Oak Openings | Page 5

of Saxon origin who
found their way into that trackless region, firstly on Gershom himself,
and secondly on his residence. These names were obtained from the
intensity of their respective characters, in favor of the beverage named.
L'eau de mort was the place termed by the voyagers, in a sort of
pleasant travesty on the eau de vie of their distant, but still
well-remembered manufactures on the banks of the Garonne. Ben
Boden, however, paid but little attention to the drawling remarks of
Gershom Waring. This was not the first time he had heard of "Whiskey
Centre," though the first time he had ever seen the man himself. His
attention was on his own trade, or present occupation; and when it
wandered at all, it was principally bestowed on the Indians; more
especially on the runner. Of Elk's foot, or Elksfoot, as we prefer to spell
it, he had some knowledge by means of rumor; and the little he knew
rendered him somewhat more indifferent to his proceedings than he felt
toward those of the Pigeonswing. Of this young redskin he had never
heard; and, while he managed to suppress all exhibition of the feeling, a
lively curiosity to learn the Chippewa's business was uppermost in his
mind. As for Gershom, he had taken HIS measure at a glance, and had
instantly set him down to be, what in truth he was, a wandering,

drinking, reckless adventurer, who had a multitude of vices and bad
qualities, mixed up with a few that, if not absolutely redeeming, served
to diminish the disgust in which he might otherwise have been held by
all decent people. In the meanwhile, the bee-hunting, in which all the
spectators took so much interest, went on. As this is a process with
which most of our readers are probably unacquainted, it may be
necessary to explain the modus operandi, as well as the appliances
used.
The tools of Ben Buzz, as Gershom had termed these implements of his
trade, were neither very numerous nor very complex. They were all
contained in a small covered wooden pail like those that artisans and
laborers are accustomed to carry for the purpose of conveying their
food from place to place. Uncovering this, le Bourdon had brought his
implements to view, previously to the moment when he was first seen
by the reader. There was a small covered cup of tin; a wooden box; a
sort of plate, or platter, made also of wood; and a common tumbler, of
a very inferior, greenish glass. In the year 1812, there was not a pane,
nor a vessel, of clear, transparent glass, made in all America! Now,
some of the most beautiful manufactures of that sort, known to
civilization, are abundantly produced among us, in common with a
thousand other articles that are used in domestic economy. The tumbler
of Ben Buzz, however, was his countryman in more senses than one. It
was not only American, but it came from the part of Pennsylvania of
which he was himself a native. Blurred, and of a greenish hue, the glass
was the best that Pittsburg could then fabricate, and Ben had bought it
only the year before, on the very spot where it had been made.
An oak, of more size than usual, had stood a little remote from its
fellows, or more within the open ground of the glade than the rest of
the "orchard." Lightning had struck this tree that very summer, twisting
off its trunk at a height of about four feet from the ground. Several
fragments of the body and branches lay near, and on these the
spectators now took their seats, watching attentively the movements of
the bee-hunter. Of the stump Ben had made a sort of table, first
levelling its splinters with an axe, and on it he placed the several
implements of his craft, as he had need of each in succession.

The wooden platter was first placed on this rude table. Then le Bourdon
opened his small box, and took out of it a piece of honeycomb, that was
circular in shape, and about an inch and a half in diameter. The little
covered tin vessel was next brought into use. Some pure and beautifully
clear honey was poured from its spout into the cells of the piece of
comb, until each of them was about half filled. The tumbler was next
taken in hand, carefully wiped, and examined, by holding it up before
the eyes of the bee-hunter. Certainly, there was little to admire in it, but
it was sufficiently transparent to answer his purposes. All he asked was
to be able to look through the glass in order to see what was going on in
its interior.
Having made these preliminary arrangements, Buzzing Ben--for the
sobriquet