A TRAGEDY OF NATURE. 207 



its future offspring. The spider stayed close to 

 the web and was evidently trusting that the legs 

 of the wasp would become entangled in an open 

 mesh or hole and so handicap it that it would 

 become prey rather than pursuer. But the wasp 

 was wary and dodged all openings too small to 

 pass readily through. At the same time it 

 seemed to become more and more angry, buzz- 

 ing and darting every instant at the spider yet 

 never grappling with her for fear that in the 

 struggle its legs would become enmeshed in the 

 filmy gossamer. 



At last seemingly tiring, it moved to one side 

 as if leaving. The spider at once lost her cun- 

 ning and made the fatal mistake of leaving the 

 web and starting up the bole of the oak, per- 

 haps to some covert beneath a loose piece of 

 bark. Quick as a flash the wasp, free from fear 

 of web, was after her. Grabbing her with both 

 jaws and legs they fell to earth, where the strug- 

 gle was soon over, the wasp injecting a dose of 

 preserving yet paralyzing fluid within her body. 

 For a minute or two after its victory the wasp 

 ran about as if seeking the best way to bear 

 away its prey, then seizing it with its legs es- 

 sayed to rise and fly. The spider was too bulky, 

 so dropping it and seizing it again with jaws, 

 the wasp began to crawl backwards and upwards, 

 first onto a piece of bark, from that to the leaf 

 of an herb, then up the stem of the latter to the 



