thoughtfully, "but the
statement is interesting. My turn; you shall hold the watch for me."

"Time's up!" cried Willy, beginning to kindle.

"Oh! is it? What short minutes! Let me see!

"King Xerxes
Was killed by Turkses."

[Illustration: MRS. MERRYWEATHER'S VIGIL.]

"Oh! I wanted Xerxes. Wait, Mammy. I have one!

"King David
Could not be saved!"

"Good!" cried his mother. "That is the best yet. But we might branch out
a little, I think, Willy. This condensed couplet is forcible, but not
very graceful. How do you like this?

"Tiglath-pileser, Tiglath-pileser,
He tried to buy a lemon-squeezer;
But no such thing had e'er been seen,
So in a melancholy green,
Oh, very green, and very yellow,
He pined away and died, poor fellow!"

"That is splendid," said Willy, "but you took a little more than two
minutes. My turn now!

"The great and mighty Alexander
Was bit to death by a salamander."

"_Done_ to death is more poetic!" said his mother.

"Yes, but 'bit' is more savage. I like 'bit.' Your time's up, Mammy!"

"Oh! Willy, I am going to give you a subtle one this time; one in which
something is left to the imagination.

"The Emperor Domitian
Consulted a physician!"

"But you didn't kill him."

"No, but the physician did."

"Really?"

"No, not really. What do you think of this game?"

"I think it's bully. Did you really just make it up, Mammy?"

"Just! Now the kettle is boiling, and we must come in; but as we go, let
me inform you that--

"The Emperor Tiberius
He died of something serious;
But now we'll stop,
And make the pop-
Ov_ers_ before we weary us!"

Willy's gloom was effectually banished, and he continued to slaughter
kings till the supper-horn blew.

The effect of this and other mental exercises, added to a cup of tea,
was such that when bed-time came, Mrs. Merryweather found herself
singularly wide awake. In vain she counted hundreds; in vain she
ransacked her memory for saints, kings, and cities alphabetically
arranged; in vain she made a list of Johns, beginning with the Baptist
and ending with John O'Groats; the second hundred found her wider awake
than ever, as she tossed on her narrow cot. Mr. Merryweather, in the
opposite cot, was breathing deep and regularly; he was sound asleep, at
least, and that was a good thing