Catoctin clarion., 1917-11-01
WILKINS THE WAITER
BY MONA COWLES.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS..

ing college chaps" the hotel propri-
etors had told William Wilkins the
day he signed the contract, "but it's
something you will have to keep to
yourself. Don't let anyone here at the
hotel hear about 1t. You see another
time had bunch of fellows from
college and the girls In the hotel found
1t out and, being a little short of regu-
lar men that summer, why those girls
Just kept my walters so busy with ten
mis- and boating and dancing that the
rest Of the folks at the hotel next
without getting waited on at ALL"
"That's all right" wilkins assured.
1--WE won't bother the guests Of the
hotel. OF course, you haven't any OBJ
jections to our leaving when work Is
over and forgetting the dignity Of our
Office occasionally"
William Wilkins played his role of
head waiter to perfection. One day
toward the close Of the season very
pretty, rather out-of-breath young girl
approached him at luncheon time.
"You are the head waiter, aren't
your" the girl asked, and then, as he as
sured her that that was his dignity, she
went on: swell, I've got proposition
to put up toSyou and some Of your
men. It's for tomorrow night, after
dinner. 1t is work that is little out
Of your line, but you will be paid
well. You see, we want fifteen of your
best looking men. You must be one
Of them, to play the role of college
men, The dance begins at nine. I
suppose you could get there by that
time"
"Of course, we'll consider 1t, ma am,
though 1t Is asking good deal Of
waiters-tO 60 out and dance that
way" wilkins hesitated, suppressing
q smile. "Of course, If l do say it.
we're pretty good at wearing dress
Clothes"
"That's just why I decided to get
you men to do the work. If you prom
ise we are willing to pay five dollars
man and ten dollars for you"
Bradley's Women's college, in sum-
mer session, was only six miles away
from the Beachview hotel, and the
next night wilkins and Is Of his wait
ers were gathered In immaculate eve
ming dress inside the cozy rooms Of the
Alpha sorority house by the time the
clock pointed to nine. The girl who
had arranged the deal, radiant In
white lace and lawn and pink roses,
was the first of the Alpha girls to
greet them. She took the headwaiter
aside to explain. II may as we'll tell
you" she said, "what has happened.
We Alphas were giving weekend for
some Of our younger grads and the
Betas learned about 1t. The Betas
are our deadly rivals" she explained.
"As soon as they found out the date
we had set for our dance they got up
q dance of their own for the same
night and asked every eligible, pro-
fessor and man in town and got their
acceptance before our invitations were
out even. They did 1t just to be
mean. Well, that left US high and dry.
We got our Invitations all out before
we knew about the trick the Betas
had played and for the ten Of us and
the fifteen guests we had but ten men,
and that was counting two hopeless
old bachelors on the faculty and my
own small brother that has never been
to a party before In his life. We abb
solutely had to have fifteen more men.
Now you know what you are supposed
to do. I am sure If all you men are
as good limitations Of the real college
man as you look you will be sue
cess"
It was toward the close Of the last
dance and the girl wasn't dancing. AS
chairman there were so many details
for her to attend to. Then, from the
dancers, her attention was attracted
to a woman not in evening dress who
advanced from the entrance hall to-
ward her. It was the deans secre-
tary.
II wanted to tell you" she said as
she sat down beside the girl, that
the dean has heard that you girls are
giving dance tonight to which you
have hired men to come-and that you
couldn't get any other men, so you got
a troupe of hotel walters. One OF the
Beta girls found 1t out and, Of course,
she went and told the dean at once.
don't know what action will be taken,
but the dean wants you to report at
her house the first thing In the morn
Ing"
Just then the head waiter whose
partner had excused herself, came
toward the girl. She turned to him
and asked the secretary to repeat to
him the alarming news she had
brought.
"Will you take this message back to
the dean," he said. "Tell her that
the Alphas have had company OF
walters here" The girl tried to stop
him, but he went on-'tell her that the
Alphas have been dancing with those
walters all the evening, but that those
walters, like myself, are students
whose disgrace-of course, we call it
an honor--is that they must work for
their college education. We have
come as guests Of the Alphas. The
rumor that we were being paid for the
privilege of coming must have been
started as joke"
(Copyrisht, 1917, by the Mcclure Newspa-
per Syndicate.)