The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1908-08-12
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READING ALOUD
The little Bittie Ting Went
to Teep When He Yead
to Her.
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hunch for starry atmosphere and
things"
1t was with reference to the wife
OF his bosom that the man gave men,
tai expression to this little hunk of
musing. She lay in bed sleeping
peacefully. He sat in rocker beside
the bed. With his thumb between
the pages where he had left off read
Ing, the volume lay idly in his lap.
The volume was by Keats. He had
been reading the lode to Nightin-
gale" to her. 1t needs not to be said
that his position was indefensible.
OF course she had gone to sleep. Any
properly organized woman of healthy
mind and body, after days work
shopping and sueh-is bound to re-
lapse into slumber if,@after her regu-
lar hour for slumbering has arrived,
Keats be droned at her-even if the
droner be the overload of the fief, the
main noise of the works. OF course
she had gone to sleep.
The Nightingale" ode is a good
thing for the man who thinks he
knows how to read aloud-and Allah
alone knows how many men of this
kind there be who impose the Might
ingale" and "sich" upon their de-
voted wives after taps has sounded
and the lights should be doused.
Therefore, in spite of her heroic
effort, when he had finally reached
all that about Ruth standing amid
the alien corn, and so on, this de-
voted wife simply could not help it.
To her the room became a Groom
Ing sea, illumined by soft lavender
lights, and she was lifted on board
her barque and waited out upon the
sea-which is rather a space-grab-
bing way of saying that she just went
to sleep.
Her husband, his voice somewhat
choked and muffled by what he con-
sidered the effectiveness and beauty
of his rendering of the lines, arrived
at the finish of the nightingale thing
with a flourish, and looked up from
the page for tumultous applause, not
to say vociferous cheers. If he didn't
expect these things why, any way, he
sure expected to find her dissolved in
tears. Instead, as stated about three
times previously, he found her Sleep
ing, and, sad to say, sleeping with her
mouth wide open, at that.
1t was at this juncture that he
mentally delivered himself of the lit
tie muse which starts off this truth
full story.
mo appreciation of, no love for,
the beautiful things in life and story
and verse"
And plenty of other tommyrot like
this did this man chnn into a mental
hash with which to feed his belief
that he was. abused. Yet for many
nights he had thus been using up her
beauty sleep with his prolonged dro-
nings from the "Idylls of the King"
and "Childe Harold" and such. And
this was the first time she had fallen
asleep under the infiiction.
Now (maybe this is not generally
known) a man can be clip and still
love the sound of his own voice rem
dering "Thanatopsis" and things.
Which is why this particular man,
regarded with an abused expression
his deep-sleeping wife, gave sudden
start, and why an expression of craft
crept into his eyes.
Blamed If it isn't bully scheme!"
he mused-kind of an explosive muse
this time.
He rose softly from the rocker,
tiptoed over to the chandelier, turned
out the lights, all but one, and that
he turned very low. Then he sneaked
down stairs. Then he softly picked
his coat and hat from the rack and
went down town, where he met the
old gang, and played billiards with
'em and told funny stories with sem,
and just clipped around scandalous.
He got home after the middle of the
night, and found his unsuspicious
spouse still a-slumbering. When he
slipped into bed he murmured unto
himself, We'll, If this isn't the
warmest gag I've framed up since |
got spliced, show muh-show muh."
At the breakfast table on the fol-
lowing morning she said to him: /:
why, Jackie, l really must have
gone to sleep while you were reading
to me last night. How stupid of mei'i
Stupid? Not stupid at ALL" said
he. That's what l read to you for
my dear - to read you to sleep
.yknow. Want you to go to slvep
every night when read to you. Him
likes to tee him little bittie ting go tc
teep when he yeeds to it," etc., etc.
etc.-you can just fill in the rest OF
that conology to suit.
why, do you, really?" said she
How perfectly nice of you!
thought really had to remain awake
Not that don't intensely enjoy youl
reading-but l do get sleepy some
times. And you don't mind my goinf
to sleep, them"
Sure he didn't. He'd be an unrea
sonable brute If he did mind. Sures
thing she knew.