Camp Fire Legends of Wood Folks 313 



position, pulled steadily at his pipe for a few 

 seconds and then began. 



" Well, it was this way. Years and years 

 ago, when the world was sort of new, as you 

 might say, the bees and the wasps didn't have 

 any stingers. There are honey-bees now in 

 the tropics that don't have any, but in those 

 days none of them had stingers. Well, there 

 was a swarm of bees that lived in an old hol- 

 low rock maple. They were strong, swift 

 flyers, and very industrious. They had lived 

 in the old maple for several years, and for ten 

 feet, up and down, the hollow tree was filled 

 with wonderful honey. It was a very large 

 swarm, probably sixty thousand bees. 



"Well, the tree that they lived in was 

 standing at a slant. It had been partly blown 

 over, and had lodged against other trees. The 

 hole where the bees entered the tree was on 

 the under side, so the rain didn't beat in, and 

 it was shaded in summer; altogether it was a 

 fine home for the bees. 



" The tree had been struck by lightning 

 some time before they found it, and the bark 



