566 



GLEANINGS !>; BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1. 



Bcc Keeper-^ 



J 



orThrfTlystcry of Crystal |Tloumian 



LFARETTA placed 

 her hands upon 

 Fred's shoulders and 

 said. " My fairy mer- 

 maid whispered to 

 me that you were in 

 danger. My fairy 

 said there was a bad 

 man with a big knife, with blood on it— blood 

 of many victims. It thirsted for yours. I came 

 with my fairy mermaid and scared the man 

 away. The man will die, die." 



She said this in such a weird tone of voice at 

 that weird hour that Fred became restive un- 

 der her steady gaze, and he said, "Come, Al- 

 faretta, the man has fled; you had better return 

 home now. I will accompany you. Were you 

 ever here before, Alfaretta? " 



"Yes, Fred; papa and I, and sometimes my 

 fairy and I, come here to see the bees fly with 

 their gossamer wings." 



Alfaretta led the way through the willows, 

 following a blind trail. It was two miles by 

 theriver to Mr. Buell's; but by this short cut 

 across the bend it was not half that distance. 

 When they came to the river again, the path 

 followed along the top of what was known as 

 Buell's Levee. It was built between two slight 

 headlands in order to prevent the overflow of 

 several thousand acres of valuable land. It 

 was at the upper end of this levee where Alfa- 

 retta helped Fred from his water bath when 

 he leaped from the steamer Valetta. 



The Buell residence was but a short distance 

 beyond, and here Alfaretta, as if a very fairy 

 herself, ran up the walk so lightly and rapidly 

 that Fred was left far in the rear. A mocking 

 laugh echoed back to him as he caught a final 

 glimpse of her as she disappeared in the deep 

 shadows of the house. 



" Not much ceremony or sentiment about 

 that parting," thought Fred as he turned and 

 retraced his steps. He walked rapidly along 

 the levee and across the bend, and was soon 

 again in the deserted apiary. 



The gloom along the river was in a measure 

 dispelled by the rising moon; but even this 

 good cheer did not lend much companionship. 

 He had little fear that Dawson would appear 

 again; and, rather than remain quiet and on 

 the watch, and desiring to get. away from the 



place as soon as possible, he proceeded, by the 

 kindly light of the moon, to take down the 

 cabin and to remove the material to the river- 

 bank. In one of his turns between river and 

 cabin his shoe kicked up something that glis- 

 tened in the moonbeams; and, picking it up, he 

 shuddered as he grasped the cold blade of a 

 large bowie knife. It had evidently been drop- 

 ped by Dawson, in his flight. When Fred 

 thought of Alfaretta's words, " blood of many 

 victims, it thirsted for yours," the impulse was 

 upon him to hurl it far into the river; but upon 

 second thought he tossed it into a box with 

 other " traps " to be removed. " Most remark- 

 able," said he, as he paced to and fro in deep 

 thought. " Truly wonderful that she should 

 appear so silently at that particular moment; 

 unaccountable that she should know all of 

 these things. Surely this is a marvelous case 

 of mind telepathy." 



Fred continued his labors until every thing 

 was upon the river-bank, even to the water- 

 pipe through which he acted as proxy for 

 McBurger's spirit. 



The flat boat was brought from its hiding, 

 and first his six colonies of bees were carefully 

 loaded upon it. There was no tearing of sack- 

 ing this time, and its attendant mishaps. The 

 loading of the boat was completed just as the 

 gray streaks of early dawn began to tremble 

 over the eastern hills. When he came down 

 stream it was Fred's intention to load the bee- 

 fixings and then wait for an up-stream steamer 

 to tow him to his destination. But he did not 

 like to stay a minute longer than necessary, 

 upon a spot of such unpleasant nature, and so 

 near Dawson; therefore, as soon as loaded, the 

 boat was pushed off; and by dint of hard labor, 

 and keeping as much as possible out of the 

 sluggish current, he made Buell's Landing in a 

 couple of hours. 



These good people were preparing to partake 

 of their morning repast as Fred appeared at 

 the door of their adobe residence. After the 

 usual salutations a place was made for him at 

 the table. Alfaretta, who was usually the first 

 one up in the morning, had not yet made her 

 appearance; and the unusual occurrence excited 

 some comments between Mr. and Mrs. Buell. 

 Fred said nothing then, however. The excite- 

 ment of the night, and the need of food, led him 



