NUISANCES, INHUMAN AND HUMAN. 205 



half past seven o clock they pursued me all day 

 long. They crawled into the cream, they scalded 

 themselves to death in my coffee, they clambered 

 over the butter, dragging their greasy legs heavily 

 and slowly ; they planted themselves on my paper if I 

 tried to write ; they filled up my inkstand and clogged 

 the ink ; they scratched in my hair, selecting the ten- 

 derest and least thickly covered spots, and always re- 



turning to them after being frightened away ; and 

 when, exhausted with loss of rest and worn out with 



