THE RUNNING AT SWARMING TniE 



35 



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'HF, SAID TO THE CLFRK WHO WAS RF-ADV WITH OUTLI. PFX AXD SAXD BOX." 



l)ande(l, she walked again in the fields 

 and picked it in its gorgeous fruition, 

 but she forgot to countermand the order 

 to the guard. And so who would pre- 

 sume to go against the queen's author- 

 ity? The soldier went on guarding and 

 his successor went on guarding until 

 when several decades had passed every- 

 body had forgotten wliy there was a 

 ■guard in that particular spot. 



So I think it was with King Alfred 

 and Jonathan and all the loyal villagers 

 in the edict of the noise at swarming 

 time, his successors have forgotten the 



reasons why it was to make an infernal 

 noise in the sky. 



But do not laugh too much at those 

 good old people. Perhaps there was 

 something more than a legal right in- 

 volved in the matter and, like the pro- 

 verbial great smoke that implies at least 

 some little fire, in all those noisy demon- 

 strations there may be a little fire of 

 reason. At any rate, could I bring back 

 old Dutch Willie, or A'illie as most 

 people called him in imitation of his own 

 peculiar pronunciation of his name, he 

 would iirnve a valuable witness in favor 



