Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1898-12-04
y'E.k'k'sltSt,E,R,k'EIFI
|SQUATTER SKETCHES \
Abe Hope Takes Rurnel Bunker's
Advice About Dee Keeping.
Copyright, is0s ByM QUAD. 1
Copyright, 1893.


AS ] sat with the squatter on his
doorstep, with the scent of dozen
different blossoms in the evening air,
asked him why he had never gone into
Bookkeeping. lie uttered a grunt or
two of disgust and replied: 1
at wasn't mo- than a month ago |
that the ole woman split up the last
beehive fur kindlin' wood"
"Then you have raised bees?"
eyes, sah."
at seems as If you ought TO raise any |
amount of honey in such a climate as
this, where the bees can work ten
months in the year"
sand il seemed that way to Kurnel
Bunker, and 10 men the ole woman,
sab, but 1t turned out mighty different
One day last spring I was skinnin'
squirrels right on this doah-step when
Kurnel Bunker rid up on that spotted
boss o. his and calls out;
"'Hello, Abe Hope, and how's chills
and fever this spring?'
"'Jest about the same sez I.
"Abe,' sez the kurnel, ms he sorter
looked around fur my jug O. whisky,
I'm powerful busy with nevis and
polyticks and cotton and other things
and can't take on anythin' mo-, but
I've got a scheme thatll make n rich
man o. yo' in ten vars. Money in it,
Abe-heaps O. money, and yo' won't
hev to lift yo'r hand to make 100000
"'No mo- canebrake hawgs,' sez I.
"'Who's talltin' bout hawgs? sez the
l1urnel. 'Hawgs amt fitten fur this
locality, but bees ar. jest go inter
raisin' honey and yo'll be bigger man
than Julius Caesar
"Artcr I had gin the kurnel drink"
said the squatter, "he told me about it.
Thar was n feller down on the river
with a flat-boat loaded with bee-hives.
He was sellin' of 'em fur five dollars a
hive, and the burnel figgered 1t out in a
way to make yo'r hair stand up. If be-
gan with five swarms of bees I'd hev
fifty swarms in five vars. Fifty swarms
o. bees means 1000 pounds O. honey
var. In ten vars I'd hev 250 hives and
nigh 5000 pounds of honey TO sell every
sezun. He took drink and figgered it
fur me, and he took a drink and fig
gered it fur the ole woman, and it cum
out the same way all the time. 'Peared
to us like mighty good show to roll
in wealth, and when the kurnel said
that them bees would just hump them.
selves all day long without any watch
in from me, made up my mind I'd go
into it,"
"And you bought five hives to start
with?" l asked, as he slowly refilled his
pipe.
eyes, bought five hives" he replied,
"and I sot 'em up over thar by the
fence. The stranger was n ldnd-heart-
ed man and he helped me, and he
stayed round all day long and figgered
what them bees would do fur me. Fig
gered jest the same as the kurnel did,
and men the ole woman lay awake
most of the night talkin' bout hosses
and kerriges and dimuns and sich.
Stranger, mebbe yo' hev obsarved few
insecks around yere?"
Eyes, have"
"Seems like sort o. headquarters fur
'skeeters, gallinippers, swamp flies,
house flies hoss flies and canebrake hor-
|
TO them, but l notice yo' wriggle round
n good deal, specially in the evenin'.
They pear to be plenty 'nuff but I've
seed the time when thar was a hundred
to one"
''That was after an overflow of the
river, suppose?"
Not sleassly. That was about two
weeks arter l got them bees. Them
hives was sot up and the bees buzzin'
around arter sweets when l went out
into the cane one day to look fur my
mewl. / was gone about two hours
and as got back home | noticed that
the insecks was heap mo- plenty than
usual. 1 was wonderin' bout it when
the ole woman comes out and sez:
"'Abe, mebbe' thar's goin' to be an
earthquake or a cyclone or flood in the
river. never did see the pesky in
seeks SO thick,arollnd yere befo'.'
Il sorter thought thar might be a
dead mewl in the bresh near by to
draw 'em around, but I couldn't find
anythin'; and they kept CROWN thick
er an thicker, and bimeby we had to
git into the cabin and close the doahs
and winders and raise a smoke. was
lookin' out when my ole mewl begun
to snort and prance and pull at the
rope. He was so ole and tuff that a
built would have bounded off his hide,
but when about million hornets and
| gHllinippers settled down on him he
showed his feelin's mighty quick. He
| jest bucked and jumped and screamed
out, and if he hadn't pulled away he'd
hev been murdered right thar. He went
off down the road as If the devil was
arter him, and the ole woman feels fur
me through the smoke and sez:
"'Abe Hope, we might as well git
right down on our knees and go to
prayin', fur the Judgment day can't be
more'n fo'ty rods off Whatever in this
world has brung all the insecks in the
state of Mississippi into one clearin'?'
Jest about them" said the squatter
with smile, "Kurnel Bunker Gums
ridin' along, He'd bin over to Scots
dale to git his mail, and he reckoned to
stop at my place for drink and to sec
how them bees was a-gittin' on. He had
jest opened his mouth to holler at me,
when he bumped up and turned pale.
About the same time his spotted hoss
begun to buck and cavort, and next
mint Kurnei Bunker was flyin' fur his
life. never did see anythin' without
wing git along faster nor he did"
"Were the bees after him ~ asked.