Johnnie"s face wore a grin of joy. Perhaps he did not stop to realize that he was breaking up a happy home.
"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 hayc.o.c.k 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 b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee. Of course, any member of the b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee.
Since this monster was known to appear now and then in the neighborhood, one can easily understand why Buster b.u.mblebee was a bit timid when he first began to venture abroad alone. But as time pa.s.sed, his dread of meeting the Robber Fly gradually faded. Not only had n.o.body 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--pa.s.sed up and down her royal back.
But Buster b.u.mblebee, 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 b.u.mblebee"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 b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee 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 b.u.mblebee 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 n.o.body 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.