The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-03-18

the bear. But the memory of my wrongs,
and the way that big bear had fooled me
and my faithful dogs sort of reconclled me
10 the waste. / knew the old bear had had
his eye on my hives, SO that night / eft
the door open in the shed where / kept
them. l put my applejack honey on the
floor near the hives and went to bed hap
ply and contented man, thinking that all I
would have to do in the morning would
be 10 go out and corral one large intoxi-
Gated hear That bear won't NEEDLE with
the hives containing my bees. He's 100
knowing an animal to do that Hell/be at
tracted by the delicious smell of the hon
ey on the floor which combines Khe adj
vantages of honey, jag and no stings.
But he'll get temperance lesson which
will last him the remainder of his short
life.
Just about daybreak 1 heard a noise
like something tumbling about in the shed
where | kept my honey. Mr.. Bear has
found that apple jack and is making merry
over it. 1 says to my wife, but there's no
hurry. L know the power of that apple
jack. Eli just wait a couple of hours I'M
til il gets in its paralyzing effects. That
bear will be dead 10 the world then. And
a little while later after his interview with
Uncle Jabez, hen be dead for good.
so l wa ted a codple of hours and then,
having loaCed my gun, went down to the
big bear stretched out there dead drunk!
But instead of this IL was a pathetic sight
that met my eyes. My hives were over
turned and all my good honey gone while
the floor was Uttered with bees. A lot
more were sticking to the appleJack hon
ey, while here and there was aSuee trying
to walk or fly, and falling to the floor in
a staggering way. 1t was plain enough
what had happened. My bees had been at
tracted by the fragrant smell of that ap-
plejack honey. They had flown over to
it during the night and filed themselves
with it until not one disreputable bee was
able to move. Then when the bees were
helpless that unscfupulous old bear had
wandered in, and, without paying any at
tention to the applejack honey marched
straight TO the hives, overturned them
and gorged himself. What made me mad
dest was to think he had gotten away
without a sting while my bees were lying
there drunk.
"If I had been content 10 let 1t go at
that my face wouldn't look so much like
a war map to-day. But l was as indig-
nant at the vagrant shiftlessness OF the
bees as / was at the bear. If they had
been content TO stay in their hives, per-
hans. my plan would have worked all
right and the bear have eaten the apple
tack honey So instead of letting my bees
sheen their Jag off, L started to rouse
them bv throwing cold water on them. No
intoxicated bees that fill themselves up
ON honey meant for black bears 1 said
are going TO be allowed TO sleep all day,
not while they belong to Uncle Jabez.
'rhese bees have got to get right up and
start in repairing the damage due to their
carelessness.
Now / had known those bees all their
lives and il never occurred to me that
thev would sting me. But in the first place
thai anpleiacyx had aroused the same bad
temper in them that it does in some men.
Then the bees didn't like having chat wa
ter thrown on them a bit more than a
man who is sleeping off drunk likes to
be thrown into pond. AS ! Kept on
throwing the water on those bees they
got more and more awake, and the livelier
they got the madden they were. Finally,
most of those which had been lying on
the floor were fully awake and began TO
buzz around the shed. All of sudden one
bee that was evidently feeling espes tally
ugly, flew at me. Then all the bees en-
ed to think / was the author OF the,F nAs-
cry and the whole swarm settled 0"pn
co the job of making me unhappy.
succeeded right up to the limit too
by the time 1 escaped from that sh%
was stung in fifty places
The bees, although they had be-
reused up by the water / had thrown %
them. were feeling too languid 60 chaS
me I hunted for the water bucket. Whet
/ finally lifted my face out OF Il and haG
onanad my htInRed-lfD eyes with conHiQ-