LESSON LXXIV. DARE AND DO. 1. Dare to think, though others frown'; 2. Dare from custom to depart'; Dare the priceless pearl possess'; Dare', when others curse', to bless'. 3. Dare forsake what you deem wrong'; 4. Do what conscience says is right'; [LESSON LXXIV. This is an exhortation to independence and boldness of character-to dare and do what is right on all occasions. For the falling inflection at the close of each line, see RULES IV. and VIII.] A NOBLE BOY. 1. A few years ago a steam-boat sank in the Missouri River, near St. Louis. Among the persons who were swept overboard were a woman, and a boy about twelve years of age. 2. A man on a steamer near by, seeing the boy struggling with the waves, threw him a rope, and called to him to take hold of it. The little fellow replied, "Never mind me, I can swim; save my mother." They were both saved. 1. A very curious and beautiful palace is the home of the Honey-bee. If you could look into this bee-hive, you might see a long line of dwell. ings, called cells, framed" with the nicest care, row above row! These cells are built of white wax; they are neatly varnished with gum, and filled with provisions for the winter! 2. The home of the honey-bees is built upon a regular plan; and there are paths among the cells, just wide enough for two bees to meet and pass each other. You might think the busy workers were always bustling about in the greatest confusion; yet each knows, her own business, and her own proper place. Every thing is done in the strictest order. 3. But who are the inhabitants of this palaceor rather, we might say, of this populous city? for it contains from ten thousand to thirty thousand living beings! 4. First, there is a large number of Working-bees. They are the laborers, who do all the work. They go forth early every fair morning in summer, to fill their bottles with honey,* and their baskets with pollen. They build the cells: they gather the wax and the honey; and they take care of the young. These workers are very good judges of the weather, for they are seldom caught in a shower, and they take care to stay at home when there is thunder. 5. Then there is a set of Drones in every hivelazy fellows, who gather no honey. About the middle of summer the working-bees sting the drones to death, and then drag their dead bodies out of the hive. The drones have no stings. *Bees swallow the honey which they find in flowers, carry it to the hive, and then empty it from their mouths into the cells. + Bees have, on their hind legs, little basket-like cavities, in which they gather the pollen, or dust of flowers. 6. Every swarm of bees has a Queen, who does no work, but who is treated with the greatest respect by the rest of the hive. She is larger than the other bees. She moves in a slow and majestice manner, and is attended by a guard of workers. She lays all the eggs, to the number of many thousands, and is the mother of the whole hive. 7. Two working-bees, of the same hive, may sometimes be seen fighting, when each throws herself upon the other with great fury. They fall to the ground, and wrestle together, each trying to thrust its sting between two ringlets of the body of its rival. If one is thus stung, it soon dies: but if the victor loses her sting in the contest, she, also, soon perishes. 8. Such a battle is sometimes ended in a few minutes: sometimes it continues for hours, before either can give the fatal blow. The bees of different hives often wage deadly war upon one another; and in one of their murderous battles they often "pile the ground with thousands slain," so that a whole swarm is thus sometimes destroyed. 9. There are many kinds of bees, besides the honey-bee. There are the Humble-bees—or, as they are often called, the Bumble-bees, which are very much like the honey-bees in their habits. 10. There are also the curious Carder-bees, who dig, for their home, a hole in the ground, which they cover with a domes of moss. This moss they card into small bundles, before they carry it to their dwelling. They sometimes line the ceiling of their house with wax, to keep out the rain. 11. There are some bees that are real robbers. These are called Cuckoo-bees, because, like the cuckoo, they make no nests of their own, but lay their eggs in the cells of their more industrious neighbors. 12. Other kinds of bees are the Mason-bees, which build their dwellings of sand and cement, the Carpenter-bees, and the Mining-bees. The latter bore holes in sunny banks, to the depth of six or eight inches, where they form a smooth chamber, and there lay their eggs, placing near by a ball of pollen for the young to feed upon. a FRAM'ED, formed; made. RING-LET, a small ring. The hind body of the bee consists of six scaly ringlets. DOME, an arched roof. h CEILING (seel'-ing), the covering of the inner roof, or top of a room. [LESSON LXXV. is a brief description of the dwellings and the habits of some of the families of the bees. The honey-bee; its cells; their arrangement; number of bees in a hive; working-bees; drones; and queen. Battles of the honey-bees. Humble-bees, carder-bees; cuckoo-bees; mason-bees; carpenter-bees; mining-bees.] LESSON LXXVI. HONEYBALL AND VIOLETTA; OR, THE HIVE-BEE AND THE CARPENTER-BEE. 1. Honeyball was a good-natured, good-natured, easy kind of creature, who belonged to the city of the Honeybees. She was very ready to do a kindness if it cost her but little trouble; but she was as lazy as any drone in the hive. 2. Honeyball would have liked to live all day in the bell of a foxglove, with nothing to disturba her in her idle feast. It was said, in the hive, that |