E LAST; OR, THE FRUIT OF THE FRAGILE PALM

VI. PRINCE HASSAK'S MARCH

VII. THE BATTLE OF THE THIRD COUSINS

VIII. THE BANISHED KING

IX. THE PHILOPENA

THE BEE-MAN OF ORN.

* * * * *

In the ancient country of Orn, there lived an old man who was called
the Bee-man, because his whole time was spent in the company of bees.
He lived in a small hut, which was nothing more than an immense
bee-hive, for these little creatures had built their honeycombs in
every corner of the one room it contained, on the shelves, under the
little table, all about the rough bench on which the old man sat, and
even about the head-board and along the sides of his low bed. All day
the air of the room was thick with buzzing insects, but this did not
interfere in any way with the old Bee-man, who walked in among them,
ate his meals, and went to sleep, without the slightest fear of being
stung. He had lived with the bees so long, they had become so
accustomed to him, and his skin was so tough and hard, that the bees
no more thought of stinging him than they would of stinging a tree or
a stone. A swarm of bees had made their hive in a pocket of his old
leathern doublet; and when he put on this coat to take one of his
long walks in the forest in search of wild bees' nests, he was very
glad to have this hive with him, for, if he did not find any wild
honey, he would put his hand in his pocket and take out a piece of a
comb for a luncheon. The bees in his pocket worked very
industriously, and he was always certain of having something to eat
with him wherever he went. He lived principally upon honey; and when
he needed bread or meat, he carried some fine combs to a village not
far away and bartered them for other food. He was ugly, untidy,
shrivelled, and brown. He was poor, and the bees seemed to be his
only friends. But, for all that, he was happy and contented; he had
all the honey he wanted, and his bees, whom he considered the best
company in the world, were as friendly and sociable as they could be,
and seemed to increase in number every day.

One day, there stopped at the hut of the Bee-man a Junior Sorcerer.
This young person, who was a student of magic, necromancy, and the
kindred arts, was much interested in the Bee-man, whom he had
frequently noticed in his wanderings, and he considered him an
admirable subject for study. He had got a great deal of useful
practice by endeavoring to