The Clotho Spider 349 



ting on the pile of cells, watches over the general 

 safety, without knowing her family other than 

 by the gentle trepidations felt through the 

 partitions of the tiny chambers. The Labyrinth 

 Spider has shown us how she maintains a 

 permanent sitting for two months in her guard- 

 room, to defend, in case of need, the brood 

 which she will never see. The Clotho does the 

 same during eight months, thus earning the 

 right to set eyes for a little while on her family 

 trotting around her in the main cabin and to 

 assist at the final exodus, the great journey 

 undertaken at the end of a thread. 



When the summer heat arrives, in June, the 

 young ones, probably aided by their mother, 

 pierce the walls of their cells, leave the maternal 

 tent, of which they know the secret outlet well, 

 take the air on the threshold for a few hours and 

 then fly away, carried to some distance by a 

 funicular aeroplane, the first product of their 

 spinning-mill. 



The elder Clotho remains behind, careless of 

 this emigration which leaves her alone. She is 

 far from being faded ; indeed, she looks younger 

 than ever. Her fresh colour, her robust appear- 



