The Holbrook news., 1922-07-07
FROSTINGS By ELSIE ANDERSON

rect, Winding III SplfdlS ana clrcleS over the white surface, an intricate pattern, worked with the cunning of an experienced hand. Yet there was distaste rather than satisfaction in her look.
 All this wasted on birthday cake, '' she muttered to herself resentfully, when I'd give everything to be work. ing on the Cashman order!"
 That Cashman order" was the larg- est which had come to the Cooks ca tering establishment in many a day an order for wedding cake so gor- geous as to embOdy the widest visions of any baker. It was to be garnished by tower Of frosting, with a fairy deicately fashioned as to suggest spun glass. Mir. Cook himself was even now experimenting the baking of the skeleton; an honor befitting a Cook cake that was tO grace the most important wedding of the season.
 Mary's eyes were dreamy as she watched the process. Romance had somehow passed her by in her 2I hard-working years, and she had fall ell into the habit of sI ending her starved little heart out on these con fectiOnery creations which witnessed the happy consummation of other peo- ple's loves. How she sentimentalized over even the most modest cake that was to adOrn the wedding breakfast Of some obscure little bride! Every crystal quirk was a symbol of a pc | tential love which found it's outlet in | this pseudo romance.
 Birthday cakes were different--and special favors like that batch of crys- tal rose cups that she had finished yesterday.
 And now she was missing the Cash
 nan cake. the most tantalizipgly beau tiful cake of the year; while Mir Cook. | who thought only in terms of dough and icings, to whom the beauty of a wedding meant only one more plume | in the cap of "COGk-the Caterer. Or, ders Filled Without Delay"-he was to | fashion that white crystal tower with | his capable. unimaginative hands | She could have cried. It was like missing brief love adventure of her own, somehow-a tragedy in her mar :ow. cheated life.
 Suddenly Mary dropped her work. inspired The thought was mad one, | 0ut she did not stop 10 ponder its ad- | visibility She knew that Mir. Cook was to supply b maids for the we'd | ling breakfast service. If she could 9e one of them, to catch an intimate | glimpse of the things she had visual | iZed so often-the radiant bride, the | groom. the guests, and the cake. mo-
 nentarily the center of attraction,
 oudly. beautifully perfect
 iIr. Cook, resplendent in his starched
 thiteness, was in excellent humor. Well, well. Mary-what can I do for you:" he asked. rubbing his hands n genial way that he had
 "I want you to send me to the Cash man wedding" she told him, breath | !essly afraid he would refuse. "I can serve quite well-and I have finished that birthday cake order for Mrs. Ellis. IT really wish to go very | much
 All right, then" he was good-na- | iuredly amused at her insistence. Watkins is to be head waiter You can see him about your uniform
 So it came about quite naturally | -Ett Nar hir If tha fpnSt | ings of life first hand. She trod the tiled floors of the spacious kitchen and | buffers pantry and the deep-napped | .arpets Of the outer rooms, perfectly | content in simply being there. She | was airing her stified love of beauty The wedding party had not yet arrived and Marys heart beat wildly with an ticipation. She was tremendously ex- 'ited over the tiny part which she was .0 play in this sumptuous setting. She iluttered back and forth between the oantry and the dining hall. with cut
 slaSs and silver, intensely alive to the
 eauty of every appointment. But the excitement stood her ip tOor stead. A slip of the hand, 6
 rash of tinklng glass. and a deep red
 stain of fruit juice crept down the l white front of her uniform She had | .Ome SD far, but she was not to serve, liter all! The wedding breakfast would go on as though she were back
 t Cooks. frosting birthday cake after
 birthday cake. Tears of disappoint.
 nent blinded her so that she could
 lut help in the kitchen. She made her
 way tO a corner by the laundry chute, 1 md it was there that Watkins found lcr, doleful, huddled, sobbing slip
 # girl
 He had never especially noticed heI l before; but there was an appeal about j.er grief that quickened his interest
 tie tried awkwardly, to console her And she had never particularly noticed him before, perhaps because he hadn't 1 noticed her. Now she found him in teresting, in siX-fOOt, manly way; sl she permitted herself to be consOled- not ton suddenly, but by degrees, sG ,hat they were laughing like old friends al her predicament when he mad tu leave her tO go on duty.
 "Remember," he warned her as he | left. "I shall he back as soon as can get away. and if find any more tears I shall prescribe n dinner for two aS an antidute While if you're good he went away with q mysterious wag If the head as to what her reward
 Nas 10 he.
 Mary sat down to wait, the master 1 ..nl.n in Inc nthnr room cnmnlefnlN fnr