king her touchingly, closed his eyes; and
she went away, leaving him to slumber.

After a time, Laura came into the room on an errand, walking
noiselessly, and, noticing that his eyes were open, apologized for
waking him.

"Never mind," he returned, in the tone of an invalid. "I didn't
sleep sound. I think there's something the matter inside my head:
I have such terrible dreams. I guess maybe it's better for me to
keep awake. I'm kind of afraid to go to sleep. Would you mind
staying here with me a little while?"

"Certainly I'll stay," she said, and, observing that his cheeks
were flushed, and his eyes unusually bright, she laid a cool hand
on his forehead. "You haven't any fever, dear; that's good. You'll
be all right to-morrow. Would you like me to read to you?"

"I believe," he answered, plaintively, "reading might kind of
disturb my mind: my brain feels so sort of restless and queer. I'd
rather play some kind of game."

"Cards?"

"No, not cards exactly. Something' I can do lying down. Oh, I
know! You remember the one where we drew pictures and the others
had to guess what they were? Well, I've invented a game like that.
You sit down at the desk over there and take some sheets of paper.
I'll tell you the rest."

She obeyed. "What next?"

"Now, I'll describe some people and where they live and not tell
who they are, and you see if you can guess their names and
addresses."

"Addresses, too?"

"Yes, because I'm going to describe the way their houses look.
Write each name on a separate sheet of paper, and the number of
their house below it if you know it, and if you don't know it,
just the street. If it's a woman: put `Miss' or `Mrs.' before
their name and if it's a man write `Esquire' after it."

"Is all that necessary for the game?"

"It's the way I invented it and I think you might----"

"Oh, all right," she acquiesced, good-naturedly. "It shall be
according to your rules."

"Then afterward, you give me the sheets of paper with the names
and addresses written on 'em, and we--we----" He hesitated.

"Yes. What do we do then?"

"I'll tell you when we come to it." But when that stage of his
invention was reached, and Laura had placed the inscribed sheets
in his hand, his interest had waned, it appeared. Also, his
condition had improved.

"Let's quit. I thought this game would be more exciting," he said,
sitting up. "I guess," he added with too much modesty, "I'm not
very good at inventing games.