THE MOSQUITO'S COMEDY 91 



At last her hopes of renewing her meal were again 

 raised when the bedroom door opened and a native 

 servant entered carrying a tray. She at once settled 

 on his clothes near his bare neck, and was carried by 

 him into the passage of the house. He moved so 

 quickly, however, that she was obliged to leave him, 

 and entered the open door of another room. Here 

 there was a child asleep in a cot which was covered 

 by a long mosquito curtain. On this she alighted, 

 and again waited. Presently the infant's arm was 

 thrust against the net, and then she was able to 

 satisfy her appetite from its blood. But on this oc- 

 casion the child moved, and she took refuge under the 

 bed, as she realised that this was the safest place 

 from her natural enemies. When on the child's net 

 she noticed that there were a score or so of mosquitos 

 like herself, with their bodies distended with blood. 

 But there were only two males among them, and they 

 both belonged to an alien species, and they had not 

 fed on the child. What had become of the swarms 

 of males that she had left in the cesspool ? She 

 wondered why it was only her sex that required 

 blood. Why had she to risk her life for food while 

 her husband and brothers remained contentedly in 

 their home, the cesspool ? But she had had a good 

 meal at last, and it was making her drowsy. Her 

 body was distended, and it sagged downwards with 

 its weight ; this tired her legs, so she crawled 

 up the net to a place where a fold made it more 

 horizontal, and she could get a hold with her claws ; 

 then she slept. 



