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Tale of Buster Bumblebee

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[Pg 91] <h2>XIX THE FEAST AT FARMER GREEN'S</h2> 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[Pg 92] 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[Pg 93] 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 pieces that disappeared into the mouths of men, women and children. One mouthful such as they took would have fed him at least a month. And there was one boy called Bill who stowed away enough each time his fork traveled to his[Pg 94] mouth to nourish Buster Bumblebee a whole summer. "That boy is making a pig of himself!" Buster Bumblebee exclaimed, right out loud. But since nobody understood what he said, no one paid any attention to his remark. "You'll be ill, if you're not careful," Buster buzzed right in the greedy boy's ear. But the youngster known as Bill only moved his head slightly. And to Buster's alarm he continued to bolt huge mouthfuls of everything within his reach. It was really a terrible sight. Buster Bumblebee was so fascinated by it that he sat right down on a low-hanging maple bough and kept his eyes fixed on that marvellous boy. Before the feast came to an end the boy Bill's face underwent an odd change. In the beginning it had worn a wide smile.[Pg 95] But at last Buster saw a look of pain steal over Bill's somewhat besmeared features. And beneath his coating of tan he seemed to have grown pale. Before long Buster was sure he heard a groan, though no one of the merrymakers paid the slightest heed to it. Everyone was too busy eating and talking with his neighbors to notice Bill's distress. Then came another groan—and another—and another—and another, until finally greedy Bill clapped both his hands across the front of his jacket and let out a terrific roar. "Ah!" said Buster Bumblebee. "You have a stomachache, young man. And it's no wonder." <hr class="major" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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