AND OTHER SKETCHES 219 



fluttering noise, as of a bird flying around his bed, and 

 springing up he struck a Hght and saw a small, flattened 

 out looking object, like a compressed mouse, with wings, 

 flying about the room. Now Bob, not being well versed 

 in natural history, was undecided as to the character of 

 his room-mate and, considering it a mighty queer kind 

 of bird, he determined to catch it if possible, and examine 

 it more closely by the morning light. So, taking his felt 

 hat, he started on a chevey-chase, and after stubbing his 

 toes a dozen times and knocking an inch or two of bark 

 off his shins, he finally cornered the intruder with his hat 

 and shut it up in a drawer of an old-fashioned table that 

 stood near the window, after which he went to bed and 

 fell asleep. 



His sleep, however, was a brief one. He had scarcely 

 sounded the first note on his nasal trombone, on which he 

 was a rare good performer, when a further rushing sound 

 awakened him, and lighting his lamp once more he suc- 

 ceeded in catching a second bat, but not until he had 

 caromed with his toes on every article in the room and 

 dropped a few cuss words as mile-stones to mark the 

 weary journey he travelled to make the ''catch." Once 

 caught, he deposited it in the drawer with its companion 

 and again took to bed. Soon again, however, he was 

 awakened in a similar manner. Bats appeared not to 

 come as single visitors, but in companies, and seven dif- 

 ferent times did Bob chase the darned little critters 

 around that room until he had that number 'prisoned in 

 the table drawer, to be duly flourished before his friends 

 in the morning in evidence of his night's doings. At last 

 the supply of bats seem-^d to run out, and he succeeded 

 in getting a few hours ' sleep. When he awoke he jumped 

 out of bed and cautiously opened the drawer containing 

 his victims, but, great Scott! there wasn't a bat to be 

 found. He opened the drawer its full length, and then 

 discovered it had no back to it. Bob had, in fact, spent 

 two-thirds of the night catching the same bat, which had 

 flown out of the back of the drawer about as soon as he 

 put it in the front way. 



