Morris tribune. [volume] (Morris, Minn.) 1880-2000, 1882-09-07

| lttelItIN Watching lile EttlN Ol ttlc mouse
from an obscure corner. | was quietly
| slipping up 10 him to ask what it all
meant when dinner was announced.
At the dinner table found myself on
the left of our hostess, the baronet OPP
| posite me. A was placed some dis
lance down on the other side, so that |
| could keep an eye on him, which |
soon begun to think | must do. ! had
now an opportunity of noting more par
| ticuiarlv Mrs. Ms persona, appear
ance. Her age / should Judge to have
been somewhere about eight and twen-
ty or thirty, considerably under her
husbands. Her figure was taultfess;
neck and arms of hat nameless tint one
has 50 often seen imperfecty de :cribed
in novels as 'creamy white" a corona
of hair of that deep au-
burn red which so sets off
fair woman; and face of singular beau
ty, of which YOU forget everything but
the eyes the moment YOU looked into
them. Such eyes they were! Their par
ticular size, shape, this or that color
would never occur to one; it was their
strange, almost weird, effect when turn
ed on you that one felt. 1t was as
though they OWNED what you we're
thinking of and could answer Your
or reSttul face. | can recall certain
half-disagreeable sensations experience
ed as her eyes occasionally rested on
mine while We talked, and once or twice
flash as of something almost malevo-
lent seemed to pass out of them.
One incident | recollect. We were
discussing pictures, and Mrs. NJ,
pointing to some fine family portraits
hung round the dining-room. said, My
husband and | are distant cousins, Major
P, so that YOU see We are mutually
represented here; and Wonder is lady
of by-gone days, supposed to have been
very wicked, and to be like me-" l
looked up, and sure enough there gazed
down on me from the canvas woman's
face strikingly like the speaker's-so like,
that except for the quaint costume, the
portrait might have been taken for her
own. 1t was finer specimen than usu-
al of the formal Notwithstanding style in
which our -grandmOthers
have been depicted for us-a stately at
titude, regular but immobile features,
and eXuberant charms sumptuously if
somewhat scantily draped. The lady's
figure, as 1t cnanced, was turned toward
our end of the table; she held fan in
her hand; and the lips had disdainful
almost derisive, smile: and the eyes,
which in such pictures usually appear to
be contemplating the spectator and to
follow him about, seemed directed full
on our hostess. There is certainly a
keness," l said, but the lady on the
wall is entitled, feel sure, to an entire
monopoly of the wickedness" Mrs. NJ
- laughed, and winged alglance at me,
and the smile and the eyes were those
of the portrait.
Another circumstance remember dis
covering in looking round the table,
which, had l been superstitiOus, might
not have added to my comfort We
were sitting thirteen. Mrs. NJ, l
rather think. must have noticed me
counting the numbers, for she made
some remark as in reply to my thought
SO sorry we were disappointed of one
of our party at the last lAoment."
Meanwhile A was again attracting
my attention by his extraordinary be-
havior. His partner, a pretty.ooking,
lively girl, was evidently doing her best
to make herself agreeable, and he was
answering her in an intermittent fash
ion; but could see he was eating very
little, and crumbling his bread ina nerv-
Gus, preoccupied manner, while every
now and then his eyes wandered to
Mrs. NJ, with a curious, fixed stare
that was altogether ill-mannered and
unaccountable. Instinctively l turned
to the same quarter to see what could be
the object of this persistent scrutiny, but
in vain. There, indeed, was beautiful
woman, dressed to perfection, and with
those wonderful eyes; but what right
had he to cape at her like that? began
to wonder if she or any other OF the
guests would observe As rudeness.
tried to catch his eye, but without sue
cess. In little while lapsed into COM
parative silence, and set myself to watch
As movements more narrowly, as
well as | could, across the table. After
time it seemed to me that the direction
of As gaze must be at Mrs. Ms
head, or little above it; but there was
nothing l could see to account for this.
To be sure, she wore, fastened into the
thick top coil of her hair, a jeweled or
nament of some kind that seemed to
but STILL why this repeated and offensive
contemplation at her own table Ola mar
ried woman, on whom, so far as knew,
neither Ar orI had ever set eyes be-
fore? Could these two have been known
to each other in some by-gone love af-
fair, or was the man gone out of his wits,
or had he taken too much drink?
How this memorable dinner struggled
on to u conclusion l hardly remember,
The more fidgety cot, the more irresist-
IDLY was l drawn to watch A. His
face wore pale, scared aspect
quite foreign to him, for he
was ordinarily a CHEEKY. common
sense fellow, not easily disturbed. At
length it seemed that our hostess became
aware of the intent observation she was
being subjected to, and before the ladies
rose from the dinner table, her hand
some features had grown very white.