truss, threatened with a death ten times more horrible than any
tiger or snake could inflict.

"Not daring to move a muscle, not even to turn my head, I sat, as
it seemed to me, for hours, perfectly rigid, staring straight
forward at the red-painted end of the opposite beam, wavering in
the heat fifty feet away. My brain was clear as glass, my senses
keen. Low, excited voices babbled behind me. I could smell onions
boiling in the cook's quarters, and hear his pans and dishes
rattling.

"Every little while I turned my eyes downward, hoping to see the
bees getting ready to leave. But my shoes and trousers were still
buried inches deep under the sluggishly clinging black bodies.

"The brassy alarm-clock in the mess tent clanged out eleven. I had
been sitting there only half an hour.

"The sun struck fiercely down on my head, scantily protected by my
thin cap. A filmy white feather from some passing bird dropped
before my face. I followed it past the hideous furry swelling on my
feet, straight down through the breezeless air, till it dwindled to
a white speck above the ledges two hundred feet below. That was
where I should strike if I fell; but what torments I should suffer
before I struck!

"The beam was hard and hot. I could not sit quiet forever. I
stirred uneasily. An angry hum rose, and I stiffened. Some of the
bees were above my knees. Suppose I should crush one between my leg
and the steel! Suppose they should creep up and cover my body and