"In the lobby the furniture was covered with men about town, who
sat around with a checkbook in each hand and made faces at the cash
registers.
"There are more bellboys than bedrooms in the hotel. They use them
for change. Every time you give the cashier $15 he hands you back
$1.50 and six bellboys.
"We took a peep at the diamond-backed dining-room and when I saw
the waiters refusing everything but certified checks in the way of
a tip, I said to Peaches, 'This is no place for us!' But she
wouldn't let go, and we filed in to the appetite killery.
"A very polite lieutenant-waiter, with a sergeant-waiter and two
corporal-waiters, greeted us and we gave the countersign, 'Abandon
wealth, all ye who enter here.'
"Then the lieutenant-waiter and his army corps deployed by columns
of four and escorted us to the most expensive looking trough I ever
saw in a dining-room.
"'Peaches,' I said to my wife, 'I'm doing this to please you, but
after I pay the check, it's me to file a petition in bankruptcy.'
"But she only grinned, picked up the point-lace napkin and began to
admire the onyx furniture.
"'_Que souhaitez vous_?' said the waiter, bowing so low that I
could feel a chill running through my little bank account.
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