"Will," he said, "our expedition has succeeded. Here is the proof of it. The bee is following our path. They are coming!"
Clark nodded. Woodsmen as they both were, they knew well enough the Indian tradition that the bee is the harbinger of the coming of the white man. When he comes, the plow soon follows, and weeds grow where lately have been the flowers of the forest or the prairie.
They sat for a time looking at the little insect, which bore so fateful a message into the West. Reverently Lewis placed it in his collector's case--the first bee of the plains.
"They are coming!" said he again to his friend.