Townsend yielded. They chose
the dining-room for the reason that it was nearer the street should
they wish to make their egress hurriedly, and they took up their
station around the dining-table on which Cordelia had placed a
luncheon.
"It looks exactly as if we were watching with a corpse," she said
in a horror-stricken whisper.
"Hold your tongue if you can't talk sense," said Mr. Townsend.
The dining-room was very large, finished in oak, with a dark blue
paper above the wainscotting. The old sign of the tavern, the Blue
Leopard, hung over the mantel-shelf. Mr. Townsend had insisted on
hanging it there. He had a curious pride in it. The family sat
together until after midnight and nothing unusual happened. Mrs.
Townsend began to nod; Mr. Townsend read the paper ostentatiously.
Adrianna and Cordelia stared with roving eyes about the room, then
at each other as if comparing notes on terror. George had a book
which he studied furtively. All at once Adrianna gave a startled
exclamation and Cordelia echoed her. George whistled faintly.
Mrs. Townsend awoke with a start and Mr. Townsend's paper rattled
to the floor.
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