Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1912-10-03

NO dtttinpt WIS iuddS " DuIy
the remains of Elksfoot inasmuch
as our adventurers had no tools
fit for such a purpose, and any
merely superficial interment would
have been a sort of invitation to
the wolves to dig the body
up again.
'Let him lean ag'in the tree"
said Waring, as they moved on
towards the spot where the car
cass of the deer was left, sand I'll
engage nothin' touches him.
There's that about the face Of
the man, Bourbon. that skears the
beasts; and il a body can only
muster courage to stare them full
in the eye, one single human can
drive before him a whull pack of
of wolves"
"I've heard as much" returned
the bee-hunter, shut should not
like to be the human to try the
experiment. That the face of man
may have terrors for a beast,
think likely; but hunger would
prove more than a match for such
fear. Yonder is our venison, War
ing; safe where | left it,"
The carcass of the deer was
divided, and each man shouldering
his burden, the two returned to
the river, taking care to avoid the
path that led by the body of the
dead Indian. AS both labored with
much earnestness, everything was
soon ready, and the canoe speedily
left the shore. The Kalamazoo is
not in general a swift and tur-
bulent stream, though it has a
sufficient current to carry away
its waters without any appearance
of sluggishness. OF course, this
character is not uniform, reaches
occurring in which the placid
water is barely seen to move;
and others, again, are found, in
which something like rapids, and
even falls, appear. But on the
whole, and more especially in the
part Of the stream where it was,
the canoe had little to disturb
it, as it glided easily down, inn
PEELED by light stroke of the
paddle.
The bee-hunter did not abandon
his station with regret. He had
chosen a most agreeable site for
his chiente consulting air, shade,
water verdure, and groves, as well
as the chances of obtaining honey.
In his regular pursuit he had been
unusually fortunate; and the little
pile of kegs in the centre of his
canoe was certainly a grateful
sight to his eyes. The honey
gathered this season, moreover,
had proved to be of an unusually
delicious flavor, affording the
promise of high prices and ready
sales. Still, the bee-hunter left
the place with profound regret.
He loved his calling ; he loved
solitude to morbid degree, per-
haps; and be loved the gentle ex-
element that naturally attended
his "bee-lihings" his discoveries.
and his gains. OF all the pursuits
that are more or less dependent
on the chances of the hunt and
field, that of the bee-hunter is
one of the most quiet and placid
enjoyment. He has the stirring
motives of uncertainty and doubt
without the disturbing qualities of
hustle and fatigue; and while his
exercise is sufficient for health
and for the pleasurers of the
open air, it is seldom of a nature
to weary or unnerve. Then the
study of the little animal that is
to be watched, and, if the reader
will, plundered, is not without a
charm for those who delight in
looking into the wonderful arcana
Of nature.
So great was the natural in
terest that lie Bourbon sometimes
Ielt in his little companions that,
On several occasions that
iery summer, he had spared hives
after having found them, because
he had ascertained that'they were
composed of young bees, and had
lot yet got sufficiently colonized
o render new swarming more
han a passing accident. With all
his kindness of feeling towards
his victims, Boden had nothing
# the transcendental folly that ,
accompanies the sentimentalism of /
he exaggerated, but his feelings
nd Impulses were simple and '
Iirect, though SO often gentle and {
humane. He knew that the bee,
Ike all other inferior animals of I
reation, was placed at the dispo-
ition OF man, and did not scruple s
o profit by the power thus benef-
,ently bestowed fhonob he ~ y