The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1909-01-16

needless 10 say, was alarmed. w hal
was to infer but that the bull had
overtaken Ike, and that he was in the
very act of transfxing him with those
spear-like horns or trampling the life
out of him under those merciless
hoofs? 1 am glad to say that I rush
ed to the rescue without an instant S
hesitation, though it would be diff
cult to explain what expected to ac-
complish with my empty hands, for
had no sort of weapon, not even a
stick or a stone. / think the other
boys must have followed my move
ments pretty closely, but l was toe
much excited to take particular no.
tice. Ike, meanwhile, kept up his
distressing cries for help. They seem
ed to come from overhead, as we ap-
preached the place.
An instant later mighty roar filled
the woods. This is no fanciful ex-
aggeration. I was not quite myself,
I admit, but / can vouch for the fact
that no such sound ever reached my
ear either before nor since. 1t brought
me to a halt, it lifted every individual
hair on my closely-cropped head on
end; it would have sent me scuttling
away as fast as my legs could carry
me had not its wierd mystery speedily
resolved itself. A great, dark object,
looking as large as an elephant, shot
past me, blowing a noisy furrow
through the dense underbrush, and
giving vent to another of those un-
earthly bellows as it disappeared. The
youngsters scattered, screaming. l
am not sure but 1 did something of
that kind myself. On that supposi-
ton, let me say that no words can
convey to the reader any adequate
idea of the provocation. I feel sure
that no person, under the circum-
stances, would have ever thought of
associating that hideous, hair raising
sound with the hitherto mildman-
nered brute which had grazed for
three summers In Squire Newton S
pasture.
run Run you fellows !" Ike
had tumbled down among us from
somewhere. So far as we could make
out, he appeared to be trying to fol-
low his own advice, using his head
for the purpose quite as much as his
feet. "Look out there. Hi Ow |!
Run, I tell you That old trees
chuck full of bees !"
I had reminder of the fact just
then. 1t was pointed rather than
gentle. One of the little fellows gave
a scream. Ike was Hopping about
like a decapitated fowl, then, of
sudden, disappeared in the darkling
underground. We followed by a
common impulse. For moment we
had forgotten the bull. A distant
below reassured us. Evidently he
had important business of his own to
attend to.
The fight ended at the lower cor
ner of the pasture, next to the milk
ing-yard. Ike had shaken off the
last of the bees, but he acted dazed
and bewildered, and we had to help
him get to the house. His face and
head were a sight to see, both eyes
closed, and his nose and cheeks swol-
len to enormous proportions. The
boys were so ti1nid and nervous after
their stirring experience that Grand
father Holbrook walked home with
them. / did not volunteer for the
neighborly service, though grand
father looked at me pretty hard before
offering to go himself. I don't think
that anything short of case of life
and death could have tempted me
outside the door again that night.
He went up to the woodlot one
afternoon and located the bee-tree
without much difficulty. 1t was a
knotty, old beech, with low branches
and an enormous girth. A slit-like
aperture, three or four feet from the
ground, was plainly the point of at
tack from which Ike's doughty be-
seiger had met his Waterloo. Ike
laughed over the incident in kind
of sober fashion, but obstinately re-
fused to take any part in telling the
tree. Perhaps he had soft place in
his heart for those small friends who
had aided him in a time of need 4; per-
haps he had no desire to trespass
further upon their hospitality. Later
in the season Jerome Stillman and /
sawed down the tree and secured a
few pounds of honey in return for a
vast amount of hard labor.
Once only, so far as I remember,
did Ike's sense of honor flash broadly
over the incident of the bull and the
bees. 1t was the week before the
Calder boys went home, and Mrs.
Newton had sent them up to get
grandmother receipt for green to-
mato pickle. Ike confronted them
as they were going out of the front
gate: :.
$50 you fellows thought that bull
chased me, eh? Well, not on your
life Just thought I'd walk over tc
the woods and look up that bee-tree. y