Life, 1897-12-04 · page 6 of 34
Life — December 4, 1897 — page 6: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Analysis This page contains a short story or sketch titled "He looked at me quite steadily for a moment," bylined to Louis Eonn Shipman. The illustration depicts a domestic scene: two men and a woman seated at a dinner table in what appears to be an elegant room with potted plants and windows visible behind them. The narrative concerns a marital dispute—a husband appears to be defending or explaining himself to his wife regarding her "premonition" about their relationship. The dialogue touches on themes of wifely intuition, domestic propriety, and male reassurance. Rather than political satire, this appears to be a humorous *social commentary* on middle-class marriage dynamics and gender relations of the early 20th century, satirizing conventional attitudes about wives' "women's intuition" and husbandly authority. No specific political figures or events are referenced.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
ears!) I did so only after a rather amus- ing little scene with my wife—” “Your wife!” [ ejaculated. “My wife,” he answered, easily, while I was lost in the added depths of the man’s infam. When TI came to the sur- face again, he was saying: “She insisted on my coming. Insisted on your comit I, blankly, “Yes, and as [ have found out, to ex- cellent purpose.” Frankly, he was getting beyond me. I was losing my grip, so I clutched the cloth-ends under the table held them, vicelike, in desperation. “To excellent purpose,” he repeated, echoed and He looked at me quite steadily for a moment, “She's young, unsophisticated, well- bred and nice,” said my wife. “I doubt it,’ said 1. ‘You must accept,’ said she. I did, as you see, Miss Towneshend, and I tind that my wife's prevision was cor- rect.” “Thu ing tong nk you,” T answered, icily, find- at last. ‘And may I ask the reason of these—a—domestic de- tails?” My senses were gradually com- ing to command again. He looked at me qui moment, then spoke quick touch of brusquene “You may. The reason is that, but for Mrs. Dacier's consideration, you ht never have learned the lesson that I hope you've learned to-day for such little cost—a lesson that the lack of has brought bitterness to many as gentle a girl as yourself. Go home, my dear young lady, to your father, your brother, your mother, your ——' “Hello, Dacier!” called a voice be- hind that sounded like the last trump to me, It was Tim's! “Tow d’ye do, Appleton,” answered Dacier, turning from me as Tim brushed by and took his hand. The room swirled as I fled, and I drew no breath till the aprons of the hansom closed in front of me. Thad missed martyrdom by the thick- ness of a veil, and was content. Louis Ecan Shipman.