The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-22
CUTTING A BEE TREE.
Graphic Description Of An Old
Time Virginia Sport.

1nR-EaB6 hanOOlpn'S hlQ6 on 10
wena With a Honey Bucket.
Page Randolph, when student, often
| visited at the ''Briars," a charming coun-
try seat beneath the shadow Of the Blue
Ridge, a few hours drive from the his
toric city of Winchester Along the
| driveway, at the front of the residence,
| is row of tall cedars, and at the rear is
a grove of towering oak, which stand as
! giant seDtinels guarding the study, where
was penned Surrey of Eagles Nest"
| Lord Fairfax or Master of Greenway
Court, " and ',Hilt to Hit" for this was
the home of Pages uncle, John Esten
| Cooke.
! Young Randolph, during the long sum
mer days delighted 10 goout into bower,
| about which had grown the wood bine and
running rose, ard there, with his bright
| eyed cousin, Evelyn, to read the "Stories
of the Old Dominion. AS he read of the
exploits of the Knights of the Golden
| Horseshoe, he seemed to forget even the
angel at his side for he was thinking of
! the excitement that might be found in
the wild and weird woodlands that
bounded his eastern horizon.
That afternoon Cyrus, the old family
servant Of the Cookies, had ridden over
| to Wildwood, picturesque village q few
! miles distant, in order to get the daily
mail. On his return he handed Page a
letter.
he HAD SCHEME.
He broke the seal, and found that it
was from his friend Tom Nelson, who
lived on the east bank of the Shenandoah,
seven miles north of Berry's Ferry, as it
is now called, where young George
Washington had crossed while on his
way to Greenway court to make ar
rangements with Lord Fairfax about sur
veying the latters lands in Northern
Virginia. The gist of Toms epistle was
| that his friend should come at once, as he
had a scheme on hand which he knew any
lad with Randolph blood coursing in his
veins would enjoy.
He at once ordered the stable boy to-
bring his heet-footed Rowena from the
pasture. While she was being rubbed
| down and saddled, Page donned his rid
/ ing suit, swung his hunting horn across
his shoulder and blew a long blast for
| his hounds, and in short time was
! heading for the river.
The sun still hung above the western
| hills when Rowena'S fetlockS were wet
! by the waters of the silvery Shenandoah
| On he rode up the right bank of the
stream, which was lined with tall reeds,
! bending willows and aged sycamores,
/ and wondered ever and aron what the
| scheme was that Nelson now had on hand.
| Twilight had come, and as he drew near
| to Bowling Green" he heard Tom with
| his violin playing Aud Lang Syne,n
while the whippoorwill and great owl
were making the way behind him sound
| as ghostly as appears dissecting hall by
the pale light of the moon.
HAD BEE TREE.
IT am delighted, Randolph" said Nell
! no qnp6 his frianASc
that you have come. l heard you say
| last session at the Varsity that you had
a great desire to help to take a bee tree
| / have found one, and tomorrow morning
by starlight we will call on the busy little
animal of which both Virgil and Homer
| delight to speak Walk in. The bell has
| Just runR Tor tea, and | know you feel like
refreshing the inner man after your long
| riden --~-r
AS Page stepped into the long dining
| hall the family was awaiting his coming
MIR. and Mrs. Nelson, the synonym of hos
pitality. genialness and culture, were the
| first to welcome him. There stood Toms
sisters, May and Louise, who during the
past two sessions had been in Germany
and France studying music and art, but
they recognized him with no cool, Paris
| ian bow or a Fifth avenue touch of
| knuckle and thumb, but with warm
grasp of the hand and few fifty chosen
words seemed to say, Stay just as long as
you can, and go only when you must"
Hugh and Eastman, the brothers of Tom,
gave him whole -souled reception, such
as toys always know how to extend to
each other
Tea being over, all retired to the draw
ing room, where with music from the
piano-forte, violin and mandolin the even
ing passed away even las comes and goes
apleasant thought"
OFF FOR THE TREE.
They retired early, and the next morn
| ing at 3 o'clock were aroused by the
whirring of their alarm clock They
| went down, and old Uncle Reuben was
already up and had their horses saddled
! They mounted and were of for the bee
tsee. Uncle Reuben. with an AK on his
shoulder, took a nigh cut threw de
fields, " and when the young men had
tied their horses at the foot of the noun
tain and reached the oak, about which
the buzz OF bees could now be heard
chips were rapidly flying from the trunk
of the tree Ten thousand and one tapers
of night, which had burned undimmed in
the trescoed dome of the universe for a
myriad of decades. had not yet been
/ turned down, and by their pale light.
augmented by the glare of the light
wood torch, the young rovers prepared
for action.
THE FIRST STING.
Finally the oak fell with a crash, and
! Tom, Page, Hugh and Eastman at once
went to work. Uncle Reuben sounded the
tree with his AK, and then cut a hole
where he thought the bees were col
/ lected. Into this opening old clothes We're
inserted and set on fire to smoke the bees
from their home. Each lad held in his
hand small bunch Of oak branches
/ which he kept constantly revolving about
his head Eastman was standing nooly
TO his post, until a bee got up a leg of his
trousers and then. with a slap and a veil
like COmanche, he was off to parts I'M
known to the honeymakers. Boys" he
called, II consider prudence the better
/ part of valor,' and | now see where
| talstaf was right l intend to say amen,
however, every time you knock down one
/ of those insolent bees "
Uncle Reuben, after cutting several
| openings in the tree, split of the top sec
! ton, and there lay the honey in its rich
ness and beauty. Long knives were at
! once brought into action, and the heavily
! laden comb was transferred to vessels,
! which had been brought for that purpose.
ANOTHER VICTIM
! just then Uncle Reuben, who had been
! leaning quietly on his AK handle while the
| others were removing the honey, began to
| kick and run worse than a cotton planta-
| tiOn mule.