me back and lit on the highest
branch of the apple tree and began to sing. "Te rill, te roo, I thank
you; te rill, te roo, I thank you," the little boy thought he said.

Little Luke went over to the fence. In a bush beside the fence there was
a big spider's web. Old Mrs. Ik-to the Black Spider had built the web as
a trap to catch flies in. But this time there was something besides a
fly in the trap. Ah-mo the Honey Bee had blundered, into the web and was
trying hard to get away.

Old Mrs. Ik-to was greatly excited. She was not sure whether she wanted
bee meat for dinner or not. She knew very well that bees are stronger
than flies and that they carry a dreadful spear with a poisoned point.

Mrs. Ik-to ran down her web a little way, then she stopped and shook it.
Ah-mo the Honey Bee was not so much entangled by the web that he could
not sting and the old spider knew that. So she ran back again to one
corner of the web.

Little Luke stood and watched poor Ah-mo for a moment. Then he took a
twig from the bush and set him free. Ah-mo rubbed himself all over with
his legs and tried his wings carefully to see if they were sound. Then
he flew up from the ground and buzzed three times round little Luke's
head.

The little boy was not afraid. He knew that bees never sting anyone who
does not hurt or frighten them, and besides, he thought the buzzing had
a friendly sound to it. It seemed to him as if Ah-mo was trying to say,
"Thank you, little boy, thank you," as well as he could.

When Ah-mo had flown away, little Luke looked around to see what old
Mrs. Ik-to was doing, but he could not find her.

Leaving the old spider to mend her web as well as she could, little Luke
got over the fence into the pasture. As he was going along he heard Mrs.
Chee-wink making a great outcry. She was flying about a little bushy fir
tree not bigger than a currant bush. "Chee-wink, to-whee; chee-wink,
to-whee!" she called. Little Luke thought she was saying, "Help! Help!
Come here, come here!" And so she was.

[Illustration]

He went up toward the fir bush. As he walked along, he picked up a stout
stick that was lying on the ground. When he came to the bush, Mrs.
Chee-wink flew off to a tall sapling near by and watched him without
saying a word.

At first he could not see anything to disturb anybody. But he knew that
Mrs. Chee-wink would never have made all that fuss for nothing. So he
took hold of the fir bush and pulled the branches apar