The Afro-American advance., 1900-05-12

l weakness af bears and lnen- and all
u sudden II ocenred to me how
fond bear u 81 hoHey. Just IKE some
ussn With liquor. and thar gave me an
IDEA. Ss1aJssss5ssg / csnid get that
ipear good and drunk thought 70
/ mg arif. there wouldn't he any diff
eH.ty IN catching him and avengisg
siiF nanlersgIs IN iuries. so took a
/ big lump of honey sad soaked IL in APP
pIejaek. H hen got tEae iel, finished
there MS elsuf4gh liquor IN that lump
Of =hoaef 10 get n faHHiig of bears
sirHnk. And the delicious taste of II
Ms pteh that.T eeriaialy hated 70
feed IT 10 the bear
But the rneFnery Of my wrongs,
and the way that big bear fooled me
aud ms faithful dogs sort of recon
eiled me to the wasts. knew the old
bear had had his eye on my hives.
~ that night I left the door open in
the she'd where I kepi them. / put
my appieiaek honey on the floor near
the hiYes and went 10 bed happy
and e0utented man. thinking that all
! would have 10 do in the morning
would be to go Out and corral one
large intoxicated bear. That bear
won't mpddie with the hives contain
/ ing my bees. Hes too knowing an
animal to DO that. He'll he attracted
| by the delicious smell Of the honey
on the floor. which combines the ad-
yantages Of honey. "a jag and no
sfings But he'll get a temperance
lesson which will last him the re
maindcr of his life.
just about dny break | heard a
noise like something tumbliDg about
In the shed where I kept my honey.
Mr.. Bear has found that applejae
aud IL making merry over it, | says
10 my wife"but there's no hurry.
know the power Of that apple jack
| III just wait couple of hours until
IL gets In its paralyzing effects. That
bear will be dead 10 the world then.
And little while later. after his in.
tersicw with Uncle Jabez, he'il be
dead for good.
% so I waited couple Of hours. and
then. having loaded my gun, went
down to the hives. confidently expect
ing 10 see one big bear stretched out
there dead drunk. But instead oi
this II WAS pathetic sight that met
my eyes. Ny hives were overturned
and alI my good honey gone. while
the floor was Uttered with bees. 4
lot more were sticking 20 the apple
jack honey. while here aud there was
a bee trying to walk or ny, and fall
ing 10 the floor In "A staggering way.
II was plain enough what had hap
pened Ms bees had been attracted
by the fragrant smell Of that apple
| jaek honey. They had flown over 10
II during the night and filed them
selves with IL until not one disreputa.
bile bee WIS able 10 move. Then when
the bees we're helpless that uuscrupu.
lous old bear wandered in, and, with
out paying any attention to the apple
| jack honey. marched straight Ia the
hives. overturned them and gorgee
himself What made me naddest wai
10 think he had gotten away without
sting, while my bees were lying
| there drunk.
"If | had been content to let II
| go at that my face wouldn't look "a
much like "A war map to-day. But
Was MS indignant at the vnRrnnt shift
leAsness Of the bees as I was NJ Tho
bear. II they had been content q
stay in their hives. perhaps my plan
would have worked all right and the
bear have eaten the apple jack honey
80 instead of letting my bees sleep
their jag or. started to rouse them
by throwing cold water on them. 'No
| intoxicated bees that OH themselves
up ON honey meant for black bears, .
I said. "are going TO he allowed "a
sleep all day. not while they belong
60 Uncle JabcS. Those bees have got
to get right up and start in repairing
the damage due to their carelessness.
Now, had known those bees al
their lives, and IL never occurred "a
me that they would sting me. Hut ia
the FIRST place that apple inck had
aroused the same bad temper Ia them
that Il does in some men Then this
bees didn't like having that water
thrown on them "a bit more than d
man who is sleeping OIL drunk like,
to he thrown into a pond.
"'As kept throwing the water ou
those bees they got more and more
awake, aud the liSelicr they got the
madder they were. Finally most oi
those who had been lying on the floor
were fully awake aud began 10 buzz
around the she'd All Of IA sudden uns
bee that was evidently Telling eSpe
eially ugly few at mc. then all the
bees seemed to think was the author
OF their misery. and the whole swarm
settled down "a the job OF making IN,
unhappy. They succeeded right up u
the limit, too. for by the time IS
capel from that shed I was stung ID
50 places, The bees. although they
had been reused up by the water
had thrown ON them. were feeling tos
iauguid to chase me. | hunted fol
the water bucket When ! inal,
lifted my face ont of n and ha,
opened my bunged-up eyes with con
siderable difficulty. | saw sigh
which added pang To my misery
There nn the edge Of the clearing Wul
that old bear, tle WAS sitting ON hi
hnunches, tairiy huRging himself viii
his front paws and churkhng 10 him
self at the tiN was in My gun wa
over by the shed. lis the time | eoui,
get It the bear was gone, and all tha
WIS left for me was thy mournfu
/ thafftshtN