Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-09-25

- HERE is certain midtown cafeteria
where Betty Downes always ate sup
per. 1t is one Of those cheap places
on SIDE street where the daily menu
is pasted the windows and MOUNDS
of grapefruit the wide window sills
rise like pyramids between tall JardlnlereS OF
dusty cattails.
Sometimes the decorations vary between
oranges or pineapples, o. pumpkins. But the
cattails are always there in the tall Jardnleres,
collecting cigar bands and butts OF cigarettes
and matches. The me people always seem
to be eating there: men with their hats on the
back Of their heads, using toothpicks with q
swapping noise; women wearing out-of-style
clothes, slipping tea from heavy white cups;
Office boys chewing on steak sandwiches.
Trolley cars clang by the door, and when the
traffic Is blocked the passengers who are not
reading newspapers can look right into the
cafeteria where the red-haired cashier Is Al
ways chewing gum, and where the ventilators
over the windows are always exhaling an odor
of gravy and onions.
Betty Downes got there about S: 30 every day.
She picked up a pink ticket from the CASHIERS
desk replied to her customary inane pleasantly
about the weather, and took tray with knlIe,
fork and soup spoon rolled up in f1msy paper
napkin Then she walked slowly past the long
glass counter where salads reposed In white
enamel trays and half moons Of hard-boiled
eggs rose above green mountains Of spinach.
and tried to decide what would be tasty Tor
ssupper.
She was usually tired The force had been
cut down in the real estate office where she
worked and that meant that she now had
BOOKKEEPING added to her secretarial duties.
cafeteria IL not an ideal ending for hard
working business girls cay.
A FER Betty had chosen tuna fish salad,
y or hash, or pork and beans, she carried
her tray to a table the door, sat down
and tried her best to enjoy her meal
She looked like any other working girl sit
ting there at the white table. staring out at the
traffic beyond the window, or reading the signs
on the wan about watching your hat and eost.
and an pies costing 10 cents But she "es
really very different.
She had an imagination which performed
miracles for her from morning until night II
could turn q single wire spring cot IN tnno-
story hall room into q luxurious canopaeo neo
in 4 Riviera villa. It could turn q subway f1oe
during the rush hour into carriage noe ~
moonlight And it could turn q cafeteria sup
per Of hash, or pork and beans INTO oensm
full dinner Of roast SQUAD, broiled lobster with
butter sauce or steak smothered with mush-
rooms
OF course nobody in the world knew ABOUT
her imagination because Betty never talked
about it. Her friends thought Of her as only
a girl earning $22 so a week, living IN room
ing house and eating her suppeTs IN one
arm.
And that Is just about what Jim Wilson
Thought too, he saw her eating there IN the
CAFETERIA that wednesday night staring out ~
the traffic beyond the windows, reading the
signs on the wall, and then looking straight ct
hi OF oil
"She must be near sighted" he declared as
he watched her balance some baked beans on
a fork.
He was eating clam chowder. He waved his
spoon at her. But she did not seem TO notice.
She had other things. more delectable things,
to think about: the baked beans were not baked
beans at all; they had turned into . steak with
mushrooms. She was not drinking cup OF
cafeteria coffee; she was slipping q fragrant
demi-tass and a waiter IN q long-tailed coat
had just asked her to have a fifth cup.
OF course, jim did not know why an express
sion of contentment had swept across her face.
He did not know about her imagination He
did not know about the steak with mushrooms.
or the fragrant demi-tasse.
And he could not figure out why . girl
should look 50 darned happy sitting there IN .
cafeteria, staring ut q messy baked bean plate
which, he regretted to himself, reminded hum
of . castaway's plate on a raft in the middle Of
the Atlantic. He watched her get up, Up her