226 The Life of the Spider 



sounds, the Spider would hesitate and blunder. 

 Does she work imperturbably ? Or does she 

 need undisturbed quiet ? As it is, I know that 

 my presence and that of my light hardly trouble 

 her at all. The sudden flashes emitted by my 

 lantern have no power to distract her from 

 her task. She continues to turn in the light even 

 as she turned in the dark, neither faster nor 

 slower. This is a good omen for the experiment 

 which I have in view. 



The first Sunday in August is the feast of the 

 patron saint of the village, commemorating the 

 Finding of St. Stephen. This is Tuesday, the 

 third day of the rejoicings. There will be fire- 

 works to-night, at nine o'clock, to conclude the 

 merry-makings. They will take place on the 

 high-road outside my door, at a few steps from 

 the spot where my Spider is working. The 

 spinstress is busy upon her great spiral at the 

 very moment when the village big-wigs arrive 

 with trumpet and drum and small boys carr5dng 

 torches. 



More interested in animal psychology than in 

 pyro technical displays, I watch the Epeira's 

 doings, lantern in hand. The hullabaloo of the 



