THE SPIDERS 143 



greater devotion than the young type-setter's. I admit 

 her to the intimacy of my study, I make room for her 

 among my books, I set her in the sun on my window- 

 ledge, I visit her assiduously at her home, in the country. 

 The object of our relations is not to create a means of 

 escape from the petty worries of life, pin-pricks whereof 

 I have my share like other men, a very large share, in- 

 deed ; I propose to submit to the Spider a host of ques- 

 tions whereto, at times, she condescends to reply. 



To what fair problems does not the habit of frequent- 

 ing her give rise ! To set them forth worthily, the mar- 

 velous art which the little printer was to acquire were 

 not too much. One needs the pen of a Michelet; and I 

 have but a rough, blunt pencil. Let us try, nevertheless, 

 even when poorly clad, truth is still beautiful. 



The most robust Spider in my district is the Narbonne 

 Lycosa, or Black-bellied Tarantula, clad in black velvet 

 on the lower surface, especially under the belly, with 

 brown chevrons on the abdomen and gray and white 

 rings around the legs. Her favorite home is the dry, 

 pebbly ground, covered with sun-scorched thyme. In 

 my harmas laboratory there are quite twenty of this 

 Spider's burrows. Rarely do I pass by one of these 

 haunts without giving a glance down the pit where gleam, 

 like diamonds, the four great eyes, the four telescopes, 

 of the hermit. The four others, which are much smaller, 

 are not visible at that depth. 



Would I have greater riches, I have but to walk a 

 hundred yards from my house, on the neighboring pla- 

 teau, once a shady forest, to-day a dreary solitude where 



