A MASTERLY BRIGAND 16T 
and built up until the mat really became a sort of 
bowl, with a wide, flat edge. Inside this bowl 
her eggs were laid, and then carefully covered 
with a silken blanket. Would she leave them 
there in the bowl set in the midst of the circular 
carpet? Knowing Lycosas , the watcher felt sure 
that she would not, and so remained motionless 
awaiting events. Presently the spider began 
taking up and breaking one after another the 
threads which held the mat to the carpet. At the 
same time, too, she gripped and tore with her 
fangs, and finally by dint of exceedingly hard 
labor managed to tear the bowl loose and wrap it 
in a loose sheet torn from the upper surface of the 
carpet. She had now a white silk pill, soft and 
sticky to the touch, and about the size of an aver¬ 
age cherry. 
“Altogether several hours had gone into this 
accomplishment, and Madam Lycosa seemed 
quite tired out, hut she was happy, and grasping 
the precious pill in her arms, she dropped off to 
sleep. Next morning she was found carrying 
the bag of eggs slung behind her, as is the fashion 
of all the Lycosas. You will be able to see this 
much anyway. For sleeping or waking, the 
mothers never let their precious egg-sacs out of 
their grasp, though, as you may well imagine, 
such burdens are often exceedingly inconvenient 
to drag along up-stairs, down-stairs, and in the 
