A CLEVER LOCKSMITH 203 
But it fits perfectly, overlapping the edge of the 
tunnel carefully all around. The little worker 
knows full well that, if there are any cracks or 
chinks, water will soon come in and flood out her¬ 
self and her babies. The second, or cork type of 
door, is a thick stopple with carefully beveled 
edges, which fits into the opening as neatly as 
ever a cork fitted a jug. Some species build a 
folding trap-door of the wafer type; in this case 
the two halves of the door fold back on either 
side. When closed, the line where they meet in 
the middle is absolutely straight and tight, by 
which it is plain that the little builder adds a 
master knowledge of the carpenter’s craft to her 
other accomplishments. 
“ Nor is this all: she is a graduate in the school 
of camouflage. For once her trap-door is con¬ 
structed, be it plain wafer, cork, or folding in 
type, she proceeds at once to disguise it so 
cleverly that not one in a hundred would ever 
sight it as a door, or dream of the home which it 
conceals. This is done by gluing over its surface 
an apt copy of the surrounding character of the 
bank itself. Bits of dead leaves, mosses, pieces 
of grass, tiny stones, even an accidental 4 stick ’ 
thrown in helter-skelter helps in the concealment. 
So cleverly is it done that how the spider herself 
knows her own door, once she leaves it, is a mys¬ 
tery which only she understands. But she never 
