The Adventures of Maya the Bee | Page 9

dragon-fly, "I am sure
to dream of it. One misfortune followed another. My brother soon
died." Miss Loveydear heaved a deep sigh.
"What did he die of?" asked Maya, in genuine sympathy.
Miss Loveydear could not reply at once. Great tears welled up and
rolled down her cheeks.
"He was stuck in a pocket," she sobbed. "No one can stand being stuck
in a pocket."
"But what is a pocket?" Maya could hardly take in so many new and
awful things all at once.
"A pocket," Miss Loveydear explained, "is a store-room that men have
in their outer hide.-- And what else do you think was in the pocket

when my brother was stuck into it? Oh, the dreadful company in which
my poor brother had to draw his last breath! You'll never guess!"
"No," said Maya, all in a quiver, "no, I don't think I can.-- Honey,
perhaps?"
"Not likely," observed Miss Loveydear with an air of mingled
importance and distress. "You'll seldom find honey in the pockets of
human beings. I'll tell you.-- A frog was in the pocket, and a pen-knife,
and a carrot. Well?"
"Horrible," whispered Maya.-- "What is a pen-knife?"
"A pen-knife, in a way, is a human being's sting, an artificial one. They
are denied a sting by nature, so they try to imitate it.-- The frog, thank
goodness, was nearing his end. One eye was gone, one leg was broken,
and his lower jaw was dislocated. Yet, for all that, the moment my
brother was stuck in the pocket he hissed at him out of his crooked
mouth:
"'As soon as I am well, I will swallow you.'
"With his remaining eye he glared at my brother, and in the half-light
of the prison you can imagine what an effect the look he gave him must
have had--fearful!-- Then something even more horrible happened. The
pocket was suddenly shaken, my brother was pressed against the dying
frog and his wings stuck to its cold, wet body. He went off in a faint.--
Oh, the misery of it! There are no words to describe it."
"How did you find all this out?" Maya was so horrified she could
scarcely frame the question.
"I'll tell you," replied Miss Loveydear. "After a while the boy got
hungry and dug into his pocket for the carrot. It was under my brother
and the frog, and the boy threw them away first.-- I heard my brother's
cry for help, and found him lying beside the frog on the grass. I reached
him only in time to hear the whole story before he breathed his last. He
put his arms round my neck and kissed me farewell. Then he

died--bravely and without complaining, like a little hero. When his
crushed wings had given their last quiver, I laid an oak leaf over his
body and went to look for a sprig of forget-me-nots to put upon his
grave. 'Sleep well, my little brother,' I cried, and flew off in the quiet of
the evening. I flew toward the two red suns, the one in the sky and the
one in the lake. No one has ever felt as sad and solemn as I did then.--
Have you ever had a sorrow in your life? Perhaps you'll tell me about it
some other time."
"No," said Maya. "As a matter of fact, until now I have always been
happy."
"You may thank your lucky stars," said Miss Loveydear with a note of
disappointment in her voice.
Maya asked about the frog.
"Oh, him," said Miss Loveydear. "He, it is presumed, met with the end
he deserved. The hard-heartedness of him, to frighten a dying person!
When I found him on the grass beside my brother, he was trying to get
away. But on account of his broken leg and one eye gone, all he could
do was hop round in a circle and hop round in a circle. He looked too
comical for words. 'The stork'll soon get ye,' I called to him as I flew
away."
"Poor frog!" said little Maya.
"Poor frog! Poor frog indeed! That's going too far. Pitying a frog. The
idea! To feel sorry for a frog is like clipping your own wings. You
seem to have no principles."
"Perhaps. But it's hard for me to see any one suffer."
"Oh"--Miss Loveydear comforted her--"that's because you're so young.
You'll learn to bear it in time. Cheerio, my dear.-- But I must be getting
into the sunshine. It's pretty cold here. Good-by!"
A faint rustle and the gleam of a thousand colors, lovely pale colors

like the glints in running water and clear gems.
Miss Loveydear swung through the green rushes out over the surface of
the water. Maya heard her singing in the sunshine. She stood and
listened.