turned to Jamie. “And you,” he said, “have you become rather well acquainted with my little partner here?”
“Oh, we’ve made a start,” said Jamie. “We haven’t had so much of a chance. The little Scout is in school, you know.”
“Well, what I’m interested in knowing,” said the Bee Master, “is whether you’ve got a feeling that my little partner plays the game square, doesn’t do any mean tricks, is willing to help the other fellow, knows how to salute and to revere the flag of our country, and has a proper reverence for the Great Giver of all good and perfect gifts.”
Jamie thought an instant and then he nodded assent.
“Yes,” he said, “yes, I think we’ve come pretty close to at least touching on all that ground. I think if you had searched the whole world over, you couldn’t have found a more genuine little human being to make your partner in the keeping of the bees.”
“All right, then,” said the Bee Master, “that’s all I wanted to know. Merely if you liked each other. If you are getting along well together. In case I should have to stay here for quite a time, or in case I should get better and have to make quite a long journey, I just wanted to know if you would keep the garden growing and keep the bees happy. You know it’s something of a trick, if you have been studying the books carefully; you know it isn’t a thing that every one can do, just keeping two acres of bees happy, two acres of life thriving.”
Then he addressed Jamie directly.
