A Hive of Busy Bees | Page 8

in the bottom of that chest when Joe and Henry sorted
the nails, too?'
"'Yes,' said the druggist, 'each of them found a gold-piece there; and
each of them kept it for himself.'
"'So you lost ten dollars!' exclaimed Charles.
"'Yes, lost ten dollars hunting for an honest boy. But it was worth
it--for I found one at last!'"
"Is that the end of the story?" asked Joyce, as Grandma paused.

"Not quite," said Grandpa, who had been listening. "Tell them what
happened to Henry and Joe."
"Oh yes; I must not forget to tell you about them," said Grandma.
"Soon after Charles started working for the druggist, Henry was caught
stealing some things from a department store. He was arrested; but his
father paid the fine, so he was allowed to go free.
"But his dishonest habits soon got him into trouble again. He broke into
a house while the family was away, and stole some money. He was sent
to a reformatory for boys; and he had to stay there a long time. After
that, he never could keep a job long; for he was so dishonest that no
one could depend on him.
"Joe did not get into so much trouble in his boyhood; but after he
became a man he forged a check, and was sent to the penitentiary."
"How much better it would have been," said Joyce thoughtfully, "if
Henry and Joe had only listened to the bee in the first place."
"Yes indeed;" said Grandma, "I have often thought of that; for I am
sure the bee talked to them, as well as to Charles."
"Maybe," said little Don softly, "they didn't have a Grandma to tell
them how to be good."
"Maybe not," said Grandpa, smiling as he rose to take the little fellow
in to bed.
"Didn't they ever change into good men?" asked Joyce.
"I'm afraid not," answered Grandma. "That's the saddest part of the
whole story. They felt the sting of the bee as long as they lived."

Bee Truthful
[Illustration]

Every day Joyce and Don went out to meet the mailman; and how glad
they were this morning when he brought them a letter from Mother!
Mother and Daddy were having a good time at the lake; and there was a
picture of Daddy smiling at them, as he held up a day's catch of fish.
"What a string of fish!" exclaimed Grandpa, when they showed it to
him. "And what fine big ones they are!"
"I wish," said Don, "that we could go fishing, Grandpa."
Grandpa whispered something in his ear; and the little fellow began to
dance about and clap his hands.
"What is it?" asked Joyce excitedly.
"Only that we're going fishing tomorrow," said Grandpa. "We'll start
out bright and early in the morning, take our lunch, and spend the day
at the river."
Joyce and Grandma were busy all morning about the house; and in the
afternoon they baked cookies, and got the lunch as nearly ready as they
could for the trip. Grandpa and Don went out to the garden to dig bait.
They soon had a can full of worms; and then Don found a larger can,
and filled that, too. When Grandpa said they had enough, Don covered
the worms with loose dirt and set the cans out in the shed. Then they
got out the fishing tackle.
Late in the afternoon, Grandma called the children and asked them to
catch a chicken for her, so she could get it ready for their picnic lunch.
The children asked if they might pick off the feathers. They had
watched Grandma do it so many times, they thought it would be an
easy job. But when they tried it, they found it was not so easy after all.
They turned the chicken round and round, picking first in one place and
then in another. It took them a long time to get all the feathers off.
Then Grandma cut up the chicken and put it in a crock, and took it to

the spring house to keep it cool. "I will fry it in the morning," she said.
How quickly the day passed by! It was already time to do the evening
chores. Grandma was trying to teach the brown and white calf to drink
milk from a pail. Grandpa was busy in the barn, so she called the
children to come and help her.
The calf was kept in a lot near the orchard. "I want you to drive him to
the corner of the fence for me," said Grandma. "Then I will try to coax
him to drink the milk."
But the little creature was not so easy to manage. As soon as they had
driven him into the corner, he would back away;