"Oh! let's forget all that stuff about white-sheeted things that walk in the middle of the night!" exclaimed Landy Smith, "and pick up a more cheerful subject. Now just yesterday I chanced to be reading an account that told how three scouts in this very state made a study of hunting for the hives of wild honey bees up in the hollow limbs of trees in the woods. Elmer, do you think we could run across a hive filled with delicious honeycombs around here?"
"Whee! you make my mouth water just to hear you talk about it," Lil Artha arose to say, "and if so be any of you make the try for a hive just count me in, will you?"
"You bet we will," Landy hastened to assure him, "and right now consider yourself appointed commissioner-in-chief, whose principal duty will be to climb the honey tree, after we locate the same, and cause the warm-footed little innocents to vacate, so that we can gather in a store of the nectar. Wow! I'm going right away to see if I can't find the tree. Who'll be my backer? Don't all speak at once!"
Lil Artha and Ted proved to be the most eager for the adventure. Upon making inquiries it was found that Landy had read all about how to locate a bee tree, if by good luck any such happened to be in the neighborhood, and was ready to show his chums how the thing ought to be done.
His talk concerning the subject proved to be so interesting that when a start was made he had gained another convert, being Ty Collins.
"I rather think I'd like to see how that thing's done, myself," this worthy admitted, "so with your permission, Landy, I'll tag along, and if you need any help in carrying the stock of honeycomb home count on me. Right now I feel like I could tackle a few big wedges myself, and enjoy the same."
"All right, come along with us, Ty," Landy told him, cheerfully; "but I'd feel a whole lot easier in my mind if you'd take off that red sweater, and wear something else."
"What for?" demanded Ty, who could be pretty stubborn when he chose. "This is going to be a bee hunt, not a bull fight, that I know of. Why should you object to me going warmly clad, I'd like to know?"
"Oh! well," replied Landy with a grin that told he had only been drawing the other on for a purpose; "there might be an old king bee that had a detestation for red, just the same as a bull does, and he'd make it so warm for us we'd have to get out of the woods in a hurry."
"Rats!" the other shot back at him, "bees don't bother about what they see; I've been told by an old bee man that it's sounds they get mad at. And then there ain't such a thing as a king bee anyhow—queens, drones and workers make up a colony. Oh! I ain't quite such a ninny as some people think. So I guess this beautiful red sweater goes along."