from your back. The
old gentleman having stalked with
making some one instantly and notice
ably happy, and being the old gentle
man he was, he decided to limit his
comfort to himself. 1t had started to
rain while he was in the restaurant,
and he now stood on the corner peeriug
discontentedly out from under his
umbrella and wondering how he could
the street and the glistening wet pave.
ment only made him think of possible
rheumatism. He looked down and
caught glimpse of his club, which
added to his misery, as it was only last
night that he had struggled unsuccess-
!. fully with the club chef The resultant
a fhortcake had aged tho old gentleman
Y considerably, Really there seemed
q Nothing to do; a wind had come up anC
y was necessary to fight with it fo,
q te possession of ones umbrella, al
Y Iost for the ownership of one s legs
& lie old gentleman fought and managed
q tt hold his own; then Just as he wa,
Y b$inning to realize the absurdity OF
x stpding on a windy corner battlins
q wIh an obstreperous umbrella there
. wa whirl of skirts, little scream
y anS young woman was not only
4 stading under his umbrella and hold
q lngln to his arm, but she had the ad
y dedaudacity to smile up in his face
x and exclaim; 'tGee, this is a bat
X nigh for the orphan child" Then, a:
Z the d gentleman said nothing, he wa.