rushes,
No matter where I rove.
When will I see de bees a-hum-ming
All round de comb?
When will I hear de ban-jo tum-ming
Down in my good old home?"

We all joined in the chorus at the end of each verse:

"All de world am sad and dreary
Eb-ry-whar I roam.
O, darkies, how my heart grows weary,
Far from de old folks at home."

We soon entered forests primeval which were quiet, save for the sound of
the axe of the log-thief, for timber-stealing is a profession which
reaches its greatest perfection on the Florida state lands and United
States naval reserves. Uncle Sam's territory is being constantly
plundered to supply the steam saw-mills of private individuals in
Florida. Several of the party told interesting stories of the way in
which log-thieves managed to steal from the government _legally_.

"There," said one, "is X, who runs his mill on the largest tract of pine
timber Uncle Sam has got. He once bought a few acres' claim adjacent to
a fine naval reserve. He was not, of course, able to discover the
boundary line which separated his little tract from the rich government
reserve, so he kept a large force of men cutting down Uncle Sam's
immense pines, and, hauling them to the Suwanee, floated them to his
mill. This thing went on for some time, till the government agent made
his appearance and demanded a settlement.

"The wholesale timber-thief now showed a fair face, and very frankly
explained that he supposed he had been cutting logs from his own
territory, but quite recently he had discovered that he had really been
trespassing on the property of his much-loved country, and as he was
truly a loyal citizen, he desired to make restitution, and was now ready
to settle.

"The government agent was astonished at the seeming candor of the man,
who so worked upon his sympathy that he promised to be as easy upon him
as the law allowed. The agent settled upon a valuation of fifty cents an
acre for all the territory that had been cut over. 'And now,' said he,
'how many acres of land have you "logged" since you put your lumbermen
into the forest?'

"Mr. X declared himself unable to answer this question, but generously
offered to permit the agent to put down any number of acres he thought
would represent a fair thing between a kind government and one of its
unfortunate citizens. Intending to do his duty faithfully, the officer
settled upon two thousand acres as