'And then, of course,' she went on,
as he showed no signs of flying to the house to pack his bag and
catch the next train, 'the bees are always stinging you. I hope you
are not afraid of bees, Mr Chalmers?'
'Rather not. Jolly little chaps!'
A gleam appeared in Elizabeth's eye.
'If you are so fond of them, perhaps you wouldn't mind coming and
helping me open one of the hives?'
'Rather!'
'I'll go and fetch the things.'
She went into the house and ran up to Nutty's room, waking that
sufferer from a troubled sleep.
'Nutty, he's bitten.'
Nutty sat up violently.
'Good gracious! What by?'
'You don't understand. What I meant was that I invited your Mr
Chalmers to help me open a hive, and he said "Rather!" and is
waiting to do it now. Be ready to say good-bye to him. If he comes
out of this alive, his first act, after bathing the wounds with
ammonia, will be to leave us for ever.'
'But look here, he's a visitor--'
'Cheer up! He won't be much longer.'
'You can't let him in for a ghastly thing like opening a hive.
When you made me do it that time I was picking stings out of
myself for a week.'
'That was because you had been smoking. Bees dislike the smell of
tobacco.'
'But this fellow may have been smoking.'
'He has just finished a strong cigar.
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