In fact, to get down unassisted was impossible, and I was badly frightened, I suppose I was perched not more than thirty-five feet above the ground; but to me, glancing fearfully down on the rocks in the bed of the brook, the distance looked a hundred! Moreover, the trunk of the basswood had split open when it struck, and all the bees were out.

Clouds of them, rising as high as my legs, began paying their respects to me as the cause of their trouble.

Luckily the veil kept them from my face and neck.
I could see old Hughy on the brink of the gully, staring across at me, open-mouthed, and in my alarm I called aloud to him to rescue me.

He did not reply and seemed at a loss what to do.
I had started to climb higher into the shaggy top of the hemlock, to avoid the bees, when I heard some one call out, "Hello!" The voice sounded familiar and, glancing across the gully, I saw Willis Murch coming through the woods.

Seeing us pass his house and knowing what we were in quest of, Willis, curious to know what success we would have, had followed us.