The Black-Bellied Tarantula 29 



Fortune at last smiles upon my patience, which 

 has been heavily tried by all these prudent re- 

 treats and particularly by the fierce heat of the 

 dog-days. A Spider suddenly rushes from her 

 hole : she has been rendered warlike, doubtless, 

 by prolonged abstinence. The tragedy that hap- 

 pens under the cover of the bottle lasts for but 

 the twinkling of an eye. It is over : the sturdy 

 Carpenter-bee is dead. Where did the murder- 

 ess strike her ? That is easily ascertained : 

 the Tarantula has not let go ; and her fangs are 

 planted in the nape of the neck. The assassin 

 has the knowledge which I suspected : she has 

 made for the essentially vital centre, she has 

 stung the insect's cervical ganglia with her 

 poison-fangs. In short, she has bitten the only 

 point a lesion in which produces sudden death. 

 I was delighted with this murderous skill, 

 which made amends for the blistering which 

 my skin received in the sun. 



Once is not custom : one swallow does not 

 make a summer. Is what I have just seen due 

 to accident or to premeditation ? I turn to 

 other Lycos2e. Many, a deal too many for 

 my patience, stubbornly refuse to dart from 



