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The bells moved too slowly for either the second or the third peal, and we had twenty minutes at our disposal. We were cool and tidy by the time that the little "Tom Tinkler" bell began to "hurry up." "You're coming, aren't you?" said I, checked at the churchyard gate by an instinct of some hesitation on Isaac's part. "Well, I suppose I am, sir," said the bee-master, and in he came.
The King and Queen, looking whither the Fool pointed, when they beheld a little old woman instead of a stately councillor, laughed aloud; but the jester bowed right humbly towards the dame, and, she, so soon as she marked that the eyes of his Majesty and his gracious lady were turned upon her, and that her paltry person was the object of their regard, fancied that I had peradventure named her as being Ann's cousin, or as the widow of the deceased bee-master who, long years ago, had led the Emperor Charles to see the bee-gardens, so she made reverence again and again, and meanwhile laid her head more and more on one side, ever leaning more heavily on her hand, till the King and Queen laughed louder than ever and many an one perceived what was doing.
"That's an appy-ary if ye like, sir!" ejaculated Master Isaac, interrupting his pipe and me to make way for the observation. "Somebody saw 'a convoy of four thousand hives on the Nile," said I. The bee-master gave a resigned sigh. "Go on, Master Jack," said he.
He was a clever and courageous bee-master, and "took" all my neighbours' swarms as well as my own, my gardener not being persona grata to bees. The job is not a popular one, and he would, when accompanied by the owner, always ask, "Will you hold the ladder or hive 'em?" The invariable answer was, "Hold the ladder."
The old queens make short work of the young ones sometimes." "Woman-like." Hicks admitted the criticism was just. Then, being now upon his own ground, he continued to talk, and talk well, until he won a surly compliment from his employer. "You're a bee-master, in truth! Nobody'll deny you that." Clement laughed rather bitterly. "Yes, a king of bees. Not a great kingdom for man to rule."
In less than half an hour all was done, and Hicks began to remove his veil and shake a bee or two off the rim of his hat. John Grimbal rubbed his cheek, where a bee had stung him under the eye, and regarded Hicks thoughtfully. "If you happen to want work at any time, it might be within my power to find you some here," he said, handing the bee-master five shillings.
It is of prime importance to every bee cultivator, that all his colonies be made as nearly equal in numbers and strength, as possible. Every experienced bee-master must be aware that small swarms are of but little profit to their owner.
Only we and the rabbits, and the night moths and the beetles, seemed to be stirring. An occasional bat appeared and vanished like a spectral illusion, and I saw one owl flap across the moor with level wings against the moon. "Oh, I have enjoyed it!" was all I could say when I parted from the bee-master.
The King and Queen, looking whither the Fool pointed, when they beheld a little old woman instead of a stately councillor, laughed aloud; but the jester bowed right humbly towards the dame, and, she, so soon as she marked that the eyes of his Majesty and his gracious lady were turned upon her, and that her paltry person was the object of their regard, fancied that I had peradventure named her as being Ann's cousin, or as the widow of the deceased bee-master who, long years ago, had led the Emperor Charles to see the bee-gardens, so she made reverence again and again, and meanwhile laid her head more and more on one side, ever leaning more heavily on her hand, till the King and Queen laughed louder than ever and many an one perceived what was doing.
On the estates of the holy monks of St Germain you would have found the country people saying charms which were hoary with age, parts of the lay sung by the Frankish ploughman over his bewitched land long before he marched southwards into the Roman Empire, or parts of the spell which the bee-master performed when he swarmed his bees on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
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