Condon globe. (Condon, Gilliam Co., Or.) 189?-1919, 1918-12-06

ult 10 btttCt NY ntut. ~ was ehfty 0uu
there were not more than half dozen
people IN the place at that time, 20
that I had my choice. gA
There was a rnised platform, per-
haps two feet high. all around the
walls OF the place except at the end
where the stage was located. On this
platform tables were arranged and
there were tables on the floor proper
as well.
decided promptly that the safest
place for me was rs far back as pos
sible. where ! would not be In the line
OF vision OF others In back OF me. Ac-
cordlngly I slouched over 10 a table
on the platform directly opposite the
stage and took the seat against the
wall. The whole place was now In
front Of fne. I could see everything
that was going on and everyone who
came n. but no one, except those who
sat at my own table. would notice me
unless they deliberately turned around
10 look.
The place began 70 flll up rapidly.
Every second person who came in the
place seemed 10 me TO be a German
soldier. but when they were seated At
the tables and got q chance later ON
to make a rough count. ! found that
In all there were not more than hun
dred soldiers In the place and there
must have bee9 several hundred civil
Jams. - ts
The first people to sit at my table
were a Belgian and his wife. The Bel
gian sat next to me and hfs wife next
TO him. i was hoping that other civil
ians would occupy the remaining two
seats az my table, because ! did not
relish the idea Of having to sit through
the show with German soldiers within
a few feet Of me. That would certainly
have spoiled my pleasure for the even
Ing. tGa
Every uniform that came In the door
gave me cause to worry until I was
sure II was not coming In my direction.
l don't suppose there was single sol.
dier who came In the door whom l
didn't follow to his seat--with my
I'D Just before they lowered the lights
two German oflcers entered, They
stood at the door for a mopent look.
Ing the nleee over. Then they MAIDEN
beellns In my direction and / must
confess my heart started to beat q
little faster. ! hoped that they would
find another seat before they came to-
my vicinity. but they were getting
nearer and nearer and ] realized with
sickenlng sensation that they were
headed directly for the two seats at
my table. and that was indeed the
case. &
These two seats were IN front Of the
table facing the stage and except when
the officers would be eating or drink.
Ing their backs were toward me, and
there was considerable consolation In.
that. From my seat ! could have
reached right over and touched one Of
them on his bald head. II would have.
been more than q touch. ! am afraid.
If could have gotten away with II
safely, ~, i, .......,......... 80.
AS the officers seated themselves,
waiter came to as with a printed
bill-of-fare and program. Fortunately,
he waited on, the others first and
listened intently to their orders. The
officers ordered some light wine. but
my Belgian nelghbor ordered Book"
for himself and his wife, which was
what l had decided to order anyway,
as that was the only thing could soy.
Heaven knows would far rather have
ordered something to eat. and I was
afraid TO take a chance at the pronun.
citation Of the dishes 1t set forth. ~
There were q number Of drinks listed
which might safely enough have or
dered. For instance, noticed Lemon
Squash. 1.50." "Glnger Beer. 1.-A"i
Sparkling Dry Ginger Ale. 1.1i''
"Appolinaris, IL" and "Schweppes
Soda, 0S0," but 1t occurred to me that
the mere fact that I selected some
thing that was listed In English might
attract attention to me and something
In my pronunciation might give fur.
ther cause for suspicion. '"'
7" 1t seemed better to parrot the Bel
CLAN and order Book" and that was
what / decided to do. tt
One Item on the bill Of fare tanta.
llzed me considerably, Although it was
listed among the .'Prizzen der
dranken," which, IN o,took to mean
Prices Of drinks" 1t sounded very
much to me like, something, to eat,
and Heaven knows I would rather
have had one honest mouthful Of
food than all the drinks In the world.
The item refer to was ""Dubbel Ger.
stein de Flesch (Mlchauxl," J" A double
portion Of anything would have been
mighty welcome to me, but / would
have been content with a single '.ger-
stem" If l had only had the courage
ask for 1t. ..t.
To keep myself as composed as pos
slble l devoted a lot OF attention to
that bill-of-fare, and think by the
time the waiter came around / almost
knew II by heart. One drink that al.
most made me laugh aloud was listed
as 'Lemonades gazeuses,Hs but might
a - Il - 4 -. L ~