Chapter 2

"I've got 'em!" he shouted aloud. And then he shook the jug vigorously, listening with delight to the sound of the splashing water within. Soon he set the jug behind the sheltering haycock and sat down beside it to make further plans. It was Johnnie's intention then to drown everything on the farm that carried a sting--wasps, hornets, honey bees. He was not quite sure about mosquitoes, for he thought they might be hard to capture in great numbers.

Since he was intending to go swimming, he did not care to waste much more of the afternoon by staying in the meadow. So he proceeded to empty the jug.

It certainly _looked_ as if the Bumblebee family had met with ill fortune. Several dozen workers--and Buster, too--lay limp and water-soaked upon the ground, when Johnnie Green hurried away to the spring to get more water for his father and the hired man, before he went to the mill-pond.

But it was not long before the half-drowned Buster and his companions began to stir slightly. Gradually the sun dried their wings and warmed their chilled bodies. And one by one they picked themselves up and scurried into their house.

They never knew exactly what had happened. But the workers agreed upon one point. They decided that somehow the whole trouble had been Buster's fault--though they couldn't explain in just what way.

Anyhow, after that the workers looked on Buster with more disfavor than ever. They were forever remarking how lazy and stupid he was. And even the trumpeter was heard to declare that she was ashamed of him--though he _was_ her own brother.

VIII

BUSTER THE BOASTER

As far back as Buster Bumblebee could remember, he had heard about the Robber Fly. Even the fiercest fighters among the workers spoke his name with great awe. And from everything Buster could learn, his family had good reason to fear that dreadful enemy.

When Buster first left the house to make excursions to the flower garden and the clover field he had felt quite uneasy. He half-expected that the Robber Fly would pop out from behind a blossom at any moment and pounce upon him. For the Robber Fly was a bold, bad villain. And those that were so unfortunate as to find themselves caught by him and held fast in his long, spiny feet had only a very slight chance of getting away from him.

No one of the Bumblebee family knew where the Robber Fly lived. But it was said that he often lurked on the ground, watching for victims. And when he spied one he would fly quickly up with a loud buzz and dart upon the unfortunate.

He had big, keen eyes which enabled him to see very clearly. And he had long, narrow wings which bore him through the air with great swiftness. And he had--worst of all--a sharp, piercing beak which was most frightful to gaze upon.

Now, in spite of his name the Robber Fly looked like no fly that was ever seen in Pleasant Valley. Strange as it may seem, in spite of his cruel beak, his long wings, and his spiny feet, he looked not a little as if he might have been a near relation of Buster Bumblebee. Of course, any member of the Bumblebee family would have known at a glance that he was not one of them. But probably Johnnie Green--if he had noticed him--would have thought the Robber Fly some sort of bumblebee.

Since this monster was known to appear now and then in the neighborhood, one can easily understand why Buster Bumblebee was a bit timid when he first began to venture abroad alone. But as time passed, his dread of meeting the Robber Fly gradually faded. Not only had nobody seen the Robber for a long while, but some began to say that they thought he must have met with an accident, or perhaps he had moved to other parts, and they didn't believe he would ever be heard of again. And Buster himself began to boast that he wasn't afraid of the Robber Fly and said that he was sorry that the Robber had gone away before he had had a chance to see him.

Buster's mother, the Queen, happened to hear her son make that remark one day. And she promptly told him that he was a stupid, silly boaster.

"If you knew what happened to your poor father last fall you would never want even to hear the Robber Fly's name mentioned again," the Queen declared, as a shiver--or a shudder--or both--passed up and down her royal back.

But Buster Bumblebee, being very young and somewhat stupid as well, said "Oh, nonsense!" under his breath, so low that his mother, the Queen, could not hear him.

IX

THE ROBBER FLY AT LAST

Though Buster's mother, the Queen, did not hear him when he said "Oh, nonsense!" under his breath, there were others standing near him that caught the words. And they were quite indignant that anybody should scoff at the Queen like that.

They were workers--those that overheard Buster Bumblebee's remark when his mother as much as told him that he had better beware of the wicked Robber Fly. They were workers; and they did not approve of the lazy Buster.

"Let's teach that young loafer a lesson!" they said to one another (there were three of them). And straightway they began to scheme and plan how they should give Buster Bumblebee a thorough fright, in the hope of making him more respectful to his mother, the Queen.

At least, that is what the workers said. But, as a matter of fact, each of them had reasons of her own for wanting to scare Buster. Indeed, there wasn't a worker in the house that was not disgusted with his laziness. And if he hadn't been the son of the Queen they would certainly have driven him out into the wide world long before.

Of course, Buster had no idea of what was afoot. He continued to tell everybody how sorry he was that he had never met the Robber Fly, until a few began to believe that he must be very brave indeed. But they were those that didn't know him well. As for the workers, there wasn't one in the Bumblebee household that was deceived by Buster's bold talk. They all knew him for the coward he was.

Well, the very next day after Buster's impertinence to his mother a worker called Peevish Peggy stopped and spoke to him as he sat on a clover-head.

"If I were you I wouldn't come near the clover patch," she said. "You know the Robber Fly often prowls about on the ground. And it would be easy for him to catch you on a clover-top, you're so fat and clumsy.... Why don't you dine on the hollyhocks in the flower garden? They are high, and much safer."

Buster Bumblebee seemed greatly amused.

"Ho, ho!" he laughed--as well as "Ha, ha!" And then he said: "It seems to me that you are the one that ought to buzz around the hollyhocks, since you are so nervous about the Robber Fly."

The worker, Peevish Peggy, at once flew into a temper.

"You'd better look out!" she warned Buster. "Once the Robber Fly pounces on you you'll be so frightened you can't even squirm."

"Oh, nonsense!" said Buster.

The quick-tempered worker, Peevish Peggy, looked slyly over her shoulder and nodded slightly.

Buster did not see the form that crept nearer and nearer to him, a little later. And he was still chuckling to himself when he heard a terrible humming. Then all at once he felt himself seized and held in a grip like iron.

He was sure that the Robber Fly had him at last. And he was too frightened for anything.

X

BUSTER MAKES A SPEECH

At first, when he found himself in the grip of what he was sure must be the Robber Fly, Buster Bumblebee was so alarmed that he could not even scream. But in a moment or two he found his voice. And he shrieked "Help! Help!" in a most frantic tone, hoping that some one would come and save him.

But nobody came. And Buster expected every instant to feel the cruel beak of the Robber Fly, when there was a sudden commotion behind his back. Somebody else cried out now. And Buster knew the voice, too. Yes! Buster was sure that Peevish Peggy had come to help him. But there was one thing that puzzled him. Peevish Peggy seemed to be fully as frightened as Buster himself. At least, her cries sounded as if she were in great terror.

Probably she's afraid the Robber Fly has hurt me, Buster thought. And he reflected that in spite of her sharp tongue Peevish Peggy was more kind-hearted than he had ever dreamed.

The next instant Buster felt himself suddenly released. At the same time something swept him off the clover-top; and he barely managed to save himself from a bad fall.

Somewhere he could hear a loud buzz, as of several angry voices. But he did not care to show himself enough to find out what was happening. For the time being he was content to stay snugly hidden among the thick clover leaves.

After a while the uproar ceased. But even then Buster Bumblebee was in no hurry to leave his shelter.

When he did at last reach home he found the whole family much upset. Everybody was talking at once. And in a household of more than two hundred that meant that the noise was almost deafening.

Naturally, Buster Bumblebee wanted to know what was the matter. It was a long time, however, before anyone would--or could--listen to him. But at last he succeeded in getting the ear of the trumpeter.

"Haven't you heard the news?" she asked. "The Robber Fly came to the clover patch to-day. And Peevish Peggy had a very narrow escape. If it hadn't been for several other workers who happened to be gathering clover nectar nearby, there's no telling where she would be now."

"Where is she?" Buster inquired.

"Resting in bed," the trumpeter explained. (Even Buster wondered how she could rest with all that racket in the house!) "She's had a bad fright, poor thing!" the trumpeter added.

Buster Bumblebee suddenly grew much excited. And he climbed up on a table and shouted for everybody to be quiet.

"I don't believe you know about me!" he cried, as soon as the house was still. "The Robber Fly attacked me. But _I_ don't need to go to bed. I'm not the least bit nervous."

Several of the family near him began to titter.

And the Queen herself stepped forward and commanded Buster to hop down from the table at once.

He obeyed promptly. But he was quite puzzled. No one seemed to believe what he said. And it was a long time before he learned what had actually happened. At last a spiteful worker informed him that he had never been in the clutches of the Robber Fly at all. Peevish Peggy and some of her companions had played a trick on Buster--because of his boasting. She had seized him when he wasn't looking. And he had screamed so loud that the Robber Fly--who happened to be near--had heard him.

Then the Robber Fly had rushed up and seized Peevish Peggy, who had promptly let go of Buster Bumblebee.

The worker who told these things to Buster Bumblebee actually laughed in his face. And Buster was so surprised--and so crestfallen--that he couldn't say a word for a long time.

And never again did Buster mention the Robber Fly's name.

XI

THE DRONE

Yes! Buster Bumblebee was a drone. He never gathered any nectar from the flowers and brought it home to help swell the family store of honey. He let the workers of the household do that. And since they never complained, but seemed to enjoy their drudgery, Buster saw no reason why he should interfere with the honey-making in any way.

He was content to live a life of ease and pleasure. And never having to bestir himself--never having to hurry or worry--he quickly grew into a somewhat clumsy and blundering young gentleman. And what was still worse, this handsome young idler soon gained the name of being none too keen-witted. _Good-natured, but a bit stupid_--that was what the field and forest folk called Buster Bumblebee.

But bless you! _He_ never bothered his head with what people said. When anybody called him a drone he would only laugh. And when some busybody asked him for pity's sake why didn't he go to work, he would merely grin and reply that he was a queen's son and that queens' sons never did anything except eat a plenty and have a good time.

Well, that must have been an excellent answer, for it seemed to keep people quiet. And it made some think that perhaps Buster Bumblebee was not quite so dull as he often appeared.

Once, indeed, he had thought it would be fun to help with the honey-making. So he stopped one of the workers when she was on her way home with a load of nectar.

"Let me help you carry that home!" Buster said.

Now, the workers were all a shrewish lot. They were terribly short-tempered--especially if anybody interfered with their work, which they loved better than anything else in the world.

"Don't you come near me!" snapped the worker angrily. "Keep away or I'll sting you!" she threatened.

Naturally, a happy, easy-going person like Buster Bumblebee wasn't looking for trouble of that sort. So he dodged clumsily out of sight behind a milkweed; and he made up his mind then that that was the last time he would ever have anything to do with one of those testy honey-makers.

Of course it was a bit difficult to avoid them entirely in a family of two hundred or more, all living together in a medium-sized house. And so Buster Bumblebee decided at last that he would be far happier in some place that was not so crowded, and where there was no work going on--and no workers.

And so, one fine August day, Buster left the family home, never to set foot inside it again. But he often passed that way and lingered just outside the door, to listen to the music and the sound of dancing within.

That was the thing that he missed most; for, like all his family, he was fond of music. And he was forever humming to himself as he sipped nectar from the clover-tops or the flowers in Farmer Green's garden.

XII

THE CARPENTER BEE

After Buster Bumblebee left the old house in the meadow, where Mrs. Field Mouse had once lived, he had no real home. Like that quarrelsome rascal, Peter Mink, he would crawl into any good place that he happened to find. Sometimes Buster chose a hole in a fence-rail, and sometimes a crack in the side of one of the farm-buildings. He really didn't much care where he spent the night, provided it was not too far from the flower garden or the clover field.

Not being one of the worrying kind, Buster was quite contented with his lot. And it would never have occurred to him to live in any different style had it not been for a remark that little Mrs. Ladybug made to him one day.

"I should think--" she said--"I should think that the son of a queen ought to have a house of his own, instead of sleeping--like a tramp--where night overtakes him."

Now, Mrs. Ladybug's words did not offend Buster Bumblebee in the least.

"No doubt you know best," he told her. "But how can I build a house? I've never worked in all my life. And I don't intend to begin now."

"Why not get some one to build a house for you?" she asked him.

"I never thought of that!" he cried. "Whom would you suggest?"

"I know the very person!" Mrs. Ladybug told him. "He's a Carpenter Bee; and he lives in the big poplar by the brook. Perhaps you know him. Johnnie Green calls him Whiteface," she said. "They do say he's a very skillful workman."

Buster Bumblebee replied that he had never met the Carpenter, but that he would go and see him at once. So over to the big poplar he flew. And soon he was knocking boldly at the door of the Carpenter's house.

Pretty soon a mild-appearing person, who looked not a little like Buster himself, stepped through the doorway. He wore a white patch across his front and his clothes needed brushing sadly, for they showed many marks of sawdust.

"Are you the Carpenter?" Buster Bumblebee inquired.

The mild stranger said he was.

"How would you like to build a house for me?" Buster asked him.

The Carpenter seemed greatly surprised at the suggestion. "I don't think I'd like it very well," he said timidly.

"Why not?" Buster demanded.

"Well, I'm busy building an addition to my house," the Carpenter explained. "And besides, you're a total stranger. I've never seen you before; and we might quarrel if I did any work for you."

"Oh, no!" Buster Bumblebee assured him. "You couldn't quarrel with me, because I'm the most peace-loving person in Pleasant Valley."

"There!" the Carpenter cried. "I knew as soon as I set eyes on you that we were bound not to agree.... I've always claimed that there's no peacefuller person than I am in this whole neighborhood. So here we are, quarreling already!"

"Maybe you're right," Buster said then. "I'll agree that you like peace more than I do. But remember! Next to you there's no one that hates a fight the way I do--and hates work, too!"

XIII

THE CARPENTER'S PROMISE

When Buster Bumblebee told Whiteface the Carpenter Bee, that he hated to work that honest artisan stared at his caller in astonishment.

"You're a queer one!" he said at last "But there's something about you that I can't help liking, though it would be hard for me to say just what it is--so please don't ask me!"

"Then you'll make me a house, after all?" Buster cried joyfully.

"I will," the Carpenter promised, "just as soon as I finish the addition I'm building to my own home."

"Good!" said Buster. And wishing the Carpenter Bee a hasty good-afternoon, he flew off to find little Mrs. Ladybug and tell her that he was going to have a house of his own, just as she had suggested.

After that the news spread quickly, for Mrs. Ladybug was somewhat of a gossip--in a pleasant enough way. Being much interested in her neighbors, she liked to talk about their affairs. And now she told everyone that Buster Bumblebee was going to have a fine new house, and that the Carpenter was going to build it for him.

Naturally, Buster's friends all told him that they were glad to hear of his good fortune. And whenever anyone mentioned the matter, Buster promptly invited him to come to a party that he intended to give as soon as his new home was ready to move into.

"Mrs. Ladybug tells me that I ought to have a house-warming," Buster explained. And though some of his neighbors didn't know what he meant by that, they said "Of course!" and tried to look wise.

There was only one thing about the whole affair that annoyed Buster: when people asked him when his new house would be finished he was unable to tell them.

"Well, when is the Carpenter going to start building it?" they would ask. And he could only reply that as soon as the Carpenter completed the addition to his own house he had promised to begin to build Buster's.

Now, many people were satisfied with that answer. But there were some (they were the curious ones) that insisted on knowing exactly when that would be. And then there was nothing that Buster Bumblebee could do except to admit that he didn't know.

"Why don't you find out about it?" asked the most curious person in all Pleasant Valley--and that, of course, was old Mr. Crow. "If I were you I'd go to the Carpenter and _insist_ on his telling me."

So Buster Bumblebee began calling at the Carpenter's house every day. Some days he even went there two or three times. It must have been annoying for anybody as busy as the Carpenter to be interrupted so often--and always for the same reason. But he never once thought of being angry--though he did wish that Buster would let him work in peace.

His answer to Buster's question was always the same: "I'm afraid my house won't be finished to-morrow."

XIV

BAD NEWS

It is not surprising that the Carpenter's answer failed to satisfy Buster Bumblebee.

"I really must know when my house will be ready!" he cried at last. "I've invited all my friends to a house-warming. And how can I have one unless I have a house to warm?"

The Carpenter slowly shook his head.

"Don't ask me!" he said wearily. "I've enough to trouble me right here at home without answering any riddles for strangers."

"I suppose you'll get your house finished sometime," Buster ventured.

"I hope to," said the Carpenter, "though it certainly won't be to-morrow, on account of all the interruptions I'm having to-day."

Now, that honest workman meant his remark to be a hint. But the idea never occurred to Buster that the Carpenter had _him_ in mind, when he mentioned interruptions. And Buster went right on talking.

"I'd suggest that you work nights as well as in the daytime," he said.

"I'll think about it," the Carpenter promised. "And now," he added, "now I must go back to my carpentering--if you'll excuse me."

And before Buster could say another word the Carpenter slipped through his doorway and vanished.

"I hope he'll do as I suggested," Buster Bumblebee said to himself, as he moved aimlessly away from the big poplar where the Carpenter lived. "If I shouldn't get my house until cold weather comes I don't see how I could have a house-warming; and then all my friends would be disappointed."

The more he thought about the matter the more disturbed he became, until at last (on the following day) he felt that he simply _must_ go back and speak to the Carpenter again.

Buster noticed, as he drew near to the Carpenter's house once more, that there was a crowd in the Carpenter's dooryard. Everybody looked so sorrowful that Buster was sure something dreadful had happened.

"What's the matter?" he asked little Mrs. Ladybug, who was wiping her eyes with a lace pocket-handkerchief.

"It's the Carpenter," she answered, as soon as she could speak. "He's disappeared. And now we've just heard what's become of him. Johnnie Green caught him yesterday and has made him a prisoner!"

That was bad news indeed--for Buster Bumblebee. He was so sorry that he swallowed hard three or four times before he could say a word. And then he began to groan.

"This is terrible!" he moaned at last. And all the Carpenter's neighbors gathered around him and said what a kind-hearted young gentleman he was, but that it was no more than you might expect of a queen's son.

"The Carpenter must have been a dear friend of yours," quavered old Daddy Longlegs, tottering up to Buster and peering into his face.

"Oh, no!" said Buster Bumblebee. "But he promised to build a house for me as soon as he had finished working on his own. So his being a prisoner is pretty hard on me. For I've invited all my friends to a house-warming and I don't know what to do."

XV

THE PRISONER

Buster Bumblebee did not stay long in the dooryard of the missing Carpenter. Saying a mournful good-by to the sad company, he flew away toward Farmer Green's house. It was there that the Carpenter was a prisoner. And Buster could only hope that he might find some way of setting the woodworker free.

Luckily Buster Bumblebee did not have to look long for what he was seeking. On the porch of the farmhouse he soon discovered a honey box, with glass sides. And whom should he see inside it, sitting on a little heap of wild rose leaves and looking forlorn and unhappy--whom should Buster see but the Carpenter.

Buster crowded close against the glass and began to call so loud that the Carpenter couldn't help hearing him. And then the poor fellow came and stood on the other side of the glass barrier, as near Buster as he could get.

"Why don't you come out?" Buster asked.

"How can I?" said the Carpenter. "Don't you see that I'm a prisoner?"

"Yes! But why don't you cut your way out?" Buster Bumblebee asked him.

"Well, I've tried," the Carpenter confessed. "But this glass is so hard that I can't even dent it."

"But you're a woodworker--not a glass-worker!" exclaimed Buster Bumblebee. "And if you're as skillful as people say you are, you ought to be able to bore a hole through one of the wooden ends of your prison."

At that suggestion the Carpenter looked decidedly happier.

"That's so!" he exclaimed. "I wish I had thought of that before."

Of course it was Buster that thought of the plan, then; but he didn't say so to the Carpenter. Instead, Buster shouted through the glass:

"Get to work at once! And I'll wait for you."