The smoker was working well, and we felt greatly encouraged. Those
rings of black vapor drove the bees back and, as the smoke rose through
the cracks, prevented them from coming down again.
We were still up that ladder by the pulpit, puffing smoke at those
cracks, when the old Squire and Uncle Hannibal arrived, with Judge
Peters and the Hon. Hiram Bliss. The house was now full of people, and
they cheered the newcomers; there was not a little laughter and joking
when some one told the visiting statesmen that a swarm of bees was
overhead.
"Boys," Uncle Hannibal cried, "do you suppose there's much honey up
there?"
He asked the Squire whether Egyptian bees were good honey gatherers, and
laughed heartily when the old gentleman told him what robbers they were
and how savagely they stung.
"Judge!" Uncle Hannibal cried to Judge Peters. "That's what's the matter
with our Maine politics. The Egyptians are robbing us of our liberties!"
That idea seemed to stick in his mind, for later, when he began his
address, he referred humorously to several prominent leaders of the
opposing party as bold, bad Egyptians. "We shall have to smoke them
out," he said, laughing.
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