148 The Life of the Spider 



enclosure, among some tufts of ground-cypress, 

 or lavender-cotton. This is just what I wanted 

 for my plans. The find is all the more valuable 

 as the period of the exodus is near at hand. 



I prepare two lengths of bamboo, standing 

 about fifteen feet high and clustered with little 

 twigs from top to bottom. I plant one of them 

 straight up in the tuft, beside the first nest. I 

 clear the surrounding ground, because the bushy 

 vegetation might easily, thanks to threads 

 carried by the wind, divert the emigrants from 

 the road which I have laid out for them. The 

 other bamboo I set up in the middle of the yard, 

 all by itself, some few steps from any outstand- 

 ing object. The second nest is removed as it 

 is, shrub and all, and placed at the bottom of 

 the tall, ragged distaff. 



The events expected are not long in coming. 

 In the first fortnight in May, a little earlier in 

 one case, a little later in the other, the two 

 f amiHes, each presented with a bamboo climbing- 

 pole, leave their respective wallets. There is 

 nothing remarkable about the mode of egress. 

 The precincts to be crossed consist of a very 

 slack net-work, through which the outcomers 



