1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



785 



better come ofer to the ranch to-night. I ton't 

 pellef it a safe blace here." 



" Why, bless you," said Fred, laughing, "this 

 is the safest place on the whole ranch. Don't 

 you see, my house is founded on a rock? and 

 this butte has ten feet elevation above all the 

 surrounding country. Your whole ranch would 

 wash away before this butte would move." 



"That vas all right, Fred; you vas your own 

 toctor, and you take your own medicine. I only 

 gif you the varning;" and Mr. Ghering went to 

 his own cabin. 



Fred stuck tenaciously to his rock and his 

 honey; and Matt Hogan also, having the same 

 confidence in the chalky bluff, cast his lot that 

 night with Fred. 



Their animated conversation about honey 

 production and the proper marketing of the 



several feet. " It is being undermined !" shout- 

 ed Fred in. terror. 



"Aye, that is so," said Matt; "an' may the 

 blissed Vargin help us." 



Another downward lurch of the great chalk 

 bluff, and the water began to foam over the 

 surface. The hives in the neatly arranged 

 apiary were lifted upon the current, and sent 

 tumbling and knocking together, spilling out 

 the frames and bees, and rapidly disappearing 

 into chaos. 



Another lurch, and the little cabin with its 

 precious contents began to swing sidewise. 

 The stout work- bench upon which Fred had so 

 faithfully worked began to swing out. They 

 were up to the knees in water; and Fred, as 

 though suddenly awakening from a stupor, 

 shouted, " Matt, to the bench! to the bench!" 



THE FLOOD. 



same enlivened the evening; but at length the 

 monotonous roar of the river and the patter of 

 the rain had a somniferous effect, and they 

 stowed themselves in their blankets for the 

 night. 



They slept soundly, as young men do, until 

 they were both wakened by a suJden tremor 

 and jolt of the cabin. They both sprang out of 

 their cots and out of the cabin with confused 

 exclamations, and the scene that confronted 

 them in the misty dawn sent consternation to 

 their hearts. The raging river had broken 

 through the old channel, and a swiftly running 

 torrent many yards across was between them 

 and the main land. There was no way of 

 escape from the bluff. Again the whole bluff 

 trembled, and the portion on the bend settled 



At the same moment, he jumped for it. Hold- 

 ing it against the current a moment he whirled 

 it bottom up and shouted again, " Jump, Matt!" 

 and they both clung to it as it shot out into the 

 swirling, tossing river, followed by the cabin 

 and the bursting crates of honey. The bench 

 built of sycamore timbers, with the strongly 

 braced legs, made a substantial raft for ordi- 

 nary waters; but now even its strength was 

 severely tested. Careening to one side, shoot- 

 ing like a log, water dashing violently over it, 

 and, more dangerous still, the rushing and 

 grinding debris alongside them; but amid the 

 roar and tumult they clung to the braces with 

 the despair of lost men. 



Gnarled roots of trees would suddenly thrust 

 their black specter-like arms out of the water, 



