Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1872-10-05

sALLIE'S BEDTIME.

tiura ir sALLIB's BEDTIME %. 81
Il A father, not very far from here, read
in the paper the other morning that the
g 8 Utica girls who want their beaux, to
60 home the same night they call, pull
q slfing at the proper hour which re-
verses a picture ON the back OF which
appears the words .Ten o'clock is, my
bedtime" yplreiis ~, saaugtos1,gyic
This father who, has q. daughter
given to late hours when 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 q huge portrait of George
Washington, this inscription: -.a,F,
,,. !" 10 O'clock Is sAL11Es BEDTIME. +,
Then he arranged the picture sd that
when he attached string to the frame,
he could reverse II from his bed-cham-
Der. ii But when Salliet entered the
room an hour later, her aesthetic eye
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 In'.tgoI sdi
Sallie was not a Utica girl, however,
so she Just went to work and neatly ef-
faced the figure co." leaving the /
standing solitary and upright which,
you will observe, made q few hours diff
ference in her bedtime. That night, as
usual, Sallie received o. visit from her
young manT-which his front name it
was Henry-and her paternal parent
attached his string to G. WIS portrait,
and retired to his downy couch. i4iai
, About, ten o'clock, while Henry and
Salie We're, deeply absorbed in some
knotty problem, with their heads SO
contiguous that you couldn't 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 handwriting
on the wall, as it were,, which read :" l
o'clock is Sallio'sy bedtime" Then
Henry looked at Salle with an interro-
CATION in his eye. which was partly dis
PEELED by. the fair maid murmuring,
"It's 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 had George
Washinston's portrait Topping about
that way?' Then Sallie explained and
the twain resumed work on, the prob
lem. Harry putting his arms around
Sallie to prevent her from falling off
the chair. ~, :,
Meanwhile the old man was listening
for the front door to open, and his
would-be son-in-law's footsteps patter-
ing over the pavement with the toes of
his boots pointing from, the house,
These sounds not falling upon his ear,
and thinking maybe the old thing
didn't work right, he gave the string
another pull, and George w. again
faced the audience. Then he listened,
but lie heard no footsteps nothing but
o peculiar sound, something resembling
the popping Of champaign corks.e -.
p Then he grew cross, and gave the
string another Jerk, causing &. w. to
turn about with violent suddenness,
just as if he was dreadfully out of hui
NOR, too. s,i,,o.D ,I'r .z4rr,-nqVI 4
And still all is quiet below7r7exccpt
that popping sound. ..,.',.J-.-.,,.Lr.. ..,
Then the string was pulled again
and again and againA indicating that
the old fellow was sIjustready to explode
with rage, = And for fully fifteen min
utes did he have the portrait Of the
man who could not tell lie turning
excited flip flaps and things on the wall
like an excited gymnast, until he fell
asleep exhausted -Sallie's father fell
asleep, not the portrait. Es., "a. II
Henry kissed Sallie goodnight at
one o'clock, A. NJ, remarking, as he did
SO, that it would seem like a long, long
weary, year, ere he would see her again
--because, YOU know, he, didn't. expect
to see her again until the evening Of
that day. =,
37'The next morning her father ex-
anained the portrait, and when he fully
understood the situation he was pained.
He shed o, silent, tear, detached the
string, sponged out the inscription, and
walked away with the weight of fifty
five years on his shoulders-that being
his age. He says girl who will 90
back on her father that way would just
as lieve as not disgrace her parents by
marrying a Congressman.
sE The original manuscript Of the
Declaration of Independence, which
has been on exhibition at the Patent
Office in Washington for many years, is
fast fading out, the signatures having
become almost entirely effaced. Wash
ington's commission as COMMANDMENTS
Chief Of the Colonial forces is also in
the seN and yellow leaf, the writing
being almost illegible. qao.t , ro}
a. Hands have they, yet steal not
80 - : A I.