The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-01-05
Ccontinued.)

ffWhy. the uuu=s. lnlIg you ever heard of~ said Freckles. The whole insect tribe gone on a spree I'm sup posing It's my fault. but 1t all hap pened by accident-like. You see. on the swnIe side of the line. right ngainst me trail. there's one of these scrub wild crab trees. Where the grass grows thick about 1t is the finest place you ever conceived of for snakes. Having women about has set me trying to clean out those fellows bit. and yesterday ! noticed that tree in passing. It struck me that tt would be a good idea to be taking it out First 1 thought Ia take me hatchet and cut 1t down. for 1t ain't thicker than me upper arm. Then remembered how 1t was blooming in the spring and filling all the air with sweetness. The cOiOring of the blos- soms is beautiful. and 1 hated to be killing if. I just cut the grass short all about it. Then l stSrted at the zround. trimmed up the trunk near the height of me shoulder and left the top spreading. That made it look so truly ornamental that. idle like. chips of the rough places neat. and this morning. on me soul. it's sight. You see. cutting oH the limbs and trimming up the trunks sets the sap running. Tn this hot sun 1t ferments in a few hours. There isn't much room for more things to crowd on that tree than there are. and to get drunker isn't noways possible"
 .sWeeI. l be drawed on!" exclaimed Mrs Duncan. What kind of things do ye mean. FreckIes2"
 'sWhy. just an army of black ants. Some of them are sucking away like old terers. Some of them are setting up on their tails and hind legs. 6d- ding away with their fore feet and wtping their eyes. Some are rolling around on the grSuEd. contented- There are quantities of big bluebOttle flies over the bark and hanging on the grasses about. too drunk to steer a course flying. so they just buzz away like flying and all the time sitting still. The snake feeders are too full to feed anything. even more sap to them selves. There's a lot of hard backed bugs-beetlcS. gueSs-colored like the brown. blue and black of a peacock's tail. They hang on until the legs of them are so wake they cnn't stick minute longer. and then they break away and fall to the ground. They just lay there on their Jacks. fably claw Ing air. When it wears oR q bit. up they get and go crawling back for more. and they so full they bump Into each other and roll over. Sometimes they can't climb the tree until they wait to sober up little. There's a lot of big black and gold bumblebees, done for entire. stumbling over the bark and rolling on the ground. They just lay there on their backs. rocking from side to side. singing to themselves like fat, happy babies. The wild bees keep up a steady buzzing with the beating of their wings
 The butterflies are the worst old topers of them all. They're just a cir GUS. You never saw the beat of the beauties. They come every color you could be naming and every shape you could be thinking up. They drink and drink until if I'm driving them away they stagger as they fly and turn son. ersaults iB the air. If 1 lave them alone they cling to the grasses. shiver- ing happy-like. and I'm blest. Mother Duncan. if the best of them could be unlocking the front door with lead pencil. eveu.''
 -I never heard of anything sac sur prising.'' sa:d Mrs. Duncan.
 "It's a rare sight to watch them and no one ever made a picture of thing like that before. I'm for think ing" said FreckIes earnestly.
 "Na." said Mrs. Duncan. "Ye can be pretty sure there didna. The Bird Woman must have word in some way if ye walk the line and I walk to town and tell her.'
 Freckles took his lunch and went down to the swamp. He could find no trace of anything. yet he felt a tense nervousness. as if trouble might