," Gaspard said. "The sauce--you have made into
Bechamel with the browning butter, _voila tout_. It is better so,--it
would not hurt any one in the world but me--and me it would kill."

"Poor thing," sighed Nancy, as she took her place by the kitchen
dresser again, trying to remember where she had last seen brown eyes
that reflected the look of stricken endurance that glazed Gaspard's
velvet orbs, recalled with a start that Dick had gazed at her in
much the same helpless fashion on their drive home from their
recent motor trip in Connecticut. She had been too absorbed in her
own distresses to consider anybody's state of mind but her own, on
that occasion, but now Dick's expression came back to her vividly,
and she nearly ruined a big bowl of French dressing, at the crucial
moment of putting in the vinegar, trying to imagine which one of
the events of that inauspicious day might conceivably have caused it.

After the actual serving of the meal began, however, she had very
little time for reflection or reminiscence. The distribution of
food to the waitresses as they called for it required the full
concentration of her powers. Molly and Dolly coached her, and with
their assistance she was soon able to fill the bewilderingly rapid
orders from the line of girls stretching from the door to the open
space in front of her serving-table, which never seemed to diminish
however adequately its demands were met.

Mechanically she took soup and meat dishes from the hooded shelves at
the top of the range where they were kept warming, and ladled out the
brick-colored bisque, the creamed chicken and garnishing of the
individual orders. The chicken looked delicious with its accompaniment
of vari-colored vegetables,--Nancy had done away with the side dish
long since--and each serving was assembled with special reference to
its decorative qualities. The girls went up-stairs to put the salad on
the plates, where the desserts were already dished in the quaint blue
bowls in which stewed fruits and the more fluid sweets were always
served.

In her mind's eye Nancy could see the picture. At noon the court was
almost entirely in the shade, and instead of the awning top, which
shut out the air, there were gay striped umbrellas at the one or two
tables that were imperfectly protected from the sun. She had recently
invested in some table-cloths with bright blue woven borders. Flowers
were arranged in low bowls and baskets on respective tables.