A Hive of Busy Bees Part 9

When Ned reached the watering trough, he stopped. Suddenly he lowered his head, and both children slipped off into the trough. It was about half-full of water, and Joyce fell in face downward. Such sputtering, puffing, and blowing, as they scrambled out of the trough! And there stood old Ned, looking at them as if to say, "How did you like your bath?"

Grandpa came hurrying up to see if they were hurt. He told them that old Ned was only doing as he had been taught when he was a colt; and that they could not expect him to do otherwise, if they rode him like that.

That evening, as twilight settled down, Grandpa and Grandma and the children sat on the porch and listened to the lonely call of a whippoorwill from the neighboring woods.

"I see the Big Bear," said Don--"and the Little Bear, too."

"What is the Milky Way, Grandma?" asked Joyce.

"When men look through telescopes they find millions of stars--so close together and so far away that not one star can be seen by the naked eye.

The Indians used to say it was the path which all Indians must travel after they died, to reach the Happy Hunting Grounds."

"See how bright the stars are in the Dipper!" exclaimed Don.

"When I was just a little girl," said Grandma, "I learned a rhyme about the Milky Way:

"The Man in the Moon that sails through the sky Is known as a gay old skipper.

But he made a mistake, When he tried to take A drink of milk from the dipper.

"He dipped it into the Milky Way, And was just prepared to drink it, When the Big Bear growled, And the Little Bear growled, And it scared him so that he spilled it."

The children liked the queer little rhyme, and said it over until they knew it by heart.

At last Grandpa said, "I guess it's about time to turn in for tonight."

"Oh, no," said Don--"not till Grandma tells us our story."

"All right," said Grandma; "I shall tell you this time about a little bee called Bee Grateful. It has a very sharp sting, as you will see.

"Far away, under sunny Italian skies, there is an old, old town by the name of Atri. It is built on the side of a steep hill.

"A very long time ago, the king of Atri bought a great golden-toned bell and hung it in the tower at the market-place. Fastened to the bell, there was a long rope that reached almost to the ground.

"'We shall call it the bell of justice,' said the king.

"He proclaimed a great holiday in Atri, and invited everyone to come to the marketplace and see the bell. It shone like gold in the bright sunlight. When the king came riding down the street, the people whispered to one another, 'Perhaps he will ring the bell.'

"But he did not. Instead, he stopped at the foot of the tower and raised his hand. All the whispering and talking stopped; for the people knew that the king was about to speak.

"'My good people,' he said, 'this bell belongs to you. No one must ever pull the rope unless he is in trouble. But if any one of you--man, woman, or child--is ever treated unjustly, you may come to the marketplace and ring the bell. The judges will come together and listen to your story; and the one who has done wrong will be punished, whoever he may be. That is why this is called the bell of justice.'

"Year after year pa.s.sed by, and the great bell still hung in the tower.

Many people who were in trouble had rung the bell; and in every case, the judges had been perfectly fair, and had punished the one who had done wrong.

"The rope had hung there so long in the sun and rain, and had been pulled by so many hands, that it was almost worn out. Some of the strands were untwisted; and it had grown shorter and shorter, until only the tallest man or woman could reach it.

"'We must have a new rope,' said the judges at last. 'If a little child should be wronged, he could not reach high enough to ring the bell. That would never do.'

"At once the people of Atri set about to look for a new rope; but there was none to be found in all the town of Atri. They would have to send someone to a country across the mountains to get the rope. But that would take quite a while; and what should they do, while they were waiting?

"One man thought of a plan. He ran to his vineyard and came back with a grapevine. Then he tied the vine to the rope.

"'There!' he said, 'the smallest child will be able to reach it now, and ring the bell'; for the vine, with its leaves and little tendrils, trailed on the ground.

"The judges were pleased. 'Yes,' they said, 'that will do very well, until we can get a new rope from the country beyond the mountains.'

"Near the village of Atri, higher up on the hillside, there lived an old soldier. When he was a young man, he had traveled in far-distant countries, and had fought in many wars. And he was so brave that his king had made him a knight.

"He had had one true and faithful friend all through those hard and dangerous years. It was his horse. Many a time the brave steed had saved his master's life.

"But now that the knight was an old man, he no longer wished to do brave deeds. He cared now for only one thing: gold, _gold_, GOLD. He was a miser.

"One day, as he pa.s.sed his barn, he looked in and saw his faithful horse standing in his stall. The poor creature looked almost starved.

"'Why should I keep that lazy beast any longer?' said the miser to himself. 'His food costs more money than he is worth. I know what I will do. I will turn him out on the hillside, and let him find his own food.

If he starves to death--why, he will be out of the way!'

"So the brave old horse was turned out to graze as best he could on the rocky hillside. He was sick and lame, and he grew thinner every day; for all he could find was a tiny patch of gra.s.s or a thistle now and then.

The village dogs barked at him and bit at his heels; and naughty boys threw stones at him.

"One hot afternoon, the old horse limped into the market-place of Atri.

No one was about the streets; for the people were trying to keep as cool as they could in the shelter of their homes. As the horse went picking about trying to find a few blades of gra.s.s, suddenly he discovered the long grapevine trailing on the ground at the foot of the tower. The leaves were still green and tender, for it had been placed there only a short time before.

"The horse did not know that the bell would ring if he pulled the vine.

He only knew that here was a juicy bit of dinner for him, and he was hungry.

"He nibbled at the end of the vine; and suddenly, far up in the belfry, the huge bell began to swing back and forth. From its great throat, golden music floated down over the town of Atri. It seemed to be saying:

"'Some--one----has--done----me--wrong! Ding--dong----ding--dong!'

"The judges put on their robes, and hurried out of their cool homes into the hot streets of the village. Who was in trouble, they wondered?

"When they reached the market-place, no one was there; but they saw the starving old horse, nibbling at the tender grapevine.

"'Ho, ho!' cried one, 'it is the miser's brave old steed. He rings the bell to plead for justice.'

"'And justice he shall have!' cried another.

"'See how thin he is,' said a lad with a kind heart.

"By this time, many people had gathered in the market-place. When they saw the old horse, a murmur of astonishment swept through the crowd.

"'The miser's steed!' cried one to another. 'He has waited long; but he shall have justice today.'

"'I have seen the old horse wandering on the hillside day after day, in search of food,' said an old man.

"'And while the n.o.ble steed has no shelter,' said his neighbor, 'his master sits at home, counting his gold.'