202 



(iLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mak. 15. 



RLD A^DElt>50]S huiriedly diew on h 

 ^-^ clothing while stepping fiom his. cabin, 

 and saw, on the terrace below, Alfaretta dress- 

 ed in white as he had seen her many times at 

 her home. She was attended by two of the old- 

 er squaws from the rancheria. 



" How on earth did she get here?" said Fred, 

 in an undertone. 



In order to answer Fred's qiiestion, let us re- 

 turn to the Boell home, sixty miles away. Af- 

 ter Matt Hogan had so hurriedly left the Buell 

 wharf, as narrated in a previous chapter, Mr. 

 Buell returned to the house, and, in company 

 with Alfaretta, cared for the pony which Matt 

 had left picketed near the hedge. Alfaretta 

 petted and praised the pony in her demonstra- 

 tive way, insisting meanwhile that it was a jack 

 mermaid, and Jack it was thereafter called. 



"How strange," said Prof. Buell to his wife, 

 "that Ralph Hayden should turn up so near to 

 us, and that, too, when we thought him dead! 

 It must be nearly fifteen years ago that news 

 came of his death in South America; but, my 

 dear, 1 feel it my duty to hunt this man up; and, 

 indeed, if it is our old friend and kinsman we 

 have some things to explain and some things to 

 regret." 



" I suppose," said Mrs. Buell, " the regrets are 

 over our change of name. The doctor may 

 think it was done for purposes of dfception. 

 The thought of it, and of Alfaretta's condition, 

 quite unnerved me when Matt delivered his 

 message." 



"Yes, my dear," said Prof. Buell. " now that 

 you have opened the subject upon which we 

 have been silent for years, I will say that I have 

 many times regretted the chang . Bull is a 

 good enough name for any family. My ances- 

 tors all lived under it, and were proud of the 

 name; and I have proved weak and recreant to 

 the pride of my sires." 



"This is at too late a date," said Mrs. Buell, 

 "to repine over the past; the change is so slight 

 that it does not worry me, and you know I never 

 did like the name Bull." 



"Yes," said Prof. Buell, reflectively, "but I 

 remember you kept it to yourself until after we 

 were married." 



"Did I? Did I?" said Mrs. Buell. "How 

 did it compare with my beautiful name, Valen- 

 tine?" 



" I know," said the professor, " that compar- 



l^on^ are j-ometimes made odious. I know that 

 Valentine is a pretty name, but you appeared 

 real glad, and so did your family, to have it 

 changed to Bull." 



"Oh me! oh me!" said Mrs. Buell, hysterical- 

 ly, " and I must take all the blame, all of it. I, 

 a poor weak woman, must bear it;" and she 

 rested her face upon her hands, and sobbed 

 aloud. 



" There— there, my dear," said Prof. Buell, 

 softened by the sight of tears, " I think we had 

 belter drop this subject; let it remain buried 

 again as long as it has been in the past. In the 

 morning I will row up to Ghering's and find out 

 from Malt where ihis Dr. Hayden lives. We 

 may find another man. and all of these circum- 

 stances a mere coincidence;" and Prof. Buell 

 stepped out of the house and shouted for Gimp, 

 who was helping about the ranch for a few days. 

 As no reply came In his repeated calls, he asked 

 Alfaretta, who just then came up the walk, as 

 to his whereabouts. 



' Oh! Gimpy— why, pa, he is out by the river 

 trying to change a sitting hen into a mermaid;" 

 and then she laughed wildly. 



"Goodness!" said the professor, as he started 

 for the place indicated. 



Just over the bank he saw Gimp, with a di- 

 lapidated-looking hen in his hands, ducking her 

 head under the water, then holding her up; and 

 while the poor hen gasped for breath he would 

 shout earnestly, " Now, darn ye, set, will ye? 

 darn ye ! I'll learn ye to hogsnoggle the hul 

 nest— darn— " 



•• Why, Gimp, what are you doing with that 

 lien? ' shouted Mr. Buell. 



"Darn her, she'll set," said Gimp; "but I'll 

 take it outen her." and the hen's head went into 

 the water again with a "darn ye, set. will ye?" 



"Here, Gimp." said Mr. Buell, "bring that 

 hen right up here. Why, you've almost drown- 

 ed hnr now." 



"Yes, pa," said Alfaretta, "she's almost a 

 mermaid." 



" But that's the way mom allers cures a set- 

 tin' hen," said Gimp. " Mom says yer can't 

 drown a settin' hen. She ort t' had another 

 dose; but I reckon she'd be tentified now to lay 

 eggs, and not set." 



" Well, Gimp, let the hen go; we will take 

 your word for it, that she will .not sit. Now I 

 want you to mount Jack and trot down to the 



