"Well, I did that little job all by myself. Want to know why?"
"I might give a guess, as I see traces of old honeycomb around here.
I'll warrant you discovered a hive of bees in this tree and meant to
get gallons and gallons of their fine stores. How about that, Ralph?"
"You struck the right nail on the head," laughed the other, "just as
I felt certain you would when I saw you look around that way. Yes, I
felt amply repaid for all my work after cutting through the tree,
because two years ago times were a bit hard with the Kenyons, and
all that nice honey proved a treat in our family circle, you'd
better believe."
"How did you find the honey tree,---by tracking the bees up the usual
way?" Hugh asked.
"That was how I did it," Ralph replied. "I once saw a regular bee
hunter do the stunt, and so I knew how; and it worked right well,
too. I started out with a little honey and coaxed a wandering bee
to fill himself up. Then with a pair of old opera glasses, I watched
his flight just as far as I could see him. Going over to that point,
I repeated the experiment. After doing it for about six times I saw
my loaded bee rise, and make for this tree. Then, as it was a warm
noon, I discovered a swarm of young bees trying their wings away up
in the air, and I knew I had located the tree hive.
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