The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-04-25
Bees and Bars
By NJ. QUAD
Copyright. 1919. by Associated Lat
F.. er3ry Press. n

and then he laughed in q shamefaced
way and said:
Its Il story agin myself"
That's all right"
ut happened a long time ago"
1T will be just as good"
"Waal,' he started In. lone Sunday
mawnin' arter breakfast the old wo-
man looks at me sorter queer and
says:
"'Zeb. you know thar's a camp meet
In gwine on oa,r mt Smokers grove
"'Mebbe ! do says l.
"'They are havin' a powerful time !
hear
"Glad on it.
"'Zeb. we'll take a walk over to that
camp meetin' as soon as I git the dishes
washed up. and we won't come back
home till night
"'It would be time throwed away
but we's gwtne right along Jest the
same she says.
1T was Jest the season to watch wild
bees and line 'em to q tree" explained
Zeb. land I tagered on putin In the
day at that. I told the old woman 30
and asked her to go on alone. and she
turned on me with:
"'Zeb White. II yo' reckon to cheat
the Lawd and come out all right yoM
git left! Nobody ever did 1t In all this
world. II yo' steal his day sunthin'
will shoreiy happen to yo'.'
"'But we want honey in the fall.
don't we? says I.
whats the good of honey II 20
lose yo'r soul?'
"'Nobody's gwine to lose his soul on
account of huntin' up a bee tree
"'Mebbe not. Mebbe he'll jest break
his neck or leg n wildcats will claw
him up or the bars roll him about.
The Bible tells about the fate Of the
stiff necked and obstinate. but yo'
won't heed it. Jest go right along arter
yo'r wild honey. Zeb White. and I'll
go to the camp meetin' by myself. l
reckon yorl find out the power of
Providence befo' sundown.'
"She went away without another
word to me. and fur half an hour !
was a good mind to foller on. didn't
feel right about it tall. and my old
dawg skunk away from me as II he
was ashamed of his master. l didn't
want to give in. however. and btmeby
l shet the dOah and strolled of to look
fur bees. was maxim fur a place
about two miles away. but befo'
reached it l stopped to look at a big
chestnut tree with a holler in It. That
boiler was big nun fur TO- men to
stand in. and I was was lo0kin' In and
wonderin' why l had neve seen the
tree befo' when I heard sunthin' nov
in behind me. l wheeled about. and
thar was a whoppin' big bar sneakin'
up on me. I could tell by the looks OF
his eye. that he meant bizness. and 1t
was no use to try to bluh him. One
jump carried me into the boiler. and
he rushed and jest missed me. had
no gun, but l did have my knife along.
and when the bar tried to foller me
into the tree l slashed him TO or Y
times. He was no fool. He e
had the advantage. and he jest backed
OF and sot' down to wait. / kept purity
quiet fur an hour. thinkin' he'd sit dis
couraged and go away. but he had 9th
er plans on hand. When l stuck my
head out and waved my arms and yell
ed at him he growled-a q. few times. but
he didn't come a foot higher.
ut was plain that / was In a a
way continued the old hunter. ''but
I didn't see what I could do about 1t.
I was in the boiler. and the bar was
outside, and thar was no show fur me
to. come out until he went away. 1t
cum shutdown, and 1t cum night. m
he was still thar. l saw I was in fur
all night. and l went to sleep. woke
up once and saw his eyes shinin', but
he let me alone. woke soon arter
daylight and he was still thar. Not to
worry you. with perticklers. passed
two nights and two days and a half In
that tree. and at last I'd hev given my
left arm fur q drink Of spring water.
to say nothin' about my hunger. l was
no longer a match fur the bar. I was
weak and Eighty. and he'd hev q big
advantage over me However. j was
tryin' to work up my courage to crawl
out and do the best and hev 1t over
with when Abe Holden. who was look
in fur his lost mewl. cum that way.
and the varmint made q sneak. My
voice wasn't much stronger than a
baby's, but I managed to make Abe
hear. and he pulled me out and helped
me home. The old woman sot on the
doorstep singin' a hymn. and az We
cum up she looks at Abe and says:
"'Good evenin', Mr.. Holden. Kin
take It that yo'r old woman Is peartT
/" Fairly peart. fairly peart. Mrs.
White he replied.
"'And 20 pear to hev q stranger
with you.' she goes on.
"'No, ma'am. It's Zeb. yo'r old man.
Indeed: The last ! saw OF my old
man he was gwine out to and q bee
jtree. Did he find It? II:
..He found 4 boiler tree. ma'am.'
".'Yesg!
And d bari
eyes? And what does be think