"Good old guarantee! Hurrah for the label behind!" roared the
bees.

"Well, such being the case, I say that when we find they've
betrayed us, we can exact from them a terrible vengeance."

"Good old vengeance! Good old Root! 'Nuff said! Chuck it!" The
crowd cheered and broke away as Melissa dived through.

"D'you know where Langstroth, Root and Cheshire, live if you
happen to want em? she asked of the proud panting orator.

"Gum me if I know they ever lived at all! But aren't they
beautiful names to buzz about? Did you see how it worked up the
sisterhood?"

"Yes; but it didn't defend the Gate," she replied.

"Ah, perhaps that's true, but think how delicate my position is,
sister. I've a magnificent appetite, and I don't like working.
It's bad for the mind. My instinct tells me that I can act as a
restraining influence on others. They would have been worse, but
for me."

But Melissa had already risen clear, and was heading for a
breadth of virgin white clover, which to an overtired bee is as
soothing as plain knitting to a woman.

"I think I'll take this load to the nurseries," she said, when