172 The Life of the Spider 



eyes form a black edging. When left alone, 

 the little ones remain motionless in the soft, 

 russet swan's-down ; if disturbed, they shuffle 

 lazily where they are, or even walk about in a 

 hesitating and unsteady fashion. One can see 

 that they have to ripen before venturing outside. 



Maturity is achieved in the exquisite floss 

 that surrounds the natal chamber and fills out 

 the balloon. This is the waiting-room in which 

 the body hardens. All dive into it as and 

 when they emerge from the central keg. They 

 will not leave it until four months later, when 

 the midsummer heats have come. 



Their number is considerable. A patient 

 and careful census gives me nearly six hundred. 

 And all this comes out of a purse no larger than 

 a pea. By what miracle is there room for such 

 a family ? How do those thousands of legs 

 manage to grow without straining themselves ? 



The egg-bag, as we learnt in Chapter 11., is 

 a short cylinder rounded at the bottom. It 

 is formed of compact white satin, an insuperable 

 barrier. It opens into a round orifice wherein 

 is bedded a lid of the same material, through 

 which the feeble beasties would be incapable 



