Sentence:  If listeners seldom hear good of themselves, it is also true that <WSD>peepers</WSD> sometimes see more than they like; and Betty, the cook, as she reached the landing, glancing askance with ominous curiosity, beheld a spectacle, the sight of which nearly bereft her of her senses. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Someone who peeps; a spy.