'Sleeplessness to such an alarming extent is real illness.

Have you spoken to a doctor ?' 'O no--there is no need for doing that--it is all natural to me.' And she went away without further remark.
Stockdale might have waited a long time to know the real cause of her sleeplessness, had it not happened that one dark night he was sitting in his bedroom jotting down notes for a sermon, which occupied him perfunctorily for a considerable time after the other members of the household had retired.

He did not get to bed till one o'clock.

Before he had fallen asleep he heard a knocking at the front door, first rather timidly performed, and then louder.

Nobody answered it, and the person knocked again.