Large black eyes
Billy feels compelled to enter the bed and breakfast that he suddenly stumbled upon. He was about to continue walking when those words stopped him and made him turn around. Each of the words was like a large black eyes staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay at the exact spot and not walk away. The story "The Landlady" therefore, can be seen as having a fantastical element to it.
Jack-in-the-box
After the bell to the bed and breakfast rings, the old landlady from the story with the same title immediately jumps out, like a jack-in-the-box. It's almost as if the curious landlady was waiting for him to ring it.
Like a piece of prime beef
William from "William and Mary" receives a visit from a doctor he knows called Landy. The doctor began passionately telling him his plan about preserving him after death. William notices that Landy was staring at him, studying him and appraising with a hungriness, as if he was a prime beef he bought and was waiting for it to be wrapped up.
Like a squirrel
Mrs Foster from "The Way Up to Heaven" starts to have a critical eye for her husband, sensing the menace with which he intentionally makes her always rush for fear of being late. She sees his slow movements down the steps, and thinks that he looks like a squirrel, a quick clever old squirrel.
Like an aging peacock
Mrs Bixby from "Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat" underestimates the value of her husband, she looks at him with irritability and contempt. She notices how he walks in his office with his coat unbuttoned, but she is not worried. He rather reminded her of an aging peacock strutting the lawn with half of his feathers gone. She is certain that no other woman would look at him.
Attackers
Poor innocent vicar George from "Georgy Porgy" keeps suffering the attacks from the female sex despite clearly not wanting it. The ladies were gossiping about him at first, of his shyness and need for loosening up, but then the attackers started charging at him with bayonets fixed. George is knowingly suffering from trauma from childhood and the closeness and touch of female body makes him anxious, he can't stand it.
