The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1876-06-29
How TO go 10 sleep.
MIR. BufterWlcIl's Experiment
Counting Sheep.

Hal III OI sIecplessnesS one night,
lately, and after yainly trying to lose
himself in slumber, he happened to
remember that he once read in an
almanac that a man could put him
self to sleep by imagining that he
saw flock of sheep jumping over
fence, and by counting them as they
jumped He determined to try the
experiment, and, closing his eyes, he
fancied the sheep jumping, and be-
gan TO count. He had reached his
140th sheep, and was beginning to
dOze of, when Mrs. Butterwick sud.
denly said:
Joseph"
90, what?'
81 believe that yellow hen of ours
wants to set"
20, don't bother me with such
nonsense asthat nov. Do teepquiet
anu 80 70 Sleep"
Then Butterwick started his Ohvep
again, and commenced to count. He
got up to 100, and was feeling as if
he would drop off at any moment,
when, just as his 121st sheep was
about to take that fence, one Of the
twins began to cry.
"EIang that child" he shouted at
Mrs. Butterwick; "why don't you
tend to it and put it to sleep? Hush
up, you little imp, or Tllspank youl"
When Mrs. Butterwick had quiet
ed it, Butterwick, although a little
nervous and excited, concluded to
try it again. Turning on the mag
mary mutton, he began. Only six
ty-four sheep had slid over the fence
when Butterwick's mother-in-law
knocked at the door and asked if he
waSawake. When she learned that
he was she said she believed he had
forgotten to close the back shutters,
and she thought she heard burglars
in the yard.
Then Butterwick arose in wrath
and went down to see about it. He
asccrtained that the shutters were
closed as usual, and as he returned to
bed, he resolved that Mrs. Butter
wick's mother would leave the house
for good in the morning or he would.
However, he thought he might as
well give the almanac plan another
trial, and setting the sheep in mo-
tioN he began to count. This time
he reached two hundred and forty,
and would probably hayegot.tosIssp
before the three hundredth. sheep
jumped, had not Mix's new dog in
the yard become suddenly home-sick,
and began to express his feelings in
series of prolonged and exasperat-
ing bowls.
Butterwick was indignant. Ne
gecting the sheep, he leaped from
bed and began to lombard Mix's new
dog with boots, soap cups, and every
loose article he could lay his hands
on. He hit the animal at last with
plaster bust of Daniel Webster,
and induced the dog to retreat to the
stable and think about home in ST.
lence.
1t seemed almost ridiculous to re-
sumo those sheep again, but he de-
termined to give the almanac man
one more chance, and SO as they be-
gan to jump the fence he began to
count,and after seeing the eighty
second sheep safely over, he was Gid
ing gently into the land of dreams
when Mrs. Butterwick rolled out of
bed and fell on the floor with such
violence that she walked the twins
and started them crying, while But.
terwick's mother-in-law came down
stairs, four steps at time, to ask if
they felt that earthquake.
The situation was too awful for
words.-Butterwick regarded it for
a minute with speeches. indigna-
ton, and then Selling a pillow he
went over to the sofa in the back sit
ting room, and lay down on the
lounge,
He fell asleep in ten minutes
without the assistance of the alma
mac, but he dreamed all night that
he was being butted around the equa-
tor by Cotswold ram, and he woke
in the morning with terrible head.
ache and a conviction that sheep are
good enough for wool and chops, but
not worth cent as a narcotic,