The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1878-11-02

| Chungcd hands. MIR NIldlcrh lLt the bolUr
! in his coat pocket amt went u'u the hIu~r,
.cying everybody he met very YaioGf'y ns
though he had made up his ulu' ip ting 'n
death the first person lh.' .d "Icc o. him.
He cOntdcd his guill, -rcIc, lu none ~ hr
family. He hid his bee, IN his bedroom. and
rs he looked at them jus, uciu,r putting them
away he half wished the experiment was sale.
! ~ over. He wished The imprisoned hoe- didn't
| look so hot and cross with exquisite care he
submerged the bottle In 50 basin Of water, and
Let % few drop, IN On the heated inmates To
cool them oil,
Al the tca.tablc he had great fright Mis-,
Middlcrib, in the artc-~ simplicity of her ro-
mantle nature said:
II smell bees How the odor brings up
But her father glarcd at her, and said, with
supcriluous halshness and cNccrablc grunmcr;
FLUSH up. You don't know nothing
! Whcrcupon Mrs, MiddlrrIb asked L.m n he
had eaten anything that had iii agreed with
him, and Miss Middlcrb said;
why, pa'' and Master Middlcrib smiled
and wondered
Bedtime at last, and the night VAS warm
and sultry. Under various false prcieD-c,, MI
Middlcrb strolcd about the house until every
body else was IN bed, and then he sought bis
room. He turned the nightlamp down until
its feeble rays shown dimly IL, II dcathligAl
| lIL lINNlltI ~ ilNlpb'b Sl'hlS -E'iN N''N-
Ily. When at last he was ready TO 20 sUmber-
my into his peaceful couch he hcavei n pro
found sigh, 20 full of appreciation and grief
that Mrs. Middlcrb, who was awakened lay II,
said il it rave him SO much pain To come TO
| bed, perhaps he had better sit up all night
Mr. Middlcrib checked another sigh, but aid
nothing and cropt into bed After lying still
Il few moments he reached out and got his bot
tie Of bees
1t was an easy thing to do, to pick one bee
out of Il bottle with his fingers and not get
into trouble Mr. Mddleub first got little
brown honey. bee that wouldn't weigh half an
ounce ii you picked HIM up by the ears, but if
you lifted him up by the hind lee, n Mr.. Mid
dlerib did would weigh rs much H. the last
end of bay mule. Mr. MiddIcrih could not
reprcss groan,
Whats the matter with YOU" sleepily ask
ed his wife.
1t WAS very hard for Nh Middlcrib to say he
only felt hot but he did it, He didn't have
to lie about it. either, He did feel very hot,
indeed. About cighiy.>iN all over, and one
| hundred and nincty>cycn on the end oi his
thumb He reversed the pee and pressed the
warlke terminus of It firmly against his rheu
matte knee
1t didn't hurt 50 badly IL, he thought it
would
! II didn't hurt at all.
| Then Mr. MIddcrib remembered tina, when
| the honcy-bcc stabs human foe, it generally
| leave, It's harpoon in the wound, and tine iuya-
/ lid knew then that the only thing this bee had
| to sting with was doing it, work in the end of
his thumb.
| He reached his arm out from under the
, sheet, and dropped this disabled atom of rhcu-
imatsm luimcnJ on the carpet Then after Il
second Of blank wonder, lc began To feel
around ior the bottle, and wished ne knew
| what lac did with IT,
| In the meantime strange things had been
going on. When he caught hold of the first
bee, Mr., Mddlorib, for reasons, drew it out in
such haste that. for the time, he forgot all
about the bottle and its remedial contents and
left ii LYING uncCrkcd in the bed, between HIM
self and his innocent wife In the darknc>,
there had been a quiet buJ general emigration
from the bottle The bees, lhcu wings CioLg-
ed with the water Mr. M.daiagib bad poured
them to cool and ranquIliZc them, were crawl
/ ing aimlc>sly about over the sheet While
/ Mr.. Middlcrib was feeling about for the bottle
ms Uurs were suddenly thrilled aAC ills heart
frozen by wild, piercing scream from hI,
wife
Murder she screamed, murder Oh
help me! Help. help
Mr. Mlddlcrlb sat bolt upright in the bed
] lA
warm, but he turned to ice in minute
where III thunder" he said, with pailid
lips, as he felt all over the bed in frenZcd
haste-'"whcre in thunder are them internal
bees:'
And large humble" with sting rs pitt
less As the finger Of scorn, just then climbed
up the inside Of Mr. Middlcrb~ ui-Mt>hirt
until it got squarcly between his shoulders
and then felt in for his marrow, and said
calmly:
Here is one of them"
And Mrs Middlerib felt ashamed Of her fee
hlc screams when Mr. MddIcrib threw up
both arms, and, with a howl that made the
windows rattle, rOaIed:
Take him off, Oh, land Of Scott, somebody
take him OFF,
And, when a little hOney-bcc began tickling
the sole of Mrs NIddleub's foot, She shrleked
that the house was bcwitChcd and immediate
IS went into spasmS
The household WAS aroused by this time.
Miss NidderIb and Master Middcrib. and the
servants were pouring into the room, adding
to the general confusion By bowling at ran
dom and asked Irrelevant questions, while
they gazed at the figure of man, IA little on
in years arrayed in long nj ghtShirt paving
fiercely al the unattainablc spot in the middle
of his back while he danced an unnatural
"'ilAi "lNhE'i-I'Dhl'- Jl l4lt t'lIi, 4tllg
light OF "A nightamp. And while he danced
and howlcd and while they gazcd and shout
ed, nayy-bue wasp that Master Middlerb
had put IN the bottle for good measure and
variety, and to keep the menageric stirred up,
had dried his legs and wings with corner of
the sheet, and, after a preliminary circle or
two around the bed to get up his motion and
settle down to "a working giant, he fired himself
across the room, and to his dying day Mr..
MidGIcrib will always believe that one the ser
wants mistook him for "a burglar and shot him.
Not one, not even Mr.. Middlcrb himself,
could doubt that he Was at least for Il time,
most thoroughly cured Of the rheumatism.
His own boy could not have carried himself
more lightly, or with greater agility But the
cure was not permanent and Mr. Middlerib
does not like to talk about it-B1j Burdette,
IN he Ne,c Iorb Wtskly