The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-11-15
A BRAVE WOMAN.
She Slept Whole Night with Rat
Under Her and Never Screamed

She Slept n Whole Night with = Ra;
Under Her and Never Screamed.
More than score Of years ago party OF
Americans were travelling in Spain, There
were eight OF them-fOur men and four
wonderland one night they found them.
selves in little hoStelry containing one
bed, in which the four women slept, with
the bare floor for the men. who found the
necessary room to lie down in by UTILIZING
the space under the bed for their feet just
as the party were dropping OF into their
first doze tie youngest woman felt some
thing soft and warm moving in the straw
CT the tick beneath her. She awaited a
moment to make sure, and then as it began
passage up one side of her body she gave
jump that landed her clear over by the
opposite wall and got ready TO scream.
What is itY came from the doctor ON
the floor.
There is rat or a snake in the bed, 4"
she whispered excitedly.
The doctor sat up. Nonsense be said.
Il tell you there is II is in the straw OF
the tick. And it crept Up my leg"
well, asked the doctor calmly. "sup-
pose there is an animal there. What are
you going to do about it,"
dor Why I'm going to get the girls
out and open the tick and take the Great
ure out. You don't suppose I'm going to
sleep all night with snake coiling around
under me. do your"
Now, see here, " expostulated the doctor.
Tets reason about this thing. 1t can't be
a snake; it's probably a :at; and it's inside
the ticking and it can't get out. II can't
possibly harm you. And by and by the
warmth of your body will make it drowsy.
and it will curl down quietly and 20 TO
sleep. So much for the rat.
Now, here we are-eight Of US tired out.
Nobody knows about the rat but us two
Now, are you going TO be selfish enough to
wake these six people up, turn the girls
out of their bed-they will scream. too.
till they are black in the face-make rs
men take all the straw out Of the tick. find
and kill the animal and then get all the
straw back into the tick-aearly a whole
nights performance-just because Won
have got hysterical over harmless little
creatureY
Now, be a sensible girl, get back into
bed and let me get 20 sleep again. When
the rat gets to sleep you will, too. Just
try it,"
If it is ever given to a man 20 be elo-
quent it is when he is pleading for his own
comfort, and the doctor was Just a man
after all. His persuasiveness won. The
young woman crept timidly back, and lay
with clinched fists and tightly shut eyes.
while the little creature nestled uneasily
about, and finally crept close to her side
under the ticking and curled down to
sleep. Sure enough the Coctor was right.
And pretty soon she did 20 TO sleep, too,
and only walked with the morning TO tell
the other women of their fifth bedfellow.
and how she had saved them from an over
whelmins fright.
And the girls quite turned her head with
their ohsi and ahsl And the doctor said
she was pretty sensible for woman. And
she sometimes tells the story even today.
But was it rat after allf" the listener IL
sure to ask when she is done. And she
also likes TO answer, 1t Is my chiefest
glory in the whole affair that left the inn
in an hour without speaking Of the matter,
and TO this day | do not know whether
slept with = rat, or a kitten, or snake.7-
New York Evening Sun