The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1881-01-26
MULE VERSUS BEES.
A Terrific Encounter Graphically De-
scribed.

CAA ~ DSAos
A Terrific Encounter Graphically De
soribed.
I was visiting q gentleman who lived
in the vicinity of Los Angeles. The
morning was beautiful. The plash o
little cascades about the grounds, thu
buzz of bees, and the gentle moving g
the foliage of the pepper trees in tn:
scarcely p%erceptible ocean breeze made
up q picture which l thought vas com.
plete. 1t was not. A mule wandered
on the scene. The scene, I thought
could have got along without him. He
took a different view. OF course mules
were not allowed on the grounds. That
is whist be knew. That was his reason
for being there. ] recognized him. Had
met him. His lower lip hung down.
He looked disgusted. 1t seemed be
didn't like being a mule.
A day or two before, while I was try.
insto pick up q little child who had got
too near this mules heels, be kicked me
two or three times before I could tell
from which way | was bit. might have
avoided some Of the kicking, but, in my
confusion, l began to kick at the mule.
I didn't kick with hirn long. He out
numbered me. He browsed along on the
choice shrubbery. I forgot the beauty
of the morning. Remembered a black
and blue mark on my leg. 1t looked like
the print of a mules hoof. There was
another on my right hip. Where nv
s%uspenders crossed were two more, as I
have been informed. They were side by
side-twin blue spots, and seemed to be
about the same age. l thought of re-
venge. I didn't want to kick with him
any more. No. But thought if had him
tied down good and fast, so he could not
move his heels, how like sweet incense
it would be to first saw his ears and
tail smooth off, then put out his eyes
with a red hot poker, then skin him
alive, then run him through t~hreshing
machine.
While I was thus thinking, and get-
ting madden and madden, the mule,
which had wandered up close to q bee
hive, got stung. His eyes lighted up,
as if that was Just what he was looking
for. He turned on that beehive and
took aim. He fired. In ten seconds
the only piece of beehive / could see
Eas about the size q mar feels when he
has told a joke that falls on the COM
pany like a piece of sad Jews. This
piece was in the air. 1t was being
kicked mt. The bees swarmed. They
swarmed a good deal. They lit on the
mule earnestly. After he had kicked
the last piece of beehive 80 high that
he .couIn rot reach il any more, he
stopped Tor an Instant. he seemed try
ing to Al certain whether the 10000 bees
which ere stinging him meant 1t. They
did. TIE mule turned looser / never
saw any thing to equal It. He was en-
veloped in q dense fog OF earnestness and
bees, and filled with enthusiasm and
stings. The more he kicked, the higher
he arose from the ground. l may have
been mistaken, for l was somewhat ex-
cited and very much delighted. but the
mule seemed to rise rs high as the tops
of the pepper trees. The pepper trees
were twenty feet high. He would open
and shut himself like a frog swimming.
Sometimes. when he was in mid-air, he
would look like he was flying, and I
would think for a moment he was about
to become an angel. Only for q moment.
There are probably no mule angels.
When he had got up to the tops OF the
pepper trees, l was called to breakfast.
l told them l didn't want any breakfast.
The mule continued to be busy.
When a mule kicks himself clear Of the
earth, bis heels seldom reach higher
than his back; that is, a mules fore
legs can reach forward, and his hind
legs backward, until the mule becomes
Strengthened out into a line of mule
parallel with the earth, and fifteen or
twenty feet therefrom. This mules
hind legs, however, were not only
raised into q line with his back, butthey
would come ver until the bottom OF
the hooIs almost touched his ears.
The mule proceeded as if he desired
to hurry through. / had no idea how
many bees a hive would hold until [ saw
that beehive emptied on that mule.
They covered him so completely that l
could not see any OF Linn but the glare
Of his eyes. I could see, from the ex-
preston of his eyes, that he didn't like
the wa7 things were going. -.
The mule still went on in an absorbed
kind Of a way.
Not only was every tree of the dis
turbed hive en- duty, but I think the
news had been conveyed to neighboring
hives that war had been declared: l
could see bets fitting to and fro. The
mule was covered so deep with bees
that he looked like an exaggerated mule.
The hum of the bees, and their moving
on each other, combined into a seething
hiss. A sweet calm aud gentle peaceful.
ness pervaded me. When he had kicked
for an hour he began to fall short of the
tops of the pepper trees. He was set
thing down closer to the earth. Numbers
were telling on him. He looked dis
tressed. He had always been used to
kicking against something, but found
now that he was striking the air. 1t
was very exhausting.
He finally got so that be did not rise
clear oil the ground, but continued to
kick with both feet for half an hour,
next with first one foot and then the
other for another haitian hour, then with
his right loot only every few minutes,
the intervals growing longer and longer,
Until he finally was still. His head
dropped, his lip hung lower and lower.
The bees gtung on. He looked as it he
thought that a mean. sneaking adVan-
tage bad been taken of him.
I retired from the scene. Early the
next morning I returned. The sun came
slowly up from behind the eastern hills.
The light foliage of the pepper trees
trembled with his morning caress. His
golden kiss fell upon the opening roses.
A bee could be seen flying hither, an
other thiJher. The mule lay near the
scene of yesterdays struggle. Peace
had come to him. He was dead. Too
much kicking against nothing.-Lock
Melone, in January Californian.
D.frolnnm fnr Horhnr nQfQuso-