him safely there until next morning. When it was light enough to see,
Narahdarn let the bee go again, and followed him to his nest, in a
gunnyanny tree. Marking the tree with his comebo that he might know it
again, he returned to hurry on his wives who were some way behind. He
wanted them to come on, climb the tree, and chop out the honey. When
they reached the marked tree one of the women climbed up. She called
out to Narahdarn that the honey was in a split in the tree. He called
back to her to put her hand in and get it out. She put her arm in, but
found she could not get it out again. Narahdarn climbed up to help her,
but found when he reached her that the only way to free her was to cut
off her arm. This he did before she had time to realise what he was
going to do, and protest. So great was the shock to her that she died
instantly. Narahdarn carried down her lifeless body and commanded her
sister, his other wife, to go up, chop out the arm, and get the honey.
She protested, declaring the bees would have taken the honey away by
now.

"Not so," he said; "go at once."

Every excuse she could think of, to save herself, she made. But her
excuses were in vain, and Narahdarn only became furious with her for
making them, and, brandishing his boondi, drove her up the tree. She
managed to get her arm in beside her sister's, but there it stuck and
she could not move it. Narahdarn, who was watching her, saw what had
happened and followed her up the tree. Finding he could not pull her
arm out, in spite of her cries, he chopped it off, as he had done her
sister's. After one shriek, as he drove his comebo through her arm, she
was silent. He said, "Come down, and I will chop out the bees' nest."
But she did not answer him, and he saw that she too was dead. Then he
was frightened, and climbed quickly down the gunnyanny tree; taking her