Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-11
SANDMAN STORY.
By Mrs. r. A. Walker.
C'opyrisht. 1918 by Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate. New York City.
nsvNr.S nrfCv nEES
REN'S BUSY BEES.

DEN y btSl DETsS.
Benny was n cripple But he was
we'll able TO take care of himself. When
he was IL years old, his father left Mary
land and set out in big wagon for the
West.
In those days there was no railroad,
so the trip was in big wagon drawn by
oven. In it were piled the father, Mr..
Ralph, the mother and the baby, rs well
MS Benny and his crutch.
The family settled down on n strip
of rich land near an Indian reservation,
and Ben immediately began to build
little houses for birds and homes for rab-
bits. Swung on the back of the wagon
crossing the mountains and plains had
been a small hive of bees. so packed that
they were not jolted AT AN Ben would
twice day sprinkle spoonful OF sugar
about the entrance to the hive, SO the bees
lived and tlourished In their new home:
Within five years the lad had hundred
hives all full of fine honey.
One fine day Mr. Ralph rode away to
the fort which was distance of thirty
miles.
Il will not be back before tomorrow
morning" he said as he sprang into the
saddle. "But YOU all will be safe. The
Indians are friendly Watch the cattle
and don't let the rain catch any hay IN
the meadow
About noon Ben. who was resting
under a tree after his dinner, saw thin
blue curlt of smoke in the distance then
a cloud of dust coming toward the farm
Ben said the mother with whlten-
ing face, Il believe that is some Indians
on rampage. You know Black Hawk
ran away from the reservation month
ago, and I'm sure IT Is he and ONE other
redskins out for trouble.
That was true Out oi tho dust soon
.appeared a band Of seven Indians on
t,orseback, riding like Wild their feathers
shaking in the sun
In few moments Ben had hObbied
quickly to the bar and driven the colts
deep into the bushes. which grew near
the house. But there was no place to
hide the horses
The Indians came on quickly Ben
ran into the yard. The backyard was on
top of a cliff, which hung over the road
By which the Indians were coming, and
lust at its foot was q cool, clear spring
in which there were several jars of milk
On top of the cliff and just a bove III"
spring was the long row ol bechveS
Tiny white hives they were, with thou
sands of busy inmates buzzing in and ont
Ren stole into the shadow of a rock
just by his hives. He could see the
men slowing UP in their ride and wipe
ing the perspiration from their faces.
Black Hawk rode mp and throw HIM
self from his horse. The others all
got down and began to drink grcedly
from the lars This was Bon chance.
With a long pole he gave push to hive
after hive, and sent \ dozen crashing
= down the side of the bank IN five seconds.
The hives burst as they rolled and ont
svarmed tho angry bees Another half
dozen hives were sent flying down by
Ben, and in moment, the air was full
OF bees, while thick cloud Of the IN
sects settled on each Indian.
The more the men fought them the
more angry the bees got and the fast
er they stung.
1t was with trouble that any OF them
found their horses, and when they
managed to mount the bees settled in
the horses mouths and ears The Indians
mAddened bv the pain; but they carried
the bees along. Ben laughed till he could
hardly walk.
The frightened Indians. pursued by
the fighting bees, soon disappeared in
the distance. Hardly had they gone
when company OF soldiers from the
fort came in view. Benny waited till
they halted at the foot of the cliff.
Have you seen any Indians, boy?'
asked the captain.
4 rather think 50 Benny laughed
"Seven rode here little while ago
and when they stopped down al the
spring l pushed about two dozen hives
! OF bees down on them and they fed IN
haste. Guess they are pretty badly
stung up by now. and you wont have
any trouble in telling just who they
are. am sure one of them is SO swollen
10 about his head that he can hardly
see"
The captain laughed and rode away
n an hour he came on party Of seven
|ick Indians trying 10 stop the pain
py bathing in a stream. And ten minutes
ater they were riding back to the rcscr-
alton under guard.
The captain gave Benny the best
|ony at the fort, and for wears the
EVEN Indians who had been conquered
y the bees were the laughing stock
their native tribe.