drop into it with all your
clothes on, without all the bother and fuss of undressing. So you pull
yourself together bravely and answer, "All right, mother," and say
"Good night" to everybody, and upstairs you go.

Of course, you must take off your clothes, because you would find them
most uncomfortable to sleep in. Besides, the little pores all over
your skin have been pouring out perspiration all day long; and a great
deal of this has been caught by your clothes, just as it is caught by
the bedclothes while you sleep.

So it is a good thing to take off your clothes, and let your skin be
well aired and cooled. Don't leave your clothes all in a heap on the
floor just where you happen to shed them, but hang them up over the
back of a chair or on pegs, so that the air can blow through them all
night long and sweeten and clean and dry them. Clothes that are worn
continuously become sour with perspiration, and for this same reason
your mother gives you regularly, once or twice a week, clean underwear
and clean shirts or dresses.

After you have undressed for bed, wash your face and neck and hands;
and if you have a nice warm room or bathroom, take a quick splash, or
sponge bath, all over, before you put on your nightgown. This will
wash away from your skin everything that the perspiration has been
leaving on it all day long, as well as any dust, or dirt, that may
have got on it during the day.

If the room is not warm enough for you to do this, it is a good thing
for you to strip to your waist and then to swing your arms about, much
as you did in the morning, only not quite so long, and to rub your
arms and neck and shoulders all over with your hands. This gives them
an _air bath_, and rubs off any of the little scales of skin that may
be ready to be shed, and gives you a sort of dry wash, which is next
best to a wet one.

Then, when you have put on your nightdress, give your hair a thorough
brushing. This is the best time of the day to do it. Dust, smoke,
soot, and germs have been blowing into your hair all day long, and a
thoroughly good brushing will not only get these out of it before they
have had time to work their way in and lodge on the scalp, but will
keep the hair bright and healthy.

Before you get into bed, give your nails a quick scrub with a nail
brush and hot water and soap, and go over them with a _blunt_-pointed
nail cleaner, cleaning out any dirt that may be under their edges, and
rounding off any r