Des Moines courier. ([Ottumwa] Iowa) 1848-1854, 1850-06-07
axes.. So, said Miss H-

dies and gentlemen present gathered g.
bout them, eager for the fun.
"Thc plates!'' echoed Miss H. Z,
with equal gravity.
| Mrs. s. came forward with a
pair Of the required articles. Charley
took one and held it % his hands in his
LAP. Miss H made a similar use
of the other, still looking Charley in the
,eyc.
1 After pause, Charley withdrew his
right hand from beneath the plate, and
with slow, mystical metion. passed his
fingers across his face.
| Miss II gravely initiated the
movement. As she drew her delicate
fingers from her brow to her chin, a yell
of laughter burst from the spectators.
Without smiling, Charley replaced his
| right hand under the plate, rubbed
the left over his face. Miss H as
gravely followed the example, and ano-
| ther burst of laughter followed. Char
ley then turned The plate around in his
hands, and with his finger made passes
across his brow, crosses on his chin, a
long line down the middle of his nose,
circles about his eyes, and all sorts Of
Imaginary grotesque figures on his cheek,
changing his hands occasionally, as if
TO invest the ceremony with additional
mystery. Miss H. inflated him
| with scrupulous exactitude and imperiur-
able gravity, while the mirth Of the spec
tators became more and more excited,
and il seemed that some of them would
die with laughter. Some rolled upon
the sofas, some hung powerless over the
chairs, almost dead with laughter, and
others fell upon the floor and held their
sides.
! ssSir!" said Miss H, perlly.
j "You can hold your countenance,
believed"
i II rather think cam
"Well, you must, or | cannot put you
10 sleep. If you laugh, the charm is
broken. The company may laugh at
the oddly ofmy motions, and | presume
they will, but you must not, for if you
do, shall be under the obligations to
lrroduce the oysters"
/ Miss H, thinking the whole trick
consisted IN this, and supposing Charley
| felt sure of making her laugh by the RI
diculousness of the scene, readily enter
ed into the arrangement.
| Charley then placed two chairs facing
each other, directly in the centre of the
room, took his seat in one OF them, and
requested Miss H to initiate his
movements, until the mirth rose to such
pitch that The poor girl began to sus-
pect that it was occasioned by something
besides the oddity Of Charley's motions.
She grew uneasy. She feared some
trick played upon herself The mirth
increased. She could endure it no long
er. She resolved to forfeit the oysters.
Amid roars of laughter she cried out:
"There! I've withstood this long en-
ough! Now am going TO know what
there is to laugh at. ~
"Look in the glass! Look in the
glass!' cried the mirth suffocated spec
tators.
| Miss H was before the mirror IN
a moment. A cry of shame and despair
burst from her lips. Her face--her pref
| ty, bewitching face--itwas covered with
black streaks of every imaginativeechar-
acter. Over her nose, around her eyes,
across her forehead, up and down, dag
onally, and crosswise, on every portion
of her face, were the marks of her own
fingers just as she had touched thems on
her delicate skin.
The bottom OF her Plate mad been
smoked!
i While Miss H., covering her lea-
lures with her handkerchief, retreated TO
!, another room, and while the company
was nearly giving up the ghost in per-
feet ecstasy of laughter, Charley said
without smile:
4 81 won this time; but think | can af-
Il ford the oysters at any rate.
The oysters were broughtin at Char
ley's expense. Charley said he did moi
think Of tasting his until Miss H
re-appeared. and sent a committee Of
girls to bring her in. These reported
that the fair victim had no. yet succeed
ed in getting the smoke off her face, up
on which Charley babe them return and
bring her in at any rate.
| In few minutes the committee once