claimed, was fully one thousand years 

 old." 



"There are very few members of 

 your family in our beautiful country, 

 Linden Tree, or perhaps I should say 

 that I've not seen many." 



"You are right; we are by no means 

 as numerous as the oak, conifer or 

 elm, or the much loved maple, but in 

 that part of Germany formerly called 

 Prussia, and in certain parts of Rus- 

 sia, there exist great forests of us, 

 and the wild bees swarm and hive in 

 our hollow trunks. Do you know that 

 the honey made from our blossoms is 

 very valuable, and will bring three or 

 four times the price of other honey ? Do 

 you know also that bees when gather- 

 ing honey will visit only one kind of 

 a flower at a time?" 



"No," said Mabel in surprise, 'T 

 never noticed that." 



"Well, watch the bees the next time 

 you have an opportunity; there is 

 much to be learnt from these indus- 

 trious creatures. As I was saying, the 

 honey made from our blossoms is 

 much sought after, so the villagers 

 who live near these forests collect the 

 honey as soon as our blossoms are 

 done, before the bees seek other flow- 

 ers. This honey is white in appear- 

 ance, and dishonest people often seek 

 to imitate it by exposing ordinary 

 honey to frost, with the view of whit- 

 ening it. 



"Our fruit when ripe is small, round 

 and white, much resembling peas; a 

 great physician once thought to utilize 

 these nuts by grinding them, which 

 made a kind of chocolate, but as it 

 would not keep, the project had to be 

 abandoned, and our pretty nuts were 

 left to fly away and seed themselves. 

 Although our fruit and our wood are 

 of so little commercial value we are 

 amply repaid in other ways." 



"I suppose you refer to your honey, 

 Linden Tree?"' 



"No, not altogether," said the Tree 

 musingly, and its leaves made a mus- 

 ical murmur, like some soft, sweet lul- 

 laby, "although it is considered the 

 most delicious of all honey. Our blos- 

 soms when gathered and steeped in 

 boiling water, make a tea greatly re- 



sembling in taste that of licorice, and 

 it is a very soothing drink for those 

 afllicted with a cough." 



The sweet, low murmur ceased and 

 Mabel heard nothing but the con- 

 tinual hum of the bees and noticed the 

 great number of birds, darting hither 

 and thither. 



'T suppose," she thought, "those 

 nectar-laden blossoms attract insects, 

 too, and they in turn attract birds. 

 What's that?" she sat erect, as she 

 noticed a bird whose exhausted pin- 

 ions seemed scarcely able to carry it 

 and who uttered a shrill note, as if in 

 distress. Closer and closer it came, 

 and, looking beyond it, Mabel dis- 

 covered the large body of a hawk. 

 Quickly she started to her feet and 

 with keen anxiety in her face, she saw 

 the tiny songster seek the refuge of 

 the Linden Tree. Presto! the whole 

 army of birds had disappeared. The 

 hawk circled near, then spreading its 

 strong wings sailed upward into the 

 blue arch, until it looked like a tiny 

 black speck. 



"Oh, I am so glad the poor little 

 bird is safe! How good of you. Lin- 

 den Tree, to protect it! I must say, 

 though, that I am surprised the hawk 

 gave up its prey so readily; I wonder 

 it did not dart into your branches." 



The branches bent and awayed in 

 the wind, and an almost triumphant 

 note seemed in the words which float- 

 ed to Mabel's ears. 



"It knew better than that ; the Lin- 

 den is a City of Refuge among trees. 

 You no doubt have heard of the cities 

 of refuge of olden times, a certain 

 number of these were established, and 

 when a person sought shelter within 

 their sacred walls, the city refused to 

 give him up; then, too, in later times 

 when the persecuted sought refuge in 

 churches, they were safe from harm." 



"Yes, indeed, I remember that, for 

 just last evening I as reading that 

 portion of Victor Hugo's Hunchback 

 of Notre Dame where Quasimodo 

 seized the slender, girlish form of Es- 

 meralda and fleeing with her into the 

 holy precincts of the cathedral, flung 

 back the cry 'Sanctuary, Sanctuary,' 

 and thus defied the mob of Paris. But, 



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