So they jumped down and caught the kitties.
Their mamma rocked Arabella, and their papa rocked Araminta; and they
sang to them,
"Now a nice little rock,
And never mind the clock,
Now a nice little rock,
And never mind the clock!"
And they sang it over, and over, and over.
"Now a nice little rock,
And never mind the clock,
Now a nice little rock,
And never mind the clock!"
And Arabella cuddled in her mamma's arms, and hugged her little kitty
close; and Araminta cuddled in her papa's arms, and hugged her little
kitty close.
And their mamma sang, and their papa sang,
"Now she goes to sleepy-town, sleepy-town, sleepy-town;
Cuddled in her little gown, here she goes to sleepy-town."
And they sang it over, and over, and over.
"Now she goes to sleepy-town, sleepy-town, sleepy-town;
Cuddled in her little gown, here she goes to sleepy-town."
And very soon Arabella could only just hear her mamma singing, and very
soon Araminta could only just hear her papa singing, "Sleepy-town,
sleepy-town." And soon they couldn't hear them at all. They were sound
asleep!
And their mamma looked at their papa, and said, "Our precious little
dears are both sound asleep."
And their papa said, "Yes, our little pets have both reached
sleepy-town."
And Arabella's mamma carried her upstairs and put her in her little bed,
and Araminta's papa carried her upstairs and put her in her little bed.
And Arabella was hugging her white kitty up close in her arms and
Araminta was hugging her black kitty up close in her arms. And the
kitties were both sound asleep, too.
But Arabella's kitty and Araminta's kitty did not sleep with them all
night--oh, no indeed! They had a nice little, warm little, soft little
bed down in the basement, close to the furnace.
And their papa took the kitties out of their arms, and carried them down
to their bed.
And Arabella slept, and slept, and slept, and slept, and slept. And
Araminta slept, and slept, and slept, and slept, and slept.
And the little kitties in their soft little bed slept, and slept, too.
All through the long, dark, beautiful night they slept.
And the sun came, and the morning came, and it was another day!
[C] From "Arabella and Araminta Stories." Used by permission of
publishers, Small, Maynard & Co., Boston.