CHINCH-BUGS 107 



"Haw, haw, haw/' Mr. Sprague laughed. "Who 

 ever heard of chinch-bugs in houses?" 



The boys had become interested, and were looking 

 for some argument, but Billy could not see anything 

 funny about having his question laughed at, because 

 he was sure that they lived in houses. He turned 

 red in the face and retorted: "Why, Mr. Sprague, 

 you must be joking; just the other day old Aunt 

 Amy was scolding like a guinea because she said 

 that these bugs were all through her house. She was 

 scrubbing her bedsteads with soapsuds so strong 

 that it made my eyes water. She was scolding and 

 scrubbing and sweating to beat the stir, and after 

 watching her awhile I made up my mind that these 

 bugs deserved careful attention. I told her to fumi- 

 gate with sulphur, and explained to her how my 

 father did it, but she was too angry to listen to any 

 explanations." 



"What did she call the bugs?" Mr. Sprague 

 asked. 



Billy replied, "She called them chinch-bugs, 

 well, no, she didn't either ; she called them chinches 

 for short." 



Mr. Sprague laughed some more and walked 

 toward the barnyard fence where the feed-troughs 

 were located ; the boys followed him. 



"Billy," he said, "we are both right, but the 

 trouble is that you are talking about one thing and 



