1. What causes malaria?
2. Can you tell the difference between the mosquito that carries malaria and the one that is called the house mosquito?
3. Where do the mosquitoes feed?
4. What caused so many of the early settlers in the Old Dominion (Virginia) to die?
5. Which was their greatest enemy, Indians, wild animals, or malaria?
6. How much does malaria cost?
7. Can we prevent malaria? How?
8. What medicine will cure malaria?
9. Is it better to cure a disease or to prevent it?
10. Where was quinine first gotten?
11. If a person has malaria, how may we prevent other persons from getting it?
12. Have you a "Fly and Mosquito Brigade" in your school, or will you have one?
Children, do you know who Jack Frost is? Well, he is a frisky little fellow. He never seems to lose his youth and freshness, although he is as old as time itself.
When the days grow shorter and the nights get longer, Jack Frost is a regular busybody—he is here, there, and everywhere. Jack does not make long visits in the Sunny Southland. The warm sunshine and balmy winds chase him back to the North, his native land.
Jim lives in the North where Jack Frost makes long visits, sometimes remaining from early autumn until late in the spring. Jim says he likes Jack Frost and the gay times and sports he brings with him for the little boys and girls of the North. Jim loves to skate and sleigh ride.
Jack Frost is a mischievous little elf; he skips gaily around while you are asleep. He peeps into your windows to see if you are tucked snugly in bed. He dances on the window panes, and covers them with beautiful crystals that he must have brought from fairyland.
He goes whistling down the street on the wind in the early morning. He gleefully snips at the noses of the old gentlemen as they step briskly along to their business.
Jack gives these old folks a bit of his youth as they feel his frolicsome touch. He makes them think of the days when they were boys, how they used to run out to meet him with a jump and a skip. He reminds them of the days long ago, when they made a snow man in the school-yard, and when they played snowball on the way to and from school. As they think of these frolics with Jack Frost, each one seems to quicken his step. Could you look into their eyes you would see how they sparkle with the memories of youth that Jack Frost has recalled.
He frolics about among the trees. As he touches them with his wand, their bright green coat is changed to a soft brown one. He tells the little sleeping buds to lie still. They must not even peep out while he is in the air.
Jack waves his wand and covers brown Mother Earth with sparkling frost or downy snow. The little seed babies snuggle close, and whisper to each other of how good Jack Frost is to cover them from the biting winter wind with this beautiful warm blanket of snow. This blanket is finer and warmer than any ever woven by man.
Even after the snow has melted, Jack Frost tells the little seed babies not to lift their heads from under their blanket of leaves until the warm spring days wake them.
He shows to the children of the Southland only a few of his pranks; now and then a beautiful frost that is soon chased back to the North by the warm sun; sometimes a wonderful snow-storm from the Northwest. How joyous these children of the Sunny South are when Jack does give them a touch of old King Winter! There are many children here as old as you, who have never seen one of Jacks beautiful white blankets.
In the Northland Jack is a very terrible old fellow. There are ice and snow on the ground for many months. The people build very warm houses to keep Jack Frost out.
Did you ever think of the little Eskimo boys and girls in their cold country? They wear clothes made of skins and furs. They live in snow houses, but they manage to keep warm. The little Eskimo children are used to the cold, for Jack Frost plays his pranks all the year round in the land of the long, long nights.
They have great sport going here and there on their snow-shoes, and in their sleds drawn by their faithful dogs.
In our own Northland, Jack is a very frisky fellow. He touches the lakes and rivers with his magic wand and covers them with ice. Ah! now comes the best of fun, for now old Jack Frost is ready for you to have the finest of sports. You must put on warm clothes and high, heavy shoes and run out to play with him.
Children who have colds and sore throats can not play. So he says, "Wrap up warm, come out into the fresh air." Let the pure frosty air get into your lungs, and sweep out old disease germs that may have hidden there. Come with me to the pond. The ice is thick and smooth. Put on your skates and let us go skimming over the ice. You will feel the warm red blood, made clean and pure by the frosty air, tingling all over your body. I tell you, Jack Frost is a good friend.
Jack Frost often hurts the poor, pinching too hard their fingers and toes. So, while you are warmly clad and prepared for a frolic with him, you must remember there are some children to whom Jack Frost is not such a welcome friend.
He nips with his cold fingers the insects that do our plants harm. With his icy breath, he kills many of the germs that would hurt you.
Jack Frost helps to give you health, and health means joy, strength, happiness and success.
1. Who is Jack Frost, where does he come from?
2. What does he bring?
3. What does he say to the little seed babies and buds?
4. What does he say to the young folks?
5. Who are the Eskimos, where do they live?
6. Of what, and how, do they build their houses?
7. What does Jack Frost do to some of the disease germs?
8. Can you tell me something of the games the children play in the lands where Jack Frost visits? In the land where he never comes?
Mary, did you and Tom see the poor, sick woman on the cars when we were going to visit grandmother last week? Did you see how pale and thin and feeble she looked? Did you hear her coughing so often that it seemed to hurt her whole body?
How sorry we felt when we knew she was so sick. Don't you remember that Uncle John, who is a doctor, told us that she had consumption. Uncle John talked of the poor lady and of the dreadful disease which she has. He called it by two other names, tuberculosis and the "Great White Plague."
I'll tell you just what he told me, for Uncle John said that even little children should know about this disease and that they could help to prevent it.
He said that a very small plant, so small that we cannot see it with our naked eyes, causes this terrible sickness from which so many, both old and young, die. These plants are so small that a thousand of them could be put on a pin head and still not crowd each other there. These little plants are like tiny rods and are always found in the saliva or spit of a person who has consumption. When Uncle John wants to see them he uses a very powerful magnifying glass called a microscope. You have seen this microscope in Uncle John's office.
Long years ago, a great German doctor tried to find out why so many persons, young people and little children, died of this terrible disease. Finally, after long years of study, he found that these tiny plants are the cause of all this disease and sorrow. He also found that these plants are different from the plants in our gardens, for they grow best in dark, damp places where there are warmth and the kind of soil suited to them.
These plants never blossom, but they grow and make more plants of the same kind.
When father wants to grow more cotton he plants cotton seed, does he not? He always sees that the ground or soil is well prepared for the seed.
Our bodies are the soil or ground, and these little rod-like plants are the seed of consumption. Persons who have delicate bodies and who live in damp, dark places, and who do not eat good food furnish the best kind of soil on which these plants will grow. They grow and make more tuberculosis seed just as the cotton grows and makes more cotton seed. Strong, healthy bodies are poor seed ground for consumption seed. They do not grow well but shrink up and die just as cotton seed would if they were planted on stony ground instead of nice mellow earth.
You have seen some plants that you were told not to handle or taste because they were poisonous. Well, these little tuberculosis plants that I am telling you about are more poisonous than the plants that you can see.
If they get on cups from which you drink, and into your milk or any other food, they may get into your bodies. If you think, I am sure that you will remember some of your friends who have consumption.
You remember, Mary, you told me of your little friend, Lucy Stevens, who has been ill a long time, and who is quite lame. She has to use crutches to walk with because her hip is diseased. Uncle John says this is because she has tuberculosis of the hip joint. It is strange, but often after these little plants or seed get into the body, they may travel to any part of it, and set up house-keeping for themselves in a gland or a joint. They usually find their way to the weakest part of our bodies.
Uncle John says that the only cure for consumption is plenty of fresh air, good food, and the proper amount of rest. He says that patent medicines are fakes and do much harm.
You can, each of you, do a great deal to prevent these plants or seeds from getting into your bodies and into the bodies of others by following these simple rules:
1. Remember that fresh air and sunshine are necessary to good health.
2. Remember that cold or damp air will not do harm if the body is kept warm.
3. Breathe through the nose only. Avoid dark, crowded, dusty, or damp rooms. Breathe deep.
4. Hold shoulders up.
5. Use your own individual drinking cup.
6. Remember that consumption is spread by careless spitting. Do not spit on the floor of rooms, halls, or cars.
7. Keep clean and bathe frequently, at least twice a week.
8. Always wash your hands before eating.
9. Brush your teeth after each meal.
10. Never put money, pencils, pens, or anything that another person has handled, in your mouth.
11. Do not bite off fruit that other people have bitten.
12. Do not kiss babies or sick persons.
1. What do you call the little plants that cause tuberculosis or consumption? How big are these plants or germs?
2. What part of garden plants are these germs like? Why do you think so?
3. Big plants in the garden get their food from the water in the soil. I wonder if any of you can tell me where these little germ-plants get their food? When we see persons with consumption we know that these little germ-plants are growing on the cells of their lungs. This causes their lung cells and the tissue that binds them together to decay. Then these people have to cough and spit this decayed matter up. Every bit of it is often filled with these little germ-plants, or seed of consumption.
4. Then what should be done with this spit to keep any one else from taking the disease?
5. Germs are often carried in little particles of dust. How may we keep from getting germs in this way?
6. How else may these little plants get into our bodies?
7. Can you think of another way by which we might get these plants into our bodies? (From milk.) What insect may carry the germs from the sick-room to our dining-room table?
8. What did Uncle John say was the only cure for consumption or tuberculosis?
9. What can each of us do to prevent these plants from getting into our bodies, and to prevent them from growing if they should happen to get into our bodies?
In a little city near the great Mississippi River, lived two boys who were the very best of friends. Every day they played together and had a fine time. Life was as pleasant as a summer day to the little fellows. One of the boys was named Oliver. He had a rich father who gave him everything he wanted. The other little boy was Arthur. His father was dead, but he had a gentle little mother who was as good as she could be. Arthur's mother had to work very hard to make enough money to buy food and clothes for her little boy and herself. Little Arthur knew this, and he often said when he got big he would make enough money for them both, so that the dear mother would not have to work so hard.
When the two boys were six years old, they started to school. They were very happy and proud when the day to go came. Every morning Oliver's mother would put his fine clothes on him and give him some money to pay his way on the street car. After he got to the school he would not play games with the boys for he was afraid he would soil his clothes. He stood around and watched the other boys romp and play.
Arthur's mother could not give him the ten cents for car-fare to and from school, so he walked to school every morning. He would eat his breakfast early and start out for school in the cool morning air. As he walked along whistling, his cheeks would get rosy and red and he would run and jump; he was a happy little boy. He felt as if he would never get tired. And all the time he would be thinking of the time when he would be a big boy and ready to help to care for the little mother.
When he got to school he would join the other little boys in their play, for his clothes were good and strong and not too fine to romp and play in.
For a long time things went on in this way and Arthur was growing stronger and taller all the time. He was learning very fast. Oliver was getting pale and thin and he was beginning to be absent from school very often. The teacher went to see his mother and found that the little boy was absent because he often had headaches and colds. The two boys were in the same class, but they were not as good friends as they had been. Oliver could not keep up with his class, and after awhile he had to drop into a lower class.
Arthur did not have much time to play after he came home from school because he had to help his mother.
Their teacher lived just across the street from the two little boys. She had noticed in school that Arthur could learn faster than Oliver. She saw that Arthur was stronger and happier, and she soon thought she knew why.
So one day she told them both to stay after school, that she wanted to talk to them for a little while.
After all the other children had gone she called them up to her desk and said, "Oliver, would you like to be like Arthur and have healthy, rosy cheeks, and be able to run and play as he does?" Of course, Oliver said yes, for he had long been wishing that he could feel as happy as Arthur looked. He wanted to be able to come regularly to school, and he did not want to have colds and headaches—he was tired of them.
"Well," said the teacher, "I want to tell you how you may grow as strong as Arthur. You must stay out-of-doors, and play with the other boys more than you do. You look pale because your blood is not red enough.
"Boys and girls have blood in their bodies. You have seen it when you cut your finger. The more you run and play, the more blood you will have and the redder it will be. This good red blood is what makes you strong; you must eat plenty of good food and play out in the open air with the other boys. Keep your body clean, and get your mother to let you walk to school each morning with Arthur. Now run along to play, and I am sure you will soon feel better, and after a few days you will be as strong as Arthur and the other boys."
1. Compare the two boys—Arthur and Oliver—as to their pleasures and opportunities.
2. Why did Arthur study hard and love to work?
3. Why did Oliver ride on the street car to school, and why could he not run and play with the other boys after he got to school?
4. Oliver was sick a great deal and could not keep up with his class. Why did his teacher say that he could not do his work as well as Arthur?
In every house there is a window. Some houses have many windows to let in the bright sunshine and the pure fresh air, and to let us see from within the glorious world on the outside.
I am going to tell you of some houses that have only two windows; the houses cannot do without them.
Many of the little windows are beautiful. On the outside are two beautiful awnings with a pretty black fringe on the edge; the awnings keep out the light when it is too bright, and keep insects and bugs from flying in at the windows. At night these awnings are drawn over the windows so that the little housekeeper within may have rest and quiet.
The window casings are white and on the inside there are dainty curtains. Some of these curtains are blue, some are brown, some are gray, and some are black. In the centre of these curtains there is a round black hole. It is through this little hole that the housekeeper can look out and see the beautiful world around.
When the windows are bright and sparkling we know that the house is strong and well kept, and the little housekeeper is happy when she plays and when she works.
Only one person can live in each house. A queer thing about these little houses is that they can move from place to place.
Sometimes these little windows are not cared for; the little housekeeper forgets how important the windows are. I know of some that are not cared for. These were very pretty and seemed larger than most windows of this kind. They had deep brown curtains and when you looked at the little hole in the curtain, it seemed that you were looking down into a deep well, and that you could see your own picture in it. The little housekeeper who owned these windows was a little girl almost ten years old. She would look through the windows and read fine print when it was too dark to see the letters well, and would do many things that would hurt these windows. Her mother had to take her to a person in a big city who knew what to do to help the windows. This man put a piece of glass in front of the windows, so that the little housekeeper could see through them. How sorry this housekeeper was that she had not always taken care of her windows.
We sometimes see little housekeepers whose windows are always dark. It is a pitiful sight to see windows through which no light ever goes to the housekeeper within the house. "Shut-ins," they are in truth. It makes one's heart ache to know that if many of these windows had had proper care when they were first opened the housekeeper's hearts would now be glad, for they could look out on the glorious world, they could read and play and work just as little children like to do. Instead, they must go to special schools. They read from books that have raised letters, and use their fingers to find them. Many of these little housekeepers learn to read and do many wonderful things with their fingers. Helen Keller, whose windows were always dark, even graduated from Radcliffe College.
1. Can you tell me what these little windows are? You have already guessed that the little house is the body, and the little housekeeper any little boy or girl.
I am going to tell you of a wonderful stream that flows through our bodies. We may call it the stream of life. It is made of tiny rills, and of great branches, all of which join to form this wonderful stream.
This stream has a great, double force pump, which keeps pumping night and day. It always pumps the same way, its engine does not make much noise, but just a little sound that you may hear if you put your ear close to mother's breast. You can hear this busy little engine pumping away, forcing the stream on.
Many queer looking little boats float on its bosom. These boats carry freight to the far-away countries in all parts in the body. They are so small we cannot see them with the naked eye. They are of various shapes; some are round.
They have a very important freight to carry. There are more of these boats than there are of any other kind. They have a little cup-shaped centre, a kind of deck, and in this centre they carry the freight. They take on this freight at the Lung Station. They have something on deck which holds on to the goods they get at the station, to keep it from being lost on its long journey.
It never overflows its banks. Its color is not bright and blue as the waters of the Hudson or Potomac Rivers. It is yellow and red, like the Mississippi, the great "Father of Waters." If you would taste it you would find it to be salty like the ocean.
As soon as the little boats load up at the Lung Station, off they sail on this wonderful stream, carrying their freight to the Muscle Country, the Skin Country or the Gland Country. When the boats reach one of these countries, they unload and the little men of these countries (or cells) take the freight and put it just where it is needed. The freight is called oxygen. The Lung Station is filled with it every time a person takes a good breath of pure fresh air.
The little boats come to Lung Station and load up with oxygen about three times every minute, so you see how fast they travel. This freight is the thing that paints our cheeks a rosy color and gives us good health.
When each little boat has unloaded its cargo in the far countries, the little cell men load them with a return cargo, which is made up of waste matter (carbon dioxide). This cargo is carried back to the Lung Station, and unloaded there. It is breathed out into the air, through the air tubes.
If we breathe impure air, the little boats go back to the far countries with only a small cargo of oxygen. Then the cell men feel as if they are cheated and refuse to do good work for us. In fact, they grow weak and cannot do as good work as they could if the boats brought a full cargo of fresh air.
There is another boat in the stream; just look at its queer shape, and, queerer still, this little boat is changing its shape. Is not that funny? Now the small end is toward us, now the large end, and now it is round like the little freight boats, only it is larger.
I wonder what kind of a vessel it is. It is larger than the freight boat. There are not so many of these boats either, not half so many as there are freight boats. They are flying white flags, and belong to the White Squadron. I wonder if that means peace.
No, they are war-vessels. Let us see what these white ships are doing. We will call them Dreadnoughts. Watch them as they move slowly down the stream; how powerful they look. They have their searchlights on, looking for any enemy that may appear upon the surface.
Further on some germs or bacteria are coming up the stream; they may be pneumonia germs, or typhoid germs. These are the Captains of the Death Armada. The Dreadnoughts pull up along side. War is declared, a battle royal is on. The victory will go to the strongest. When the smoke clears away we may see the Dreadnought sailing calmly down stream. Where now are these mighty Goliaths, the typhoid or pneumonia germs? As the Dreadnoughts were in good fighting trim, we may find them on the inside of the engine-room of the Dreadnought. They are being used as fuel in its furnace.
Sometimes the battle is in favor of the germs, and the Dreadnought is destroyed by the germs.
This happens when the little round freight boats have not found a full cargo of fresh air and oxygen waiting for them in the Lung Station.
All this happens in this wonderful stream.
If we look further we would find that the muscle men in the muscle countries are busy making heat to keep our bodies warm. The little workmen in the gland country are making fluids to mix with the food we eat. The fluids change the starch, the sugar, and the meat we eat, so that the muscle men can use it to build us large and strong. The little workmen in the skin are pouring water out of it in order that we may keep clean and cool.
This wonderful stream carries all these things from one country to the other, exchanges the produce of one country for the produce of another—so to speak.
The little freight boats on this stream cannot do the work they were intended to do, the Dreadnoughts cannot overcome and disable the germs that get on their decks, if they are not kept in the very best condition. The only way in which we can keep them "fit" is by living according to the rules of hygiene.
Eat wholesome food.
Take outdoor exercise.
Sleep with the windows open.
Drink pure water.
Bathe the body frequently.
1. What are the little round boats?
2. What do they carry?
3. What are the Dreadnoughts?
4. What are the muscle men?
5. What is the stream, and what is the force pump that forces the stream on?
6. What are the rules for keeping the little freight boats, and the great Dreadnoughts on this wonderful stream in the best working condition?
Come, children, listen to the story Uncle Ned told to me. It was the story of a long time ago when Uncle Ned was a little boy. One day his mother took him on her knee and said, "Ned, do you know that your mouth is like a little mill?" It is. The mill grinds corn. Your teeth grind your food. Look in the mirror. Are your teeth all alike? Some of the teeth in your mouth are to bite the food into bits, and others are to grind it fine so that it will not hurt your stomach.
You have twenty now because you are a little boy and do not need any more. When you have grown to be a man you will have thirty-two teeth. You will have more grinders in your mouth when you are a man than you have now. The jaw teeth are called grinders, because they grind the food you put into your mouth, just as the big mill stones grind the corn into meal down at Grandpa's mill.
You wear clothes to keep your bodies warm, so the teeth need some covering to keep out the cold. The enamel, a hard outer covering on the teeth, keeps them from feeling the cold. Down in the middle of the tooth is a place for the nerves of the tooth. When you break the covering on the tooth the cold and hot things that you sometimes put into your mouth will make the nerves ache. Sometimes things that are very sweet or very sour hurt the covering on the teeth.
To use the teeth to crack nuts or ice will harm them, for it often breaks the outer covering, and it will not grow again.
Your teeth should last you all your life if you will take care of them. Grandpa's mill would not grind the corn well, nor would the mill last long, if he did not take care of it and keep the big stone grinders clean and free from grit and dirt. Your teeth must have just as good care as the stones in the mill if you wish them to last you a long time, and if you want them to grind your food fine.
This is why you must use your toothbrush, and wash your mouth out regularly every day. If you do not keep your mouth clean, germs will creep in and cause the little boy to have toothache. You are wondering what the germs have to do with toothache.
These little germs always get into places that are not kept clean, and when they get into the mouth they go to work, like so many little carpenters, with pick and drill, and pick away the outer covering of the tooth and then the tooth decays, and this causes toothache.
We all want to have pretty white teeth like Ned's, do we not? When we are little we must take care of the teeth, and if they begin to decay we must have them filled or treated by the dentist. Let us look at our teeth and see who has the prettiest and the best ones. Has every one a toothbrush? We must each have one. We must brush our teeth every day and rinse them with pure clean water. This will wash out all the germs that would soon injure our teeth if they were left in the mouth.
If we will care for our teeth when we are young we will not need to have false teeth when we are old.
1. What are our mouths like? Why like a mill?
2. What is there in the mouth that corresponds to the rocks in the mill?
3. Is there a little baby in your home? Has it any teeth? Can you tell me why? Yes, that is right. Teeth are given us to chew food with. The little baby does not eat any hard or solid food, and therefore he does not need any teeth yet. When he is a little older pretty white teeth will be given him. By the time he is four or five years old he will have twenty of these little baby teeth. But he cannot keep the first teeth long. They would be too little and weak to do him much good when he gets to be a big boy.
4. Did you ever notice the twig of a tree just after the leaves had fallen? What did you find on the stem where the old leaf had grown? That is right, a tiny new leaf was pushing its way out. And that is just what happens to the teeth. When a boy or girl gets to be about eight or ten years old, a set of new teeth begins to grow down in the gums under the baby teeth. As these new teeth grow longer they push up the baby teeth, and cause them to get loose and fall out. When the new teeth appear they are strong and hard, that they may last a long time, if taken care of as Uncle Ned did his.
5. How many things do we know that we may do to make our teeth last a long time?
One day in the summer, Mr. Fly and Mrs. Mosquito stopped to rest on the window pane of a house in the country.
Mr. Fly, after sitting for some time rubbing his nose with his front feet, looked up and said, "Good morning."
"Mr. Fly," replied Mrs. Mosquito, "I do not believe that we have met before."
"No," said Mr. Fly, "but I am glad to meet you to-day. I have long wanted to do so. May I ask where you live?"
"Ah me, Mr. Fly," replied Mrs. Mosquito, "I have been having a rather hard time lately. You have heard of my family, and know that with a number of brothers and sisters, I was hatched in a small pond near the meadow. Life went well with us for a while. But one afternoon I heard footsteps coming nearer and nearer. I could not understand what terrible beast was coming down to the pond to drink. I shivered with fear and darted as fast as I could to the bottom of the pond. However, I soon had to come to the top again to get a good breath, as I thought I was going to suffocate. Dearie me, why cannot we get air at the bottom of the pond as well as at the top.
"My heart was beating with fear as I still heard the footsteps, and presently I could hear voices. A voice said, 'Where are all the members of this brigade?' What could it mean? What is a brigade? Someone cried out, 'Here we come to give him the oil.' Looking up I saw a number of girls and boys, 'The Mosquito Brigade,' they called themselves. They laughed and talked as if they were a gay crowd. One said, 'Here they are,' and then said, 'This will get them.'
"I wondered what in the world they could mean. I soon learned what they were about.
"I smelled a terrible odor, and peeping out from the mud (at the bottom of the pond in which I was hiding), I saw something thick and terrible coming down like rain in the pond.
"I ran through the mud to the far end of the pond and hid. Oh, how that stuff did smell! I thought it would surely smother me.
"I stayed in the mud until the next day. I did not dare peep out. When I did look out nothing could I see on the bottom of the pond but my dead brothers and sisters. They had not been as quick as I and had been smothered by that dreadful stuff. Ah me! I had scarcely strength enough to live. Life seemed very hard.
"The next thing I remember I was sailing down the pond in a canoe Mother Nature built for me. It was just large enough to be perfectly comfortable. I slept the greater part of the time I was in the little canoe. I stayed in there several days and many times old Father Wind sent a breeze that nearly upset my little craft. I grew some wings finally and flew away from that awful pond. I hope that I can always escape that 'Mosquito Brigade' and that deadly oil. I shall be very busy for a while and may yet have my revenge, if I can poison some member of it with malaria germs.
"I have finished my story. Pray, tell me of yourself, Mr. Fly, you look very happy." "Well," said the fly, "I was hatched in the corner of a stable where it was damp and warm. I stayed in an egg one day. Then I was a white crawling thing for nine days. I ate all this time. At the end of that time I slept a while and then I was grown. I can't tell you how big I felt the day I first stretched my wings for flight.
"Just listen to what I have done since that happy day. I have crawled over a person who had small-pox and got some germs which I carried to a girl across the street. I went into a house and sat on a bed in which a little girl was lying. The doctor came in and after staying there a while he said, 'Typhoid fever.' I was sorry for the little child with her red swollen face. I left her and walked on the bed. I knew that my feet were loaded with germs when I flew out. Off I went to the country.
"The first home I passed, a little tot of a boy, sitting on the step, was eating milk and mush out of a bowl. When he took the spoon from his mouth I got into it and sucked all the milk I could get. I left him the germs that I had been carrying. This was a pretty good day's work, don't you think? The next morning I flew away to the next house, but dear me, I found that a fly would have to carry his own rations there.
"This was a new thing to me. I met one of my friends who told me that it would be just as well for me to travel on. The folks who lived in this house had been going to the lectures of the Health Doctor. The doctor had told them to clean up the stable, to screen the house, and to cover the well. I tell you, Mrs. Mosquito, that man is trying to put me out of business. I fear that I shall have a hard time in the future if he stays in this neighborhood. I am not as happy as I once was, so I will say good-bye."
"Good-bye, friend Fly," said Mrs. Mosquito, "I am glad we met near our old home."