A RACE OF TELEGRAPHERS 5 
enough to investigate, you will find the little 
householder patiently waiting beneath its sheet 
for the dew to dry so that it may open up shop, 
or perchance it may be a nocturnal spider—a 
large portion of the race are. In that case, it 
will either be drowsing or meditating in its tele¬ 
graph booth, a little tubular retreat near at hand, 
which has an open back door, so that it may es¬ 
cape on the instant, if necessary. A small awn¬ 
ing stretches above the sheet. This is for the 
purpose of entangling the unwary insect in its 
flight. Should some poor little blunderer brush 
into these deftly strung threads and drop onto 
the sheet below, the spider is on hand instantly. 
For no matter how deep its slumbers or how ab¬ 
sorbing its meditations, it listens with its hind 
leg! Its toe serves as the receiving instrument 
of its telegraph outfit, and it is quick to catch the 
slightest message from its ingenious sounding 
board.” 
“ Oh, Uncle John! ” expostulated Tommy, his 
tone proclaiming plainly that he considered this 
the baldest “ tara-diddle.” 
“Fact, lad,” Uncle John assured him evenly. 
“ You can test its truth by looking carefully be¬ 
hind the web of any spider with a daytime hiding 
place. You will note at once a thread leading 
out and away from the center of the web where, 
the spokes meet. This is the drag-line or tele- 
