thwarted ambition, he
determined to send a messenger to the bees to sue for the return
of the prisoners.

He chose his cleverest officer and called upon him by name.

A depressed silence instead of an answer. The officer was among
those who had been cut off.

The leader, overcome now by mortal dread lest those who had
entered would never return, quickly chose another officer. The
raging and roaring in the beehive could be heard in the
distance.

"Be quick!" he cried, laying the white petal of a jasmine in the
messenger's hand, "or the human beings will soon come and we
shall be lost. Tell the bees we will go away and leave them in
peace forever if they will deliver up the prisoners."

The messenger rushed off. At the entrance he waved his white
signal and alighted on the flying-board.

The queen-bee was immediately informed that an emissary was
outside who wanted to make terms, and she sent her aide to
parley with him. When he returned with his report she sent back
this reply:

"We will deliver up the dead if you want to take them away.
There are no prisoners. All of your people who invaded our
territory are dead. Your promise never to return we do not
believe. You may come again, whenever you wish. You will fare no
better than you did to-day. And if you want to go on with the
battle we are ready to fight to the last bee."

The leader of the hornets turned pale when this message was
delivered to him. He clenched his fists, he fought with himself.
Only too gladly would he have yielded to the wishes of his
warriors who clamored for revenge. Reason prevailed.

"We _will_ come again," he hissed. "How could this thing have
happened to us? Are we not a more powerful people than the bees?
Every campaign of mine so far has been successful and has only
added to our glory. How can I face the queen after this defeat?"
In a quiver of fury he cried again: "How could this thing have
happened to us? There must be treachery somewhere."

An older hornet known as a friend of the queen's here took up
the word.

"It is true, we _are_ a more powerful race, but the bees are a
unified nation, and unflinchingly loyal to their people and
their state. That is a great source of strength; it makes them
irresistible. Not one of them would turn traitor; each without
thought of self serves the weal of all."

The leader scarcely listened.

"My day is coming," he hissed. "What care I for the wisdom of
these bourgeois! I am a briga