Somehow, I felt that we might have a reunion this summer. Truly, a festive occasion. Let us celebrate it with fireworks. Pull the trigger, Mr. Garble,â he said savagely.
âI really wouldnât, Mr. Garble, sir,â said Bannister, who had popped up at the other window with an even larger pistol which he pointed at the man.
Mr. Garble lowered his gun, but kept it pointed at the pig. âIt seems to be a stand-off,â he said. âSuppose we just both put away our guns and go quietly home.â
âIâve got a better idea,â Freddy said. âO.K., Jake.â And at that, the wasps rose in a swarm from his hat and went for Mr. Garble and Simon.
Simon was lucky. He and the other rats jumped from the car and scuttled off into the woods. But Mr. Garble couldnât get out quickly, because Freddy was holding the door. He yelped and shrieked, and finally ended up crouched on the floor with his coat over his head, before Freddy called the wasps off.
He had some trouble calling them off. âHave a heart, Freddy,â said Jacob. âThis is more fun than twenty conventions. Darn it, I bet I bent my sting on his collarbone that time.â
But Freddy was firm. âI just want to kidnap him,â he said; âI donât want him sick in bed.â He knew that wasps are not cruel by nature; they just take pride in good workmanship. For a wasp, to sink his sting in a tender spot and make his victim yell, is the same as for a ballplayer to hit a homer. I donât suppose they ever think how it hurts.
So the wasps went back on Freddyâs hat, and then Garble moved to one side and Freddy slid under the wheel and drove back to the Indian village, followed by the two carloads of Indians. They put Mr. Garble in a room in one of the cabins for the night, but they didnât lock the door or tie him up. They left six wasps on guard. They thought that would be enough to keep him safe. Then they took the loud-speaker and smashed it up with an ax.
CHAPTER
11
The day after the meeting in the cave the revolutionists began the raids. It was the time which historians of the revolt now call the Reign of Terror. Cars were stopped and overturned all over the county; farmers, starting out to do their morning chores, were driven back into the house; cows refused to come in at milking time; several barns were set fire to. In Centerboro, cats were insolent to their mistresses, horses went out of their way to insult people on the street, a car with a black dog at the wheel roared up Main Street and knocked over several pedestrians. A rabble of cows and horses galloped through the business section, overturning trash cans and smashing windows. Dr. Wintersip was chased up a telephone pole by a hitherto quite inoffensive little dog named Sweetie-Pie.
Warnings that this sort of thing would take place had been printed in both the Bean Home News and the Centerboro Guardian . Nobody paid much attention to them until the outrages began. But now people became alarmed. There was a mass meeting which passed resolutions demanding that the state police restore order. But there wasnât much the troopers could do. They arrested a horse for kicking in the door of a feed store, and a number of dogs for various offenses, but as these animals had no money for fines, and as there was no animal jail, they were just released with a warning.
Quietly, a few farms were taken over. A committee of animals would call on the farmer and explain that they were taking over, that the farm work would be done just as before, but that one of their number was now boss from whom the farmer would take orders. Sometimes the farmer was allowed to remain in the house if he agreed, in other cases he was compelled to live in the barn. If he put up a fight he was forcibly ejected.
Simon hated the Beans and their animals, and consequently it was he who headed the committee that called on Mr. Bean. Probably the rat had some doubt about
âI really wouldnât, Mr. Garble, sir,â said Bannister, who had popped up at the other window with an even larger pistol which he pointed at the man.
Mr. Garble lowered his gun, but kept it pointed at the pig. âIt seems to be a stand-off,â he said. âSuppose we just both put away our guns and go quietly home.â
âIâve got a better idea,â Freddy said. âO.K., Jake.â And at that, the wasps rose in a swarm from his hat and went for Mr. Garble and Simon.
Simon was lucky. He and the other rats jumped from the car and scuttled off into the woods. But Mr. Garble couldnât get out quickly, because Freddy was holding the door. He yelped and shrieked, and finally ended up crouched on the floor with his coat over his head, before Freddy called the wasps off.
He had some trouble calling them off. âHave a heart, Freddy,â said Jacob. âThis is more fun than twenty conventions. Darn it, I bet I bent my sting on his collarbone that time.â
But Freddy was firm. âI just want to kidnap him,â he said; âI donât want him sick in bed.â He knew that wasps are not cruel by nature; they just take pride in good workmanship. For a wasp, to sink his sting in a tender spot and make his victim yell, is the same as for a ballplayer to hit a homer. I donât suppose they ever think how it hurts.
So the wasps went back on Freddyâs hat, and then Garble moved to one side and Freddy slid under the wheel and drove back to the Indian village, followed by the two carloads of Indians. They put Mr. Garble in a room in one of the cabins for the night, but they didnât lock the door or tie him up. They left six wasps on guard. They thought that would be enough to keep him safe. Then they took the loud-speaker and smashed it up with an ax.
CHAPTER
11
The day after the meeting in the cave the revolutionists began the raids. It was the time which historians of the revolt now call the Reign of Terror. Cars were stopped and overturned all over the county; farmers, starting out to do their morning chores, were driven back into the house; cows refused to come in at milking time; several barns were set fire to. In Centerboro, cats were insolent to their mistresses, horses went out of their way to insult people on the street, a car with a black dog at the wheel roared up Main Street and knocked over several pedestrians. A rabble of cows and horses galloped through the business section, overturning trash cans and smashing windows. Dr. Wintersip was chased up a telephone pole by a hitherto quite inoffensive little dog named Sweetie-Pie.
Warnings that this sort of thing would take place had been printed in both the Bean Home News and the Centerboro Guardian . Nobody paid much attention to them until the outrages began. But now people became alarmed. There was a mass meeting which passed resolutions demanding that the state police restore order. But there wasnât much the troopers could do. They arrested a horse for kicking in the door of a feed store, and a number of dogs for various offenses, but as these animals had no money for fines, and as there was no animal jail, they were just released with a warning.
Quietly, a few farms were taken over. A committee of animals would call on the farmer and explain that they were taking over, that the farm work would be done just as before, but that one of their number was now boss from whom the farmer would take orders. Sometimes the farmer was allowed to remain in the house if he agreed, in other cases he was compelled to live in the barn. If he put up a fight he was forcibly ejected.
Simon hated the Beans and their animals, and consequently it was he who headed the committee that called on Mr. Bean. Probably the rat had some doubt about
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