AND GENT'S CAFE, just as large and as imposing as ever.

Mr. Smith said that he'd keep the caff, and when he saida thing he
meant it!

Of course there were changes, small changes.

I don't say, mind you, that the fillet de beef that you get there now
is perhaps quite up to the level of the filet de boeufs aux
champignons of the days of glory.

No doubt the lamb chops in Smith's Caff are often very much the same,
nowadays, as the lamb chops of the Mariposa House or the Continental.

Of course, things like Omelette aux Trufles practically died out when
Alphonse went. And, naturally, the leaving of Alphonse was
inevitable. No one knew just when he went, or why. But one morning he
was gone. Mr. Smith said that "Alf had to go back to his folks in the
old country."

So, too, when Alf left, the use of the French language, as such, fell
off tremendously in the caff. Even now they use it to some extent.
You can still get fillet de beef, and saucisson au juice, but Billy
the desk clerk has considerable trouble with the spelling.

The Rats' Cooler, of course, closed down, or rather Mr. Smith closed
it for repairs, and there is every likelihood that it will hardly
open for three years. But the caff is there. They don't use the
grills, because there's no need to, with the hotel kitchen so handy.