As Gershom manifested no intention to
quit the place, le Bourdon set about the business of the hour, with
as much method and coolness as if the other had not been present.
The first thing was to bring home the honey discovered on the
previous day; a task of no light labor, the distance it was to be
transported being so considerable, and the quantity so large. But
our bee-hunter was not without the means of accomplishing such an
object, and he now busied himself in getting ready. As Gershom
volunteered his assistance, together they toiled in apparent amity
and confidence.
The Kalamazoo is a crooked stream; and it wound from the spot where
le Bourdon had built his cabin, to a point within a hundred yards of
the fallen tree in which the bees had constructed their hive. As a
matter of course, Ben profited by this circumstance to carry his
canoe to the latter place, with a view to render it serviceable in
transporting the honey. First securing everything in and around the
chiente, he and Gershom embarked, taking with them no less than
four pieces of fire-arms; one of which was, to use the language of
the west, a double-barrelled "shot-gun.
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