Among other books
that had thus fallen in le Bourdon's way, was one which somewhat
minutely described the uses that were made of bees by the ancient
soothsayers in their divinations. Our hero had no notion of reviving
those rites, or of attempting to imitate the particular practices of
which he had read and heard; but the recollection of them occurred
most opportunely to strengthen and encourage the design, so suddenly
entertained, of making his present operation aid in opening the way
to the one great thing of the hour--an escape into Lake Michigan.
"A bee knows a great deal," said le Bourdon, to his nearest
companions, while the whole party was moving some distance to take
up new ground. "A bee often knows more than a man."
"More than pale-face?" demanded Bear's Meat, a chief who had
attained his authority more by means of physical than of
intellectual qualities.
"Sometimes. Pale-faces have gone to bees to ask what will happen.
Let me ask our medicine-man this question. Parson Amen, have YOU any
knowledge of the soothsayers of old using bees when they wished to
know what was about to happen?"
Now, the missionary was not a learned man, any more than the bee-
hunter; but many an unlearned man has heard of this, and he happened
to be one of the number.
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