68 TINY TORMEXTOBS. 



"What are you doing there?" he aslted. I could not wag my 

 tail, for I had sunk deep into the white stuff in the barrel. So he 

 caught hold of me and carried me upstaii-s. Oh, how he laughed ! 

 He held me before a looking-glass, and you should have seen me. 

 I was almost black with coal-dust, and the white stuff was sticking 

 to me. 



"So you have tumbled into the soap-fat barrel, have you?" my 

 master asked me, as he took me into the stable to wash me. 

 I wanted to tell hini I was only hiding from the rats; but I could 

 not. 



TINT TORMENTORS. 



Do you know what a gnat is? It is the little mosquito that 

 troubles you in the summer-time. What a tease it is, to be sure ! 

 But why are mosquitoes so troublesome? When I tell you how 

 queerly they are made you will understand it. 



Their small bodies are long, and shaped just like a tube. When 

 they are lying quietly (and they do sometimes) their wings cross 

 each other queerly. If you could only look at these wings 

 through a glass you would think they were very pretty things. 

 The edges are all covered with scales, shaped like long plates, and 

 beautifully marked, something like fishes. 



Their antennae, or feelers, look as if they were made of the 

 finest feathei's. As for their eyes, they are so large as to cover the 

 whole head; they look like lace. Some are green, and change with 

 the light to red. 



What the gnat uses for piercing the skin is called the trunk, 

 or proboscis. It is much like the lancets in a doctor's or surgeon's 



