"What a fine face!" I exclaimed; "What a very beautiful girl!" By and bye I whispered to my wife, to ask who that young lady was?— pointing to the left. While she was looking, I remarked, "What a very plain face she has!" My better two-thirds replied, with the slightest possible sneer:
"It seems to me that you men haven't five grains of common sense about women. Now you don't pretend that you have forgotten that very beautiful girl!"
"But you don't mean to say that that is the same one I was admiring?"
"The same," quietly observed my better three-quarters. In a moment a bit of humor came from the platform; the large mouth flew open, and thirty magnificent pearls darted into view.
"Oh, yes, to be sure; why of course, who couldn't tell that?" I remarked, as brave as a sheep.
"My better seven-eighths quietly suggested, from behind her fan, "Now, suppose you attend to the lecture, and stop looking at the girls; how would you like it if you were lecturing, and one of your auditors should be looking all over the house?"
From that moment I kept my eyes on the speaker, but the points in the lecture were very few, and between them I had time to think "what a magic there is in fine teeth!" If a young woman has a mouthful of beautiful teeth, I don't care how long her nose is, nor what the color of her eyes; she looks sweet, wholesome, handsome!
On the other hand, no matter how exquisitely moulded the face, if, when the mouth is opened, decayed, blackened teeth appear; you cease to admire, and exclaim, "poor thing! poor thing!"
Besides this, if you lose your teeth, you can no longer speak plainly.
But more than both of these considerations put together and multiplied by a hundred, if you lose your teeth, you can no longer grind your food well; and then comes indigestion with its train of horrors.