The Osceola times., 1883-09-29

this was mistake. In twinkle,
he had a long, black pair of mandi-
bles round the lieutenant's neck, and
in a second, he had him head under,
and the place he kept his railroad
accident, pointing skyward. "Let
me introduce you to my hornet-eat-
err" said Uncle Peter, politely, quick
ly LAYING his big, yellow -colored
end alongside of the hornet, =" 1t ainnt
quite equal to railroad accident,
but such as it is, freely | give unto
you," And then he let his pile
driver, or rip-saw loose. The lieu
tenants soldier suit had forty holes
in it, and when Uncle Peter let him
go, he dropped on the ground, and
sat painfully under the shade of a
cookie burr, and seemed to breathe
hard. He looked like he had been
drunk for month. He was so sore,
it hurt him to sit down, and he tried
to stand on his head. The society
for the prevention of cruelty to hor-
nets investigated the matter, and ex-
onerated uncle Peter from all cen
sure, and refused to prosecute. Af-
terwards, the lieutenant sent word
to him, that he was willing to let
the affair drop if he was. Uncle
Peter was born bumble-bee, has
been one all his life, is contented
with his place in nature, and would
rather lead quiet life among bios
SONS and flowers, than be thieving
crow, a carbon eating buzzard, or a
bandit eagle. You may walk among
the clover at any hour of the day,
during his business season, and find
the Bumble-bee faithfully at work.
If you jostle him off his blossom, he
will not get mad, but when you have
passed, he will tackle his blossom,
and 90 to work again Go out in
the field at sun-down, and you will
see that every worker has knocked
off and gone home. His home is
Just the kind which might be expect
ed, unpretending, but combining
safety, comfort and plenty. 1t is
hole in the ground, hoored with
leaves, lined with wax and honey,
and entered by winding passage.
There might be forty cyclones year,
and bumble-be bee would not be afraid
to sleep in the upper part OF his
house. 1t is an interesting fact,
worthy of mention, that all the te-
male Bumble-bees live together in
perfect peace and harmony. The
Masonic fraternity teaches that per-
feet peace and harmony can only be
found in the celestial lodge above;
but the Bumble-b bees, without know
ing anything about masonry, have
planted thousands of such lodges
afoot under ground. 1t is fact that
Bumble-bee will only fight for life,
liberty and property. IF you pick
him up, he will in a second, issue the
Bumble-bee writ of habeas corpus,
and confident of the illegality of his
arrest, will let you be his judge;
and you'll let him 60 with tears in
your eyes. A child can play in
clover patch, full of Bumble-bees,
all day, and their principle is, "you
let me alone, and I'll let you alone"
and they never begin the trouble.
True, if a child even without mean
ing any harm, " thus happen" to sit
down on one, as did lately, little
girl of our acquaintance; the Bum
ble-bee, not being able to calculate
Just how much MASKING he can stand,
will convert his writ of hobeas corpus
into a medium for calling attention
to his distressing situation; and the
party most deeply concerned, though
but child in years, will actively re-
spond with a yell of approval. We
never saw a Bumble-bee after such
an occurrence who didn't look dis
tressed and apologetic; which shows
there was no malice in what he did,
but he simply thought it more just
for the child to be moved, than for
him to be mashed.
To conclude; a minute investiga-
tion of the habits, disposition, man
ners and customs of the Bumble-bee,
as such, has proved to the writer,
that his life is practical example of
a creature which is actually honest,
peaceable, Industrious and contented
with his lot, and endowed with am
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