Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-08-21
THE MOSQUITO RESIGNED.
A Cobb'S.Islnnd Mariners Yarn OF How
He Lost Useful Friend.

new lVh tAA''Nfi
II wos near the capes of the Chesapeake
BAY. We had caught a few fsh ana had
turned homeward. The boat tossed lazily
and the calm showed no signs of an awaken
inc Various stories had been told-storles
of sharks and shipwreck, of queer hsh and
etrarr,o a4orms-stOries SO wonderful as 10
ra;se honest doubts and provoke sarcastic
comments. The Captain, gruh, contem-
plative. and taciturn, was silent. presently
he spoke-spoke with grave ana serious
deliberation thst disarmed suspicion ana
compelled attention. >,
"You said something about mosquitoes
he began. They're curious critters
Sometimes people like 'em and sometimes
they don't Sometimes mosquitoes like
pe1ple and sometimes they don't. | like
innsouitoes but they don't ike me. They
never bother me at all. 1t makes no diff
ference how thick they are they let me
alone-all except one, and L want TO tell
you about him.
Following the water. as 90, OF courso
makes me get up early. Most always can
wake M right on the minute II | wish 1t
done the night before and kind OF TX 1t on
NV mind. But TO make sure ! got an
alarm.clock. | set il at o'clock every
morning, and regular as the sun woke.
The clock lasted all right from March 10
the 1st of July, but something went wrong
and the alarm part OF her busted; J
couldn't get her fixed, so had 10 20 DacK
10 the old plan Of writing 1t down on pa
per. :.-
actlv nj o'clock a mosquito lit on the
end of my nose and woke me up. Tie dld
it again the next morning. and the next
md the next. and so on for two weeks. lie
was ALWAYS prompt. Then | found that ]
had TO get up at 4 one morning. put II
down on the paper and be woke me on
the dot. During the week l changed
nv hour for getting up every morn
| ing. and each time the mosquito was
| on hand. But the next Monday, when !
wrote 3 o'clock on the paper something
| bappened. | oversight myself. 1t was $3.50
| o'clock when / awoke. jumped out OF
| bed and there on the table ! saw something
added to what ! had written. 1t was IN
| blood. and this Is the way 1t read l
v0uld like very much 90 serve you, but as
your hours are becoming too irregular tor
| any self-respecting mosquito, am oDllged
| 10 tender 10 you my resignation Ihal
was ALL"
| 1T was enough" said some one. But
| tell Us. did you ever see your Irlehu
| AGAIN."
lone cold winter night. when the snow
/ was coming down by wholesale" continued
/ the Captain, more deliberately than ever.
~ heard a curiously-familiar noise and
went 10 the door. There in the corner OF
| the ward | could see through the birding
! flakes q huge DRIFT. growing larger each
| minute" The Captain paused:
WAS your mosquito III the DRIFT z" ask
| ed Il voice from the other end OF the boat.
That's something that I've never been
able 10 find out" replied the Captain, and
with a grim smile he resumed his usual oc-
cupation of scanning the horizon.
| There was silence FOR moment as de-
pressing az the calm, but the hrst mate
| finally broke 1t.
There used TO be a great MANY mosqui
toes down along the Chesapeake" he SAID
millions and billions more than We have
now. They went in swarms 50 big as 10
| seem like clouds, and 90 shut out the sun
| shine. Early one summer morning, goOC
many wears ago. a fleet Of schOoners deckeC
IN flags and with the blue uniforms
| of the crews strung out on the decks
TO dry. sailed in the capes. Suddenly there
| came two dense swarms OF mosquitoes
| They made for the vessels, completely
! hiding them from view. In few minutes
they flew away, leaving the fleet IA bare
! as an oak woods in December. Not piece
! of the sails, not a strand OF the uniforms
not a shred of the flags was left-al were
gone
The mate paused TO measure the effect
| of the catastrophe.
Nobody knew what became of them,
he continued, until two days afterward
when q crowd of Eastern-Shore men were
scared speeches. by seeing lot OF dude
mosquitoes dressed in blue trousers and
canvas coats"
"Whqt became Of the flags?" asked the
| curious voice from the bow.
"Oh. they divided them up and used
| them for neckties." he said.
We asked the Captain what he thought
of this. lie took his eye off the horizon
| and responded with his usual deliberation
AS a man of truth 1t strikes me as being
| a trihe exaggerated"