The Savannah morning news., 1901-08-05
HOW A HORNETS NEST
SAVED MY FAv0RlTE APPLES.
From the Unique Monthly.

pippin-tree,' which bears bountifully
nearly every year. The apples ripen
from the goth to the last of August and
are yellow, mellow, juicy, and of excel
lent fiavor-as handsome and as tooth
some pippins as one could wish to see.
The tree stands ten or twelve rods
from the house, near "A wall on the
lower side of the road. There are sew
eral intervening pear and cherry trees.
SO that the pippin tree cannot be seen
very clearly from the house.
All the boys in the neighborhood
seem to think they have a claim on
that pippin tree. And strangers in
passing, when it is loaded with it's yell
low fruit, often stop, climb the wall,
and fill their pockets with the apples
In fact they have knocked the wall
partly down, and a path has actually
been trodden through briers. A stout
clump of broad-leayed hazel sprouts,
growing near the wall here, makes it
all the easier to take the apples with
out the act being seen from the house.
Last summer there was a big hor-
nets nest in that stout clump of hazel
sprouts. l did not know the nest was
there for some weeks, for l do not pass
the sprouts when | go to the pippin
tree. But one wet afternoon, as l sat
upstairs writing, / saw a boy going
past the house, rather doubtful look
ing boy, with very dirty bare feet. He
stopped and cast sharp look back at
the house.
Then he leaped quickly over the wall,
and catching up an old pole which 1
used to knock off the pippins. he dex-
terously brought down dozen of the
finest of them, filled his pockets and
than started for the road again
AS he went past the hazel sprouts,
his eyes caught sight of some object of
interest. He stopped and glanced crit
ically, yet very cautiously, in among
the leaves near the roots.
l had opened the window a bit be-
hind the curtain.
"Ain't that a monster?" I heard him
say to himself. And he drew back on
tiptoe.
on getting into the road. he picked
up a stone, and taking aim, threw 1t
into the bush, and then ran as fast as
his legs would carry him.
1 was curious to know what Billy had
discovered.
Going to the bushes, 1 saw hornets
nest as big as a large fiower-pot. 1t
was ALMOST wholly concealed by the
broad leaves, although above ground
Several of the hornets were crawling
on the outside of the nest, repairing
the damage done by Billy's stone, per-
haps. Ordinarily, / should have thought
it best to take torch of bark or touch
wood, after dark, and burn up the
nest. But now it occurred to me that
these hornets were charmingly located
for protecting my much-plundered pip
pin-tree; and the savager they were,
the better for my fruit. SO l threw
a few heavy stones at the nest to COM
plete the work which Billy had begun,
and get them in good fighting trim for
any one who should attempt to climb
the wall.
That evening Henry-the hired boy,
who was an odd youngster, and natu-
rally interested in the preservation of
the pippins, since he got the larger
share of them himself-went and
stretched a piece of wire across the
"pippin- patch" one end of which he
attached to the bush in which the nest
hung.
His idea was that whoever took that
route for our pippin-tree would be
likely to trip the wire in the briers;
and whoever tripped the wire would
be pretty sure to find the hornets.
did not know of this at the time, or
possibly / should have discountenanced
the setting of such a ''man-trap."
Early HeAL OtlOit
1 saw boy coming down the road with
big stone jug in one hand and tin
can in the other. He came toiling
along with a dry mouth, no doubt, and
longing for juicy pippin.
1t is enough to parch any body's
throat to tug a two gallon stone jug
of molasses in one hand and a gallon
of kerosene in the other
I knew Link, as the boy was called,
would go to the pippin- tree, and he did.
He did not set his jug and can down
in the road while he got over the wall.
But he carried them to the wall and
set them behind the clump of hazel
bushes.
He probably did not happen to touch
Henry's wire, for l could not see that
any of the hornets came out of the nest
at first He took what pippins were
on the ground, then knocked off some.
and having filled his pockets, jumped
back over the wall. The next moment
| saw him dancing about in the road.
fighting with both hands
The sun had just risen, and was shin
ing in through the apple trees. and I
could see that the air was full of hor-
nets. They drove him. and he ran
down the road ten or fifteen rods.
. II he had waited quietly a few min
utes, the hornets would have gone back
to their nest.
But Link was in a hurry to get his
jug and can; so he kept venturing up
towards the bushes, and the hornets
kept darting at him. Finally he got his
molasses and oil. He did not look up
when he went by, but even from the
house / could see a great red spot on
the side of his neck, as large as a
turkeys egg.
1 am inclined to think he did not en-
Joy his pocketful of pippins.
That afternoon about o'clock two
young fellows in a blackboard drove
past the house. Their horse was quite
wet with sweat, but just now they were
walking him. When they were opposite
the pippin-tree they stopped the horse,
and l could see that they were looking
at it. Then one of them looked to-
wards the house.
go ahead, Clint" I heard him say.
IF he does come out, you can get
back to the cart before he can get down
here"
Out jumped Clint, and cleared the
wall at two bounds. He sprung partly
up into the tree, and shook it violently.
Down came a shower of pippins. In
a moment he filled the two side pockets
of his coat and his white straw hat,
then he jumped back over the wall.
But he somehow had stirred up the
hornets, for before he could toss the
hatful of apples into the vehicle. and
get in himself, the whole swarm made
charge upon him. The horse gave a
IAtYf Eel 10, H..