1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



101 



pjacea lu some wuu spoc rar uac or rc;:(:ii 

 of our possiiile attack or succor Bat there 

 are other enemies I know of a pair that 

 built on one side of a projecting crag high 

 up on the clilTs of Kathlin island. Some 

 fierce peregrine falcons occupied the other 

 Bide of the crag, and when one day their 

 eggs were taken by an adventurous collect 

 or they, sharing the popular opinion of a 

 raven's blackness, concluded that their 

 neighbors were the offenders and wreaked 

 their grief and vengeance upon them 

 When, on their return from a foraging ex 

 pedition, the falcons found their nest du 

 spoiled, they were seen to hold a consulta 

 tion, and after much deliberation they 

 suddenly arose, and both with one accord 

 flew at the raven's nest and sacked it, tear 

 ing it in their rage and indignation until 

 not one stick was left upon another. — Lon 

 don Quiver 



LOVERS IN FICTION. 



Too Much to Expect. 



A too hasty generalization is that ac- 

 credited to Pelissier, once marshal of 

 Franca It was during the last empire 

 that he was reviewing a regiment of cav 

 airy when this conversation took place 

 between him and a captain: 



"Well, captain, how many men have 

 yoxx in your squadron?" 



"One hundred and twenty, marshal." 



"And how many horses have you?" 



"A hundred and ten." 



"And all devoted to the emperor, I 

 hope!" — Youth's Companion. 



The Hindoo maidens have a feast of 

 lamps, very prettily alluded to by Moore 

 Jn "Lalla Kookh." A lighted lamp ih, 

 Bet adrift on the Ganges, and from its fate 

 is foretold that of the owner. 



French architects during the reign of 

 Henry IV expected to receive 1 per cent of 

 the cost of the houses they erected. 



A fortnight after Easter the English 

 formerly observed a festival called Hock- 

 tide. It was customary for the ■women 

 to go out into the streets with cords and 

 bind the men whom they met nntil the 

 latter purchased their release with small 

 contributions of money. 



During the first centnry after Christ 

 tallow was (5 cents a ponnd; cheese, 14 

 cents; butter, 18 cents; honey, 24 cents; 

 peas, 6 cents, and beans, 10 cents. 



Cape Conception, California, was 

 called after one of the vessels in the 

 fleet of Cortez. 



WOOING SCENES PAINTED BY WELL 

 KNOWN NOVELISTS. 



Bom* Lrovers Kneel and Some "Gambol 

 Like Tigers" — Making Love by Intimida- 

 tion In Feminine Fiction — Simple and 

 Poetic Sceme In "John March." 



The love scene occupies a prominent 

 place in fiction, and there are many which 

 are cited as a proof of their author's deli- 

 cate skill. Uterary fashions may wax 

 and wane, but the love story still remains 

 the prime favorite with "the general." 

 So enslaved are we by the nursery tradi- 

 tion that we feel we have been cheated 

 ont of something if the novel does not end 

 with some version of the old fairy tale for- 

 mula, "So l!iey were married and lived 

 happy ever after, " although we have learn- 

 ed by our own experience or that of others 

 that matrimony is not always the gateway 

 to Elysium. 



Love scenes in fiction are of many 

 kinds. Howells once described some spar- 

 rows in a garden as "squabbling like the 

 lovers in a lady's novel," and it is a fact 

 that the average feminine novelist makes 

 her turtledoves peck each other with great 

 frequency and vigor. They bicker and 

 pout, squabble and part forever several 

 times a week until finally they kiss and 

 make friends as a prelude to matrimony. 

 Often there are a pair of light comedy 

 lovers to balance those whose passion as- 

 sumes a tragic cast. 



It is our tradition to believe that the 

 greater ardor is felt by the man, but even 

 as Samantha, in those long gone days, 

 invoked the moon and twirled her brazen 

 wheel, chanting the while, "My magic 

 wheel, draw home to me the man I love," 

 there have always been women who wove 

 spells to lure toward them the fickle or 

 timid love. It has been said, "When he 

 who loves is dumb, she who is loved is 

 deaf," yet there are heroines of fiction 

 who go considc^rably more than half way 

 to win the hero from his haughty silence. 



So we find it in the case of Charlotte 

 Bronte's Shirley, who, in her proud, im- 

 perious way, lets the poor tutor see a 

 glimpse of her heart, as if feeling that 

 her beauty and fortune permit her to ex- 

 erci.so the right of a queen. The wild love 

 scenes beween Emily Bronte's Heathcliff 

 and Catherine are like the fierce gambol- 

 ings of a pair of tigers whose claws are 

 seldom sheathed even in play. In feminine 

 fiction the gentleman often pays his ad- 

 dresses in a manner that.savors of intimi- 



