Ben pointed it out to the chiefs; and this time
they succeeded in tracing the flight for, perhaps, a hundred feet
from the spot where they stood. Instead of following either of its
companions, this fourth bee took a course which led it off the
prairie altogether, and toward the habitations.
The suddenly conceived purpose of le Bourdon, to attempt to mystify
the savages, and thus get a hold upon their minds which he might
turn to advantage, was much aided by the different directions taken
by these several bees. Had they all gone the same way, the
conclusion that all went home would be so very natural and obvious,
as to deprive the discovery of a hive of any supernatural merit, at
least; and to establish this was just now the great object the bee-
hunter had in view. As it was, the Indians were no wiser, now all
the bees were gone, than they had been before one of them had flown.
On the contrary, they could not understand how the flights of so
many insects, in so many different directions, should tell the bee-
hunter where honey was to be found. Le Bourdon saw that the prairie
was covered with bees, and well knew that, such being the fact, the
inmates of perhaps a hundred different hives must be present.
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