AND THE CHILDREN. 
27 
I looked ahead in the direction the column of 
soldiers was moving, and I saw in the grass a large taran¬ 
tula , about as big as my hand. The spider was no more 
than six feet ahead of the ants, but he seemed not to be 
afraid. 
Perhaps, if Mr. Tarantula could have seen himself 
before hand as the ants saw him afterwards, he would 
have made good his escape; but he was tco proud to 
think of running away from a few ants. 
The whole scene was a Thermopylae. Tarantula 
was Leonidas and the ants the Persian host, but the battle 
lasted only twenty minutes. 
Bravely did the spider fight his enemy but its numbers 
were too many. It was of no avail It was fun to see. 
Well, perhaps not fun but admirable to see the little fel¬ 
lows climb up the legs and attack him in every place you 
can think of. 
After the battle, there stood Mr. Tarantula in the 
same attitude, his fangs ready to take whatever may come, 
but he was a lifeless figure. It seems the ants wanted 
to take revenge for the very hair were pulled out and he 
was bitten in every conseivable place. 
But the ants did not pass without loss as you might 
have seen by the number of dead that lay strewn about 
the corpse of the Tarantula. 
