“What a glorious jungle this is!” he cried. “I am glad I followed the advice of the owl prophet, for no squirrel has ever before been so fortunate. The ground is covered with pine cones, the seeds of which are delicious. Across the way is a large quantity of beech-nuts, and all around me are blackberry bushes. There is nothing else so delicious as dried blackberries.”
In the midst of his joy, the queen bee that he had rescued from the brook lit upon a purple crow-foot growing by the stump, and cried out:
“Good morning, my four-legged friend. You are the squirrel that saved my life.”
“I am glad to see you again, your majesty,” said Tiny with his polite bow. “I wish you had happened to come sooner, for that dreadful black giant made me stay in yonder pine tree all night long.”
“The impudent creature tried to get into our new home in the stump,” said the queen. “My soldiers will chase him and his companions so far away that they will never find their way back here.”
“You have done me a great service,” said Tiny, with a second bow. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
“A kind act always brings its reward,” said the queen cheerfully.
“But how can a tiny bee scare such a monstrous creature as a bear?” asked the squirrel.
“One bee couldn’t scare anything,” laughed the queen. “You must remember that bees work together. When hundreds and hundreds of bees attack a bear, he is sure to make good use of his legs.”