Tiny spent the night in the fork of a wild plum tree. For some time he sat thinking of his mother and Squirreltown, but his lessons in patience and contentment had made him satisfied with his lot.

The next morning he started upon his journey, bravely following the narrow, twisting path, ever ready to avoid danger.

At length he came to a brook. He was about to take a drink when he saw what he took to be a fairy struggling in the water. She had been trying to get out for a long time; but, finally, her wings ceased to move and she lay very still.

Tiny, who was a good swimmer, hurried out to rescue her. He placed his nose under her and lifted her from the water. Holding his head high, he swam to the shore.

The fairy crawled upon a lady’s-slipper close by and flapped her wings until they were quite dry.

“You have done me a great service,” she said. “I’ll repay you some time when you least expect it. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”

“Don’t try,” said Tiny, with a polite bow. “I’ve been taught to protect the helpless, provided they are not too big for my protection. I hope you are quite dry now.”

“Yes, I shall be able to fly back to the city as soon as I get my breath,” she said. “I am a queen bee and I should not be out of my hive. I left the palace this morning with several thousand followers and was on my way to a far-off country, when, in some peculiar manner, I fell into the water. I could not swim, so it is lucky for me that you came by.”

“I hope that your followers will find you. They must be greatly distressed.”

“Oh, I hope they’ll find me,” said the queen bee, as she flapped her wings. “You see, I have thousands and thousands of children; but they have good nurses and are never much bother. It is not hard to govern them.”

Tiny gazed at her in surprise.

“I have been queen of a place called the City Wonderful,” she continued. “I ruled fifty thousand subjects. We lived in a great city with narrow streets, protected by a beehive. You don’t know what a very busy place it was all summer long.”

“But it doesn’t seem possible that so many creatures could live together. Just imagine fifty thousand red squirrels in one tree!” gasped Tiny.

“That’s different,” responded the queen. “We live together in co-operation. Each of the workers knows her work and does it without having to be watched all the time. The workers are females, and they are very industrious; but the drones are males, and they do not work. They have to be driven out of the city before winter sets in, or they would eat all our provisions. The workers toil from morning till night, stopping up cracks in the hive with wax, carrying food to the baby bees, and storing it away for winter. They haven’t time to play in the summer. Each worker has six little pockets which she fills with pollen. She uses this in making wax for the walls. As soon as the walls are built, another set of workers make round places, or cells, in them. Others fill the cells with honey from the honey bags they carry about when they visit the flowers.”

“But where do the little baby bees stay?” asked Tiny.

“Oh, they stay in the empty honey cells and are watched and cared for by their nurses until they are old enough to work,” replied the queen. “There is much to do, but there are many classes of workers, from the honey gatherers to the bees that stand inside the hive, fanning with their wings to make currents of air; for without pure air the crowded City Wonderful would not be a fit place to live in. Another set of bees cleans out the cells after the baby bees are old enough to come out, and others guard the gate of the city to keep away moths and other troublesome creatures.”

“Bees are wise, sensible, industrious, and useful,” declared the squirrel. “I should like to see the City Wonderful. I am very glad that I have the privilege of seeing a queen bee. I wasn’t expecting such a great pleasure.”

The queen bee said that she was equally glad to see the red squirrel, and that she would be delighted to invite him to see the new City Wonderful, were it not for the fact that her soldiers might make it unpleasant for him.

“Are there many kinds of bees?” asked Tiny presently.

“Yes, there are fully seventy known varieties,” replied the queen, daintily flapping her wings. “There are the plasterer bees. They make tunnels in the ground, divide them into cells, and fill them with honey. They have forked tongues to use as trowels in smoothing down the silken layers which they use in making the tunnels. The flower riflers, which are very dark in color, make their cells on dry walls. Their homes look like lumps of mud.”

Tiny asked if all the bees live in great cities.

“Not all of them,” replied the queen, “although they are very sociable creatures. The upholsterer bee cuts out round pieces from rose leaves, with which she lines her tiny nest. Would it not be delightful to live in a nest of sweet-smelling rose leaves? I should much prefer such sweet quietude to city life. The upholsterer stores honey and pollen that looks like rose-colored jam. I dare say it is very delicious. The mason bees take bits of chalk, sand, and woody material, which they make into tiny bricks to use in building their little houses. Another kind of bee hunts for an old snail shell in which to make her house. There is another variety that builds its nest in the heart of the scarlet poppy. Some bees throw out sweet perfume. Although most bees work in the sunshine, there is a class, with wings tinted like the rainbow, that works by moonlight. You may be learned, my friend, but I could sit here all day and tell you things about bees. You would be much surprised at many facts I should mention. Bees, wasps, spiders, and ants are very clever.”

Tiny said that there was nothing that could give him greater pleasure than to hear her talk.

“But my body guard is coming,” continued the queen. “It is really an extraordinary thing for a queen bee to be without attendants. They must be much distressed about losing me.”

Tiny asked why she had left the City Wonderful.

“Because of family troubles,” replied the queen, somewhat ashamed. “We lived in perfect harmony until I learned that my daughter, the princess, would come out of her nursery cell in a few days to enter society. Princess bees are the only ones that cause trouble. They are fed on the finest food, and the nurses work hard to make their bodies as smooth and comely as possible. Of course, daughters that live in luxury and never have any responsibility are likely to be spoiled. Like all queen bees I am in fear of the eldest princess.”

“Why?” cried Tiny in surprise.

“Oh, you don’t understand bees,” said the queen with a sigh. “When my eldest princess comes from her nursery and is ready to go into society, she will try to kill me. She will strive to be queen. It is always that way with the princesses.”

“What a cruel daughter!” exclaimed the squirrel, much horrified.

“All princesses try to get the queens out of the way,” said the bee in a sad voice. “As soon as they are big enough to rule others, they want to control everything. So I have gotten several thousand loyal subjects and have left the hive to build a city of my own.”

“And will a cruel princess become queen in your place?” asked Tiny.

“Yes,” was the response, “but before long she will become uneasy, too. Her next younger sister will come out of her nursery and will want to rule. Perhaps there will be a great contest, but doubtless the elder princess will have to flee as I have done. She will have fewer followers than I, and they will be called the after-swarm. Thus jealousy goes on in the royal family all the time, but the other bees are usually peaceable and are always busy.”

At that moment Tiny heard a buzz that sounded as though all the insects in the world were singing together. A great swarm of bees, like a black cloud, appeared overhead.

“I believe this must have been the first time in history that a queen ever got away from the rest of the swarm,” said the queen bee. “I have enjoyed this little visit so much, and I thank you a thousand times for saving me from drowning.”

Waving her pretty wings in graceful farewell, she joined her army of soldiers, and with buzzes of delight they carried her away.

“What a dreadful thing it is to be a ruler, in constant fear of death!” said Tiny, gratefully. “I am glad—oh, so glad—that I am a little common squirrel, as free as the sunbeams that light my way.”