189-; 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



5a 



A MASTERLESS MAID. 



A masterless maid, with my heart in my keep- 

 ing, 

 I wander the world, and I'll wander again, 



With gladness my portion where others know 

 weeping 



4nd mirth for my songbook where others read 

 pain. 



Fith zest speeding onward as bee to the clover, 



God's world in its fairness his birthgift to 



me, 



'Twixt me and the sunshine the eyes of no 



lover. 



All soft tones evading, I laugh and go free. 



Adown purple hills steal the mists of the com- 

 ing, 

 But few are my thoughts what that future 

 may be. 

 The lark's sky born anthem, the velvet bee's 

 humming, 

 Sound sweeter than love word or love song 

 to me. 



Yet sometimes I linger and hush in my singing 

 And wait for the passing of unsteady feet 



And sigh when I hear baby laughter soft ring- 

 ing 

 And wonder awhile if my freedom be sweet. 



Yet sometimes comes wanting, unchecked and 

 unchidden. 

 When cold falls God's sunlight athwart the 

 pale grass, 

 And down in the daisies I kneel me, face hid- 

 den, 

 And kiss the kind earth baby footsteps will 

 pass. 



— London Spectator. 



THE BOY OF THE BAND 



Boy Sladen of the band lay ill of fe- 

 ver, aud the hospital orderly, who had 

 wide experience in these things, had 

 told the colonel that he was "mortal 

 bad. " "It's now Tuesday, sir, " said the 

 orderly. "It'll be much if he sees the 

 week through. " 



"He doesn't want for anything, does 

 •he:" asked the c( lonel. 



"Not anything in the way of luxuries 

 or attention, sir," said the orderly, 

 whose limbs were sore with working for 

 the boy. "He's mortal bador he wouldn't 

 be after puttin me aside for tlfc sake of 

 a woman." 



The colonel looked curiously at the 

 orderly. "And why for the sake of a 

 woman?" he demanded. 



"That's the strange part of it, sir," 

 returned the orderly. "Ever since he 

 woke this mornin he's been askin for a 



'Woman — tallcin ol bow nes never known 

 the love of one, an how he thinks he'd 

 die easier if he could have a young 'un 

 an a pretty 'uu by his side to see him 

 off. If Boy Sladen '11 talk like that, sir, 

 he's in a bad way. " 



"Did he really say that?" asked the 

 colonel. 



"The words I've told you are the 

 words he used, sir, " said the orderly. 



"Then he shall have one," said the 

 colonel, aud he strode to the orderly 

 room, telephoned to the Nurses' institu- 

 tion and in the tones that he adopted 

 when ordering goods from the town he 

 desired the matron to send to the bar- 

 racks at once a young and pretty nurse 

 for Boy Sladen of the band. Within an 

 hour a gentle nurse, wearing a neat 

 black cloak aud a dainty bonnet, passed 

 the sentry on the main guard on her way 

 to the hospital. The sentry stared a 

 moment at the apparition, then stood 

 bolt upright, and feeling that so unusu- 

 al spectacle called for unusual honor he 

 shouldered arms. 



Nurse Uaughan stepped softly up to 

 the bed in which Boy Sladen lay and 

 put her cool hand on his forehead. The 

 heavy eyelids were raised, and Boy Sla- 

 den looked with dull astonishment at her 

 face. 



"Who are you?" he asked in a feeble 

 voice. 



"I'm Nurse Gaughan, " she answered. 

 "But go to sleep again. You mustn't 

 talk. The more you keep quiet the 

 sooner you'll get well, " 



Boy Sladen laughed a cu^-ious little 

 laugh. 



"Get well?" he echoed. "Nofe this 

 .iourney. The doctor's given me up — I 

 heard him tell Dennis, the orderly, that 

 it was all up with the lad. He thought 

 I was asleep, but I wasn't. Has the colo- 

 nel sent for you?" 



Nurse Gaughan nodded. 



"Isn't he good?" asked the boy. "It's 

 all because I said I wanted a woman to 

 be near me. There aren't many colonels 

 who would do the same, are there?" 



Nurse Gaughan shook her head. Her 

 knowledge of colonels was limited, and 

 she would have acquiesced if the boy 

 had said they were all fiends. 



"There, now, you must go to sleep, 

 or I'm sure the colonel will be angry," 

 she said as she made believe to smooth 

 a pillow. 



