Let us say that you awake at eight. You listen and hear no one
stirring. Then, over on the cool pillow again until eight-twenty.
Again up on the elbow, with head cocked on one side. There is a creak
in the direction of the stairs. They may all be up and going down to
breakfast! It is but the work of a moment, to bound out of bed and
listen at the door. Perhaps open it modestly and peer out. Deathlike
silence, broken only, as the phrase goes, by the ticking of the hall
clock, and not a soul in sight. Probably they are late sleepers. Maybe
eleven o'clock is their Sunday rising hour. Some people _are_ like
that.
Shut the door and sit on the edge of the bed. More sleep is out of the
question. Let's take a look at the pictures in the guest-room, just to
pass the time. Here's one of Lorna Doone. How d'e do, Lorna? Here's a
group--taken in 1902--showing your host in evening clothes, holding a
mandolin. Probably a member of his college musical-club. Rather
unkempt looking bunch, you _must_ say. Well, how about this one? An
etching, showing suspicious-looking barges on what is probably the
Thames. Fair enough, at that.
Back to the door and listen again. Tick-tock-tick-tock. Probably, if
you started your tub, you'd wake the whole house. Let's sit down on
the edge of the bed again.
Hello, here are some books on the table. "Fifty Famous Sonnets,"
illustrated by Maxfield Parrish. Never touch a sonnet before
breakfast. "My experiences in the Alps," by a woman mountain-climber
who has written on the fly-leaf, "To my good friends the Elbridges, in
memory of many happy days together at Chamounix. October, 1907." That
settles _that_. "Essay on Compensation" in limp leather, by R.W.
Emerson, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Oh, very well! You
suppose they thought that would be over your head, did they? Well,
we'll just show them! We'll read it just for spite. Opening, to the
red ribbon:
"Of the like nature is that expectation of change which instantly
follows the suspension of our voluntary activity. The terror of
cloudless noon--"
By the way, it must be nearly noon now! Ten minutes past nine, only!
Well, the only thing to do is get dressed and go out and walk about
the grounds. Eliminate the tub as too noisy. And so, very cautiously,
almost clandestinely, you proceed to dress.
And now, just to reverse the process. Suppose you are the host. You
have arisen at eight and listened at the guest's door. No sound.
Tip-toe back and get dressed, talking in whispers to your wife (the
hostess) and cramming flannel bears into the infant's mouth to keep
him from disturbing the sleeper.
"Bill looked tired last night. Better let him sleep a little longer,"
you suggest. And so, downstairs on your hands and knees, and look over
the Sunday papers. Then a bracing walk on the porch, resulting in a
terrific appetite.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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