908 



GLEAXINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



Xbv. 



forV Say, now ; take tliatl" ami his motliei- 

 gave him a box on the ear. 



This, together with the stings, irritated 

 him, and he angrily replied : 



'• When I saw how cross the bees was I 

 told tlie little brat to go back ; so now. He's 

 always botheriii" an" taggin" me round all 

 over," an"— 



'■ Xot anotiier word." said .jinmiy"s motli- 

 (!r, gesturing witli one Inmd. ■'Til tell yer 

 fatlier to lick ye when he comes home, and 

 he'll put an end to your bee-business. Mr. 

 IJrown has been for a long time wanting us 

 to get rid of them bees, because he said tiiey 

 spoilt his fruit next to our line fence. Xo, 

 sir; you needn't tliink you're going to feed 

 them bees again." 



Jimmy's heart was full, and he began to 

 (;ry. He had hoped that he might make 

 bees a success. So far they had cost nothing 

 except for the little feed he had given them 

 the night before. 



The tirst swarm had alighted on a bush in 

 the back yard, and Jinniiy had managed to 

 hive them in an old soap-box. Mr. Green, 

 hearing of this, gave liim three or four old 

 cast-away L. hives. These he had not used 

 for some years as he now used and preferred 

 the chaff "hive. He had an object in view in 

 lielping Jimmy. It was to win the boy to 

 Sunday-school^ in spite of the fact that his 

 mother said he had •' no good clothes."' Poor 

 Jimmy! His step - mother was unlearned, 

 and overworked, and many times cross to 

 her children. She loved Jimmy in her way, 

 but did not and could not tell of the love of 

 the Savior. The father was careless, good- 

 natured, and what some folks call shiftless. 

 A good deal of the time he was out of a job. 

 Jimmy had never been taught of Christ, ex- 

 cept now and then a word from Mr. (ireen, 

 whom Jimmy admired. 



The words of his mother he had just heard 

 ruined all his fond hopes of becoming a 

 bee-man like Mr. Green. He thought of 

 how many happy hours he had spent with 

 the bees;' he had shown his boy-friends how- 

 well he could handle bees, and had boasted of 

 what " piles of honey "" he was going to get 

 next year. To give up his bees now, seemed 

 to him cruel. 



While Jinmiy was mourning thus over in 

 the corner, his step-mother's tongue com- 

 menced again : ». 



" I should think you'd be "shamed of your- 

 self. See how little Ted's eye is swelling, 

 and how red it is."" 



While Jimmy was being scolded, Ted en- 

 joyed it keenly, which, of course, did not 

 just then make Jimmy feel very affectionate 

 toward his 1)rother. 



•• Jimmy,"' she said, at last, more mildly, 

 ■' you go an" tell ole Aunt Julia to come over 

 "ere right away." 



Jimmy obeyed ; but on his way over there 

 he saitl to himself, " She's nuthin' but an 

 ole maid and an old (|uack, so she is. I 

 just know she'll bring over all her old liot- 

 tles. Sam's fathei- said the best thing to do 

 was to let stings alone, aftei- you get the 

 stings out."' 



As soon as Aunt Julia came over she be- 

 gan to pity Ted. 

 •' Why. you dear little fellow."' she said. 



sympathetically, " how swollen your eye isl 

 how you must "sufferl"" 



This was too much for Ted, and he began 

 to cry as if he were really about to die. 



• There, there!"' said Aunt Julia; and she 

 began to rub salt water on his eye. She then 

 instructed Jinnny to mix up a little clay and 

 water, and bring it in. He obeyed veiy re- 

 luctantly ; and as he was getting it lie said 

 to himself, '• It".s just like her to tell me to 

 mix up a mess of mud. I wish she"d got 

 mairied."' 



If there was an> class of ])ersons whom 

 Jinnny despised, it was '"old maids,"" partic- 

 ularly Aunt Julia. Aftei" a little, .limmy re- 

 turned with the nnid paste. This. •'Auntie "' 

 (as she styled herself), nnieh to Jimmy's dis- 

 gust, plastered (ner Ted's eye. When she 

 had lixed up Ted she proposed to Jimmy, 

 that, as his eye and lip were swelling badly, 

 he have the same treatment. 



•• 1 don't want vour ole mud in my eye,'" 

 stoutly persisted Jimmy. 



" Jimmy," said his step-mother sternly, 

 you let Aunt Julia poultice your eye.'' 



Jinnny heroically obeyed, and went 

 through the trying ordeal. 



'■ If you're going to do that to every oiw 

 of my "stings, you'll have to plaster me all 

 over?' growled Jimmy, very indignantly. 



"Auntie*' paid no attention, but said. 

 •• There, now, I guess I have done all I can 

 for you.'' 



"•Hump!'" muttered Jimmy, again, to 

 himself, as the mud trickled down his cheek. 

 •• I wonder why she don't dose us with her 

 old medicine. All this kind of doctorin" 

 don't amount to a hill of beans, 'cause Mr. 

 Green said so.'' 



"Jimmy, stop your mutterin',"' said his 

 step-mother. 



"• I didn't say nothin',"" replied Jimmy. 



" You said sumpin',"' said Ted. 



Aunt Julia prepared to go, leaving direc- 

 tions to bathe their faces in the morning 

 with borax and water. 



Soon 'after, she had gone, Jimmy's father 

 came home. Throwing his hat on the lloor 

 in the corner, he said, — 



"Hello! what you been doin' with them 

 young ones, Lucinda?" and then he began to 

 laugh. 



"• I don't see any thing to laugh at," said 

 she rather curtly. " This is all because that 

 youngster over there has been feedin' his 

 bees.' He daubed my stove all up; and be- 

 sides, as a result of his feedin' operations, 

 both of 'em have been stung as you see. 

 Aunt Julia has been over and poulticed their 

 stings.'" 



" i should think so,"" rejoined her hus- 

 band, very much amused. 



Ted now, to excite pity from his father, 

 began to ciy. The cpieer combination of 

 mud and tears, as it trickled down his 

 cheeks, did not call forth very much pity, 

 but, on the contrary, considerable laughtei- 

 from his father. 



"Don't you remember,'" he said, after he 

 quieted down, " that neighbor Green told us 

 that all this fussing with stings never 

 amounted to any thing? He said that tin- 

 kering, vubln'ng on salt water, and all that 

 sort of tliiug only juakes things worse." 



