St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1879-02-08
4 Perfect Cure.

stating that the sung OF II bee
was u sure cure for rheumatism, and
citing several remarkable Instances
in which people had been perfectly cured
by this abrupt remedy. Mr.. MlddeI1b
did not stop to reflect that Il paper with
such a name as that would be very apt
to say anything; he only thought Of the
rheumatic twinges that grapp!cd his
knees once in a while, and made life a
burden to him.
He read the article several times, and
Wondered over it. He understood that
the singing must be done scientifically
and thoroughly. The bee, us he under
stood the article. was to be glippcd by
the ears and set doWnu upon thcrehunatic
Joint, and held there until it stuns Itself
stingleSs. He had some miSSivinGS about
the matter. He knew it would Hnlt.
lie hardly thought it could hurt any
worse than the rheumatism, and it had
been 50 many years since he was stur&
by bee, that he had almost forgotten
what it felt like. lie had, however,
general feeling that it would hurt some.
But desperate diseases require desperate
remedies, and Mr.. Middlcrib was will
ing to undergo any amount OF suffering
if it would cure his rheumatism.
He contracted with Master MitlHlcTib
for a limited supply Of bees, cumming
and buZzing about in the summer air, as
Mr.. Middlerib did not know how to get
| them. He felt however, that he could
safely depend upon the instincts and
methods Of boyhood. He knew that il
| there was any way in heaven Or earth
| whereby the shyest bee that ever lifted a
| two hundred pound man CIT the clover
could he induced to enter wide mouth
ed glass bottle, his son knew that way.
| For the small sum of one dime Master
MiddleIlb agreed to procure several, to-
wit six bees, sex anu age not specified;
but, as Mr.. Middlcrih was left in unCcT
tainty as to the race, it was made obi
gatory upon the contractor to have three
Of them honey and three humble, or in
the generally accepted ycrnacular, bum
! bic bees. Mi. NJ. did not tell his son what
| he wanted those bees for, and the hoy
went Off on his mission with his head so
full Of astonishmcnt that it fairly WhirI
ed. Evening brings all home, and the
Master Middlelib with short, wide
mouthed bottle com fortably populated
with hot, i'll -natured bees, and Mr.. Mid
dlerib with Il dime. The dime and the
hottie changed hands. Mr.. Middlerih
put the bottle i'll his coat pocket and
went into the house, cycling everybody
he met very suspiciously, as though he
had made up his mind to sting to death
the first person who said "bee to him.
He contided his guilty secret to none Of
his family. He hid his bees in his bed
room and, as he looked at them just before
putting them away he half wished the
experiment was safely over. He wished
The imprisoned bees did not look SO hot
merged the bottle in a basin OF water,
| and LOT fayy drc1c thn hnDtHH
inmates to cool them off.
At the tea table he had great fright.
Miss Middlerib, in the artlcss simplicity
OF her romantic nature, said:
" smell bees. How the odor brings
But her father glared at her, and said,
with superhuous harshness and excrable
agrammer:
Hush up You don't smell moth,
ing
Whereupon Mrs. Middlerih asked him
if he had eaten anything that disagreed
with him, and Miss Middlerib said:
"Why, pa ?" and Master Middlerib
smiled as he wondered.
Bedtime at last, and the night was
warm and sultry. Under various false
pretenses, Mr.. MiddIerib strolled about
| the house until everybody else was In
bed, and then he sought his room. He
turned the night-Iamp down until its
feeble ray shOne dimly as death-li light.
Mr.. Middlerib disrobed sloWl livery
slowly. When at last he was ready to
go lum bering into his peaceful couch, he
heaved a profound Sigh, so full of APP
nrehension and grief that Mrs. Middle
rib, who was awakened by it, said it it
gave him so much pain to come to bed;
perhaps he had better sit up all night.
Mr.. Middlerib checked another sigh, but
said nothing, and crept into bed, After
lying stili a few moments he REACHED out
and got his bottle Of bees.
1t was not an easy thing to do to pick
one bee out of the bottIcful with his
fingers, and not get into trouble. The
first bee that Mr.. Middlerib got was II
little brown honey-bee that wouldn't
weigh half an ounce if you picked him
up by the ears, but il lifted by the
hind legs, would weigh as E,uch as the
last end Of q bay mule, Mr.. Middlerib
! could not repress groan.
Whats the matter with you 2"
sleepily asked his wife.
1t was very hard for Mr.. Middlerib 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-abo1lt Sc all
OVER and 1877 on the end of his thumb.
ne reversed lUo utc, anu pltseCu tilS
Warlike terminus Of itfrmly against his
rheumatic knee.
It didn't hurt so badly as lie thought
it would.
1t didn't hurt at all.
Then Mr.. Middlerib remembered that
when the honeybee stahs q human toe,
it genAra,u.,-- ic.~As it's harDoon in the
wound, and the invalid knew that the
only thing this bee had to sting with
was dong its work at the end Of his
thumb.
He reached his arm out from under
the sheet, and dropped his disabled atom
OF rheumatism Imminent on the carpet.
Then, after a second of blank wonder,
he began to feel around for the bottle,
and wish he knew what he did with it.
In the meantime strange things had
been going on. When he caught hold of
the first bee, Mr.. Middlerib, for reasons,
drew it out in such haste that for the
time he forgot all about the bottle and
its remedial contents, aud left it lying
uncorked in the bed, between himself
and his innocent wife. In the darkness
there had been aquiet but general emil
grafton from that bottle. The bees,
their wings clogged with the water Mr..
Middlerib had poured upon them to
cool and tranquilize them, were crawl
ing aimlessly about over the sheet.
While Mr.. Middlerid was feeling around
for it, his ears were suddenly thrilled,
scream from his wife.
Murder y She screamed :" murder!
| Oh help me ! Help help ~
Mr.. Middlerib sat bolt upright in bed.
His hair stood on end. The night was
| warm. but he tllrnpd TO ice in a minnie