1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



281 



"Yes, sir." 



" I want to see some of It." 



"Very well; I will bring you a sample." 



I hastened through the house on out to the 

 honey -room to get some honey. "Why did a 

 man leave his] honey so far away?" ..Then'I 

 remembered I had never asked my husband]to 

 bring any sample honey to the house. I drew 

 some and hurried back to the house, and found 

 that horrid old man in the kitchen. I felt 

 afraid of him, but bravely handed himi the 

 bucket of honey and a spoon. But he Ignored 

 that spoon, and sent a long brown finger down 

 into that bucket. He stripped it to his mouth, 

 smacked his lips, then dived into the bucket 

 again. I could not stand that. I hastily drew 

 the bucket away. After heshad licked his fin- 

 ger clean he said: 



"I want some of that honey, shore and cer- 

 tin; have you got any thing to put it In ? " 



I felt anxious to get rid of him. "Yes; we 

 have buckets. I can sell you one." 



" But I don' need any buckets," he said, glar- 

 ing at me. 



I then tried to explain that, if he would bring 

 the bucket back, I would refund his money. 

 He didn't seem to hear me. He was looking 

 about him. I thought he had forgotten me, 

 when he turned on me and said: 



"You could put it in a jar, a glass ; jar, 

 couldn't you?" 



"Yes," I answered, not knowing what he 

 was going to do. j Without a word he stalked 

 out of the house. 



" Great Scott ! what should I do ? "J I thought 

 I would go and see what had] become of him. 

 I stepped to the front window in time to see 

 the old man take a half-gallon Mason jar from 

 his old buggy. nIt was filled with sweet milk. 

 He hesitated, turned the jar around, and looked 

 at it as if undecided. I stood and wondered 

 what he was going to do. At last he had set- 

 tled the question in his mind, for he removed 

 the l id and tilted the jar and began to drink, 

 riaughed aloud. It did look too funny. D He 

 drank half of the milk, then seemed undecided 

 whether he could finish the rest. After looking 

 all about him he scrutinized theljar again. After 

 some hesitation he proceeded to empty it^into 

 the same gullet. I can never keep from laugh- 

 ing when I remember that sight.a He was'com- 

 ing back to the house. I went to the door, 

 thinking perhaps he would not' come in; but, 

 no— he followed me back to the kitchen.:' He 

 spied the butter. He began to ask questions. 



"That's shore tine butter. n What do ye feed 

 yo' cows?" 



I told him. 



"How many cows have ye got?" 



"One." 



"You didn't make all this yer butter ofif'n 

 one cow ?" 



"Yes, sir, we have only one cow." 



" How much milk did ye have? "he asked, 

 tipping the barrel churn. 



" I churn the cream; this is the milk, I said," 

 pointing to a jar. " How much honey did you 

 want?" 



"Hey!" He looked at me, then continued: 

 "Oh ! you must be mistaken; you couldn't get 

 that much butter off'n one cow." 



" I will get your honey," I ventured to say. 



After more quizzing he followed me out. 



"That jar is clean," he protested, when I 

 started to wash it. "Yes," he continued, "of 

 course it's clean; it only had sweet milk in it." 



" But wouldn't it spoil the honey ? " 



" Wall, may be so; yes, wash it. Now fill it 

 full," he said. 



"It will hold fifty cents' worth." 



" I don't care; I want it full." 



After a long time I had the pleasure of seeing 

 him get into his buggy. It was after twelve 

 o'clock. The baby's fever was high, but I hur- 

 ried as fast as I could. Company came in di- 

 rectly after dinner. As they were leaving I 

 fancied I could get something done. I was 

 hardly at my work when I heard a knock. 

 Two well-dressed ladies this time. 



"Will you come in?" I asked, as thoy did 

 not state what they wished. I noticed they 

 had a small five-pound lard-bucket. They en- 

 tered the parlor. 



" We came to see about buying some honey; 

 have you nice honey ? " 



" Yes, we have extracted honey." 



My fancy took up the theme. Now I was go- 

 ing to sell, oh! perhaps a great quantity." 



I tried to look as sweet as honey, as I was so 

 very glad I was about to sell some. I would 

 show my better half that it wasn't "useless" 

 to put up a sign. 



" Let us see some of your honey," one woman 

 said. 



I hastened out and brought back a sample. 

 They tasted, and bragged and commented. Oh, 

 I was so delighted ! I was thinking what I 

 would tell my husband. They tasted again, 

 then fell to discussing how much they would 

 take. 



"You can get some this time, Lura, and I 

 will get some next time." 



"Well, all right," Lura answered. 



" We will take ten cents' worth. I brought a 

 bucket." 



My feathers fell. When I came back with 

 the honey they were looking at the photo- 

 graphs, and every thing in that room was ex- 

 amined. Supper-time was at hand. Why didn't 

 they go? I found they were in no hurry. I 

 felt desperate. 



"You will have to excuse me; my baby is 

 sick, and I have my work to do," I said, rising 

 from my chair in what I intended for a very 

 suggestive manner. 



"Certainly," they both said. 



