SPIDEKS. 57 



She not only taketh hold with her hands in 

 king's palaces but she festoons the dingy attic 

 and cellars with silken nets. She covers the 

 fields, and pastures, and shrubs, and orchards, and 

 fences, with dainty traps, which are tended and 

 repaired and watched with hungry eyes for vic- 

 tims. 



I have been induced to write this chapter on 

 account of the interesting features that come 

 within its scope, but perhaps it would not have 

 been written but for the fact that a recent early 

 morning ride to the mine gave me a capital op- 

 portunity to see spiders' webs everywhere decked 

 in glittering gems of dew, that served to make 

 them not only visible but beautiful in the level 

 sunbeams. They were stretched across the road 

 in sagging curves, threaded closely with beads 

 that unbraided the white light of the sunbeam, 

 and revealed its hidden rainbow of colors. From 

 naked branches and fragrant fir limbs they hung 

 in dainty wheels, woven in spokes and spirals, 

 and braced with skill and judgment. They car- 

 peted the unsightly brush-piles in gleaming gos- 

 samer. Under the magic of dew and sunshine 

 the works of these marvellous spinners and weav- 

 ers stood revealed. Many species had taken part 

 in the performance. Each one had its own way 

 of constructing a trap. All this decking the 



