Full tilt
they come together, striking with lance and wing. Knight strives
with knight, lady with lady, and the weak die. Lest thou forget,
I'll tell thee a tale, boy, wherein is the great plan. The queen
bee--strongest of all her people--is about to marry.[1] A clear
morning she comes out o' the palace gate--her attendants following.
The multitude of her suitors throng the vestibule; the air, now
still an' sweet, rings with the sound o' fairy timbrels. Of a
sudden she rises into the blue sky, an' her suitors follow. Her
swift wings cleave the air straight as a plummet falls. Only the
strong may keep in sight o' her; bear that in mind, boy. Her
suitors begin to fall wearied. Higher an' still higher the good
queen wings her way. By an' by, of all that began the journey,
there is but one left with her, an' he the strongest of her people.
An' they are wed, boy, up in the sun-lit deep o' heaven. So the
seed o' life is chosen, me fine lad."
[1 In behalf of Darrel, the author makes acknowledgment of his
indebtedness to M. Maurice Maeterlinck for an account of the
queen's flight in his interesting "Life of the Bee."]
They sat a little time in silence, looking at the shores of the
pond.
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