death in the face.

She told how she looked down the barrel of a gun after masked intruders burst into her Pembroke restaurant.

As she rose from a table, one of the men barked: "Sit down!'' "I just kept on walking and stared the man dead in the eye,'' she said yesterday, still stunned by the ordeal.

"I was so scared, I just don't know where I got the nerve from.'' She added: "The man started backing off as I carried on walking.'' The two men -- also armed with a machete -- fled after battling in vain to break open the till at Richardson's Restaurant.

They escaped empty-handed on a motorbike parked nearby.

The attempted robbery occurred shortly after 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday.

It is believed the crooks had been waiting outside until customers had left.

Mrs. Trott was sitting at a table by the window when the men charged in.

"I thought somebody was fighting at first. I looked up and saw these masked men.

"They shouted out `I want your money','' said Mrs. Trott, who runs the North Shore Road restaurant with her 76-year-old husband, Kenneth.

"The man with the machete went over to the cashier and tried breaking open the till.

"The other one with the gun came to me. He told me to sit down, and put his hand on me.'' Mrs. Trott, who has worked at the restaurant all her life, said the gun had a long barrel, and a black handle. It appeared real.

She added the man with the machete repeatedly struck the till.

"Bits of the cash register were flying all over the floor. It was a right mess.'' Trembling as she spoke, she said the full horror of what had happened was only now beginning to sink in.

"At the time there was no screaming or anything, although we were all scared.

"I'm not myself today. I didn't sleep well last night and I'm all shook up.'' Mrs. Trott believed the men had been lying in wait before making their strike.

When they entered, the only staff there were herself, a cashier and a cook.

Her husband was upstairs.

"They had to be watching, because just before customers came in and got some sandwiches.

"In all my time here I've never experienced anything like this.'' She added: "Even though the men were masked, their voices were familiar.'' Mrs. Trott said security measures would be stepped up.

Police yesterday appealed for witnesses to the incident.

In particular they want to contact the man and a little child who left the restaurant at about 10.35 p.m. -- just before the attempted robbery.

Police spokesman P.c. Gary Venning said: "Damage caused by one of the culprits is thought to have prevented the cash register from being opened and they fled the scene empty handed.'' He said the men fled east on their bike, which had been parked by a tyre repair shop nearby.

P.c. Venning said one man was about six foot tall and thinly built. He was wearing a camouflage jacket, ski mask, and a crash helmet.

The other was about five foot, five inches tall, and of slim to medium build.

He had on a similar jacket and a stocking mask.

P.c. Venning said the possibility the men may have had an imitation gun had not been ruled out.

But he added: "Whether imitation or not, it still strikes the same fear.'' Anyone who can help Police should ring the incident room on 295-0011.

STILL IN SHOCK -- Richardson's Restaurant owner Mrs. Olive Trott (far right) after her terrifying ordeal. With her, from left, are employees Ms Mynelle Allen and Ms Teresa Warner.