Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-12-17
SITTING UP.

20 10 Dcu, sara uLJle Clarence, and he
burst into an outright ft of crying as
soon as bis mother had said, Come, my
little son, it is quite bedtime, you must
not sit up any longer"
81 wish there was no such thing as
bed" sobbed Clarence. 81 always hate
10 90 to bed. wish were a man and
wouldn't ever 90 TO bed if l didn't
like; l would sit up all the time"
"Why, you foolish little boy, guess
you would soon be sorry enough il you
really couldn't 20 to bed.n
mo, mamma urged the child, pas
sionately. 81 wouldn't be sorry a bit,
l know | wouldn't; know it would be
just the incest thing in the world"
Mamma paused few minutes with
the lamp in her hand, which she had
taken TO light him to his pleasant lit
tie room that opened out Of her own,
and where Clarence slept, because he
was much younger than either of his
brothers or sisters, and so he was the
pet and darling of them ALL .t
Mamma paused-wbat could she be
thinking of? She never used to stop to
think of things, after she started to put
him TO bed. Clarence looked up in her
face. His surprise was greater still
when he saw her slowly set the lamp
down again upon the table. Her face
was very calm, but little grave.
"Wen, Clarence" she said, II am so
tired of having you make this same
trouble so often, when you are told to
go to bed, that have decided you shall
do as you wish tonight. You need not
go to bed
what, not at allr' exclaimed
Clarence, in tone of delight, really
true, mamma, do you mean l may set
up all night, this once?n
'Yes, my son, a" said his mother, and
she looked just as if she meant il.
You may sit up all night, since it is
such dreadful thing to 90 to bed"
"Oh, is MT it jolly Thank you, thank
you, mamma. And now, let me see,
what shall l do first? Only to think
what a grand old time 1 have to do
everything inn
So the little boy got out his box Of
water coloTs and occupied himself a
long time in coloring some engravings
which his mother had given for that
purpose. When he grew tired of his
pictures he took up storybook that he
liked very much to read over and over
again because the words we're all short
and the letters were very large and
plain, and then the stories were so
nice, that every time he read one over,
it seem just as good as at the first.
While he was reading, his two sisters
left the room, and as they did so they
each stopped and kissed him good might.
How queer it seemed to him to be
sitting there reading, like a big man,
after both his sisters had gone to bed.
He reassured himself by glance at his
brothers, who we're also reading. In
deed, he Strengthened himself consid-
erably in his chair, as he turned to his
book, for wasn't he doing just what
Charles and James did in the evening?
And it was nice to read late at night;
yes, he was pretty certain that he liked
sitting up.
But somehow the story made his eyes
ache after a while, and then, too, he
kept gaping, though he tried hard MOTTO.
He began to feel strangely. This would
have some fun with her He always
loved his kitten. He went out into the
kitchen and was astonished to find the
girl was not there and the kitchen was
dark. "Where could she be?" 1t
flashed across his mind that she had
gone to bed.
al don't see what in the world she
wants to go to bed so early for" grum-
bled Clarence; but calling his kitten,
she quickly sprangout of the dark, and
he caught her up in his arms quite com
forted.
When he returned to the sitting-room
his brothers had both gone to bed. And
they hadn't said GOOD night TO him.
Why did he feel so badly about itp His
little lip quiYered. How strangely he
felt about everything. The clock
struck eleven. just as he had counted
the last stroke, his mother pushed her
rocking-chair back from the table and
his papa folded up the newspaper and
with a long yawn as if he were very
tired, he rose, saying pleasantly,
GOOD night, Clarie, " went out of the
room.
Mamma took the lamp from the table
and set it up on the high mantel-shelf
and turned the blaze down, just as she
always did when she went to bed. She
walked to where Clarence sat with his
kitten in his arms, and STOPPING down,
kissed the little boy, and, saying
"G6od night" left him alone.
Clarence did not return his mammals
kiss-he wanted to, but something was
in his throat, and if he had tried to, he
was sure he could not keep from cry
ing. .--. -... u.
When his mother had gone, he tried
to think of all the nice things that he
used to imagine he would do II he could
only sit up long enough. Somehow
not one of them seemed pleasant now.
He thought he would whittle, and he
took his knife and a little stick out of
his pocket. But what if he should cut
himself as he sometimes had done, and
nobody there to do up his finger, Per-
haps he would bleed to death! He had
heard of peoples bleeding to death.
Pshaw! What queer things he thought
of! He had Just learned how to whistle,
and to-day in school-was it to-day?
why il seemed a long, long while ago
Jimmy Bristol, who was a year older,
told him he could whistle now as well
as he could himself. He tried to begin
but it made such a noise he had to
stop. How dreadfully stip ev" 'hing
Was go - -
/