American fiction -- 19th century; Historical fiction; Indians of North America -- Fiction
--Therefore, go with me;
I'll give the fairies to attend on thee;
And they shall fetch thee jewels from the deep,
--Peas-blossom! cobweb! moth! and mustard-seed,
--Midsummer-Night's Dream
As le Bourdon kept moving across the prairie, while the remarks were
made that have been recorded in the preceding chapter, he soon reached
the new position where he intended to again set up his stand. Here he
renewed his operations; Peter keeping nearest his person, in jealous
watchfulness of the least movement he made. Bees were caught, and scarce
a minute elapsed ere the bee-hunter had two of them on the piece of
comb, uncovered and at liberty. The circumstance that the cap was
momentarily placed over the insects, struck the savages as a piece of
necromancy, in particular. The reader will understand that this is done
in order to darken the tumbler, and induce the bee to settle down on the
honey so much the sooner. To one who understood the operation and its
reason, the whole was simple enough; but it was a very different matter
with men as little accustomed to prying into the habits of creatures
as insignificant as bees. Had deer, or bisons, or bears, or any of the
quadrupeds of those regions, been the subject of the experiment, it is
highly probable that individuals could have been found in that attentive
and wondering crowd, who could have enlightened the ablest naturalists
on the subject of the animals under examination; but when the inquiry
descended to the bee, it went below the wants and usages of savage life.
“Where you t'ink dis bee go?” demanded Peter, in English, as soon as le
Bourdon raised the tumbler.
“One will go in this direction, the other in that,” answered the
bee-hunter, pointing first toward the corner of the woods, then toward
the island in the prairie--the two points toward which two of the other
bees had flown.
The predictions might or might not prove true. If they did, the effect
must be great; if they did not, the failure would soon be forgotten in
matters of more interest. Our hero, therefore, risked but little, while
he had the chance of gaining a very great advantage. By a fortunate
coincidence, the result completely justified the prediction. A bee
rose, made its circles around the stand, and away it went toward the
island-like copse in the prairie; while its companion soon imitated
its example, but taking the other prescribed direction. This time Peter
watched the insects so closely that he was a witness of their movements,
and with his own eyes he beheld the flight, as well as the direction
taken by each.
“You tell bee do dis?” demanded Peter, with a surprise that was so
sudden, as well as so great, that it overcame in some slight degree his
habitual self-command.
“To be sure I did,” replied le Bourdon, carelessly. “If you wish to see
another, you may.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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