TRUE STORY OF A WAITER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1507, 17 January 1901, Page 64

TRUE STORY OF A WAITER.

■At a recent Oxford and Cambridge cricket match (writes a correspondent of the “Standard”) I witnessed a somewhat rare instance of indeendence on the part of a waiter. It was in the members’ marquee, and a lady who laid the blame on nature, not only for sending her into the* world 60 years ago, but for other things was indignant at not being attended to upon the instant. “Waiter, she cried in tones that expect the answer, “Yes, ma’am, certainly madam; I’ll speak tc the manager about it, my Jadv ?”; “Why cannot I get what I want here ?” The waiter addressed brought his feet with difficulty towards her, and the lines of his clean shaven face showed that long waiting had exhausted bis patience. “Yes, ma’am,” he said; “well, you see, ma’am, you’re not exactly at. home here, you know, ma’am.“ “What!” she cried, be ccl-

cur of bygone clays mounting to her

cheeks ancl ravishing the wrinkles; “h'm! your impertinence is ’ a alobus hystericus tried to get into her throat, T>ut she choked i- down and concluded, “I’ll see the manager and report you, sir.” "Yes, madam, 111 fetch him at once,'’ and he took his feet away. Presently lie came back with another waiter, worse than himself, and, bowing low r , said, ‘‘You wished to speak to the manager, madam." The lacly, in a speech of more than five minutes, summed up the impertinent waiter and practically dismissed him, and to all this thel pseudo-manager listened with his head bent, and all the while the impertinent waiter practised shutting one eve at. a time and doing various strong man feats with the muscles of his dace. “Yes, madam,” said the pseudo-mana-ger very gravely when the indictment was complete ; “I will see that he is dismissed at once.” And the lady wondered later in the day why the same impertinent waiter was seen carrying the same feet and testudo of plates on his arm past her table in the execution of his duty.