The Clotho Spider 347 



straw to rouse her from her apathy. It needs 

 the prick of hunger to bring her out of doors ; 

 and, as she is extremely temperate, her appear- 

 ances outside are few and far between. During 

 three years of assiduous observation, in the 

 j privacy of my study, I have not once seen her 

 explore the domain of the wire cage by day. 

 Not until a late hour at night does she venture 

 forth in quest of victuals ; and it is hardly 

 feasible to follow her on her excursions. 



Patience once enabled me to find her, at ten 

 o'clock in the evening, taking the air on the flat 

 roof of her house, where she was doubtless 

 waiting for the game to pass. Startled by the 

 light of my candle, the lover of darkness at 

 once returned indoors, refusing to reveal any of 

 her secrets. Only, next day, there was one 

 more corpse hanging from the wall of the cabin, 

 a proof that the chase was successfully resumed 

 after my departure. 



The Clotho, who is not only nocturnal, but 

 also excessively shy, conceals her habits from 

 us ; she shows us her works, those precious 

 historical documents, but hides her actions, 

 especially the laying, which I estimate approxi- 



