Chapter v 



THE NARBONNE LYCOSA: THE FAMILY 



For three weeks and more, the Lycosa trails 

 the bag of eggs hanging to her spinnerets. The 

 reader will remember the experiments de- 

 scribed in the third chapter of this volume, 

 particularly those with the cork ball and the 

 thread pellet which the Spider so foolishly 

 accepts in exchange for the real pill. Well, 

 this exceedingly dull-witted mother, satisfied 

 with aught that knocks against her heels, is 

 about to make us wonder at her devotion. 



Whether she come up from her shaft to lean 

 upon the kerb and bask in the sun, whether she 

 suddenly retire underground in the face of danger, 

 or whether she be roaming the country before 

 settling down, never does she let go her precious 

 bag, that very cumbrous burden in walking, 

 climbing or leaping. If, by some accident, it 

 become detached from the fastening to which 



119 



