67 
A MANUFACTURER 
to tackle the huge specimen? The children 
eyed her disappointedly. “ Coward! ” muttered 
Tommy, disgustedly, and was turning away. 
But Uncle John caught his arm. “ “Watch! ” he 
whispered tensely. 
And even as he spoke a curious thing hap¬ 
pened. The spider’s hind legs began to wave 
vigorously, and shortly they seemed enveloped in 
a rainbow-colored, fan-like sheet which grew 
apace, and was presently flung with surprising 
quickness and nicety over the writhing grasshop¬ 
per. With a quick movement of the long whirl¬ 
ing legs, the poor wretch was turned over and se¬ 
curely bound in the shimmering shroud. But not 
yet did the spinning operations cease; on and on 
went the waving legs flying their bright-hued 
sheet, and at the release of each armful, or rather 
“ legful,” a quick kick sent the victim turning 
over more firmly in its shroud. It was wonder¬ 
ful to watch, and the performance went on until 
it was quite apparent that the spider had used up 
all her silk. 
But the grasshopper still struggled. Feebly, 
’tis true; he was too tightly swaddled for any con¬ 
centrated effort. The spider faced him and 
stood patiently. Evidently she had every confi¬ 
dence in her methods, and she had not long to 
wait. Soon all motion ceased beneath the varie¬ 
gated shroud. Then the little murderess ad- 
