VIII. 



AT FOUR O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING. 



FOUR o'clock in the morning is the magical 

 hour of the day. I do not offer this sentiment 

 as original, nor have I the slightest hope of con- 

 verting any one to my opinion ; I merely state 

 the fact. 



For years I had known it perfectly well ; 

 and fortified by my knowledge, and bristling 

 with good resolutions, I went out every June 

 determined to rise at that unnatural hour. No- 

 thing is easier than to get up at four o'clock 

 the night before ; but when morning comes, the 

 point of view is changed, and all the arguments 

 that arise in the mind are on the other side ; 

 sleep is the one thing desirable. The case ap- 

 peared hopeless. Appeals from Philip drunk 

 (with sleep) to Philip sober did not seem to 

 avail ; for whatever the latter decreed, the for- 

 mer would surely disobey. 



But last June I found my spur ; last summer 

 I learned to get up with eagerness, and stay up 

 with delight. This was effected by means of 

 an alarm, set by the evening's wakefulness, that 



