ing out for the early spring flowers.

"It was natural to infer, that where there were bees there should also
be honey; and the word `honey' had a magic sound in the ears of our
little community. Bees and honey now became the topic of conversation;
and not a sentence was uttered for some minutes that did not contain an
allusion to bees or bees' nests, or bee-trees, or bee-hunters, or honey.

"We all scattered among the flowers to assure ourselves that it really
was a bee, and not some rascally wasp that had wounded our little Mary.
If it was a bee, we should find some of his companions roaming about
among the blossoms of the helianthus.

"In a short time Harry was heard crying out, `A bee!--a bee!' and almost
at the same instant Frank shouted, `Another!' `Hya--hya!' cried Cudjo,
`yar's de oder one--see 'im!--biz-z-z. Gollies! how he am loaded with
de wax!'

"Two or three others were now discovered, all busily plying their
industrious calling; and proving that there was one hive, at least, in
some part of the valley.

"The question now arose, how this hive was to be found? No doubt it was
in some hollow tree--but how were we to find this tree, standing as it
likely did among hundreds of others, and not differing from the rest in
appearance? This was the question that puzzled us.

"It did not puzzle all of us though. Fortunately there chanced to be a
bee-hunter among us--a real old bee-hunter, and that individual was our
famous Cudjo. Cudjo had `treed' bees many's the time in the woods of
`Ole Vaginny,' and cut down the trees too, and licked the honey--for
Cudjo was as sweet upon honey as a bear. Yes, Cudjo had `treed' bees
many's the time, and knew how--that did Cudjo.

"We should have to return to the house, however, to enable him to make
ready his implements; and as the day was now pretty far advanced, we
determined to leave our bee-hunting for the morrow."

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR.

A GRAND BEE-HUNT.

"Next day we had a warm, sunshiny day--just such an one as would bring
the bees out. After breakfast we all set forth for the openings, in
high spirits at the prospect of the sport we should have. Harry was
more eager than any of us. He had heard a good deal about bee-hunters;
and was very desirous of knowing how they pursued their craft. He could
easily understand that, when a bee-tree was once found, it could be cut
down with an axe and split open, and the honey taken from it. All this
would be