THE IvITTLE WEAVER AND WHAT SHE WOVE. II5 



to conceal its door by fastening upon it some of the moss 

 which surrounded it, but when the moss was cleaned away 

 and the cover of the nest destroyed, the spider made a new 

 door and brought moss from a distance to put on it, thus 

 making the cover the most conspicuous thing in its vicinity. 



But to return to the golden-rod. Here was a tempta- 

 tion and a prize that must be captured for the Two Little 

 Naturalists ; so the stalk was cut away, bearing its queer 

 fruit. This was in early autumn ; the eggs might not be 

 hatched, and we agreed to lay it aside, that the 3'oung 

 spiders might live their lives in their own wa}-. We shud- 

 dered at the thought that the strong would be nourished 

 by the weak, but that is one of spider principles. 



When it was about time for the young cannibals to 

 emerge in the spring we decided to have an opening and The 

 Two Little Naturalists made an attempt to tear apart the 

 sac with their fingers. It could not be easily torn for the 

 cocoon was drj' as parchment, and stronger and tougher 

 than that used in the nest of the common wasp. A pair of 

 scissors lay open the walls of the sac neatly and disclosed 

 a ball of the most beautiful, snuff brown, silken floss soon 

 made animate by the sudden stirring of the baby spiders. 



A suppressed "oh !" from the children manifested their 

 eager interest. In trying to remove a single spider, four 

 strands of the silk caught on the point of the forceps only 

 to break one after another until but one was left. The 

 Two Little Naturalists had a happy thought! One took the 

 forceps with the thread attached and the other the box in 

 which lay the reel of floss, and by a gradual drawing apart, 

 succeeded in reaching opposite corners of the room, still 

 holding the glistening line which according to my ribbon 

 measure was fully six yards long. 



It seems probable that in proper space, and with like pa- 

 tience and gentleness, the entire ball might have been un- 

 wound, and I longed to continue the pleasant pastime of 



