Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-08-25
SilaS Hiving Bees.
HOW lie EXPECTED TO DO IT AND HOW HF
DIDN'T.

SlldS HlNlnS DetSs
HOW lie EXPECTED TO DO IT AND HOW HE
DIDN'T.
The old gentleman's name is Silas. and
that of his eldest son is George; his wife's
name is Matilda. and his three pretty
daughters are named Helen. Alice and
Susie; there is 4 little Silas, too, and an
older boy whose name is too queer to
mention.
The bees had alightcd in Il great bunch,
As large as Il half-buShel measure, on the
limb of L peachtree in the yard. You all
know how it is done A table is placed
under the overhanging limb. spread with
Il clean white cloth. and the hive placed
thereon.
Then one Of the boys. one that is good
for nothing else. is sent into the tree with
Il saw to sever the limb; the limb comes
down slowly and easily. and the old gent
below, dressed in i great coat. buckskln
gloves. cowhidc boots, and a bed-quilt tied
around his neck and face. slyly manipu-
lates twig from the tree. and in two
minutes has safely coaxed every bee to
enter the hive. during all of which time
Matilda and Helen and Alice and Susie
pound the bottoms out of just four tin pans,
little Sias does his prettiest yelling. while
tho boy with the queer name Is just old
enough and sharp enough to slip behind
the house and wait for the thing to come
to a point. That is the way it ought to
have gone off; but that isn't the way it
did. Silas. the elder. was very comforta-
bly, bundled up Cor SO warm 4 day. and he
had bis suit well arranged. only he forgot
to tie strings around the bottoms of his
pants legs.
The bees had settled on the limb Of a
pe,ch-tree, and Silas, when his table and
white cloth and hive were all ready. com
manded:
Now. George, grab that old rusty saw
and climb; guess you IN cut that small
limb off easy enough"
George was just home from 4 six
months term at school, and he felt :: great
tenderness for his father and would have
gone through patch of thistles barefoot
10 please the old gent, and yet he had :
particular dread for the " business end o
4 bee, and particularly of such / crowd o
them. But he obeved. and began to fiddle
away cautiously upon the particular limb
One little bunch of bees dropped and wer'
Gagged; another and another small buncf
dropped, and the prospect seemed good
when suddenly au old hOney-maher. wht
had been in the business before, scared up
ward. George shut up one eye quick
| gave one terrible surge on the old rust,
: saw, cot out of the tree 1T one jump. ant
his anxious mother caught one glimpse o
him as he flew around the corner of tn
: barn twenty rods away.
! But poor old Silts. The bees cam
down. and be thought the bunch was a
l bic as a havstack now. They did not g
l into the hive, but they went through hi
1 ovcrcoat and bcd-quilt rs if these had bee
only mosquito-bar>, ana they climbed u
the inside of his pants legs. and the ol
4 gent danced n he had never danced bt
! fore; and he slapped his legs, rs he neve
a allowed any one else to slap them, an
: his voice lowered high above the clattt
e of tin pans and the shriehs of little Slla
as he yelled:
j Throw water on me. throw water Q
It me, soak me. wet Inc down"
e He rolled three or four times over
the GRASS, and sprang up, shouting, " Sla
me, slap me, Can't You slap me?' in Il
midst of which little Silas crept up behir
= his infuriatcd pa and dealt him Il live
d one with a shingle; but poor little Sill;
II landed the next second against the mill
s house. for his pa took him and his shlng
% for thousand bees, and gently brush'
I them off.
e O, the agony Of that three minu es' j;
Is He appealed to his wife:
n Matilda, for heavens sake, bring n
,e another pair of breechcs. won't YOU?
d But these things don't last always. ~
:: more than any other happiness. and aft
lg 4 few minutes the old gent came limpil
rs ont of the cellar with the breecheS on tn
TX Matilda brought him. feeling much easit
d. but certainly much fatigued. just rs Geor
ip cot back from the barn and the boy Wi
ne the queer name slipped around the corn
I'd of the house. Both boys were very anxlo
in to know how matters stood. and asked
lg Did you Git EN- hived, pa?"
e. But the old man was too mad to ansW
to or even look ut his boys. lie turned
ty little Silas and said:
III Little one. You meant all right, a
,l I'm sorry / cutfcd You 50; next time do
ar slap so hard"
he Then to his wife. Matilda. to you o
rs everything. Accept my heartfelt gratitu
Well take no more stock in bees. In
made up nv mind. and its settled. NJ
our quiet. peace full farm home never be
to stirred up again. Seems to me ne'
, , had so much of life crowded into +
no short minutes before. Run after the COY
nd now. bows; be of, for it is almost dark.
ce Toledo B'dde.