Knowledge and Inventions 



had granted in his mind, and doubtless hoping 

 that I would soon tire of getting up at one 

 o'clock, he impatiently waited about two weeks 

 before saying a word. I did not vary more than 

 five minutes from one o'clock all winter, nor 

 did I feel any bad effects whatever, nor did I 

 think at all about the subject as to whether so 

 little sleep might be in any way injurious; it 

 was a grand triumph of will-power over cold 

 and common comfort and work-weariness in 

 abruptly cutting down my ten hours' allow- 

 ance of sleep to five. I simply felt that I was 

 rich beyond anything I could have dreamed of 

 or hoped for. I was far more than happy. Like 

 Tam o' Shanter I was glorious, " O'er a' the ills 

 o' life victorious." 



Father, as was customary in Scotland, gave 

 thanks and asked a blessing before meals, not 

 merely as a matter of form and decent Christian 

 manners, for he regarded food as a gift derived 

 directly from the hands of the Father in heaven. 

 Therefore every meal to him was a sacrament 

 requiring conduct and attitude of mind not 

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