Part 27 (1/2)

'Why, the abo almost miserable

'Why,' he continued, 'it isn't sobitten by mosquitoes--of which it seeular duty at night--but it is the other abominations that make my blood run positively cold Now your cockroaches are all very well down in the coal-cellar, and centipedes are interesting creatures in glass cases with pins stuck through them; but to find cockroaches in your boots and centipedes in your bed is rather too , 'you'll get used to even that I don't really mind nohat bites me or what crawls over me Besides, you know all those creepie-creepies, as you call the natural history froald! My dear cousin, I would rather renorance of natural history allunder my pillow Besides, I notice that even your Yahoo servants--'

'I beg your pardon, cousin; Gaucho, not Yahoo'

'Well, well, Gaucho servants shudder, and even run fro at all to go by, Archie They think because a thing is not very pretty it is bound to be venomous'

'But does not the bite of a centipede mean death?'

'Oh dear no It isn't half as bad as London vermin'

'Then there are scorpions Do they kill you? Is not their bite highly dangerous?'

'Not so bad as a bee's sting'

'Then there are sobeetles'

'Beauties, Archie, beauties Why, Sololory was not arrayed like some of these'

'Perhaps not But then, Solo and which don't?'

'_Experientia docet_, Archie'

Archie shuddered

'Again, there are spiders Oh, they do frighten h!'

'Well, they won't hurt They help to catch the other things!'

'Yes, and that's just the worst of it First a lot of creepies come in to suck your blood and inject poison into your veins, to say nothing of half scaring a fellow to death; and then a whole lot of flying creepies, much worse than the former, co of lizards; and ith the buzzing and singing and hopping and flapping and beating and thu asleep towards atory'

'Poor _you_ indeed!' said Dugald

'You have told me, too, I ood of that when about one half of those flying creepies carry a laht before last I awoke in a fright I had been drea I saas a huge creature about as long as a yard stick wriggling along my mosquito curtains'

'Ah! How could you see it in the dark?'

'Why, the beggar carried two lah!'

'These were soood specimens of the _La such a nice long name doesn'twhen I looked into the glass I didn't knowor other had givennae as a Spanish onion, andas a bladder of lard From top to toe I was covered with hard knots, as if I'd been to Donnybrook Fair, and ith aching and itching it would have been a comfort to me to have ju