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Tale of Buster Bumblebee

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[Pg 61] <h2>XIII THE CARPENTER'S PROMISE</h2> When Buster Bumblebee told Whiteface the Carpenter Bee, that he hated to work that honest artisan stared at his caller in astonishment. "You're a queer one!" he said at last "But there's something about you that I can't help liking, though it would be hard for me to say just what it is—so please don't ask me!" "Then you'll make me a house, after all?" Buster cried joyfully. "I will," the Carpenter promised, "just as soon as I finish the addition I'm building to my own home." "Good!" said Buster. And wishing the[Pg 62] Carpenter Bee a hasty good-afternoon, he flew off to find little Mrs. Ladybug and tell her that he was going to have a house of his own, just as she had suggested. After that the news spread quickly, for Mrs. Ladybug was somewhat of a gossip—in a pleasant enough way. Being much interested in her neighbors, she liked to talk about their affairs. And now she told everyone that Buster Bumblebee was going to have a fine new house, and that the Carpenter was going to build it for him. Naturally, Buster's friends all told him that they were glad to hear of his good fortune. And whenever anyone mentioned the matter, Buster promptly invited him to come to a party that he intended to give as soon as his new home was ready to move into. "Mrs. Ladybug tells me that I ought to have a house-warming," Buster explained.[Pg 63] And though some of his neighbors didn't know what he meant by that, they said "Of course!" and tried to look wise. There was only one thing about the whole affair that annoyed Buster: when people asked him when his new house would be finished he was unable to tell them. "Well, when is the Carpenter going to start building it?" they would ask. And he could only reply that as soon as the Carpenter completed the addition to his own house he had promised to begin to build Buster's. Now, many people were satisfied with that answer. But there were some (they were the curious ones) that insisted on knowing exactly when that would be. And then there was nothing that Buster Bumblebee could do except to admit that he didn't know. "Why don't you find out about it?" asked the most curious person in all Pleasant Valley—and that, of course, was old Mr. Crow. "If I were you I'd go to the Carpenter and insist on his telling me." So Buster Bumblebee began calling at the Carpenter's house every day. Some days he even went there two or three times. It must have been annoying for anybody as busy as the Carpenter to be interrupted so often—and always for the same reason. But he never once thought of being angry—though he did wish that Buster would let him work in peace. His answer to Buster's question was always the same: "I'm afraid my house won't be finished to-morrow." <hr class="major" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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