"Very early. He said he was sleepy. He is always sleepy. I fear he is ill, a healthy man cannot always be needing sleep."
"The Campbells, all of them, are famous for their ability to sleep. They can sleep at all hours, and in any place—a four-inch-wide plank would suffice them for a sofa. They can order a sleep whenever they desire, and it comes. It is very remarkable."
"Very," answered Theodora, in a tone of unavoidable contempt.
"I have heard people say it was a great gift, and it is quite a family gift."
"I hope my little David will not inherit it," said Theodora.
"There is nothing of the Campbell family about the boy," replied Mrs. Campbell.
Theodora did not say she was glad, but she looked the words, and her expression of satisfaction was annoying to both Isabel and her mother. The former said with petulant decision:
"I can sleep at any time I wish. I think this family trait is a great and peculiar blessing."
"Circumstances may sometimes make it so, Isabel," answered Theodora, "but I would rather wake and suffer, than sink into animal unconsciousness half my life. Robert has slept, or pretended to sleep, twelve hours out of the last twenty-four, and he does not even dream."
"Dream!" cried Mrs. Campbell in disgust, "dream, I hope not! Only fools dream. My children go to bed for the purpose of sleeping. Dream indeed! The Campbells have good sense, and they don't lose it when they sleep."