The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-23

Ella floupced out of the Queen Quality restaurant dining room in- to the kitchen and banged her tray on table angrily.
 There's that dirty old man at one of the tables again! It makes me so mad! He comes in every day and orders T bowl of. soup, for dime -stfid eats up the whole dish of Besides he eats like a pig and looks sos dirty that no one will sit at the i table with him" Ella's plump face was rad and her, eyes blazed as she slammesT a bowl of vegetables soup on, the tray M
 Mrs Joyce smiled toierantly at the young girl ''The poor old man I suppose bowl of soup for dime is all he. can afford for his din- ner. l feel sorry for the poor old i creature. T guess if your hands I were all crippled with rheumatism you'd find it hard to be neat with your food, too. You take one of my tables, Ella. and I'll wait on him. No,sI don't mind a bit. al- ways feel sorry for old folks"
 Mrs. Joyce took the bowl of hot vegetable soup from the younger i girl as she spoke E, and Ella smiled gratefully at her.
 '.Yonir so good, Mrs, Joyce, I often wonder at it too. You have so much trouble. your husband be- ing sick and the children to take care of, and all. Seems like I'd be regular, grouch if were you"
 | Mrs. Joyce sighed little as, she deposited the soup before the old man that Ella ,..disliked. Her lot in life was rather hard, she felt but it didn't mend matters to be l "grouch." She. gave the old man an extra portion of crackers, hoping | the proprietor would not notice it, we'll aware that if he did, he would deduct whatever he considered they were worth from her wages. The old man had departed ,as usual and few drops spilled over his soiled vest. Instead of being disgusted, i Mrs. Joyce felt wave of pity surge over her. She spoke kindly and cheerfuily to the old man as she | cleafed the neighboring table, but he only looked at her distrustfully and gfunted in reply.
 What do you bother being nice to him for?" asked Ella when the old man had departed, as usual leaving no tip. He ain't worth be- ] ing polite StO." Mrs. Joyce smiled My husband always reads to me when I'm sew ing at night.A Not long ago he was reading 'Hamlet'-that's a play that Shakespeare wrote, you know, Ella, and in it Prince Hamlet tells Po- lonius not to treat folks according ! to their worth, but according to 1 your own kindness. Of course he said it nicer, but that's, what it means, anyhow, and l thought it was a, pretty good rule to follow
 Two weeks passed and every day 1 the old man came into the Queen I Quality lunchroom for his bowl of soup and dish of crackers. Mrs. Joyce suspected that it was the on- ly meal he ate in the day by the way in which he devoured all the crack increased. She had discovered that l lived ina room oyer the Chinese laundry across from the restaurant. He seemed to make a wretched liv- ing occasionally peddling hand bills 1 for the neighboring stores. When Mrs. Joyce felt she could afford it, she often placed a plate of bread and butter and "a dish of T stewed fruit at the old mans 'plare. which, of course, was charged up to her The first time she put these extras before him and indicated that they were for him, he stared at her for some moments, then with a mutter- ,d word or two he devoured the toOd. Ella seolded her for spend ing her. hard-earned money on the seemingly s,IngBatefui old man. but Mrs, Joyce insisted his evident en-
 oyment of the. food was thanks enough for her.
 There came d time. though. when
 she could not spend even the few cents sen the old mans extra food Every penny was needed at home. Dan, her husband. had had another oad spell of sickness. The doctor looked over the poor frail skeleton