uld be horrible.

Thinking of the strength and energy of her people, their
readiness to meet death, their devotion to their queen, the
little bee felt a great wrath against their enemies the hornets.
Her beloved people! No sacrifice was too great for them. Little
Maya's heart swelled with the ecstasy of self-sacrifice and the
dauntless courage of enthusiasm.

It was not easy for her to find her way over the woods. Long
before she had ceased to observe landmarks as did the other
bees, who had great distances to come back with their loads of
nectar. She felt she had never flown as high before, the cold
hurt, and she could scarcely distinguish the objects below.

"What can I go by?" she thought. "No one thing stands out.
I shan't be able to reach my people and help them. Oh, oh! And
here I had a chance to atone for my desertion. What shall I do?
What shall I do?"-- Suddenly some secret force steered her in a
certain direction. "_What_ is pushing and pulling me? It must be
homesickness guiding me back to my country." She gave herself up
to the instinct and flew swiftly on. Soon, in the distance,
looking like grey domes in the dim light of the dawn, showed the
mighty lindens of the castle park. She exclaimed with delight.
She knew where she was. She dropped closer to the earth. In the
meadows on one side hung the luminous wisps of fog, thicker here
than in the woods. She thought of the flower-sprites who
cheerfully died their early death inside the floating veils.
That inspired her anew with confidence. Her anxiety disappeared.
Let her people spurn her from the kingdom, let the queen punish
her for desertion, if only the bees were spared this dreadful
calamity of the hornets' invasion.

Close to the long stone wall shone the silver-fir that shielded
the bee-city against the west wind. And there--she could see
them distinctly now--were the red, blue, and green portals of
her homeland. The stormy pounding of her heart nearly robbed her
of her breath. But on she flew toward the red entrance which led
to her people and her queen.

On the flying-board, two sentinels blocked the entrance and laid
hands upon her. Maya was too breathless to utter a syllable, and
the sentinels threatened to kill her. For a bee to force its way
into a strange city without the queen's consent is a capital
offense.

"Stand back!" cried one sentinel, thrusting her roughly away.
"What's the matter with you! If you don't leave this instant,
you'