"Others have said that and stolen our golden walls and our precious jewelry—even the last drop of food in the larder, so stand back."
Several little boy and girl bees had collected around Billy, attracted by the sound of loud voices and hoping to see a fight. They buzzed at Billy derisively, and one or two even picked up clover tops to throw at him.
He knew that quick action was necessary if he was to get in without a serious fight and at the same time avoid a field brawl. So suddenly he stepped back, made a quick leap directly at the opening of the hive, and dived head foremost through it.
In he popped past the startled sentries, the doorway opening wide to admit him, not even brushing his clothes as he entered. He found himself standing in the centre of a great golden court under a magnificent vaulted dome. Magnificent? Ah! that is too poor a word to describe his surroundings. Billy had dreamed of beautiful things, he had read of glittering gold and showers of precious stones, but had all his dreams and all his readings and all the beautiful things he had ever imagined been sifted and sorted, and only the purest and finest selected, the result would have been poor indeed as compared with the interior of the Queen Bee Palace.
Great diamond arc lights flashed brilliant blue and white rays from the ceiling, and mingled their brightness with the soft yellow glow of topaz lights. Beautiful yellow wax candles added their rich, creamy light. The walls were of the richest gold, and instead of being smooth and hard-looking bore the shape of honeycomb, each cell of which showed a distinctive beauty.
The smooth wax floor, giving just enough at each step to make walking a springy, elastic pleasure, was carpeted down the centre with a strip of soft, hand-woven yellow rosebud leaves, and this carpet led to the throne which was carved from one enormous block of amber.
"Allow me to present Bogie Man."—Page 271.
But when Billy's gaze had travelled this far he had eyes for nothing else. In his sight the lights faded to mere sparks, the golden walls lost their richness, the throne became but a high-backed wooden chair, for seated there before him was Honey Girl, so radiant, so dazzlingly beautiful that mere gold and jewelry were as nothing compared with her.