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diff --git a/18662.txt b/18662.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..131ecb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/18662.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2402 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Buster Bumblebee, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Tale of Buster Bumblebee + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Illustrator: Harry L. Smith + +Release Date: June 23, 2006 [EBook #18662] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +_SLUMBER-TOWN TALES_ +_(Trademark Registered)_ + +THE TALE OF +BUSTER BUMBLEBEE + +BY +ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + +Author of +"SLEEPY-TIME TALES" + +(Trademark Registered) +ILLUSTRATED BY +HARRY L. SMITH + +NEW YORK +GROSSET & DUNLAP +PUBLISHERS + +Made in the United States of America + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Copyright, 1918, by +GROSSET & DUNLAP + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +_TUCK-ME-IN TALES_ +(Trademark Registered) + +by +ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + +author of +SLEEPY-TIME TALES +(Trademark Registered) + +The Tale of Jolly Robin +The Tale of Old Mr. Crow +The Tale of Solomon Owl +The Tale of Jasper Jay +The Tale of Rusty Wren +The Tale of Daddy Longlegs +The Tale of Kiddie Katydid +The Tale of Buster Bumblebee +The Tale of Freddie Firefly +The Tale of Betsy Butterfly + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +[Illustration: Buster Bumblebee and Chirpy Cricket Have A Chat. +_Frontispiece_--(_Page 9_)] + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +CONTENTS + +I THE BIG FAMILY 1 +II CHIRPY CRICKET'S ADVICE 6 +III THE RUDE TRUMPETER 11 +IV BUSTER FINDS A SISTER 16 +V MR. CROW TO THE RESCUE 21 +VI JOHNNIE GREEN IS STUNG 27 +VII A JUGFUL OF BUMBLEBEES 32 +VIII BUSTER THE BOASTER 37 +IX THE ROBBER FLY AT LAST 41 +X BUSTER MAKES A SPEECH 45 +XI THE DRONE 52 +XII THE CARPENTER BEE 56 +XIII THE CARPENTER'S PROMISE 61 +XIV BAD NEWS 64 +XV THE PRISONER 69 +XVI THE TWINS IN THE CLOVER PATCH 74 +XVII BUSTER LEARNS OF THE RAISING BEE 81 +XVIII FOLLOWING THE CROWD 86 +XIX THE FEAST AT FARMER GREEN'S 91 +XX BUSTER AND THE FIDDLERS 96 +XXI THE BUMBLEBEE IN THE PUMPKIN 101 +XXII SOMEONE'S MISTAKE 106 +XXIII MAKING GAME OF OLD DOG SPOT 111 + + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +Buster Bumblebee and Chirpy Cricket Have A Chat. Frontispiece +_Frontispiece_--(_Page 9_) +Buster Thanks Old Mr. Crow For His Advice. (_Page 25_) 23 +Buster Shouted For Everybody to Keep Quiet. (_Page 48_) 47 +Buster Listened to Mrs. Ladybug's Suggestion. (_Page 56_) 56 + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + + + + +THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE + +I + +THE BIG FAMILY + + +When Mrs. Field Mouse moved from her home in Farmer Green's meadow to the +more fashionable neighborhood near the gristmill, she had no idea that +anyone would care to live in the little old house that she had left. + +So she was much surprised, the following summer, when she heard that a +new family was occupying her former home. + +"If it's a small family they'll get along well enough," she remarked to +Aunt Polly Woodchuck, who had told her the news. + +"Small!" Aunt Polly exclaimed, lifting both her hands (with the black +mitts on them) high in the air. "They say it's a dreadful big family--at +least two hundred of 'em, so I've been told." + +Well, for a moment Mrs. Field Mouse couldn't say a word, she was so +astonished. Then she managed to gasp: + +"What's their name?" + +"I declare, I can't just remember," said Aunt Polly Woodchuck. "But it's +a name that rhymes with _apple tree_--though that's not quite it.... +They're a very musical family, I understand. My nephew, Billy Woodchuck, +passed right by their door only yesterday; and he says he heard music and +the sound of dancing from inside the house." + +"Two hundred of them dancing in that little house!" cried Mrs. Field +Mouse. "Why, it's positively dangerous! I should think they'd trample one +another." + +And Aunt Polly Woodchuck agreed, before she went off towards her home +under the hill, that there were queer goings-on over there in the meadow. + +Later she sent her nephew Billy to tell Mrs. Field Mouse that on her way +home she had remembered the name of the big family. It was _Bumblebee_. + +"They must be an odd lot," Mrs. Field Mouse remarked to her husband. +"Farmer Green's meadow is becoming more unfashionable than ever. And I +shall never regret having moved away from there." + +So that was Buster Bumblebee's first home--the old house in the meadow. +It was true that the Bumblebee family numbered at least two hundred +souls. Nobody knew what the exact count might have been; for in the +daytime all the members of the family were bustling about, never staying +in one place long enough to be counted. And at night they were all too +drowsy to bother their heads over anything but sleep. + +It was true, too, that the Bumblebee family filled their house almost to +overflowing--especially when they began to store away great quantities of +honey in it. But they never seemed to mind being crowded. And if any of +them wanted more room he had only to go out of doors and get it. + +Buster Bumblebee's mother was the head of the whole family. Everybody +always spoke of her as "the Queen." And she never had to lift her hand, +because there were other members of the family that were both ready and +eager to do everything for her. She was really quite a fine lady. + +And it was generally understood that her son Buster favored his mother. +Certainly he was--like her--very handsome, in his suit of black and +yellow velvet. Like his mother, too, he never did a stroke of work. And +although everybody said that Buster Bumblebee was a drone, he never +seemed to mind it in the least. + + + + +II + +CHIRPY CRICKET'S ADVICE + + +If the summers in Pleasant Valley had been longer perhaps the +honey-makers in Buster Bumblebee's home would have taken a holiday now +and then. But they knew that every day that passed brought cold weather +that much the nearer. So they never once stopped working--except to sleep +at night. And, like Farmer Green himself, they felt that they must not +waste any of the precious daylight by lying abed late in the morning. +They wanted to be up and in the clover field as soon as it was light. + +Now, with Rusty Wren living right beneath his bedroom window to wake him +at dawn, Farmer Green had no trouble in getting up in good season. But +the Bumblebee family were in no such luck. Even if Rusty Wren had lived +near them in the meadow they could scarcely have heard his dawn song, +because their home was beneath the surface of the ground, in the old +house that had once belonged to Mrs. Field Mouse. + +If they could have found an alarm clock somewhere it would have been easy +for them to rise as early in the morning as they wished. But lacking a +clock of that kind--or any other--they had to find a different way of +waking themselves. + +That was why the workers chose one of their number to be a trumpeter. And +it was her duty to get up bright and early, at three or four o'clock, and +trumpet loudly to rouse all the other workers. + +How the trumpeter herself managed to awake is something that never +bothered anybody else. It was her business not to oversleep. And she knew +that it would be very unpleasant for her if she failed even once to do +her duty. + +Now, it was all well enough for the workers to have the morning silence +broken by the blare of trumpeting. They were eager to get up and begin +their day's work. But Buster Bumblebee did not like that arrangement in +the least. He preferred a good, long night's sleep. And since he never +did any work he thought it was a shame that he should be rudely awakened +in such a fashion. + +At home, however, he did not mention his grievance to anyone. But he +talked the matter over with a number of his friends--outside the family. +And one and all agreed that something ought to be done to put a stop to +the trumpeter's noise. + +"Why don't you have a pleasant talk with her?" Chirpy Cricket suggested. +"Perhaps she would be willing to trumpet a little more softly if she knew +that she was disturbing you." + +That plan did not quite suit Buster Bumblebee. + +"It would be hard to have a pleasant talk with the trumpeter," he said. +"She's quite likely to lose her temper. And she might sting me if she +became angry enough." + +"Then you must first put her in a good humor," Chirpy Cricket told him +cheerfully. "Begin by saying what a good trumpeter she is and tell her +that her hat is _very_ becoming." + +Still Buster Bumblebee was a bit doubtful of the outcome of the scheme. +But at last he agreed to give it a trial. "Though I must say I feel quite +nervous," he added. And all Chirpy Cricket's sprightly jokes failed to +make Buster smile. + + + + +III + +THE RUDE TRUMPETER + + +Yes! At last Buster Bumblebee was worried. Every time he looked at the +trumpeter she seemed in a more peppery temper than ever. Beside her, some +of the other workers appeared positively pleasant. But the trumpeter wore +a frown. And what was still worse, she wore no hat. + +How, then, was Buster to follow Chirpy Cricket's advice and tell her what +a becoming hat she was wearing? + +"I'll have to think of some other way of making her feel happy--since +she's bareheaded," said Buster. + +Now, without thinking what he was doing he had spoken his thought right +out loud. And since he was quite near the trumpeter and staring directly +at her, it was no wonder that she heard what he said. + +"Don't be impertinent, young man!" the trumpeter snapped, growing +somewhat red in the face. "I'm sure it's no affair of yours whether I +wear a hat or whether I don't. And if you want to make me happy, I'll +tell you the best way in the world." + +"Oh! Will you?" cried Buster Bumblebee hopefully. And in his eagerness he +drew even nearer to the trumpeter, who actually smiled at him. But there +was something in her smile that sent a shiver up and down Buster's back. +It was not at all a pleasant smile. + +"If you want to make me happy all you need do is to keep out of my +sight," said the trumpeter rudely. "You're just a lazy, good-for-nothing +drone. And for my part, I don't see why you're allowed to stay in our +house. If I had my way you'd be driven out into the world to shift for +yourself.... And I know others who say the same." + +Upon hearing that disagreeable speech Buster Bumblebee jumped back +quickly. He was not angry--but merely disappointed, for he had expected +something quite different. + +"You--er--you trumpet beautifully," he stammered, remembering that that +was another remark which Chirpy Cricket had suggested as being likely to +put the trumpeter into a pleasant frame of mind. + +At that the rude creature laughed most scornfully. + +"I'd like to know how you can say _that_," she sneered. "You're so lazy +and such a sleepy-head that you never hear me when I wake the household. +In fact, I don't believe you would ever wake up enough to crawl out of +bed if you didn't get hungry--and goodness knows you do love to eat." + +"No such thing!" cried Buster Bumblebee. + +And happening just at that moment to spy an unusually tempting clover-top +close beside him, he lighted upon it and began to suck up its sweet +juices. + +The trumpeter at once screamed joyfully and pointed a finger straight at +him. + +"There you go!" she cried. "You have to stop and eat even while you're +talking with a lady! Why, you eat and sleep so much that you don't know +what you're doing or saying half the time." + +One might naturally think that such a remark would have angered Buster. +But he was not one to lose his temper easily. And he merely looked at the +trumpeter sadly and said: + +"Don't speak to me like that! I'm a queen's son. I'm a gentleman." + + + + +IV + +BUSTER FINDS A SISTER + + +Buster Bumblebee's announcement that he was a queen's son--and a +gentleman--seemed to amuse the trumpeter hugely. She held her sides and +laughed uproariously. + +"That's nothing!" she said at last. "I'm one myself!" + +"One what?" Buster asked her quickly. "You're certainly no gentleman--for +you just referred to yourself as a lady not two minutes ago. And neither +can you be anybody's son, I should think." + +"I mean I'm a queen's daughter--though maybe you didn't know it," the +trumpeter replied. + +And Buster Bumblebee answered in a dazed fashion that he had had no idea +she was of royal blood, like himself. + +"It's true," the trumpeter assured him. "You'd never guess it; but I'm +your own sister." + +Well, Buster Bumblebee was so surprised that he almost fell off the +clover-head on which he was sitting. It was really a sad blow to be told +that that disagreeable, vixenish trumpeter, who awakened the workers each +morning, was so closely related to him. But it was no more than he might +have expected, living as he did in a family of more than two hundred +souls. + +"It's--it's hard to believe," he gasped, shaking his head slowly. + +"It certainly is," said the trumpeter. "I don't understand how my own +brother can be so lazy as you are." + +"It's not that I'm lazy--it's the way my mother brought me up," Buster +protested. + +"_Our_ mother, you mean," the trumpeter corrected him. "Maybe you're +right.... After all, you'd only be in everybody's way if you tried to +work--you're so awkward and clumsy. So maybe it's just as well for you to +play the gentleman--though you must find it a dull life." + +"It suits me," said Buster. "But I do wish you could manage to rouse the +workers in the morning without disturbing me." He was bolder, now that he +knew he was talking to his own sister. + +The trumpeter pondered for a little time before replying. + +"It's my duty to trumpet loudly," she said at last. "The summer is none +too long. And there's a great deal of honey to be made before fall.... +Have you thought of stuffing your ears with cotton?" she inquired. + +"Why, no!" said Buster Bumblebee. "That's a fine plan, I'm sure. And I'll +follow it this very night." + +So he thanked his new-found sister and said good-by, for he wanted to +look for some cotton at once. + +"Goodness me!" the trumpeter exclaimed as soon as Buster had left her. +"Here I've wasted a precious quarter of an hour when I should have been +working." Thereupon she began gathering nectar as fast as she could, and +forgot all about Buster Bumblebee and his trouble. + +When he left the trumpeter in the clover field, Buster was feeling quite +cheerful. Although Chirpy Cricket's advice had been of little use to him, +Buster's talk with the trumpeter had ended pleasantly enough. And now he +expected that he would be able to sleep as late as he pleased--with the +help of a bit of cotton. + +Buster flew fast, as he left the fragrant clover behind him, to hunt for +the cotton that he needed. But he soon paused in his rapid flight and sat +down on a sprig of honeysuckle, to think. + +He was puzzled. He hadn't the slightest idea where he could find any +cotton. So what was the use of hurrying, if he didn't know where he was +going? + + + + +V + +MR. CROW TO THE RESCUE + + +As Buster sat on the sprig of wild honeysuckle, wondering where to look +for a bit of cotton with which to stuff his ears, a bird fluttered down +and perched upon the old stone wall to which the honeysuckle clung. The +name of the newcomer was Jasper Jay. And Buster Bumblebee was glad to see +him, because he wanted help from somebody and he didn't care who it was. + +"Where could a person get a small piece of cotton?" he asked Jasper Jay. + +And Jasper--who would gladly have made a lunch of Buster, had he not been +afraid of getting stung--Jasper promptly replied with another question: + +"What do you intend to do with cotton?" He was a very curious fellow, +this Jasper Jay. + +Buster Bumblebee had no objection to explaining everything to him. And +then--and only then--was Jasper willing to tell what he knew. + +"Cotton--" said he--"cotton grows in fields. I know that much. And what's +more, I know it doesn't grow in Pleasant Valley, for I live here the +whole year round and I've never seen any." + +That was bad news for Buster. + +"What do you advise me to do?" he inquired anxiously. + +"Ask my cousin, Mr. Crow," said Jasper Jay instantly. "He's a great +traveller. Spends his winters in the South, _he_ does. And no doubt he +can help you." + +[Illustration: Buster Thanks Old Mr. Crow For His Advice. (_Page 25_)] + +"Where can I find Mr. Crow?" Buster Bumblebee asked. + +"I don't know of any better place to look than the cornfield," Jasper Jay +told him. + +Luckily Buster knew where the cornfield was. So he started off at once to +find Mr. Crow. + +And sure enough! as soon as Buster reached the edge of the cornfield, +there was the old gentleman, sitting on the topmost rail of the fence and +looking as if he had just enjoyed an excellent meal. + +As soon as he saw that Buster Bumblebee wanted to talk with him, old Mr. +Crow was willing enough to listen, for he always liked to know about +other people's affairs. He kept nodding his head with a wise air while +Buster explained to him how he wished to find some cotton, with which to +stuff his ears every night, so that he might not be disturbed when the +trumpeter aroused the household at three or four o'clock each morning. + +"That's a splendid plan," said old Mr. Crow when Buster had finished. "An +excellent plan--but you may as well forget it, because there's no cotton +growing in these parts. Cotton grows in the South, more than a thousand +miles away. Next winter when I go to the South I might be able to find +some for you, and bring it back with me in the spring. But that wouldn't +help you now." + +Buster Bumblebee was quite discouraged. And since he didn't know what to +do, he asked Mr. Crow what he would suggest. + +"Why don't you set back the hands of the family clock?" the old gentleman +asked. "If you make the clock three or four hours slow the trumpeter +won't trumpet until six or seven or eight o'clock. And I'm sure that's +late enough for anybody to get up." + +Buster shook his head mournfully. + +"We haven't any clock at our house," he explained. + +"Then----" said old Mr. Crow, "then, if you want more sleep why don't you +go to bed earlier? If you went to bed three or four hours before sunset +you wouldn't mind getting up at dawn." + +"Hurrah!" Buster shouted. "That's just what I'll do! And I'm certainly +much obliged to you, Mr. Crow, for helping me." + +"Don't mention it," said the old gentleman, looking greatly pleased with +himself. + +"I won't tell anybody," Buster promised. + +"Oh, I didn't mean that, exactly," Mr. Crow told him hastily. "If you +want to inform your friends how clever I am, I have no objection, of +course." + +Then Buster went off, thinking what a kind person old Mr. Crow was. And +that very afternoon, long before sunset, he curled himself up in an +out-of-the-way corner of the house and went to sleep. Everybody was so +busy hurrying in and out in order to finish the day's work that no one +noticed or disturbed him. And when the trumpeter sounded the rising call +the next morning Buster Bumblebee was actually the first one in the house +to open his eyes and jump up and hasten out to get his breakfast. + +All of which only went to prove that old Mr. Crow knew a thing or +two--and maybe even more. + + + + +VI + +JOHNNIE GREEN IS STUNG + + +There had been so much rain early in the summer that even by the middle +of August Farmer Green had not been able to finish his haying. His son +Johnnie was sorry, too--because he had to work in the hot hayfield almost +every day, when he would far rather have gone swimming in the mill-pond, +under the shade of the great willow. + +Sometimes Johnnie rode on the hayrake. And since he liked to drive the +old horse Ebenezer, he didn't object to that part of his duties so much. +What he hated most was pitching hay with a pitchfork. And next to that, +he disliked going to the spring for a jugful of water. + +But those unpleasant tasks were nothing at all compared with what +happened to him one day when he stepped squarely upon the doorway of the +Bumblebee family's house. + +Johnnie's carelessness made the workers angry at once. And several of +them rushed out and stung Johnnie Green severely. + +Then _he_ was angry. And he declared he would "fix them"--as soon as he +could think of a good way to do it. + +And that very afternoon, while he was bringing the heavy jug from the +spring, Johnnie Green thought of a fine plan for punishing the Bumblebee +family. He liked his plan so well that he could hardly wait to try it; +and he went back to the hayfield almost at a run, whereas he usually +sauntered along so slowly that his father often had to speak to him +somewhat sharply. + +But this time Farmer Green could not complain. Johnnie even brought the +jug--and the tin cup too--to the knoll in the meadow where his father and +the hired man were working. And then Farmer Green said: + +"How are your stings now?" + +"Awful!" Johnnie informed him hopefully. + +"Maybe you'd like to stop work for the rest of the day and go swimming," +said Farmer Green, with a wink at the hired man, "unless you're feeling +too miserable," he added. + +"Oh, yes! Oh, no!" cried Johnnie. "My stings aren't too bad for that!" +And he started off at once across the field, taking the jug with him. + +"I'll leave the jug among the brakes in the fence-corner," he called, as +he trotted away. + +Now, Johnnie Green took the jug with him because he needed it. It was +part of his plan for punishing the Bumblebee family. And instead of going +straight to the fence-corner, Johnnie made at once for the Bumblebee +family's front door. As soon as he reached it he poured some of the water +out of the jug--but not all of it. Then he put his ear to the jug's mouth +and listened. And he smiled happily--in spite of his stings--as he heard +the roar from inside it. + +Buster Bumblebee, hurrying home to go to bed--for he was still following +Mr. Crow's plan--Buster noticed Johnnie and wondered what he was doing. +But as soon as he went inside the house he forgot all about Johnnie +Green. And when, a few moments later, there was a terrible sound of +scraping and scratching in the long hall that led to the innermost part +of the house, Buster Bumblebee never once thought to mention to anyone +that he had seen Johnnie in the dooryard. + + + + +VII + +A JUGFUL OF BUMBLEBEES + + +When the workers--as well as Buster Bumblebee--heard the raking, scraping +sound in the hall of their house they all stopped what they were doing +and shrilled "An enemy!" And with one accord they rushed for the front +door. They were terribly angry. + +Not wishing to miss anything that was going to happen, Buster joined the +mob and went sailing out into the open meadow. And there, quite close to +the door, stood the queer object that Buster had noticed together with +Johnnie Green only a minute before. He wondered now what that strange +thing was; for Buster Bumblebee did not know a jug when he saw one. And +neither did the workers, nor any other member of the Bumblebee family. + +"That's the enemy!" cried Buster suddenly, pointing to the jug. "It was +talking out of its mouth right into Johnnie Green's ear when I came +home." + +Sounding a dreadful battle cry, all the workers turned upon the jug and +buzzed so near it that they couldn't help hearing the same roaring from +inside it to which Johnnie Green had listened with so much pleasure. + +"Buster's almost right!" several of the workers shouted. "The enemy has +hidden inside this thing. And we'll have to go in and sting him." + +At that the workers began to pop into the jug, which Johnnie Green had +thoughtfully left uncorked. And Buster Bumblebee, still eager to see +everything, hastened to plunge inside the dim jug along with the rest. + +It was soon not a dim but a dark jug. For the moment the last angry +Bumblebee had disappeared inside it Johnnie Green stole quickly up from +behind a haycock and slipped the cork into the mouth of the jug. + +Johnnie's face wore a grin of joy. Perhaps he did not stop to realize +that he was breaking up a happy home. + +"I've got 'em!" he shouted aloud. And then he shook the jug vigorously, +listening with delight to the sound of the splashing water within. Soon +he set the jug behind the sheltering haycock and sat down beside it to +make further plans. It was Johnnie's intention then to drown everything +on the farm that carried a sting--wasps, hornets, honey bees. He was not +quite sure about mosquitoes, for he thought they might be hard to capture +in great numbers. + +Since he was intending to go swimming, he did not care to waste much more +of the afternoon by staying in the meadow. So he proceeded to empty the +jug. + +It certainly _looked_ as if the Bumblebee family had met with ill +fortune. Several dozen workers--and Buster, too--lay limp and +water-soaked upon the ground, when Johnnie Green hurried away to the +spring to get more water for his father and the hired man, before he went +to the mill-pond. + +But it was not long before the half-drowned Buster and his companions +began to stir slightly. Gradually the sun dried their wings and warmed +their chilled bodies. And one by one they picked themselves up and +scurried into their house. + +They never knew exactly what had happened. But the workers agreed upon +one point. They decided that somehow the whole trouble had been Buster's +fault--though they couldn't explain in just what way. + +Anyhow, after that the workers looked on Buster with more disfavor than +ever. They were forever remarking how lazy and stupid he was. And even +the trumpeter was heard to declare that she was ashamed of him--though he +_was_ her own brother. + + + + +VIII + +BUSTER THE BOASTER + + +As far back as Buster Bumblebee could remember, he had heard about the +Robber Fly. Even the fiercest fighters among the workers spoke his name +with great awe. And from everything Buster could learn, his family had +good reason to fear that dreadful enemy. + +When Buster first left the house to make excursions to the flower garden +and the clover field he had felt quite uneasy. He half-expected that the +Robber Fly would pop out from behind a blossom at any moment and pounce +upon him. For the Robber Fly was a bold, bad villain. And those that were +so unfortunate as to find themselves caught by him and held fast in his +long, spiny feet had only a very slight chance of getting away from him. + +No one of the Bumblebee family knew where the Robber Fly lived. But it +was said that he often lurked on the ground, watching for victims. And +when he spied one he would fly quickly up with a loud buzz and dart upon +the unfortunate. + +He had big, keen eyes which enabled him to see very clearly. And he had +long, narrow wings which bore him through the air with great swiftness. +And he had--worst of all--a sharp, piercing beak which was most frightful +to gaze upon. + +Now, in spite of his name the Robber Fly looked like no fly that was ever +seen in Pleasant Valley. Strange as it may seem, in spite of his cruel +beak, his long wings, and his spiny feet, he looked not a little as if he +might have been a near relation of Buster Bumblebee. Of course, any +member of the Bumblebee family would have known at a glance that he was +not one of them. But probably Johnnie Green--if he had noticed him--would +have thought the Robber Fly some sort of bumblebee. + +Since this monster was known to appear now and then in the neighborhood, +one can easily understand why Buster Bumblebee was a bit timid when he +first began to venture abroad alone. But as time passed, his dread of +meeting the Robber Fly gradually faded. Not only had nobody seen the +Robber for a long while, but some began to say that they thought he must +have met with an accident, or perhaps he had moved to other parts, and +they didn't believe he would ever be heard of again. And Buster himself +began to boast that he wasn't afraid of the Robber Fly and said that he +was sorry that the Robber had gone away before he had had a chance to see +him. + +Buster's mother, the Queen, happened to hear her son make that remark one +day. And she promptly told him that he was a stupid, silly boaster. + +"If you knew what happened to your poor father last fall you would never +want even to hear the Robber Fly's name mentioned again," the Queen +declared, as a shiver--or a shudder--or both--passed up and down her +royal back. + +But Buster Bumblebee, being very young and somewhat stupid as well, said +"Oh, nonsense!" under his breath, so low that his mother, the Queen, +could not hear him. + + + + +IX + +THE ROBBER FLY AT LAST + + +Though Buster's mother, the Queen, did not hear him when he said "Oh, +nonsense!" under his breath, there were others standing near him that +caught the words. And they were quite indignant that anybody should scoff +at the Queen like that. + +They were workers--those that overheard Buster Bumblebee's remark when +his mother as much as told him that he had better beware of the wicked +Robber Fly. They were workers; and they did not approve of the lazy +Buster. + +"Let's teach that young loafer a lesson!" they said to one another (there +were three of them). And straightway they began to scheme and plan how +they should give Buster Bumblebee a thorough fright, in the hope of +making him more respectful to his mother, the Queen. + +At least, that is what the workers said. But, as a matter of fact, each +of them had reasons of her own for wanting to scare Buster. Indeed, there +wasn't a worker in the house that was not disgusted with his laziness. +And if he hadn't been the son of the Queen they would certainly have +driven him out into the wide world long before. + +Of course, Buster had no idea of what was afoot. He continued to tell +everybody how sorry he was that he had never met the Robber Fly, until a +few began to believe that he must be very brave indeed. But they were +those that didn't know him well. As for the workers, there wasn't one in +the Bumblebee household that was deceived by Buster's bold talk. They all +knew him for the coward he was. + +Well, the very next day after Buster's impertinence to his mother a +worker called Peevish Peggy stopped and spoke to him as he sat on a +clover-head. + +"If I were you I wouldn't come near the clover patch," she said. "You +know the Robber Fly often prowls about on the ground. And it would be +easy for him to catch you on a clover-top, you're so fat and clumsy.... +Why don't you dine on the hollyhocks in the flower garden? They are high, +and much safer." + +Buster Bumblebee seemed greatly amused. + +"Ho, ho!" he laughed--as well as "Ha, ha!" And then he said: "It seems to +me that you are the one that ought to buzz around the hollyhocks, since +you are so nervous about the Robber Fly." + +The worker, Peevish Peggy, at once flew into a temper. + +"You'd better look out!" she warned Buster. "Once the Robber Fly pounces +on you you'll be so frightened you can't even squirm." + +"Oh, nonsense!" said Buster. + +The quick-tempered worker, Peevish Peggy, looked slyly over her shoulder +and nodded slightly. + +Buster did not see the form that crept nearer and nearer to him, a little +later. And he was still chuckling to himself when he heard a terrible +humming. Then all at once he felt himself seized and held in a grip like +iron. + +He was sure that the Robber Fly had him at last. And he was too +frightened for anything. + + + + +X + +BUSTER MAKES A SPEECH + + +At first, when he found himself in the grip of what he was sure must be +the Robber Fly, Buster Bumblebee was so alarmed that he could not even +scream. But in a moment or two he found his voice. And he shrieked "Help! +Help!" in a most frantic tone, hoping that some one would come and save +him. + +But nobody came. And Buster expected every instant to feel the cruel beak +of the Robber Fly, when there was a sudden commotion behind his back. +Somebody else cried out now. And Buster knew the voice, too. Yes! Buster +was sure that Peevish Peggy had come to help him. But there was one thing +that puzzled him. Peevish Peggy seemed to be fully as frightened as +Buster himself. At least, her cries sounded as if she were in great +terror. + +Probably she's afraid the Robber Fly has hurt me, Buster thought. And he +reflected that in spite of her sharp tongue Peevish Peggy was more +kind-hearted than he had ever dreamed. + +The next instant Buster felt himself suddenly released. At the same time +something swept him off the clover-top; and he barely managed to save +himself from a bad fall. + +Somewhere he could hear a loud buzz, as of several angry voices. But he +did not care to show himself enough to find out what was happening. For +the time being he was content to stay snugly hidden among the thick +clover leaves. + +[Illustration: Buster Shouted For Everybody to Keep Quiet. (_Page 48_)] + +After a while the uproar ceased. But even then Buster Bumblebee was in no +hurry to leave his shelter. + +When he did at last reach home he found the whole family much upset. +Everybody was talking at once. And in a household of more than two +hundred that meant that the noise was almost deafening. + +Naturally, Buster Bumblebee wanted to know what was the matter. It was a +long time, however, before anyone would--or could--listen to him. But at +last he succeeded in getting the ear of the trumpeter. + +"Haven't you heard the news?" she asked. "The Robber Fly came to the +clover patch to-day. And Peevish Peggy had a very narrow escape. If it +hadn't been for several other workers who happened to be gathering clover +nectar nearby, there's no telling where she would be now." + +"Where is she?" Buster inquired. + +"Resting in bed," the trumpeter explained. (Even Buster wondered how she +could rest with all that racket in the house!) "She's had a bad fright, +poor thing!" the trumpeter added. + +Buster Bumblebee suddenly grew much excited. And he climbed up on a table +and shouted for everybody to be quiet. + +"I don't believe you know about me!" he cried, as soon as the house was +still. "The Robber Fly attacked me. But _I_ don't need to go to bed. I'm +not the least bit nervous." + +Several of the family near him began to titter. + +And the Queen herself stepped forward and commanded Buster to hop down +from the table at once. + +He obeyed promptly. But he was quite puzzled. No one seemed to believe +what he said. And it was a long time before he learned what had actually +happened. At last a spiteful worker informed him that he had never been +in the clutches of the Robber Fly at all. Peevish Peggy and some of her +companions had played a trick on Buster--because of his boasting. She had +seized him when he wasn't looking. And he had screamed so loud that the +Robber Fly--who happened to be near--had heard him. + +Then the Robber Fly had rushed up and seized Peevish Peggy, who had +promptly let go of Buster Bumblebee. + +The worker who told these things to Buster Bumblebee actually laughed in +his face. And Buster was so surprised--and so crestfallen--that he +couldn't say a word for a long time. + +And never again did Buster mention the Robber Fly's name. + + + + +XI + +THE DRONE + + +Yes! Buster Bumblebee was a drone. He never gathered any nectar from the +flowers and brought it home to help swell the family store of honey. He +let the workers of the household do that. And since they never +complained, but seemed to enjoy their drudgery, Buster saw no reason why +he should interfere with the honey-making in any way. + +He was content to live a life of ease and pleasure. And never having to +bestir himself--never having to hurry or worry--he quickly grew into a +somewhat clumsy and blundering young gentleman. And what was still worse, +this handsome young idler soon gained the name of being none too +keen-witted. _Good-natured, but a bit stupid_--that was what the field +and forest folk called Buster Bumblebee. + +But bless you! _He_ never bothered his head with what people said. When +anybody called him a drone he would only laugh. And when some busybody +asked him for pity's sake why didn't he go to work, he would merely grin +and reply that he was a queen's son and that queens' sons never did +anything except eat a plenty and have a good time. + +Well, that must have been an excellent answer, for it seemed to keep +people quiet. And it made some think that perhaps Buster Bumblebee was +not quite so dull as he often appeared. + +Once, indeed, he had thought it would be fun to help with the +honey-making. So he stopped one of the workers when she was on her way +home with a load of nectar. + +"Let me help you carry that home!" Buster said. + +Now, the workers were all a shrewish lot. They were terribly +short-tempered--especially if anybody interfered with their work, which +they loved better than anything else in the world. + +"Don't you come near me!" snapped the worker angrily. "Keep away or I'll +sting you!" she threatened. + +Naturally, a happy, easy-going person like Buster Bumblebee wasn't +looking for trouble of that sort. So he dodged clumsily out of sight +behind a milkweed; and he made up his mind then that that was the last +time he would ever have anything to do with one of those testy +honey-makers. + +Of course it was a bit difficult to avoid them entirely in a family of +two hundred or more, all living together in a medium-sized house. And so +Buster Bumblebee decided at last that he would be far happier in some +place that was not so crowded, and where there was no work going on--and +no workers. + +And so, one fine August day, Buster left the family home, never to set +foot inside it again. But he often passed that way and lingered just +outside the door, to listen to the music and the sound of dancing within. + +That was the thing that he missed most; for, like all his family, he was +fond of music. And he was forever humming to himself as he sipped nectar +from the clover-tops or the flowers in Farmer Green's garden. + +[Illustration: Buster Listened to Mrs. Ladybug's Suggestion. (_Page 56_)] + + + + +XII + +THE CARPENTER BEE + + +After Buster Bumblebee left the old house in the meadow, where Mrs. Field +Mouse had once lived, he had no real home. Like that quarrelsome rascal, +Peter Mink, he would crawl into any good place that he happened to find. +Sometimes Buster chose a hole in a fence-rail, and sometimes a crack in +the side of one of the farm-buildings. He really didn't much care where +he spent the night, provided it was not too far from the flower garden or +the clover field. + +Not being one of the worrying kind, Buster was quite contented with his +lot. And it would never have occurred to him to live in any different +style had it not been for a remark that little Mrs. Ladybug made to him +one day. + +"I should think--" she said--"I should think that the son of a queen +ought to have a house of his own, instead of sleeping--like a +tramp--where night overtakes him." + +Now, Mrs. Ladybug's words did not offend Buster Bumblebee in the least. + +"No doubt you know best," he told her. "But how can I build a house? I've +never worked in all my life. And I don't intend to begin now." + +"Why not get some one to build a house for you?" she asked him. + +"I never thought of that!" he cried. "Whom would you suggest?" + +"I know the very person!" Mrs. Ladybug told him. "He's a Carpenter Bee; +and he lives in the big poplar by the brook. Perhaps you know him. +Johnnie Green calls him Whiteface," she said. "They do say he's a very +skillful workman." + +Buster Bumblebee replied that he had never met the Carpenter, but that he +would go and see him at once. So over to the big poplar he flew. And soon +he was knocking boldly at the door of the Carpenter's house. + +Pretty soon a mild-appearing person, who looked not a little like Buster +himself, stepped through the doorway. He wore a white patch across his +front and his clothes needed brushing sadly, for they showed many marks +of sawdust. + +"Are you the Carpenter?" Buster Bumblebee inquired. + +The mild stranger said he was. + +"How would you like to build a house for me?" Buster asked him. + +The Carpenter seemed greatly surprised at the suggestion. "I don't think +I'd like it very well," he said timidly. + +"Why not?" Buster demanded. + +"Well, I'm busy building an addition to my house," the Carpenter +explained. "And besides, you're a total stranger. I've never seen you +before; and we might quarrel if I did any work for you." + +"Oh, no!" Buster Bumblebee assured him. "You couldn't quarrel with me, +because I'm the most peace-loving person in Pleasant Valley." + +"There!" the Carpenter cried. "I knew as soon as I set eyes on you that +we were bound not to agree.... I've always claimed that there's no +peacefuller person than I am in this whole neighborhood. So here we are, +quarreling already!" + +"Maybe you're right," Buster said then. "I'll agree that you like peace +more than I do. But remember! Next to you there's no one that hates a +fight the way I do--and hates work, too!" + + + + +XIII + +THE CARPENTER'S PROMISE + + +When Buster Bumblebee told Whiteface the Carpenter Bee, that he hated to +work that honest artisan stared at his caller in astonishment. + +"You're a queer one!" he said at last "But there's something about you +that I can't help liking, though it would be hard for me to say just what +it is--so please don't ask me!" + +"Then you'll make me a house, after all?" Buster cried joyfully. + +"I will," the Carpenter promised, "just as soon as I finish the addition +I'm building to my own home." + +"Good!" said Buster. And wishing the Carpenter Bee a hasty +good-afternoon, he flew off to find little Mrs. Ladybug and tell her that +he was going to have a house of his own, just as she had suggested. + +After that the news spread quickly, for Mrs. Ladybug was somewhat of a +gossip--in a pleasant enough way. Being much interested in her neighbors, +she liked to talk about their affairs. And now she told everyone that +Buster Bumblebee was going to have a fine new house, and that the +Carpenter was going to build it for him. + +Naturally, Buster's friends all told him that they were glad to hear of +his good fortune. And whenever anyone mentioned the matter, Buster +promptly invited him to come to a party that he intended to give as soon +as his new home was ready to move into. + +"Mrs. Ladybug tells me that I ought to have a house-warming," Buster +explained. And though some of his neighbors didn't know what he meant by +that, they said "Of course!" and tried to look wise. + +There was only one thing about the whole affair that annoyed Buster: when +people asked him when his new house would be finished he was unable to +tell them. + +"Well, when is the Carpenter going to start building it?" they would ask. +And he could only reply that as soon as the Carpenter completed the +addition to his own house he had promised to begin to build Buster's. + +Now, many people were satisfied with that answer. But there were some +(they were the curious ones) that insisted on knowing exactly when that +would be. And then there was nothing that Buster Bumblebee could do +except to admit that he didn't know. + +"Why don't you find out about it?" asked the most curious person in all +Pleasant Valley--and that, of course, was old Mr. Crow. "If I were you +I'd go to the Carpenter and _insist_ on his telling me." + +So Buster Bumblebee began calling at the Carpenter's house every day. +Some days he even went there two or three times. It must have been +annoying for anybody as busy as the Carpenter to be interrupted so +often--and always for the same reason. But he never once thought of being +angry--though he did wish that Buster would let him work in peace. + +His answer to Buster's question was always the same: "I'm afraid my house +won't be finished to-morrow." + + + + +XIV + +BAD NEWS + + +It is not surprising that the Carpenter's answer failed to satisfy Buster +Bumblebee. + +"I really must know when my house will be ready!" he cried at last. "I've +invited all my friends to a house-warming. And how can I have one unless +I have a house to warm?" + +The Carpenter slowly shook his head. + +"Don't ask me!" he said wearily. "I've enough to trouble me right here at +home without answering any riddles for strangers." + +"I suppose you'll get your house finished sometime," Buster ventured. + +"I hope to," said the Carpenter, "though it certainly won't be to-morrow, +on account of all the interruptions I'm having to-day." + +Now, that honest workman meant his remark to be a hint. But the idea +never occurred to Buster that the Carpenter had _him_ in mind, when he +mentioned interruptions. And Buster went right on talking. + +"I'd suggest that you work nights as well as in the daytime," he said. + +"I'll think about it," the Carpenter promised. "And now," he added, "now +I must go back to my carpentering--if you'll excuse me." + +And before Buster could say another word the Carpenter slipped through +his doorway and vanished. + +"I hope he'll do as I suggested," Buster Bumblebee said to himself, as he +moved aimlessly away from the big poplar where the Carpenter lived. "If I +shouldn't get my house until cold weather comes I don't see how I could +have a house-warming; and then all my friends would be disappointed." + +The more he thought about the matter the more disturbed he became, until +at last (on the following day) he felt that he simply _must_ go back and +speak to the Carpenter again. + +Buster noticed, as he drew near to the Carpenter's house once more, that +there was a crowd in the Carpenter's dooryard. Everybody looked so +sorrowful that Buster was sure something dreadful had happened. + +"What's the matter?" he asked little Mrs. Ladybug, who was wiping her +eyes with a lace pocket-handkerchief. + +"It's the Carpenter," she answered, as soon as she could speak. "He's +disappeared. And now we've just heard what's become of him. Johnnie Green +caught him yesterday and has made him a prisoner!" + +That was bad news indeed--for Buster Bumblebee. He was so sorry that he +swallowed hard three or four times before he could say a word. And then +he began to groan. + +"This is terrible!" he moaned at last. And all the Carpenter's neighbors +gathered around him and said what a kind-hearted young gentleman he was, +but that it was no more than you might expect of a queen's son. + +"The Carpenter must have been a dear friend of yours," quavered old Daddy +Longlegs, tottering up to Buster and peering into his face. + +"Oh, no!" said Buster Bumblebee. "But he promised to build a house for me +as soon as he had finished working on his own. So his being a prisoner is +pretty hard on me. For I've invited all my friends to a house-warming and +I don't know what to do." + + + + +XV + +THE PRISONER + + +Buster Bumblebee did not stay long in the dooryard of the missing +Carpenter. Saying a mournful good-by to the sad company, he flew away +toward Farmer Green's house. It was there that the Carpenter was a +prisoner. And Buster could only hope that he might find some way of +setting the woodworker free. + +Luckily Buster Bumblebee did not have to look long for what he was +seeking. On the porch of the farmhouse he soon discovered a honey box, +with glass sides. And whom should he see inside it, sitting on a little +heap of wild rose leaves and looking forlorn and unhappy--whom should +Buster see but the Carpenter. + +Buster crowded close against the glass and began to call so loud that the +Carpenter couldn't help hearing him. And then the poor fellow came and +stood on the other side of the glass barrier, as near Buster as he could +get. + +"Why don't you come out?" Buster asked. + +"How can I?" said the Carpenter. "Don't you see that I'm a prisoner?" + +"Yes! But why don't you cut your way out?" Buster Bumblebee asked him. + +"Well, I've tried," the Carpenter confessed. "But this glass is so hard +that I can't even dent it." + +"But you're a woodworker--not a glass-worker!" exclaimed Buster +Bumblebee. "And if you're as skillful as people say you are, you ought to +be able to bore a hole through one of the wooden ends of your prison." + +At that suggestion the Carpenter looked decidedly happier. + +"That's so!" he exclaimed. "I wish I had thought of that before." + +Of course it was Buster that thought of the plan, then; but he didn't say +so to the Carpenter. Instead, Buster shouted through the glass: + +"Get to work at once! And I'll wait for you." + +So the Carpenter began to cut away at an end of the honey box. But +unluckily for him, he had hardly begun his task when Johnnie Green came +dancing out upon the porch, followed by two strange boys. + +"Here he is!" cried Johnnie, kneeling beside the Carpenter's prison. "See +him! Do you know what he is?" + +The two strange boys did not wear overalls, like Johnnie Green. But they +did not seem to mind that. They knelt right down beside him in their +spick-and-span velvet suits and stared curiously at the Carpenter. + +"He's a bumblebee!" one of them exclaimed. And the other echoed +immediately, "He's a bumblebee!" Being twins, and looking just alike, +they always tried to do and say the same things. + +Johnnie Green did not tell them their mistake. With an odd smile he slid +aside one of the glass doors of the Carpenter's prison and picked the +frightened captive up with his fingers. + +"Oh!" cried the two guests. "Won't he sting you?" + +"Naw!" said Johnnie Green scornfully. "He won't sting me. He knows me." + +For a few minutes the two city boys--for that is what they were--for a +few minutes they watched Johnnie Green expectantly. They seemed to be +waiting for something. And they were. They were waiting for Johnnie Green +to be stung. + +But nothing of the sort happened. And soon one of them said: + +"I wish I had a pet bumblebee." + +"So do I!" said the other twin. + +"Do you?" asked Johnnie Green. "Well,--I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll +give you each a honey box. And maybe you can catch some bumblebees, if +you want to." + +Of course, the twins were delighted. And Johnnie Green appeared pleased +too. Perhaps he should have told his little friends that his pet was not +a bumblebee at all--but a carpenter bee--and that carpenter bees never +sting people. + +But Johnnie Green did not always do just exactly as he ought to have +done. + + + + +XVI + +THE TWINS IN THE CLOVER PATCH + + +The twins--Johnnie Green's guests--each with a honey box in his hand, +began at once to hunt for bumblebees. And if Buster Bumblebee had been +wiser he would have flown away at once. + +But he had no idea that he would have any trouble dodging a +boy--especially a city boy. So he lingered on the porch to see what +happened. As soon as Johnnie Green should put the Carpenter back in his +prison Buster intended to urge him once more to cut his way through the +wood--and to freedom. + +Soon Buster had his chance. Again he crowded close to the glass door of +the Carpenter's cage. And then Johnnie Green's sharp eyes spied him. + +"There's one!" said Johnnie Green to one of the twins. And at that the +eager youngster pounced quickly on Buster, picked him up gingerly, and +popped him quickly into a prison exactly like the one that held the +Carpenter. + +"He didn't sting me!" cried Buster's captor proudly, while Johnnie Green +stared at him in astonishment and--it must be confessed--with some +disappointment, too. + +Now, Johnnie knew a good many things about the field and forest folk in +Pleasant Valley. He knew that the Carpenter (or Whiteface, as Johnnie +called him) couldn't sting anybody. But he had always supposed that all +bumblebees stung fiercely. And that was where he was mistaken. It was +true that Buster's mother, the Queen, could sting when she wanted to. And +all those hot-tempered workers who lived with her had stings just as hot +as their tempers. But Buster and his brothers (for he had brothers) were +not armed with such weapons. + +Naturally, the other twin was now more eager than ever to capture a +bumblebee of his own. And since Johnnie did not want to disappoint a +guest he soon suggested that they go over to the clover patch. + +"There's a lot of bumblebees over there, always," said Johnnie Green +hopefully. + +So Buster had a free ride to the clover field; for his twin insisted on +taking his new pet right along with him. + +"Besides, I may want to catch some more like him," he explained. + +Looking out through the glass sides of his prison, which his captor held +tightly in one hand, Buster Bumblebee saw many of his mother's workers +hovering about the clover-tops, gathering nectar for the honeycomb at +home. + +The twins saw the workers, too. They were delighted. And so was Johnnie +Green. + +"Take all the bumblebees you want!" said Johnnie. "My father won't care." + +Both twins grabbed at the same time. They both shrieked at the same time, +too--for each of them felt a sharp pain, as if a red-hot needle had been +run into his finger. And Buster Bumblebee felt himself falling. Then +followed a crash of splintering glass. And in another moment Buster was +hurrying away across the clover field. + +When he was stung by the worker he had seized, Buster's twin had dropped +the honey box. And it had fallen squarely upon a rock and broken. + +If Buster had not been in such haste to escape he would have heard still +another shout. For the news spread like wildfire among the workers--the +news that an army of boys had attacked them. And a terrible-tempered +relation of Buster's known as Peppery Polly darted at Johnnie Green and +buried her sting deep in the back of that young gentleman's sun-browned +neck. + +As for the Carpenter, everybody quite forgot about him. Johnnie and the +twins were too busy putting mud poultices on their wounds, to ease their +aches and pains, to think of the prisoner they had left on the farmhouse +porch. It was not until the next day that Johnnie Green remembered his +new pet. And when he went to see him then the honey box was empty. The +Carpenter had cut a tunnel through the wall of his prison. + +Later the Carpenter sent a message to Buster, by little Mrs. Ladybug. + +"The Carpenter has lost so much time," she told Buster, "that he thinks +he will never be able to finish the addition to his house. So he says +you'll have to get somebody else to build your new home for you." + +At first Buster was disappointed. But he soon recovered his good spirits. + +"After all, it's just as well," he remarked cheerfully. "I know where +there's a fine new house right in the clover patch. And I'll move into it +at once." + +Of course he meant the honey box which the boy had dropped upon the rock +and forgotten. So Buster had his new home without the help of the +Carpenter. And all his friends agreed that the house-warming he gave was +the most successful that ever was known in those parts. It took place on +the hottest day of the summer. And Buster's house was so warm that three +of his guests almost had sunstrokes--and had to be helped home. + + + + +XVII + +BUSTER LEARNS OF THE RAISING BEE + + +"Yes!" said Jimmy Rabbit. "I hear that there's going to be a raising bee +at Farmer Green's place to-morrow. And if I were you I should certainly +want to be there." + +Being very good-natured, Jimmy Rabbit was always ready to talk to anybody +he happened to meet, no matter how small the other person might be. And +now, while he was nibbling at Farmer Green's lettuce, he had chanced to +glance up and spy Buster Bumblebee, who was buzzing about the tall +hollyhocks, which made a sort of hedge where the flower and the vegetable +garden met. + +"A raising bee!" Buster Bumblebee exclaimed, when he heard Jimmy Rabbit's +bit of news. "I've never in my life seen that kind of bee--nor heard of +it, either.... It must be a great curiosity." + +"Yes!" said Jimmy Rabbit. "And you ought not to miss seeing this one. I'd +like to go over to the farmhouse to-morrow myself--if I had the time." + +"Well, I'm going, anyhow," Buster declared. "And when next I see you I'll +tell you all about this strange bee. For all we know now it may be +nothing but a honey bee that has changed his name." + +Jimmy Rabbit only smiled at his small friend. He said nothing at +all--though he looked uncommonly wise. + +"What time to-morrow can I get a peep at this 'raising bee,' as he calls +himself?" Buster Bumblebee inquired. + +"You had better plan to reach the farmyard at nine o'clock sharp," Jimmy +Rabbit advised him. + +"How shall I know where to look?" Buster asked him. + +"Oh! you'll have no trouble finding the raising bee," Jimmy replied. +"Just follow the crowd! All of Farmer Green's friends for miles around +will be there." + +"Is that so?" said Buster. "What are they coming for?" + +"Why, they've heard about the raising bee, too," Jimmy told him. "Farmer +Green has invited everybody to come to his house. And there'll be plenty +to eat for everyone. No doubt they'll have a dance, too, in the +afternoon--just before milking time. Of course they'll all have to go +home in time to milk the cows," Jimmy explained. + +"I suppose so," Buster remarked. "And I must say I'm glad that I have no +cows, for it has always seemed to me that they are only a nuisance." + +Jimmy Rabbit agreed heartily in that opinion. + +"Yes!" Buster Bumblebee continued. "Farmer Green has many strange ways. +Now, what's the sense of having a vegetable garden? And yet I understand +that he always plants one over there where you're sitting." + +Jimmy Rabbit shook his head. + +"I can't quite agree with you," he said quickly, "though I've always +claimed that a flower garden is just a waste of time." + +"What a strange notion!" cried Buster Bumblebee. "To my way of thinking, +this flower garden is the best thing Farmer Green has--unless it's the +clover patch." + +Now, some people would have flown into a temper at once on being disputed +like that. But Jimmy Rabbit was never known to be angry. + +"Billy Woodchuck would agree with you about the clover," he said with a +chuckle. "You know he's very fond of clover-tops." + +"He's a sensible chap," Buster Bumblebee declared. "And speaking of +clover makes me so hungry for some that I'm going to the clover patch +this very minute." + +So Buster darted away, calling out as he went that he would meet Jimmy at +the hollyhock hedge on the next morning but one. + +"I'll tell you all about the raising bee," he promised once more. + +And Jimmy Rabbit laughed so heartily that he almost choked over a choice +lettuce leaf. + + + + +XVIII + +FOLLOWING THE CROWD + + +Well, the next day Buster Bumblebee arrived at Farmer Green's place just +as the cuckoo clock in the kitchen was striking nine. And he knew at once +that Jimmy Rabbit must have told him the truth about the raising bee, for +the farmyard was crowded with wagons and carryalls and buggies and gigs. +There were people everywhere--so many that Buster thought all the world +must be there. And he began to look about him carefully. + +But nowhere could he find what he had come to see. So he asked a +ruffianly looking wasp where the raising bee was. But the wasp, who was +hurrying by, merely glanced at Buster and said, with a frown: + +"Follow the crowd!" + +Buster remembered then that that was exactly what Jimmy Rabbit had told +him to do. And now, as he looked all around, he noticed that Farmer Green +was already leading the way to a pile of lumber near the old cow-barn. +Everybody was following him. And a good many small boys began to shout to +nobody in particular, "Hurrah! hurrah! She's going up!" + +Buster Bumblebee hastened to overtake the crowd. + +"They must mean the raising bee," he said to himself. "And from what +those boys are saying I gather that it's a _lady_ raising bee and she's +going to fly for the company." + +In his eagerness to see everything that was happening, Buster buzzed very +close to a good many people. And though most of them paid little heed to +him, there was one boy who slapped at him with his hat--and all but hit +him, too. + +After that Buster was more careful. He flew higher. And at last he found +a fine seat on a tall sunflower, from which he could view every move that +was made. + +Farmer Green's guests--that is, the _men_, for the women had not left the +house--the guests all took off their coats and began to arrange +themselves around some huge timbers that lay upon the ground. And a great +shouting arose. Everybody seemed to be talking at once. And the small +boys were everywhere, chasing one another about and getting in everyone's +way. + +Then all was quiet for a few minutes while Farmer Green said something to +the men. And as soon as he had stopped talking some of the men began to +lift a sort of framework of wood into the air. When they had raised it +exactly as Farmer Green wanted it other men began to pound about the foot +of it with hammers. But Buster Bumblebee--though he watched everything +very closely--hadn't the slightest idea what they were doing. + +"Hi, there!" he called to old dog Spot. "Where's the raising bee?" + +Old Spot promptly looked bewildered. + +"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied. "I don't know +anything about any bee. And I wish you wouldn't trouble me with your +silly questions. These men are helping us to build our new barn; and I'm +too busy to talk to anyone." + +Buster Bumblebee was certainly disappointed. And he soon decided that +Jimmy Rabbit must have been mistaken. It wasn't the raising bee, after +all, that had brought all the neighbors together there. They had come to +help Farmer Green with his new barn! Old dog Spot had said so. And he +ought to know, if anyone did. + + + + +XIX + +THE FEAST AT FARMER GREEN'S + + +In spite of his disappointment at not seeing the raising bee (that new +kind of bee that Jimmy Rabbit had told him about) Buster Bumblebee +decided that he would stay at Farmer Green's place and watch the men put +up the frame of the new barn. He remembered that Jimmy had said there +would be things to eat afterwards--and maybe a dance, besides. + +Although the barn was a big one there were so many people to help that it +was hardly later than midday when the great timbers were all in place. +And then the men caught up their coats and strolled back to the dooryard. +The small boys had all hurried ahead of them as soon as they noticed that +the women and girls were already setting generous dishes of goodies upon +long tables beneath the shade of the maple trees in front of the +farmhouse. + +And when he saw what was going on Buster Bumblebee hastened to the maple +grove too. He intended to taste of every kind of food that was there, in +the hope of finding some dainty that he would like. + +So for some time he busied himself buzzing up and down the long table, +alighting on heaps of doughnuts and cookies, pies, cakes, bread and +butter, baked beans and ever so many other good things. + +But Buster Bumblebee did not find anything that really pleased him until +he paused at a fat sugar-bowl. Since the sugar was sweet he couldn't help +liking that, though it did seem somewhat tasteless to him after his +feasts among the clover-tops. + +"This is the only food here that's worth eating," he remarked to himself, +"though perhaps the cake would not be bad, once a person learned to like +it." + +Luckily Buster had time to make a hearty meal off the sugar before a +red-cheeked girl shooed him away. And then Farmer Green and all his +friends sat down at the long tables. + +How they did eat! They began with pie. And Buster Bumblebee, flying +lazily above their heads, noticed with amazement the enormous pieces that +disappeared into the mouths of men, women and children. One mouthful such +as they took would have fed him at least a month. And there was one boy +called Bill who stowed away enough each time his fork traveled to his +mouth to nourish Buster Bumblebee a whole summer. + +"That boy is making a pig of himself!" Buster Bumblebee exclaimed, right +out loud. But since nobody understood what he said, no one paid any +attention to his remark. "You'll be ill, if you're not careful," Buster +buzzed right in the greedy boy's ear. + +But the youngster known as Bill only moved his head slightly. And to +Buster's alarm he continued to bolt huge mouthfuls of everything within +his reach. + +It was really a terrible sight. Buster Bumblebee was so fascinated by it +that he sat right down on a low-hanging maple bough and kept his eyes +fixed on that marvellous boy. + +Before the feast came to an end the boy Bill's face underwent an odd +change. In the beginning it had worn a wide smile. But at last Buster saw +a look of pain steal over Bill's somewhat besmeared features. And beneath +his coating of tan he seemed to have grown pale. + +Before long Buster was sure he heard a groan, though no one of the +merrymakers paid the slightest heed to it. Everyone was too busy eating +and talking with his neighbors to notice Bill's distress. + +Then came another groan--and another--and another--and another, until +finally greedy Bill clapped both his hands across the front of his jacket +and let out a terrific roar. + +"Ah!" said Buster Bumblebee. "You have a stomachache, young man. And it's +no wonder." + + + + +XX + +BUSTER AND THE FIDDLERS + + +There was a great rattling of knives and forks dropped suddenly upon +plates and a clatter of cups set hastily upon saucers. For when the boy +with the stomachache screamed aloud in his agony all of Farmer Green's +guests turned towards him to see what was the matter. + +Buster Bumblebee saw a large woman dressed in bright red rush up to the +boy Bill and lead him away towards the farmhouse, quite doubled up with +pain. + +"That's his mother!" Buster decided. "And it's lucky for him that she's +here." + +Everybody else seemed to think likewise. And no one appeared much +worried. At least, all the company fell upon the feast once more. And in +a surprisingly short time everything but the dishes had vanished. + +Still the people lingered there and talked--or the grown-ups did, anyhow +(of course the boys and girls didn't want to sit at a table after the +good things had all been eaten off it). And Buster Bumblebee had just +made up his mind that the whole affair was very dull! Yes! he had begun +to wish he had not wasted his time at Farmer Green's party, when suddenly +he heard something that sent a tingle all through him. + +It was a most delightful sound. And noticing that the people were leaving +the scene of the banquet, Buster again recalled Jimmy Rabbit's advice to +"follow the crowd." So he found himself shortly in the carriage-house, +from which everything on wheels had been run outside into the farmyard. + +At one side of the great square room sat three men, each holding a queer +wooden object, upon which he sawed busily without appearing to cut +anything. And Buster soon learned that the bewitching sound came from the +sawing. + +"How do you like the music?" said a voice in Buster's ear. He turned +quickly. And he saw then that old dog Spot had followed the crowd too and +was sitting in the doorway, where everyone had to walk around him. He +seemed to be enjoying himself. And he kept thumping the floor with his +tail as if he were trying to keep time with the tune. + +"The music is beautiful," Buster Bumblebee said in reply to Spot's +question. "But there's something I don't quite understand. I've seen men +sawing wood before, but they made no such sound as this." + +Old dog Spot couldn't help smiling the least bit. + +"Why, those men aren't sawing wood. They're _fiddling_," he explained; +"three fiddlers fiddling upon fiddles.... There's going to be a dance, +you know," old dog Spot continued. "And of course nobody cares to dance +without music." + +"Oh, certainly not!" Buster Bumblebee agreed. And he began to be glad he +had come to the farmyard, after all. You see, he was fond of music and +dancing. And he thought the music played by the three fiddlers was too +wonderful for words. + +Soon the floor was crowded with merry people who bowed and scraped to one +another and danced breakdowns and cut pigeon-wings and other capers, +while Buster Bumblebee flitted gaily about just above their bobbing +heads, trying his best to keep time to the music and wishing that he had +brought some of his friends along with him to Farmer Green's party. + +As for the raising bee, Buster had completely forgotten it. He was having +so much fun at the dance that the real reason for his coming to Farmer +Green's place had quite slipped out of his mind. + + + + +XXI + +THE BUMBLEBEE IN THE PUMPKIN + + +Of course the dancers at Farmer Green's party had to stop now and then to +get their breath. And the fiddlers, too, had to pause in order to rest. +That is, two of them found it necessary to lay their fiddles aside once +in a while. And it was no wonder; for they had each eaten a whole custard +pie. + +But the third fiddler was different. He was a man after Buster +Bumblebee's own heart. He seemed to love to make music and never tired of +coaxing the jolliest tunes out of his old fiddle that anybody could hope +to hear. _He_ only laughed when his fellow fiddlers lay back in their +chairs and mopped their red faces. And just to keep the company in good +spirits--and because he couldn't help it--this frolicsome fiddler would +start right ahead and play something that was sure to set a body's feet +a-going and make him feel so happy that he would want to shout right +out--good and loud. + +Whenever this merry musician played all alone like that Buster Bumblebee +stayed close by him in order to hear better. And so it was that Buster at +last met with a surprise. He was bobbing about with a great deal of +pleasure to the strains of a lively tune when he heard something that +made him settle quickly upon a beam above the jolly fiddler's head. + +He wanted to sit still and listen. (Somehow he always had to buzz more or +less when he was flying.) Yes! he wanted to listen closely because he was +almost certain that he heard the buzzing of a strange bee. And the sound +seemed to come right out of the fiddle! + +From his seat on the beam Buster Bumblebee looked down at the fiddle, +upon which the fiddler was scraping away at a great rate; and he noticed +then that there were two openings in it through which a bee might crawl +with the greatest ease. + +"That's it!" Buster Bumblebee shouted right out loud. "The bee's inside +the fiddle.... I don't believe the fiddler knows it!" he chuckled. + +And then another idea came into Buster's head. He wondered if that bee +was not the raising bee, which he had gone to so much trouble to see and +which he had almost given up finding. + +Then, happening to glance about him, Buster noticed that many of the +people in the place were smiling at one another and nodding their heads +wisely, as if to say: "There's the bee! Do you hear him buzz?" + +And old dog Spot, who still sat in the doorway, seemed to be smiling, +too. Anyhow, his jaws were open so wide that his tongue was hanging out +of his mouth. + +Feeling very wise himself, Buster Bumblebee bustled over to the doorway +and said to old Spot: + +"Do you hear that bee? He's inside the fiddle!" + +Then old Spot actually laughed aloud. + +"You're mistaken," he replied. "That's the bumblebee in the pumpkin." + +"Bumblebee!" Buster cried. "Pardon me--but you are mistaken yourself. +That's no bumblebee. No member of my family ever buzzed like that.... It +must be a raising bee." + +"Perhaps you know best," said old Spot. "But the people here all say it's +a bumblebee--in a pumpkin." + +"What pumpkin?" Buster wanted to know. + +"Well, that one--I suppose," old dog Spot told him, cocking an eye and an +ear towards a big yellow pumpkin, which someone had set on a wide shelf +on the wall. + +Buster Bumblebee looked at the pumpkin. And then he darted straight to +it. If there was a bee of any kind inside it, making that strange +buzzing, he intended to have a good look at him. + + + + +XXII + +SOMEONE'S MISTAKE + + +Though he alighted right on top of the pumpkin, which stood on the wide +shelf in Farmer Green's carriage-house, Buster Bumblebee thought that the +strange buzzing sound had grown fainter. He was sure that he had heard it +more plainly when he was nearer the merry fiddler. + +There was a gouge in the side of the fat pumpkin, into which he peered +carefully. He even crawled into the small cavity himself. But there was +nothing there. And he decided, after thinking deeply for some time, that +there could not possibly be a bee inside the pumpkin. + +As soon as he had made up his mind on that point Buster Bumblebee +blustered back to old dog Spot once more. + +"You're certainly wrong!" he exclaimed. "There's no bumblebee--nor any +other sort of bee--anywhere near the pumpkin." + +"There was one there only a moment ago," old Spot remarked with a sly +smile. + +"I didn't see him," said Buster Bumblebee, looking much puzzled. + +"Well, _I_ did," old Spot replied. "And that proves that I'm right." + +Buster Bumblebee could think of no good retort to make at that moment. +And since the odd buzzing had stopped, and all three fiddlers were tuning +up for more dance music, in his excitement Buster forgot all about the +raising bee again, the bumblebee in the pumpkin, and even his dispute +with old dog Spot. + +So the dance went on. And at last, late in the afternoon, the people +suddenly remembered that they had to go home to milk the cows. Then the +fiddlers put away their fiddles; for the dance had come to an end. And +Buster Bumblebee was extremely sorry that it was so. + +Now, Jimmy Rabbit had agreed to meet Buster at the hollyhock hedge +between the flower and the vegetable garden, on the morning following the +great gathering of Farmer Green's friends. At least, that was what Buster +Bumblebee thought. + +Unfortunately, however, the matter had slipped entirely from Jimmy +Rabbit's mind. And although Buster went to the meeting-place each +morning, he failed to find his long-eared friend there. + +Luckily it was a pleasant spot in which to wait. So each day Buster +breakfasted upon the flowers. And if it hadn't been for just one thing he +wouldn't have cared much whether Jimmy Rabbit ever came back to meet him +or not. But Buster did want to tell Jimmy Rabbit that he had been +mistaken about the raising bee. Jimmy Rabbit knew so much--he was always +explaining things to people with such a knowing air--that Buster +Bumblebee thought it would do Jimmy a world of good to understand that +for once he was wrong. + +If Buster had only visited the garden earlier in the morning he would +have found Jimmy Rabbit easily enough. But Buster did not like to go +abroad much until the sun had had a chance to dry the dew, for it was +hard for him to fly when his wings were wet. + +On the other hand, Jimmy Rabbit usually went to the garden at dawn, +because he had an idea that lettuce was crisper and tasted better while +the cool dew still clung to it. But at last there came a morning when +Jimmy was so late and Buster was so early in reaching the garden that +their breakfast hours came at the same time. + + + + +XXIII + +MAKING GAME OF OLD DOG SPOT + + +"Where have you been keeping yourself?" Buster Bumblebee cried, the +moment he caught sight of Jimmy Rabbit's ears sticking up from behind a +head of Farmer Green's lettuce. "It's quite plain that you forgot to meet +me, so I might tell you about the raising bee." + +At that Jimmy Rabbit promptly replied that he had come there each +morning. + +"Anyhow," he said, "you promised to meet me. And since you haven't met me +until now it must be your fault, for you certainly haven't done as you +agreed." + +Buster Bumblebee looked puzzled. He was sure that the fault had not been +his. But his wits were not so nimble as Jimmy Rabbit's. And he could +think of no answer at all. + +"Well, what do you know about the raising bee?" Jimmy asked him with an +encouraging smile. + +"You were mistaken about that," Buster told him eagerly. "There wasn't +any raising bee. Farmer Green's neighbors for miles around came to help +him put up the frame of his new barn. And afterwards they enjoyed a feast +under the trees--and a dance." + +Jimmy Rabbit began to shake in a very strange manner. + +"Ho! ho!" he cried in a jolly voice. "You are the one that's +mistaken--and not I! You saw a raising bee and didn't know it! Farmer +Green's friends _raised_ the timbers for the barn. And that's why it's +called a _raising_ bee. Any helpful, neighborly gathering like that is +known as a _bee_--though you may not be aware of that fact." + +Buster Bumblebee stared open-mouthed. He had never suspected such a +thing. But Jimmy Rabbit said it was so. And there was nothing to do but +believe him. + +"So they had something to eat--and a dance too, eh?" said Jimmy Rabbit +pleasantly. + +"Yes," said Buster, "and there was a bumblebee in a pumpkin, though I +couldn't see him. But old dog Spot said he did. And I suppose I was +mistaken, for I thought he was inside a fiddle." + +And now Jimmy Rabbit was laughing again, holding his sides and shaking so +hard that it seemed as if his ears would fall off if he didn't stop soon. + +"No, you were not mistaken at all!" he cried, as soon as he could speak +again. "That's an old, old tune. My grandfather has hummed it to me many +a time. He used to say that there never was another tune just like it." + +"What tune?" Buster Bumblebee asked him. "I must say I don't know what +you're talking about." + +"Why, _The Bumblebee in the Pumpkin_!" Jimmy Rabbit informed him. "That's +the name of a tune. Every good fiddler knows it. And since the buzzing +sound comes out of the fiddle, the bumblebee must be inside it, of +course." + +For a moment Buster looked almost peevish. He had intended to take Jimmy +Rabbit down a peg by telling him he had been mistaken. And here was Jimmy +Rabbit, explaining every strange thing, just as he always did! It was +most annoying--so Buster thought. But all at once a comforting idea +popped into his head. + +"Old dog Spot was wrong, wasn't he?" Buster cried. + +"He certainly was," Jimmy Rabbit replied. + +"Ha! ha!" laughed Buster Bumblebee. "Isn't it odd how stupid some people +are?" + +"It certainly is!" said Jimmy Rabbit. And for some unknown reason he +laughed harder than ever before. + +But Buster Bumblebee did not mind that in the least. He thought that +Jimmy Rabbit was making game of old dog Spot. + + THE END + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +SLEEPY-TIME TALES +(Trademark Registered.) +By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY +AUTHOR OF THE +TUCK-ME-IN TALES and SLUMBER-TIME TALES +Colored Wrapper and Text Illustrations Drawn by HARRY L. SMITH + +This series of animal stories for children from three to eight years, +tells of the adventures of the four-footed creatures of our American +woods and fields in an amusing way, which delights small two-footed human +beings. + +THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR +THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL +THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX +THE TALE OF FATTY COON +THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK +THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT +THE TALE OF PETER MINK +THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK +THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER +THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT +THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG +THE TALE OF DICKIE DEER MOUSE +THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE +THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER +THE TALE OF MAJOR MONKEY +THE TALE OF GRUMPY WEASEL +THE TALE OF GRANDFATHER MOLE +THE TALE OF MASTER MEADOW MOUSE + +Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York. + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +TUCK-ME-IN TALES +(Trademark Registered.) +By ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY +AUTHOR OF THE +SLEEPY-TIME TALES and SLUMBER-TIME TALES +Colored Wrapper and Text Illustrations Drawn by HARRY L. SMITH + +A delightful and unusual series of bird and insect stories for boys and +girls from three to eight years old, or thereabouts. + +THE TALE OF JOLLY ROBIN + +Jolly Robin spreads happiness everywhere with his merry song. + +THE TALE OF OLD MR. CROW + +A wise bird was Mr. Crow. He'd laugh when any one tried to catch him. + +THE TALE OF SOLOMON OWL + +Solomon Owl looked so solemn that many people thought he knew everything. + +THE TALE OF JASPER JAY + +Jasper Jay was very mischievous. But many of his neighbors liked him. + +THE TALE OF RUSTY WREN + +Rusty Wren fought bravely to keep all strangers out of his house. + +THE TALE OF DADDY LONG-LEGS + +Daddy Long-Legs could point in all directions at once--with his different +legs. + +THE TALE OF KIDDIE KATYDID + +He was a musical person and chanted all night during the autumn. + +THE TALE OF BETSY BUTTERFLY + +Betsy spent most of her time among the flowers. + +THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE + +Buster was clumsy and blundering, but was known far and wide. + +THE TALE OF FREDDIE FIREFLY + +Freddie had great sport dancing in the meadow and flashing his light. + +THE TALE OF BOBBY BOBOLINK + +Bobby had a wonderful voice and loved to sing. + +THE TALE OF CHIRPY CRICKET + +Chirpy loved to stroll about after dark and "chirp." + +THE TALE OF MRS. LADYBUG + +Mrs. Ladybug loved to find out what her neighbors were doing and to give +them advice. + +Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York. + +-------------------------------------------------------------------------- + +Transcriber's Notes + +1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards. +2. Frontispiece illustration relocated to after title page. +3. Lines printed out of order in published text have been corrected: + page 68, lines 4 and 5 as in original: + friends to a house-warming and I don't + hard on me. For I've invited all my + page 112, lines 19 and 20 as in original: + You saw a raising bee and didn't know it! + are the one that's mistaken--and not I! + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tale of Buster Bumblebee, by +Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF BUSTER BUMBLEBEE *** + +***** This file should be named 18662.txt or 18662.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/8/6/6/18662/ + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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