HAPPY 



"Come with me," he said, and off we went across 

 the combs. 



He did not stop until he reached the very spot 

 where we had seen the Queen. The odor of her was 

 still strong thereabouts, but she had gone. 



"Now look, stupid!" Crip said. "At the bottom of 

 each of the cells in this section of comb is an egg." 



I looked down into one and, sure enough, a small, 

 thin, yellowish- white egg was stuck squarely in the 

 center of it. I looked into several other cells, and each 

 had its one egg. 



I shall never forget the story which he went on to 

 unfold. The wonderful cycle from egg to larva, from 

 larva to bee, he explained in fascinating detail. I saw 

 at once that he was a real sage, that his knowledge was 

 boundless, and then to crown it he told me that even 

 the Queen-Mother herself had sprung from an ordinary 

 egg, having been converted through miracle into a 

 queen ruling over this empire. Simply by feeding and 

 tending them differently only the bees in their wisdom 

 know how the egg which might develop into a worker 

 or a drone, passing through a metamorphosis, can be 

 made to break from the dark cover of the cell the per- 

 sonification of life eternal, as exemplified in the body 

 and the life of the Queen. 



I could not quite understand all these things, but 

 I felt sure Crip was telling the truth; and indeed I 

 began to look up to him with increasing admiration 

 and wonder on account of the worlds of things he knew.* 



We were silent awhile. There rose again for me the 

 night hymn of the hive. It penetrated me as not before ; 

 it had a new significance, a new message I had been 



