Evening star., 1924-12-15

1 grace and charm and abandonment
where are ye now?
Our company IN our dark oak
| chaars,a with their wide-spreading 9
arms. compriseA q very elderly and
very thin man. a serious business
jacket behind the counter. q larger
gentleman In white Jacket over by
the window, and q group of three
| earnest gentlemen talking to him.
The two countermen do not seem
| to belong to. this place. One of them
| looks like clergyman who had
changed his black vestment for one
Of cleaning white, freshly laundered
and starched. This is the large one
over by the window. -. .ls.,
The snappy man behind the counter
looks for all the world like a success
fut mercantile store owner. One
wonders why he gave up his busin IS
suit Of light gray for a counterman' IS
| jacket. His face Is keen cut: he has
dark eyes, q large nose. and he wears
large tortoise-shell google glasses.
The counterman by the window
| who reminds one OF q clergyman, has
a, heavy face. his head being very
| large. It would be too big II it were
not for his broad shoulders and thick
| chest. His face Is massive, his cheeks
lined as with care anu woes, while
| his eyes seem to hold the mysteries
OF the 10 great religions.
His associates OF the moment are
equally serious. One of them Is in
blue overAlls. the other two in ordi-
nary business suits. All are solid
can tell you offhand what is the mat
ter with the country and how to right
1t, and why they knew months be-
forehand that President Coolidge
| would win the election.
The very thin and very old man
continues to consume bran at all
alarming rate. Already half q heap
ing bowlful has disappeared, in great
| spoonfuls. The rest of it Is going
the same route as fast as the old
gentleman can shovel II in.
The serious business man drinks his
coffee So does the serious young
| man. 1t 10 a toss-up which one Is the
most serious. There is only one seri-
ousneEs that can beat the serious
ness OF tho middie-aged, and that is
tho seriousness of the young. The
boy In his first long trousers who has
Just heard that another boy is taking
his best girl to the dance tonight can
look more woebeRone than the busi
ness executive who has seen his rival
scoop" him on a big sale.
While the old man chews his bran
like cow her cud, and middle age
and youth gaze tensely into space
over their muEs Of steaming coffee,
brown In white, the quartet by the
window talks on, and on, and on,
as II this was the only thing in the
wide. wide world worth doing
1t is impossible to hear their words.
oecRuse OF the street noise and the
occasional opening and slamming of
the door, as pieman and others
como In from time to time.
A woman entering here?
Yes, sir. woman is opening the
door. She is q large lady, almost an
Amazon. six feet tall II she Is an
inch. and proportionately broad. Her
face is chiseled. like feminine
George Washington.
She strides across the lunchroom
As IL she means business. The group
by the window has ceased talking
and is looking in her direction. Tho
white-coated big man looks more
ministerial than ever
The old man stops in his consump-
tion OF bran. The serious man and
the serious youth look toward rhe
counter, where buns and cakes and
doughnuts and all the rest of the
provender are piled high But they
are not looking at the food. They
are looking at the snappy counter
man.
The woman confronts him. Angry
words issue from her lips. Jho
counterman grins foolishly, and drops
his eyes beneath his big glasses.
As the woman continues to speak,
the old man resumes his bran, the
| serious man and the serious youth
| turn again to their coffee, the group
by the window looks into the street.
We mind our own business in this
place.