The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1872-09-26
Sallie,s Bedtime.

paper the Ot1er morning tnaI Luo OSiSo gins
who want their beaux to go home the same
night they call, pull string at the proper hour
which reverses apictnre, on the BACK OF wnlcn
appear the words, Ten o'clock Is my bed
time"
This father, who has daughter given to late
hours when q certain youth sits up and helps
her keep them, thought he would try this Utica
plan, so he wrote in large characters, on the
back of a huge portrait of George Washington,
this inscription:
40 O'CLOCK IS sALLIEs BEDTIME"
Then he arranged the picture so that when he
attached string to the frame, he could re-
verse it from his bed-chamber. But when Sal
lie entered the room an hour later, her aesthetic
eve was outraged by observing the portrait of
George hanging slightly out of plumb, so to
speak, and in adjusting it her. fathers little
game was revealed in all its subtle ingenuity.
Sallirs was not Utica gIh, however, SO she
lust went to work and neatly efaced the figure
30" leaving the figure 81" standing solitary
and upright-which, you will observe, made a
few hours difference in her bedtime. That
night, rs usual, Sallie received visit from her
Young man-which his front name it was Hen
y-and her paternal parent attached his sizing
to G. WIS portrait, and retired to his downy
couch.
About ten o'clock, while Henry and Sallie
were deeply absorbed in some knotty problem,
with their heads SO contiguous that you could
not insert piece of tissue paper between them,
the Father of his Country suddenly turned his
face to the wall, as if he was ashamed to gaze
upon such doings. Henry, with sudden start,
glanced at the picture, and saw the hand.writ-
ing on the wall, as it were, which read, Il
O'Clock: is Sallie's bedtime" Then Henry
looked at Sallie with an interrogation in his
eye, which was partly dispelled by the fair
maid laurmuring, "Its all right" Henry said
of course it was all right-that he had long
known one o'clock was her bedtime, and he
thought it was plenty late enough, too, for
young girl to be out of bed, but what business
he said, had George Washington's portrait to
be Hopping about that way3 Then Sallie ex-
pIained-and the twain resumed work on the
to prevent her falling off the chair.
Meanwhile the old man was listening for the
front door to- open, and his would -be-son-iD-
laws footsteps pattering over the pavement
with the toes Of his boots pointing from the
house. These sounds not falling upon his ears,
and thinking maybe the old thing didn't work
right, he gave the string another pull, and
George Washington again faced the audience.
Then he listened, but he heard no footsteps
nothing but peculiar sound, something resem-
bling tie popping Of champagne corks.
Then he grew cross, and gave the string an
other, jerk, causing 6. w. to turn about with
violent suddenness, just as if he was dreadfully
out of humor, too.
And still all is quiet below-except that pop
ping sound
Then the string was pulled again-and again
and again-indicating that the old fellow
was just ready to explode with rage. And for
fully fifteen minutes did he have the portrait
of the man who could not tell a lie turning
excited fip-faps and things on the wall, like
bewitched gymnast until he fell asleep exhaus-
ted-Salie's father fell asleep, not the portrait.
Henry kissed Sallie good night at one o'clock
a. M, remarking as he did so that it would
seem like long, long weary year ere ne would
see her again-because, you know, no didn't
expect to see her again until the evening OF
that day.
The next morning her father examined that
portrait, and when he fully understood the sit
uation, he was panied. He shed a silent tear,
detached the string, sponged out the inscrip-
tion, and walked away with the weight of fifty
five years on his shoulders-that being his age.
He says girl who will go back on her father
that way would just as lief as not disgrace her
parents by marrying Congressman.-Norr's-
to,cn Herald