The Argosy — page 255: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

236 Lady Postlethwarte’s Will. good looking, and with a loud aggressive manner. Lady Postle- thwaite in a fresh and smarter cap sat in a low chair beneath him looking up admiringly. She introduced me in a pleased little flutter, wheron he drew himself up smartly like a sentry on duty. ‘Iriend or enemy? Give the countersign.” This startling reception was, I imagined, a bit of special affectation, so I made a point of being quite unimpressed, returned the stare of his black eyes with a bland smile and replied : ‘‘ As I don’t happen to know which side you are on, suppose you consider me a neutral.” “Which side I am on?”—he began, but I refrain from a full report of the discourse which followed. If he was in earnest it was in the worst of taste; if not, simply blasphemous. ‘T shall enlist you yet. You are a recruit after my own heart,” he concluded, slapping me on the shoulder as we went in to luncheon. He gave us a long grace, much edifying my dear old hostess, and then proceeded to rejoice her heart by a thorough and frank enjoy- ment of the good things before him. He complimented her on the dishes, ordered up varieties of wine, sent the little maids in waiting flying hither and thither, addressing them as ‘‘ Mary, my dear,” and made sundry gallant speeches to Miss Dorrian, for which I could have cheerfully seen him choked on the spot. He was an amusing dog withal; even I was compelled to admit. He had a jovial and rollicking way of relating his adventures and they were strange and amusing ones; and he put in his dash of piety artistically so as not to spoil a good story, and to pass one or two which otherwise might have been considered rather risky. Lady Postlethwaite opened her eyes and clasped her hands at his narrations of peril by land and sea; or smiled and purred delightedly over his minute accounts of the sayings and doings of the Royal per- sonages with whom he had been privileged to associate. Afterwards he sat down to the piano and sang us a rattling hilarious hymn or two, with an irresistible chorus, followed by some plaintive North Country ditties that made Lady Postlethwaite wipe her eyes and rub her glasses. I don’t wonder at the success of the smoking concerts. His voice, with training, might have been a fortune to him. [I left him in the possession of the field. I found my father too ill to attend to my report. There seemed no chance of his being able to attend to business for many a day to come. So as soon as the codicil was prepared it fell to my share to pay Lady Postlethwaite a second visit. She received me as kindly as before, but seemed absent and disturbed. ‘‘ I should like to see your good father. How soon will he be back?” she asked, as she searched for a piece of red ribbon to enclose the will and codicil. “ He'll not stop a day longer at Carlsbad than he can help, you may be sure. I'll send him to you at once.” I saw how her hands shook as she tied up the envelope. She stopped once and seemed about to speak to me; but checked herself and dis- EORNIELIOO; KS, (EO) m