The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1884-02-08
.SLEEP MY BABY!n
THE IsyrrAr1os TO s1EEs,

lAhS hWlptd OtaubY OIL Lle EfaDCh phrase,
Observation-Disclosures to all French MOTH
expressions capable of rendering it. .'Fais
dodo, non beoei"fiaGo to sleep, my baby, y
Is o more ~infantile, caressing phrase than
anything in our lullaby songs. The whole
story which follows is founded on this pref.
" idiom; and thu Translator has deemed 1T
best 70 leave the idiom itself in the origins
aL.n1
When he was quite a little boy--lony,
long ago-at home with his good father
and mother, it used to be the happiest
hour of the whole live long day, just be.
fore bed time.
Dinner was over; mamma, alter
wiping the oilcloth cover with a napkin,
brought in fathers cup of coffee, :
father was the only one in the family
took coffee, not as a luxury, nor for
g%reediness, but because he had to sit up
very late writing. And while
the good man was sweetening his
Mocha, with a single lump of sugar,
mind! while all the family were seated
OF the formidable, mamma Ia plump
little body of forty, still quite attractive,
continually casting upon her husband
quiet glances, but inte.ligently affection.
ate, like those of a faithful dog, mamma
would bring the work basket. The three
sisters, born in three successive years,
much resembled each other-chastely
pretty, their dresses all cut from the
same piece of goods, their hair honestly
smootlfed down in broad bands like
that Of dowerless girls who can v
marry. They would commence to hem
handkerchief, while he, the urchin, the
youngest, the Benjamin of the family,
sat upon his high chair-made still high.
er for him by a Royamount auarto Bible
upon the seat, SO that he could
build u castle of cards upon tine table.
In the long days OF summer they used
to light the lamp as late as possible; and
through the open window one could see
The stormy sky OF sultry evenings, with
notwithstanding clouds, and, right
tgainst the furnace of the sunset. the
ioIne of the Invalides, all eheathed with
gold.
AS it is very bad for digestion to set to
work writing Immediately after dinner,
they used to make papa talk a little. SO
as to delay the moment when he should
begin his evening labor: copies Of notes,
accounts, ETC., lat six sous the sheet, for
. certain city contractor. The poor man,
naturally inclins d to romantic revery
and possessing literary tastes, who in his
student days used to rhyme philhellenic
odes, had come to this pass at last, hay
Ing lost all hopeo of obtaining even q good
position as clerk; and employed ali his
evenings in copying such technical jar
son as-".Taking offand putting on lock;'
giving free play to the CATCH" etc.
But he would allow himself to forget
Ill this for q moment, while gossiping
With his wife and daughters.
They chatted pleasantly; for they
all most perfectly happy in that
household. A dealerin pictures of saints
Place Saint-Surplice, had offered the
oldest girl-tall Fanny-whose blonde
urls were the admiration of all the ra-
pins of the Salon Carre-ffty francs for
her pastel copy Of the Verge au Cousin
vert. The second daughter. Leontine,
mad been drumming away all day at her
Menuet de Boccherini. AS for plump
Louise, the youngest, she was certainly
Inclined to be %coquettish. Why, she
vas actually talking about making her
lelf a little cloak-(always providing her
iather should get O little extra allowance
lpon the 15th) just like acloak she had
,een in a dressmaker's window in Rue
lie Bacl
Louise, my child cried the father,
you are building castles in Spain!'
And they laughed.
But mamma began to talk seriously. If
papa should get That little extra allow
ance, she had noticed at the Petit st.
Thomas establishment, q fine sample of
merino-"a nice color, and justine right
width for your winter dresses, Made
moiselles." And she added ~gravely;,
ut is all WOOL" just as if cotton bad
never existed and al if ever SO many
thousand negroes had not been kept in
slavery or account of it.
Suddenly-it was then almost dark in
The room-papa saw that his little boy
had fallen sound asleep with his head
On his arm amid the fallen ruins of the
last castle of cards.
'Al! ah!p cried the good man mer-
rily-.so the Dustman has been here"
What an exquisite moment! He will
lever forget it, never.-though his hair
ls now grayD His mother took him in
lei arms; and he felt the rough beard of
his father, and the cool lips OF his three
sisters pressed in turn upon his drowsy
forehead; then with delicious sensa-
lion as of fainting away, he let his little
head fall upon his mothers shoulder,
md vaguely heard asweet voice-on! so
sweet and SO caressing!-murmur in his
sar:-HMaintenant il s'agil de faire
iodo!n
Twenty years later he was an unpub-
ished poet, a rhyming student; and he
was on a country pleasure trip with his
little Marla-who resembled one of
C~orreggio's madonnas, and might have
oeen taken for an English girl.
On their arrival. after leaving the
public conveyance and placing their
baggage in a chamber of the inn, they
had both laughed a good deal at the
framed brevet of the fencing master, the
bouquet of orange flowers under glass
shade, the great big b~oatrshaped bed,
and the wallpaper on which was repro
fuced ad ininltum q nabob smoking
his chebouk on the back of an elephant.
But when they had opened the window
looking out upon the country, the real
country, and had gazed at the road
winding through the forest, all humid
ind green and vailed by chestnut trees,
hey uttered a cry of joy-these young
Parisians-and in their enthusiasm they
.issed each other fairly upon the mouth
n the fall presence of that beautiful ma
.ure.
and for two days, two excessive warm
Tune days,-whiie the atmosphere was
heavy as that of ivapor bath, but slight
y cooled BY occasional showers,-they
lived there, wandering through the
woods from morning to evening, and al
ways before going to bed, leaving the
sindows open that the nightingales
night awake them.
And they we're so happy, so happy
hat they had forgotten all their past;
and it seemed that they had always lived
IN that rustic chamber. she hal given
= the charm OF a home-the pretty
.olondel.-by always throwing her parasol
lnnn tha cnrarlat If the he'd mhan fhnu