* * * * *
Mrs. Major set a carafe of water upon a little table; partnered it
with Old Tom; reclined beside the pair on a comfortable seat; closed
her eyes.
At intervals, as the hand crept between eleven and twelve of the
clock, she would open them; when she did so diluted Old Tom in the
glass fell lower, full-bodied Old Tom in the bottle marched steadily
behind.
The further Old Tom crept downwards from the neck of his captivity,
with the greater circumspection did Mrs. Major open her eyes.
Considerable practice had told this masterly woman that Old Tom must
be commanded with a steady will: else he took liberties. Eyes suddenly
opened annoyed Old Tom, and he would set the furniture ambulating
round the room in a manner at once indecorous in stable objects and
calculated to bewilder the observer. Therefore, upon setting down her
glass, this purposeful woman would squarely fix the bureau that stood
opposite her, would for a moment keep her gaze upon it with a
sternness that forbade movement, then gently would close her eyes.
When Old Tom must be again interviewed she would lift the merest
corner of an eyelid; catch through it the merest fraction of the
bureau; determine from the behaviour of this portion the stability of
the whole.
Pages:
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227