Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-15
jONATHAN'S HORNET NEST.
By Frank M. Pittman.

which way you put hit responded Johnny Burton You spile the force of a remark by interruption"
 What were you observing, then?'
 "At this time of the year these inseks are the best bait for young trout ye kin find The fish will bite 'em when they won't look at a fly or thinner"
 Well. what of it?"
 Nothing excepting I know where there's hornet nest bout as big as water bucket, an | am a-goin arter it tonight, and tomorrow we'll have such a fshi' ts. ... s8s .
 Johnny's blue eyes twinkied in antic- ipation of the prospect. Our faces frightened, too.
 Where Is it?" I asked.
 About a quarter mile beyond number nine" Number nine was the railroad bridge three miles from the village.
 of course Will and l intended going with Johnny: we wouldn't have missed it.
 The night was dark, which was for.u- nate for us we thought, if Johnny did not make quick work in ignitlng the nest. We supposed that Johnny would attend to that part of the fun. The hor- nets must be driven away if we obtained the nest. and fire was the surest means of vanquishing them. Will and l mu- tually agreed we did not care to under take that delicate task.
 I believed Johnny possessed full knowl- edge of the moduS Operandi In such mat terS. but ere We reached number nine he had conveyed to us in his usual un- assuming and gentle manner that he ex- pected Will or myself to apply the torchs Johnny had such delicate way of ex- pressing himself under such circum- stances somewhat on the style of rom Sawyer, that it was well nigh impossi- ble to refuse concession to his wishes and suggestions.
 He spoke of the undertaking as if he had no desire to deprive either Of us or the glory of the campaign, such as It was, and wondered which would consent to the other applying the torch.
 We were impressed with Johnnys un- selfishness, and viewing the matter as he did we each expressed deep de- sire to be given the preference, ana mai ly drew lots. The honor fell to Wlil, 10 his chagrin, l think.
 The chief difficulty arose from the fact that the hornets were enSconceu among the boughs of a wild cherry tree, and Will was not Very desirous ot climbing up to the nest. He knew that If he should shake the tree and give the hornets cog nizance of his presence before his ob- ject was accomplished they would make it very interesting for him before he could escape.
 Finally 1t was agreed that the best plan  bankment, which was adjacent and ig- mite the nest by using pole with the lighter attached.
 I think Will was rather uneasy anyway, but he would not show the white feather and stole quietly toward the tree While Johnny and l watched him from a1af; at least, he thought so.
 He reached the tree, lighted the torch and thrust it in among the leaves Just then we heard the whistle of the night express, and Will became so e&cfted he did not know what he was doing, l sup pose, for he suddenly pulled the light away from the tree and began to wave it in the air, as he stood on one sfie of the track.
 He had aroused the hornets, and at tracted by the light, they at once at tackled my chum. Then he uttered howl of pain and dropped the pole ex- tnguishing the light, after he had been stung a few times
 The engineer had seen the light and at once stopped the train. The engine came to a standstill near where we had last seen Will.
 heard the engineer ask him what was the matter, and we were amazed when we heard Will exclaim:
 "Go to the bridge"
 Now. there had been nothing wrong at the bridge when we passed 1t an hour before and I didn't understand what Will meant; in short, thought he must be crazy.
 He told me afterward that he merely said the first thing that came into his mind after he found that he unintention- ally stopped the train. He hoped the en- gineer would go ahead to inVesegate, and meant to slip quietly away; but the engineer kept tight hold of WilFs arm and he was forced 10 accompany liie crew.
 He was miserable during the short walk because he expected to find the structure in it's normal condition, anu was afraid the men would be unklnd ln their remarks to him. nor did he know what further action they might choose to take.
 But the strange part about it was that the bridge was not all right! Four cross ties were laid across the track in the cen ter. Wills face showed as much surprise as the others did consternation. The ob- struction was at once removed, ana the train moved on to the village.
 Of course the passengers wanted to make a hero of Will. He was more in- clined than ever to run away, but II was impossible, so he made the best of it. He maintained a discreet silence as far as possible, and got away to the drug store as quickly as he could.
 The passengers got the impression some way that he had accidentally dis covered the obstruction on the bridge, and in order to save the train had rouSnt his way through hornets nest, not having time to remove the crossties. They didn't endeaVor to reconcile any thing; this was the popular conclusion, and they adhered to 1t.
 Johnny and walked back to town af- fer the train had gone. We did not see will again that night but he told us next morning that he was either com pelled to make fool of himself after the train had really stopped. or let the crew and passengers think what they pleased about the matter. He did not care to admit that he really had not in tended doing what he did.
 The railroad company's investigation developed the fact that discharged, half-witted laborer had placed the ties on the bridge. We had not seen him and he must have left the neighborhood i'm mediately He had been heard to make threats at different times.
 We went back for the hornets nest the next night and got 1t that time.
 committee of the passengers sent will a gold watch a short time after put I think he was always rather ashamed of it. because he knew they had a ms taken idea as to what he had done, put Johnny advised him to let matters re- main as they were.