The Banded Monk 



on the garden. One is closed, the other is 

 kept open day and night. The Moth is placed 

 between the two, in the shadow, some four 

 or five yards away. 



The rest of the day and the following day 

 pass without anything worth mentioning. 

 Hanging by her claws to the front of the trel- 

 liswork, on the side nearest the light, the 

 prisoner is motionless, inert. There is no 

 waving of the wings, no quivering of the an- 

 tennae. Even so did the female Great Pea- 

 cock behave. 



The mother Bombyx matures; her tender 

 flesh hardens. By some process of which our 

 science has not the remotest idea, she elabor- 

 ates an irresistible bait which will bring call- 

 ers flocking to her from the four corners of 

 the heavens. What takes place in that fat 

 body, what transformations are performed 

 that shall presently revolutionize everything 

 around? Were they known to us, the Moth's 

 nostrums would add a cubit to our stature. 



On the third day the bride Is ready. The 

 festivities burst Into full swing. I was In the 

 garden, already despairing of success, so long 

 were things delayed, when, at about three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, in very hot weather 



283 



