ut," he replied. "I don't know
anything about any bee. And I wish you wouldn't trouble me with your
silly questions. These men are helping us to build our new barn; and I'm
too busy to talk to anyone."

Buster Bumblebee was certainly disappointed. And he soon decided that
Jimmy Rabbit must have been mistaken. It wasn't the raising bee, after
all, that had brought all the neighbors together there. They had come to
help Farmer Green with his new barn! Old dog Spot had said so. And he
ought to know, if anyone did.

XIX

THE FEAST AT FARMER GREEN'S

In spite of his disappointment at not seeing the raising bee (that new
kind of bee that Jimmy Rabbit had told him about) Buster Bumblebee
decided that he would stay at Farmer Green's place and watch the men put
up the frame of the new barn. He remembered that Jimmy had said there
would be things to eat afterwards--and maybe a dance, besides.

Although the barn was a big one there were so many people to help that it
was hardly later than midday when the great timbers were all in place.
And then the men caught up their coats and strolled back to the dooryard.
The small boys had all hurried ahead of them as soon as they noticed that
the women and girls were already setting generous dishes of goodies upon
long tables beneath the shade of the maple trees in front of the
farmhouse.

And when he saw what was going on Buster Bumblebee hastened to the maple
grove too. He intended to taste of every kind of food that was there, in
the hope of finding some dainty that he would like.

So for some time he busied himself buzzing up and down the long table,
alighting on heaps of doughnuts and cookies, pies, cakes, bread and
butter, baked beans and ever so many other good things.

But Buster Bumblebee did not find anything that really pleased him until
he paused at a fat sugar-bowl. Since the sugar was sweet he couldn't help
liking that, though it did seem somewhat tasteless to him after his
feasts among the clover-tops.

"This is the only food here that's worth eating," he remarked to himself,
"though perhaps the cake would not be bad, once a person learned to like
it."

Luckily Buster had time to make a hearty meal off the sugar before a
red-cheeked girl shooed him away. And then Farmer Green and all his
friends sat down at the long tables.

How they did eat! They began with pie. And Buster Bumblebee, flying
lazily above their heads, noticed with amazement the enormous pi