My Boyhood and Youth 



"John," he inquired, "what is that thing 

 you are making upstairs?" 



I replied in desperation that I did n't know 

 what to call it. 



"What! You mean to say you don't know 

 what you are trying to do?" 



"Oh, yes," I said, "I know very well what 

 I am doing." 



"What, then, is the thing for?" 



"It's for a lot of things," I replied, "but get- 

 ting people up early in the morning is one of the 

 main things it is intended for ; therefore it might 

 perhaps be called an early-rising machine." 



After getting up so extravagantly early, all 

 the last memorable winter to make a machine 

 for getting up perhaps still earlier seemed so 

 ridiculous that he very nearly laughed. But 

 after controlling himself and getting command 

 of a sufficiently solemn face and voice he said 

 severely, "Do you not think it is very wrong to 

 waste your time on such nonsense?" 



"No," I said meekly, "I don't think I'm 

 doing any wrong." 



[ 254 I 



