The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1877-09-27
The Solitary Mosquito.

The Spicers had returned to their city
home, and Seth had settled himself
down for good square sleep, with the
blissful consciousness that there was no
train to. catch'' the next morning,
when Mrs. S. suddenly reared her head
up from the pillow and calculated:
"Sethi"
"Knaw-r-r-whish!" was the only re-
Spouse.
''Seth, do stop snoring and wake up;"
and Mrs. S. emphasized her request
with a soft fist in her lords back.
"Whoof! All! Yes, yes; what's
marrer2n said Spicer, brokenly, at the
same time wildly throwing out his
hand and driving his partners head
with dreadful thump against the head
board
"Ouch! You clumsy thing, why
don't you knock my head OFF," walled
the lady.
A voice muffied by the pillows was
heard to murmur, 'gainst the law, "
and suggest, swear your switch to
bed"
81 wish l had a switch" said MISS,
little spitefully. "Now, don't you go
off to sleep again, Seth"
Baby got stomach ache?" inquired
the drowsy one.
"No." go
"G Girl locked out?"
"No,"
Burglar N coal cellar?"
"No, no."
Fire over N East Boston?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Seth. There
is dreadful mosquito in the room, and
if you do not get up and kill him he will
bite baby all over blotches."
"Tell him send his bill in 1st Janu-
ary," said Spicer, with a final effort to
dodge the issue.
Mrs. S., however, was memorable,
and Spicer rolled out of bed, crawled
into a dressing-gown and slippers, turn
ed up the gas and began a search for
that cunning fiend, the solitary mos
quito, who always survives his COM
panions and lays in wait to harrass the
unhappy householder sometimes far in
to the winter.
Spicer commenced the hunt in the
regulation manner, by walking about
the room with towel in his hand and
his eyes fixed upon the ceiling. At the
third stride he trod upon the rocking
chair, which responded promptly with
a blow in the stomach, that left him no
wind to swear with. As he Strengthened
up his eye caught sight of an insect
over the water fixture, and staggering
toward it, he dealt blow that would
have felled an OK, but as there was not
an OK there, he only smashed china
mug and a soap dish. Here the baby
woke up and joined in the exercises,
with dismal howl, and Mrs. Spicer re-
marked that she did not see for the life
of her why a man who was so near
sighted that he couldn't see across the
room did not put on his glasses before
he smashed all the chamber furniture and
woke up the house.
Seth made no reply, but the manner
in which he settled his eyeglasses upon
his nose and gripped the towel indicat-
ed that if the mosquito had been an ele-
plant he would not have quailed before
him then. He searched the ceiling care
fully again, squinted behind the head
board, looked under the bed, and into
the closet, behind the door, and along
the mopboard, at the mirror and on the
window curtain, at the ceiling for the
sixteenth time-and there, quietly hang
ing by his long legs, was his tormentor.
The injured man warily drew a chair
under the spot.
"It isn't high enough" murmured
Mrs. s., in whisper of horrible suS-
pense.
Seth sdded the baby armchair, but
still the hated insect was beyond reach.
The hassock piled upon the armchair
| the hunter mounted the ticklish edifice,
poised himself like Blondin moment
on the top, there was terrible blow, a
bloody spot upon the wall, dreadful
crash, and some frightful remarks,
which Mrs. S. heard in shuddering 81
lence. Then the head of the house
limped off to the "spare room," Mrs. S.
sang the mothers refrain of 'there,
there, there" for an hour, and peace
was upon that house.
The next morning the boys said the
office could not have smelt worse of arni-
ca if the old man had played baseball
match the day before. -BoStOp CONNER
| cidL Bulletin.