tempers and ever since they got stings they are apt to use them when
they get angry."

"Got stings!" exclaimed the little boy. "Didn't the bee people always
have stings?"

"Oh, no," answered Ah-mo; "not always."

"How did they get them?" asked little Luke. "Tell me about it."

* * * * *

"Long, long ago, when the world was new," said Ah-mo, "the bee folk had
no stings. They were just as busy workers as they are to-day. All day
long and all summer long they flew from flower to flower and gathered
wax and honey, which they stored against the winter, when there would
be no flowers and no honey.

"But many of the other creatures liked honey as well as the bees. They
would watch the bees till they found out where their storehouses were.
Then they would break them open and steal all the honey. This was bad
for the bee people. For without their honey they would starve to death
during the long, cold winters.

"At last matters got so bad with the bee people that they sent a
messenger to the Master of Life to ask him to come to their aid. When he
had heard about their trouble, he said to their messenger, 'Go back to
your people. In two moons I will come to visit you. By that time I shall
have thought out a way to help you.'