Part 4

"I am very careful of extending that," replied the Bee, "as it is very seldom we can use it to any advantage without leaving it in the wound, and that in general is fatal to us; a gentle touch is sufficient in our defence, but _here_ it would have had no effect but to enrage them still the more, and I must either have died by their hands, or soon afterwards by losing it; but what a fuss the ladies made at my approach, did they not? did you ever see any thing so foolish, as all to run away from my presence? Why many of their fellow-creatures, whom they judge inferior in education and ideas to themselves, would have been ashamed to have acted so."

"If you are inclined to put them to flight again," said the Butterfly, "I think I see the same party in the room above."

"No, I thank you," returned the Bee, "I must hasten to the hive as fast as my bruises will let me; they will be quite alarmed at my being out so late, or fancy that my old fondness for wandering is come on again, and I should be sorry that should be their opinion; besides," continued he, shrugging his shoulders, "I have had enough of the company of ladies and gentlemen for to-day, though no doubt I lost much entertaining conversation during my captivity."

"I believe not," replied the Butterfly, "for my part I heard them say very little else than "the bottle is with you Sir," and "let us have another;" and "will you give us a toast, Sir?""

"And is it thus these men of _education_ converse together?" replied the Bee; "I am astonished at it, but were we to sit and talk of it the whole of the night we should not make them better; we will therefore go home; I have only to say that I am glad I have escaped their malice, and am obliged to you, my friend, for the affection which prompted you to stay for me;" and now extending their wings they soon arrived at the hive, which the Bee entered, and accounting for his late return received the congratulations of all his companions on his safety.

The Butterfly found a resting-place near it, and the next day met his friend with anxious enquiries of "how he found himself?" The Bee was still stiff, and felt too much of the ill effects of his last visit to wish to accompany him on another, at present, therefore he remained but just without the hive, and left the Butterfly to make 'the voyage of observation' by himself. In the evening, as they again met, he enquired into the result of his rambles.

"I am more and more astonished at the weakness of mortals," returned the Butterfly, "and am convinced that a _fine lady_ will believe any thing, and will be pleased with the greatest nonsense, if said to her by way of compliment; though I have visited but one house to-day, and that was with one of my old acquaintance, with whom I flew about till we chaced each other into a spacious drawing-room, in which sat a young lady, who was endeavouring to lay the imitation of flowers upon a small table; I believe they call it _painting_, and it was nearly finished; a gentleman sat by her, and seemed to admire every stroke of her pencil, though for my part I could not see any thing so very admirable in it; the colours, to my eye, were put on very roughly, and I could not have thought he would have paid so ill a compliment to her understanding, as to suppose she would have believed him, when on our settling on them after we had sported round the room, he declared that we took them for natural flowers."

"And did she believe him?" asked the Bee.

"She smiled," returned the Butterfly, "and seemed very much pleased; and it is certain that she did not contradict him, though she soon drove us off again, fearing, I suppose, that we should discover the deception; but we had done that long before, and only fixt ourselves there because it was the nearest place to rest on. After this we flew out, and met with other companions, and I don't know how it was, but the day seemed gone before we were aware; however, we have enjoyed ourselves without interruption, and _you_, I hope, are better able to pursue what affords you pleasure, than when I left you in the morning?"

"I am recovering very fast," returned the Bee, "and it is quite necessary I should, for I believe a wonderful change is soon to take place in my circumstances, and you must not be surprised if you should not see me in this neighbourhood much longer."

"What do you mean?" enquired the Butterfly, half alarmed, though he knew not from what cause; "you are not going to hide yourself from me, are you?"

"No," returned the Bee; "_our_ movements cannot be hid, we shall make noise enough about it, but I am not at liberty to disclose the secrets of the hive; to-morrow, perhaps, if you keep a good look-out, and the weather is fine, you may see what will unravel this mystery; in the meanwhile assure yourself of the continuance of my friendship, and do not think, after the attention I experienced from you last night, and on a former occasion, I can forget you."

With this assurance the Butterfly suffered his friend to depart without making any farther enquiry, and sheltering himself for the night under a large holly-hock, resolved not to let the sun arise without his awaking to observe the movements of the Bee, and his companions; and, if possible, to find out the meaning of what he had heard.

CHAP. VI.

"When nought but balm is breathing through the woods "With yellow lustre, bright, that the new tribes "Visit the spacious heavens, and look abroad "On Nature's common, far as they can see, "Or wing their range and pasture."

THOMPSON.

The next morning all was bustle and activity in the hive at a very early hour, and the Butterfly also arose, and shook his wings, determined to let nothing escape his observation which could discover the occasion of it: but though there seemed much noise within, no one came out; and, after waiting a great while, he began to think that nothing particular was intended by what his friend had said, or that some confusion among themselves prevented their putting it in execution. He frisked about among the flowers, yet still contrived to keep the hive in view; till at length he saw a Bee advance, whom, from her majestic appearance, he concluded was the queen; a number of attendants immediately followed her; and, among the rest, his friend. She turned as if to take a last look at the home she was about to leave for ever, and on seeing multitudes of its inhabitants flocking out, as fast as the narrow entrance would allow, appeared to glory in the exulting throng; till raising her wings she led the way to seek some other habitation. Immediately all the train followed her example, and the air was filled with the numerous retinue; who, by the noise they made, appeared to vie with each other in paying her respect. All were earnest in their endeavours to get near her, and to the eye of the Butterfly, who followed at an humble distance, they appeared a formidable phalanx; eager not only to prevent the approach of danger, but that even the eye of a stranger should be fixt upon her. Presently a crowd of people, from the neighbouring houses, came running towards them, with pot-lids in their hands, with which, as the whole body were slowly hovering round the trunk of an old tree, they endeavoured to drown their humming noise with a much louder one of their own; and this, from what they said, and their calling for the hive, the Butterfly learnt was to make them sooner settle. All this time it would have been difficult to have said who watched their motions most attentively, the men and women, or the Butterfly. As soon as her officious attendants would give her an opportunity, her majesty fixt her feet upon a projecting branch, and happy were those who could cling the closest to her. All were now as desirous of fixing with her, as before they were of flying; and when they could no longer see or touch this sole object of their attention, they were still eager to press, and hang upon each other, as if pleased to touch but the back of a bee, who perhaps touched another that had hold of their Queen.

The noise now ceased, and the bees were suffered to hang, unmolested, for nearly an hour, in a large round cluster; still and motionless, as if no life or power was in them. Their proceedings were so entirely new to the Butterfly, that, had not his friend been amongst them, he should have wished to see the end; but he saw a man approach, whose face and arms were entirely covered, and placing a new hive under them, he shook the branch till the whole united body fell into it. A cloth was then thrown over them, and he bore it away in triumph.

"And will they suffer themselves to be thus taken?" thought his attentive observer, as he eagerly extended his wings to follow the man; "will they be content to remain in that desolate habitation without a cell, or any provision in it? no, no; the man will soon perceive his mistake," continued he, as he saw him place it on a block, which had been before prepared for it, "as soon as they can get their liberty, they will return from whence they came." However, it was himself, and not the man, who was mistaken; on the whole, the Bees liked their new abode very well; and it was not till the next day that he saw any of its inhabitants coming out in search of food; when he met his friend, who asked him "if he did not think he had given him notice of something worth seeing?"

"I think I see that you have changed for the worse," returned the Butterfly; "you have left a full hive with comfortable cells, and plenty of food, for one which is destitute of both!"

"We shall soon get this as well stocked as the other," replied the Bee; "but did you not see our Queen? a sight of her is seldom had; were you not charmed with her majestic appearance?"

"Upon my word, no," said the Butterfly with a smile; "but you must recollect that I am not one of her numerous progeny; and to the eye of a Butterfly she is no more than another of her species; but why did you leave your home? is it grown old, and crazy; or does it let the rain in?"

"I fancy we understand building better than for that to be the case," answered the Bee, somewhat offended; "but we were too full; we encreased so fast that there was not room for us all in one hive. We have therefore chosen another queen, in whom, by the bye, I am astonished that you see nothing to admire; and we young ones are come forth with her, to form another settlement. Happy shall we be to contribute to her tranquillity and comfort, and to supply her every want; while she is kind enough to permit us to call her ours, for the present; therefore, you must not expect to see me one moment at leisure; till we have, in some degree, given our abode the appearance of an habitation, we cannot be comfortable; we have already formed a cell for our beloved Queen, and a few others for her principal attendants; among which number, I am proud to say, I am; you must excuse me if I now leave you abruptly, as I am on the search for something nice for her to eat."

"Proud, indeed," thought the Butterfly, as he saw his friend hastily depart. "Why, I am hardly spoken to now this new queen is come in the way. Well," continued he, "I am glad _we_ have no sovereign, in whose service we might spend our lives. Our time is our own, and we enjoy it as we like," added he, clapping his wings, and flying off in pursuit of some companion as thoughtless as himself. The next morning he returned very early to the hive in hopes of seeing his old friend, though he did not suppose he would allow him his company for more than a minute.

"We can converse together as we fly," said the Bee, who advanced to meet him, "but I must fetch some honey for her majesty's breakfast; won't you accompany me? we still go on building very fast, and wax is brought in great abundance for that purpose."

"While you are thus employed, I do not expect to have much of your company," said the Butterfly, "and have therefore made an agreement with some of my old acquaintance to take an excursion into the country, and enjoy ourselves there for a few days. The summer is passing quickly away, and our lives, supposing no accident cuts us off, must end with it; we must, therefore, frisk while we may."

"Certainly," replied the Bee, "_you_ were made for that purpose, and by the time you return I shall probably be more at liberty; we have a great deal to do, but there is likewise a number of hands, all able and willing to assist;" and directing his friend to find out the hive when he came back, he wished him much pleasure, and thus they parted for a short time, the one to play, and the other to work, though both equally pleased with the pursuit they were about to follow.

The Butterfly soon after joined his gayer friends, and sailing high in air, they winged their way, to "range the forest's green retreat."

"These thro' the tangled wood-walks play, "Where no rude urchin paces near, "Where sparely peeps the sultry day, "And light dews freshen all the air."

Thus sported the happy party, uninterruptedly enjoying the live-long day, and resting at night within "the lily's bell!" They skimmed the purple heath, visited the rivers' brink, and each day brought some new pleasure in their view, till at length the weather began to change, a cold wind blew, and there was every appearance of an approaching tempest; and now it was that the Butterfly began to think of his friend the Bee, and of his warm comfortable hive; though he knew he could not be admitted there, he felt that it must be very pleasant to have such an asylum to retreat to. Every one of his fluttering companions were now flying away, each desirous of finding a place of safety for himself, and _he_ still bent upon returning to his more _steady_ friend, endeavoured to gain the way which led to his abode, though the wind was now so powerful that he could scarcely bear against it, or see the way he was taking. At this moment a stage-coach passed him, and though he did not know it would convey him from the place he was then in, he was glad to take the shelter it afforded, and flying in at one of the open windows he soon found a resting-place. After recovering from the disorder and confusion the rough wind had put him into, he had time to examine where he was, and noticed two young ladies, and an officer very gayly drest, apparently confined within this very small space.

"What's this?" exclaimed the gentleman; "a Butterfly! we want no such intruders here; ladies, are you alarmed? is the creature disagreeable?"

"Let the poor thing alone," said an elderly man, whom the Butterfly had not observed before, "it's as free to live as you are; 'tis true we have _frivolity_ enough in our cargo, but the horses won't feel this addition to it."

"It has taken shelter from the storm," said one of the ladies, not at all regarding what he said; "and if it does not settle on _me_ it is welcome to remain." The coachman now got off his box, and opening the door, begged to know if there was room for a young woman, who was on the outside.

"It rains hard," said he, "and she will be wet to the skin if she stays there." Instead of answering his enquiry the officer, in a low voice, replied thus: "I say, who is this old fellow in the corner? any one of consequence? hey?"

"Oh bless you, no Sir, _he_ won't mind her coming in, if you don't."

"Mind her coming? no, I suppose not," replied he, "but the ladies are to be consulted; what say you ladies? have you any objection?" They looked at each other as if hesitating for an answer, which the old gentleman observed, and immediately offered to get out, and let her have his place; at this the whole party seemed rather ashamed, and one of the ladies replied, "Oh dear no! we only thought her clothes might be wet."

"And spoil yours, I suppose?" returned the old gentleman rather roughly, "but I dare say you will have no objection to this young officer's sitting between you, and then she can take his place, and you will be in no danger."

This proposal was readily acceded to, and the young woman came in with many thanks, while the gallant gentleman seated between the two ladies declared, that "if he did not incommode them he was the happiest man alive, and only wished that they were going to travel hundreds of miles together."

"An enviable situation truly," said the old man, with an air of contempt, and folding his arms, as if preparing to sleep; "I," said one of the ladies, "shall soon be at my journey's end," naming the place at which she was to be set down; "and I," replied the other, "am to go but one mile further."

"Oh! Heavens! and what shall I do then?" returned their admiring beau, "shut up in this place by myself; I shall certainly hang myself if I have an opportunity! what lose such charming companions so soon?" At this the ladies both smiled, and seeing such sort of conversation pleased, he plied them with it very freely, while the old man slept, or pretended so to do, and the young women looked rather inclined to blush for those of her sex who could receive such flattery.

When one of the ladies left the coach, the other seemed fearful that their complimenting admirer would hurt himself, in straining his neck to look after her, as she ran through the rain to a house which stood at a little distance from the road. On drawing his head in again, he praised her beauty exceedingly, till fearing he should carry his encomiums too high, so as to offend the other, whose countenance already bespoke an approaching gloom; he dissipated the very appearance of it in a moment, by "begging to know if they were not sisters, their likeness to each other was so great?" This had the desired effect, for though she assured him they were not, yet if her companion was handsome, and they were alike, she must be so likewise. To be handsome is as much as some people desire, thought the Butterfly, on observing her face resume a smile, "no wonder that we Butterflies should wish it." After some more conversation equally foolish, she also arrived at the place of her destination, and the gentleman, not at all regarding his other companions, again deplored the melancholy situation he should be left in.

As soon as the lady was gone, the old gentleman thus addressed him, "Young man, I think you have shown your folly whilst you have been attempting to hoax those women; _that's_ the word, is it not?"

"Poor country girls!" replied the officer, laughing, "how pleased they were; they believed every word I said; they look as if they had never been beyond their own country town, and yet I made one of them think that I supposed she had lived in London all her life."

"And where have you lived?" replied the old man, "to learn that there is any wit in making people appear more ridiculous than they really are?"

"Oh," said the other, "they'll go home and talk of me for days to come; I should not wonder if they expected to see me returning in search of them within a short time, as not being able to live out of their company." The old gentleman then turned to the young woman, who had sat a silent spectator like the Butterfly, and bade her take a lesson from what she had seen and heard, not to believe what was said to her; "_you_ may perhaps one day or other meet with an idle fellow," continued he "who may think proper to amuse himself by talking thus, but do not you pay so ill a compliment to your own understanding, as to sit with a simper on your countenance at whatever nonsense he may chuse to utter."

The young woman expressed her thanks, while the disconsolate beau sat with his head half out of the window, as if wishing to avoid any farther conversation.

The weather seemed now cleared away, the wind and the rain had ceased, and the Butterfly began to prepare for flight. On seeing this the old gentleman said, "Ah, go, poor harmless creature, I am glad for your sake, and this young woman's, that I have travelled this way to-day, or neither of you would have been admitted."

Our adventurer would have thanked him if he could, and leaving the window had the pleasure of seeing he was very near the place he wished to be in; he saw some hives at a distance, and among them was his friend's abode, who, on seeing his approach, came to meet him, and to whom the Butterfly, after they had expressed their pleasure at again being together, related the adventures he had met with, particularly the way in which he had been brought back, and many were the moralizing remarks occasioned by the recital of what had passed during his ride.

"The race of human beings must certainly be degenerated," observed the Bee, "since all other creatures were first put under their subjection, and in no other way can I account for the superior conduct, and in many respects the superior wisdom also, of those whom they think so much below them."

The Butterfly then asked in what state of forwardness the new hive was in, and was happy to learn, that during his absence they had nearly completed the building within it, and that his friend was now ready to accompany him on his flights as usual.

CHAP. VII.

"Not all that tempts your wandering eyes, "And heedless hearts, is lawful prize, "Nor all that glitters gold."

GRAY.

In the course of the next day the two friends met again, and while the Bee did not forget the more important work of gathering food for the approaching winter, he did not so earnestly pursue it as to make him unmindful of other things.

"See here," said he to the Butterfly, as they flew towards a house whose open windows seemed to invite their entrance; "let us go in, I think we shall meet with something worth our notice?" The Butterfly hastened on, but no sooner had he reached the window than turning back, he winged his flight another way, with much greater speed, calling to his friend to follow him.

"What have you seen that has so alarmed you?" enquired the Bee, as he hurried after him, "what is in that house so very frightful?"

"It belongs to a _naturalist_," replied the Butterfly, "and don't you know what detestable creatures these are? had he seen me I should have lost my life in the cruelest manner."

"A naturalist!" returned the Bee, "I never heard of one, what does he do?"

"Do?" replied the trembling Butterfly, "why, he would tear me limb from joint if I was in his power, and yet endeavour to preserve my life only to try how much he could make me suffer; did you not see how many of my species were pinned up against the walls of his room, whose peculiar form or colour had attracted his attention? he thinks nothing of taking the life of any thing he admires. Oh! it turns me sick to think of it; had I flown one inch farther I might have been thus impaled, and _you_ also; no doubt you would not have escaped his observation, and for the sake of your sting, or examining what you carry your honey in, you would have been quickly dispatched; various are the instruments he has got about him, and numberless insects does he daily destroy."

"These are detestable creatures indeed," answered the Bee; "what can't they be satisfied with viewing our forms as we pass along, but must they pull us to pieces, by way of admiration? I fancy when they have taken the most accurate survey, they could not make either a Bee, or a Butterfly; it is a pity therefore that they should destroy that life which they can never give. I declare the more I see of these human beings, and think of their cruelty, as well as absurdities, it makes me almost determine to quit the haunts of men, and if it ever should be my lot again to seek another habitation, I would use all my influence with my fellow Bees in order to remove to some wild wood where they might never find us."