The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1875-08-27
NUMBER 81.
SILAS HITTING BEES.
HOW HE EXPECTED TO DO 1T, AND HOW HE
DIDN'T

The old gentleman's name is Silas. and
that of his eldest sou is George his wife,s
name is Matilda, and his three prett,-
daughters are named Helen, Alice and Su-
sic, there is a little Silas, too, and an older
boy whose name is too queer to mention.
The bees had alil,hted in a great bunch.
as large rs a half -bushel measure. on the
! limb OF a peach-tree in the yard. You all
know how it is done. A table is placed
under the overhanging limb, spread with
clean, white cloth, and the hive placed
thereon.
hen one of the boys, one that is good
for nothing else, is sent into the tree with
saw to sever the limb the limb comes
down Slowly and easily, and the old Gent
below, dressed in a great coat. buckslip
gloves, cowhide boots, and a bed ouil, tied
around his neck and face. slyly manipulates
twIg from the tree, and in two minutes
has safely ccaxed every bee to enter The
hlve during all of which time Matilda aud
Helen and Alice and Susie pound the bot
toms out of just four tin pans. little Si,as
does his prettiest yelling, while the bow
with the queer Eame is Just cid enough to
and sharp enough to slip behind the bo,,se
and wait Tor the thing to come to point.
That is the way it ought to have gone off.
but that isn't the way it did Silas, the
elder, was very comfortably bundled M for
so warm day, and he had his 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
peach 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 eau cut that small
limb off easy enough
George was just home from a six mo,tbs,
term at school, and he felt a great tender.
ness Tor his father, and would have gone
through patch of thistles barefoot tn
please the old gent, and yet he had a mar.
ticular dread for the s'business end, of
pee, and particularly of such a crowd of
them. But he obeyed, and began to fiddle
away cautiously upon the particular limb.
| One little bunch of bees dropped off. and
were Gagged another and another small
bunch dropped, and the prospect seemed
good, when suddenly an old shouey maker
who had been in the business before. SCARED
upward. George shut up one eve quick.
gave one terrific surge on the old rusty saw.
got out OF that tree at one jump, and his
anxious mother caught one glimpse of him
as he flew around the corner of the harm
twenty yards away
But poor old Silas +! The bees came
| down, and he thought the bunch was as hio
as haystack now. They did not 60 into
the hive, but they went through his over
coat and bed quilts as if these had been only
mosquito bars, and they climbed I'D the
inside of his pants legs and the old gent
| danced as he had never danced before. and
he slapped his legs, as he never allowed apv
one else to slap them, a d his voice tow
| cred high above the clatter of the tin mans
and the shiieks of little Silas as he yelled.
Throw water on me throw water on
me, wet me down -
lie rolled three or four times over in the
grass, and sprang up shouting. ..Slap me
slap me ! Can't you slap me ?'' in the
midst of which little Silas crept up behind
his lnfuriated pa and dealt him a lively one
with shingle; but poor little Silas landed
the next second against the milk house. for
! his pa took him and his shingle for a thous-
and bees, and gently brushed them off.
Q, the agony of that three minutes, iig.
He appealed to his wife.
Matilda, for heavens sake. bring me
| another pair of breeches, won't YOU ?''
Bu: these things don't last always. any
more than any other happiness, and after
few minutes the old gent came limpinp
out OF the cellar with the 5reeoiies ON that
Matilda brought him, feeling much easier
out certainly mrch fatiguod, just as George
got back from The barn and the boy with
the queer name slipped around the corner
OF the house. Both boys were very anxious
to know how matters stood, and asked:
''Did you git 'em bived. pap
But the old man was too mad to answer
or even look at his boys. He turned to
| little Silas and said
Little one, you meant all right, and I'm
sorry cufted you so /; next time don't slap
so hard.''
Then to his wife, matilda. TO Won owe
: everything. Accept my heartfelt graft
tude. Wen take no more stock in bees
have made up my mind, and it's settled.
May our quiet, peaceful farm home never
be stirred mp again. Seems to me | never
had so much of life crowded into few
short minutes before. Run after the cows
now, boys; be off, for ii is almost dark
He was milking the COW, $50 - he said.
gently, when she kicked the first time. On