THE STORM. 317

Bumble-bee went right ahead, geeing this way, and geeing that. We
made real good time, and we got into another crowd too, before
the day was over. We were on Bourke street —a nice street, Ralph;
some real nice buildings there, and lots of carriages were in the
street, and in one place the people on the sidewalk were as thick
as bees; but we went right straight through them! TI felt as
if I was on a train of cars.”

“T call you de Annex,” said Bumble-bee, looking round and
grinning.

When Bumble-bee and the “Annex” were clear of the first
crowd that we described, Rick looked about him. He noticed how
straight the streets were, and that the intersecting ones crossed at
right angles.

“Tt makes me think of Philadelphy,” observed Bumble-bee.

The streets were broad as well as straight.

“They hab sumfin’ to ‘blow’ about here in Melbourne,” said Bumble-
bee, noticing the enterprising aspect of the city, and using a popular
Australian phrase (known elsewhere, also). “ We'll hunt up dat Great
Internal Exhibition fust, you know, honey,’ continued Bumble-bee.

They found it m Carlton Gardens. The buildings, which cost
about one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, covered
five and a half acres of ground. The main building, shaped like a
cross, was five hundred feet long, traversed by a transept two
hundred and seventy feet deep. The dome rose at the intersection
of the nave and transept, and reached an altitude of two hundred
and twenty-three feet. Its great height made it a landmark for miles
around. The grounds were decorated with flowers, and everywhere
wore the beauty of summer, while fountains gracefully threw into the
air their crystal streams. Bumble-bee and Rick wandered about,
drifting with the throng that surged forward and backward. Many