,
And the cypress waves and the orange grows,

[Illustration: Music]

And the song bird nests in the climbing rose--
And all the girls are beautiful, and milk and honey flows."

HORATIO paused in his playing and looked at Bosephus, who was ready to
sing another stanza.

"Look here, Bo," he said gravely, "that sounds very pretty and may be
very good poetry and true enough, but I wouldn't get to singing too much
about jasmine and song birds and climbing roses if I were you, and
especially girls. You are only a little boy, and besides, I can't see
that there is any difference in girls, except that some are plump and
some are not, and that isn't any difference to me, now," and the Bear
sighed and strummed on his violin gently.

"Oh, pshaw, Ratio! There's lots of difference. Some girls are yellow and
sour as a lemon, while some are as pink and sweet and blooming as a
creole rose"----

"Bosephus," interrupted the Bear gravely, "you've got a touch of the
swamp fever. Let me see your tongue!"

Bo stuck out his tongue.

"My tongue's all right," he grinned. "That kind of fever's in the
heart."

Horatio looked alarmed.

"You must take something for it right away, Bo," he declared. "I can't
have you singing silly songs about jasmine and cypress and girls in milk
and honey. You know we haven't seen any honey since we left Arkansaw,
and I'd travel all the way back there on foot to rob one good honey
tree. I'm getting tired of so much of this stuff they call sugar and
cane and the like."

"Why they have honey here, Ratio, too. I haven't seen any bee trees, but
I've seen plenty of bees. I suppose they are in hives--boxes that people
keep for them to live in."

"Where do they have those boxes, Bo?"

"Well, in their yards mostly; generally out by the back fence."

"Could we rob them?"

"Well, I shouldn't like to try it."

The Bear walked along some distance in silence. The boy was also
thinking and singing softly to himself. He was very happy. Presently he
looked up and saw just ahead, in a field near the road, a tree loaded
with oranges.

"Look, Ratio!" he said. "Don't you wish we had some of those?"

The Bear looked up and began to lick out his tongue.

"Climb over and get some, Bo," he said eagerly.

"Not much. I haven't forgotten the roasting ears and the watermelon we
got from old man Todd in Arkansaw. We might go to the house and ask for
some.

"Nonsense, Bosephus. Watch me!"

He handed