nnoy. Whatever else I do, however many bites I total in the
course of the evening, I do not consider that I have 'made good' unless
I have caused a great deal of annoyance while doing it. A bite, quietly
executed and not discovered by the victim until morning, does me no
good. It is my duty, and my pleasure, to play with him before biting, as
you have often heard a cat plays with a mouse, tormenting him with
apprehension and making him struggle to defend himself.... If I am using
too long words for you, please stop me."

"Stop!" cried Waldo Lizard, reaching for his hat, with the idea of
possibly getting to the ball park by the fifth inning.

But he was prevented from leaving by kindly old Mother Nature, who
stepped on him with her kindly old heel, and Lillian Mosquito continued:

"I must therefore, you see, be able to use my little voice with great
skill. Of course, the first thing to do is to make my victim think that
I am nearer to him than I really am. To do this, I sit quite still, let
us say, on the footboard of the bed, and, beginning to hum in a very,
very low tone of voice, increase the volume and raise the pitch
gradually, thereby giving the effect of approaching the pillow.

"The man in bed thinks that he hears me coming toward his head, and I
can often see him, waiting with clenched teeth until he thinks that I am
near enough to swat. Sometimes I strike a quick little grace-note, as if
I were right above him and about to make a landing. It is great fun at
such times to see him suddenly strike himself over the ear (they always
think that I am right at their ear), and then feel carefully between his
finger tips to see if he has caught me. Then, too, there is always the
pleasure of thinking that perhaps he has hurt himself quite badly by the
blow. I have often known victims of mine to deafen themselves
permanently by jarring their eardrums in their wild attempts to catch
me."

"What fun! What fun!" cried Edna Elephant. "I must try it myself just as
soon as ever I get home."

"It is often a good plan to make believe that you have been caught after
one of the swats," continued Lillian Mosquito, "and to keep quiet for a
while. It makes him cocky. He thinks that he has demonstrated the
superiority of man over the rest of the animals. Then he rolls over and
starts to sleep. This is the time to begin work on him again. After he
has slapped himself all over the face and head, and after he has put on
the light and