Evening star., 1916-07-31
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By THORNTON W. BURGESS.
Copyright. 1915. By 7. W. Burysss.D
Buster Bear Waits In Vain.
Patience. Be you young or old,
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Brings its own reward. were told.
Buster Bear doesn't believe II He
doesn't see It that way at all. He is
willing to admit that II does sometimes.
but not always. No. indeed. not always!
Perhaps that is because the reward isn't
always what Buster wants it to be- You
know how It Is when we set our hearts
on a thing and then don't get 1t.
The disappointment makes us overlook
some Of the good things we do get sus-
pect that 1t was this way with Buster
Bear that day when he discovered Busy
Bee in the Green Forest.
Buster had heard the hum Of Busy
Bee and then had discovered her at work
among some flowers in a little opening
among the trees right back Of where he
was sitting. Then she flew away. Now
the sight and sound OF Busy Bee had
awakened pleasant thoughts in Buster
Bear-thoughts Of honey Can you imag-
Inc any sweeter thoughts? Buster knows
great deal about Busy Bee. Ever since
he was little cub he has been interested
In Busy Bee. 7 am afraid 1t has been
selfish interest. but none the less 1t has
been real interest. 1t has led him to
find out a very great deal about Busy
Bee He knows that Busy Bee makes
honey He knows that she gathers the
sweets from the flowers of the Green
Meadows and the Green Forest and that
in a secret storehouse she packs these
sweets away in the form Of honey. He
knows that sometimes this secret store
house Is in a hollow tree, sometimes in a
hollow log, and sometimes even in a
cave among the rocks. He knows that
Busy Bee never wastes any time. not a
single minute, but from morning till night
Is at work gathering the sweets Of the
a III Il
knows, too, that she isn't a safe person
to interfere with. that she carries the
sharpest Of little lances with her all the
time. and little as she Is isn't the least
bit afraid to use 1t on even such big
fellow as he is. Yes, indeed Buster Bear
knows a great deal about Busy Bee.
When she flew away from those flow
ers in the little opening among the trees
In the Green Forest she went so suddenly
that Buster didn't see in which direction
she flew. Never mind" said Buster to
himself. shell come back; and next time
I'll be sharper and see which way she
goes. This Is a very pleasant and COM
Portable place. SO I'll Just wait until she
returns"
So Buster sat down where he could
watch those flowers. made himself COM
Portable and waited for Busy Bee to come
back. And while he waited he dreamed,
day dreams. you know. and they were
very pleasant dreams They were sweet
they were all of honey. He dreamed of
a great hollow tree somewhere in the
Green Forest He dreamed that he had
found that hollow tree and that he had
climbed 1t and with his great strong claws
had torn 1t open and found more honey
than he could eat all at once. and Bus
ter can eat a great deal He smacked his
lips quite as II that honey were real, and
not just dream honey
So Buster sat and dreamed and watched
the flowers and waited for Busy Bee to
return. He waited and waited He was
very patient, was Buster Bear. With
such pleasant dreams it wasn't hard to be
patient. You see he felt that patience
might make those dreams come true
When Busy Bee should come back for
more sweets he would follow her straight
to her secret storehouse. So he waited
and waited
The jolly Little Sunbeams were very
comforting and pleasant. 1t was very,
very still and beautiful there. His stom-
ach was reasonably full. Altogether Bus
ter Bear was very. very comfortable He
blinked at the flowers. He nodded. Pres
emily he lay down. and then-well. then
those sweet day dreams became still
sweeter sleep dreams. Yes, SIR, Buster
Bear fell asleep. And while he slept Busy
Bee returned and went away again, not
once but several times. The Black Shad-
ows had begun to creep throughout the
his eyes. He scrambled to his feet and
shook himself. Then he growled a rum
bly-grumbly growl Of disappointment He
knew that Busy Bee would not return
again that day. but had gone to bed for
the night. His patience had brought no
overlooked the nice long rest and the
beautiful sweet dreams. He had wanted
different reward. and so he thought he
hadn't had any.