236 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



orate web just back of my table, I endeavored to deter- 

 mine if it would recognize me as a purveyor if I assumed 

 that office. At the outset no sooner was my candle lighted 

 and I had taken my seat than the spider would retreat 

 to its innermost sanctum, and not reappear while I was 

 at work. It was afraid of me, and of me only, and not 

 of the candle or its nickering flame. I commenced then by 

 offering a fly impaled upon a delicate splint from Katie's 

 broom. No notice was taken of it so long as my hand 

 was in sight. I kept the fly in position all the evening, 

 resting it between two books, but still in line with my 

 hand, which was in constant motion, for I was busy writing. 

 Directly after I retired the fly was seized and dragged 

 away. Night after night I struck a match to determine 

 this, and always with the same result. It was quick work 

 with the spider, for I relighted my candle several times 

 almost the same moment that I extinguished it, but never 

 caught the spider, and yet the fly had disappeared. It 

 evidently followed my movements very closely a proof 

 itself of cunning. 



During the second week the necessary confidence was 

 gained, and the flies were seized if the splint was several 

 inches long and I did not move my hand. The rest was 

 easy, and every night the splint was shortened until but 

 two inches in length, but I never could induce the spider 

 to take a fly directly from my fingers or allow me to touch 

 it. Then came the concluding evidence of the spider's 

 teachableness. Long before I left camp it would come 

 from its web and take its place before me, when the. 

 candle was lighted and I had sat down to write, expecting 

 its nightly ration of two or three flies. These I nearly 

 always provided. During the day the spider did not pay 

 any attention to me, nor would it show itself at night if I 

 moved about restlessly, had company, or made any unusual 

 noise, such as whistling. It had learned to associate my 



