St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1898-03-16

moment another bumbleDee new OUT
and Joined the may circles Of it's pred
ecessors.
"What noise these bumblebees
make. " said I, Gin this confined space,
and ! don't think l ever saw such big
ones,
"Hushl'' said Hippolyte "Do not
enrage them; they are hornets. have
no doubt that we are sitting upon nest
of them"
Imagine our position, in diminutive
sentry box, feet high by feet wide,
tenanted by hornets, and the only means
Of egress exposed to the murderous fire
of mailman.
"If this reptile stings my nose, it will
be double its size in half minute"
said Hippolyte. with the calmness OF de-
spair.
knew the poor fellow was thinking
Of how he could present himself in such
condition to his beloved object A
lady's lip is none the worse, as the poet
tells us, if it does look as though "a
bee had stung it newly" but the case is
widely different in respect to gentle
mans nose and hornet.
Still, the gallant captain did not lose
his presence Of mind.
"If you can find the little hole from
which these Internal villains escaped, F"
said he, "stop it quietly up with your
finger or anything"
"Not with my finger, if I know it, )"
returned l, endeavoring to pacify the
hornet that was devoting itself to me by
blowing gently at it, "but will try the
handle of my penknife +"
This brilliant idea was executed with
the most complete success There was
a noise as IF about 10 church organs in
the seat beneath us, but it was muffled.
The penknife exactly fitted. Agitated, l
have no doubt, by the stifled voices OF
their relatives, the two outside hornets
whzized about us like catherine wheels.
We dared not move muscle, except
that Hippolyte kept on waving the red
flag, which only seemed to have the
same effect upon O'Shaughnessy as on
some savage bull-namely, to excite him
to frenzy. He appeared to fire about 20
shots minute, and all wide ones.
"How many cartridges has the vii
lain got?" inquired l.
Enough for twelvemonth," groan-
ed the adjutant. "They have put the
regimental chest under the walnut tree.
/ What time is it? If this unutterable
7 idiot does get me late for dinner, III
wiring his neck"
With the utmost caution and with az
. apologetic glance at my hornet, l drew
s forth my watch. "We have no time tt
t lose," said l. 1--WE have already beer
r here half an hour and indeed it seem
half day"
n ."I'll chance it," cried Hippolyte, set
n ting his teeth and gathering himself to
g gether for rush.
n "You will be dead man," said
n "if you do. Think Of your Margaret
1t and don't leave poor fellow alone il
,, this horrid place with couple OF hol
If nets. See, that scoundrel has alread
* put three bullets through the red flag
to If you had been there, they would hay
J. gone through you insteadP
ID The argument was unanswerabl'
III Hippoly to CRASHED his teeth in impotel
ct rage. II am sure" said soothingl.
"when old Bullion comes to understar
id the very peculiar circumstances of OF
to position he will perceive that punct
~ atty was out of the question. This III
mitigated scoundrel, O'Shaughnessy"-
b. "Array, captain jewel, and amt l
I'd class by this timer" calculated que
a ulous voice, and at the aperture of OF
g. prison house appeared the hateful fe
IN lures of our jailer, distorted by an adul
to tory grin.
To throw the red flag in his face,
es leap out of the markers butt and
te toward the gate at which the speet
Tn tweed" was tethered was but the wo
l of moment, and the next CAPITA
ur Steel was flying across the country
Ter full evening dress in the direction
his dinner.
I'D As for me, before O'Shaughnes
ut could recover from his amazement
ne had jerked the penknife out of the ht
ny and was running homeward at fl
ID. speed, leaving that gallant volunte
ZEN surrounded by such host Of infuriat
he hornets that they seemed to darken
ch air.
at' So Captain and Adjutant Hippol!
Steel got in time for dinner and
ulI Margaret after all.-James Payn.
w.