midnight
To study until they know as much as I do ! Oh ! Mate , it makes me want to hide my head in shame , when I think of all the opportunities I wasted . You know only too well what a miserable little rubbish pile of learning I possess , but what you _ do n't _ know is how I have studied and toiled and burned the midnight tallow in trying to work over those old odds and ends into something useful for my girls . If they have made such progress under a superficial , shallow-pated thing like me , what _ would _ they have done under a woman with brains ? I wish you could look in on me to-night sitting here surrounded by all my household goods . The room is bright and cozy , and just at present I have a room-mate .