e any
story about them?"

"Yes. Wakonda, one of the strange spirits, sent them," said Mary, "because
a woman was lazy and would not keep the clothes of her husband and children
clean and nice."

"Tell us all about it," they both cried out.

Mary quieted them, and began the story.

"Long ago, when the people all dressed in deerskins, there was a man whose
name was Pug-a-mah-kon. He was an industrious fellow, and had often to work
a good deal in dirty places. The result was that, although he had several
suits of clothes, he seemed never to have any clean ones.

"It was the duty of his wife to scrape and clean his garments and wash and
resmoke them as often as they needed it. But she neglected her work and
would go off gossiping among her neighbors. Her husband was patient with
her for a time, but at length, when he heard that Wakonda was coming to
pay a visit to the people, to see how they were getting along, he began to
bestir himself so as to be decently attired, in clean, handsome apparel, to
meet this powerful being, who was able to confer great favors on him, or,
if ill-disposed, to injure him greatly.

"He endeavored to get his wife to go to work and remove the dirt that had
gathered on his garments. She was so lazy that it was only from fear of a
beating that she ever did make any attempt to do as he desired. She took
the garments and began to clean them, but she was in a bad humor and did
her work in such a slovenly and half-hearted way that there was but very
little change for the better after the pretended cleaning.

"When the news was circulated that Wakonda was coming, the husband prepared
to dress himself in his best apparel, but great indeed was his anger and
disgust when he found that the garments which he had hoped to wear were
still disgracefully grimy.

"While the angry husband was chiding the woman for her indolence Wakonda
suddenly appeared. To him the man appealed, and asked for his advice in the
matter.

"Wakonda quickly responded, and said: 'A lazy, gossiping wife is not only a
disgrace to her husband, she is annoying to all around her; and so it will
be in this case.'

"Then Wakonda told her husband to take some of the dirt which still clung
to his garments, which she was supposed to have cleansed, and to throw it
at her. This the man did, and the particles of dirt at once changed into
mosquitoes. And so, ever since, especially in the warm days and nights of
early summer when the mosqui