The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1872-10-18
RzrEs OF 4DVEErfsTNG.
sALLIEs BEDTnIE.

A father, not very FAR fromhere,
read in the paper the other morn
| ing that the Utica girls who
want their beauxlto go home the
same night they cali, pun string
at the proper hour which .reverses
picture, on the back ofwhich APP
pears the word, 40 o'clock is my
bedtime" ,e9..1aS e
This father, who has a 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 en- the back Of a huge
portrait of George Washington.
this inscription:
40 O'CLOCK Is SALLIE 5 BKDTIAtE.,s
Then he arranged the picture so
that when he attaehed 3 string to
the frame, he could reverse it from
his bed-chambers. But when Sal
lie 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. ~ -.4,
Sallie was not a Utica girl, how
ever; she just went to work and
neatly effaced the figure go" leay-
ing the 1 standing solitary and
upwright-which, you will observe,
made a few hours difference in her
bedtime. That night, as usual,
Sallie received visit from her
Young man-which his front name
it was Henry-and her paternal
parent attached his string to @.
w portrait, and retired to his
downy couch. is-ss o. -t4f =T-s
About 10 o'clock, while Henry
and Sallie were 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 turno his
face to the wall, as if he was
ashamed to gaze upon such doings.
Henry, with a sudden start, glanced
at the pictur, and saw the hand
writing on the wall, as. it were,
which read: al 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 murmuring "It's all
right. Henry said OF course it
was all right-that' he had long
knownI o'clock was her bedtime,
and he thought it was plenty late
enough for a young lady TO be out
of bed, but what business, he said,
had George Washington's portrait
to be Topping around in that way!
Then Sallie explained,-and the
twain resumed work on the prob
lem. Henry putting his arm around
Sallie to prevent her falling off the
chair.
Meanwhile, the old man was lis
tening for the front door to open,
and his would-be- son-in-law's foot
steps pattering over the pavement,
with the toes of his boots point
ing from the house. These sounds
not falling upon his ears, and
thinking may be the old thing
didn't work right, he gave the
string another pull, and George W.
again faced the audience. Then
he listened; but he heard no foot
steps-nothing but peculiar
sound, something resembling the
popping of champaign eorks.
5atrhen he grew cross, and gave
the string another jerk, causing g.
W. TO turn about with violent sud
denness, just as if he was dread
fully out of humor, too. Fa az
And still all is quiet below-ex
cept that popping sound.
Then the string was palled
again-and again-indicating that
the old fellow was just ready to
explode with rage. And for fully
fifteen minutes did he have the por-
trait of the man who could not
tell a lie turning excited flipflaps
and things on the wall, like q be-
witched gymnast, until he fell
asleep exhausted Sallie's father
fell asleep, not the portrait. sat.
Henry kissed Sallie good night
at o'clock a. M, 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. se4ta'7 r-le1 9ssi
The next morning her father ext
amined that portrait, and, when he
fully understood the situation, he
was panied. He shed silent tear
detached the string, sponged out
the inscription, and walked away
with the weight of SO years on his
shoulders, that being his age. He
says a girl who will go back on
her father in that way would just
as lief as not disgrace her parents
by marrying Congressman.-B.
Dadd, in Norristown Herald. sea