Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1873-12-03


The spider was black, ugly fellow.
Not large spider, but he had a great
many legs. He was brave and honest
enough IN his way. His way was to
catch and eat all the flies he could, and
he had just spun a strong, new web for
that purpose on the outside of the win
dow, and made no secret Of his inten-
tons. Like others of his kind he had
met with reverses. Many good web
had been blown down or swept away
as soon as it was finished; but spiders
must not allow themselves to be dis
couraged, so now he had made an
other. The wasp was three times 1arg-
er than the spider, and handsome
fellow, neatly finished off in rings Of
black and yellow. He had a slender
waist, but he looked like villain, and
had an unpleasant way of turning his
head from side to side, and of rubbing
first one ear and then the other, if they
are ears, and of crashing those nip
pers-if that is what he calls them
on the side of his head.
No doubt the spider was the better
of the two.
The wasp could sting very fercely,
and would at any time it had mind
to. On this particular day, the spider
had, perhaps, eaten light reakfast-
a small moth or the like-and was hun
CRY, as one might imagine he would
be, and had stationed himself in his
den to wait for his dinner.
What the wasp wanted there it is
difficult to tell. Perhaps he did not
believe in spiders webs, or was not
afraid of them, but he came tumbling
and laundering along, and the next
minute was caught in the web by one
leg. The spider rushed out and wound
a thread around the leg, but the wasp
struggled so hard and shook the
web SO violently that the spider was
obliged to go aloft and look to his
fastenings. He seemed to do this
cody and deliberately, as though he
had nothing else to think of. When
he was satisfied he returned to the
combat as If sure to win.
Meanwhile the wasp continued to
struggle and gnash his nippers, evil
IDENTIFY in a rage that he should have
been SO stupid or SO unlucky. The
spider prudently kept out of reach of
the angry nippers, and watched his OPP
portunity to wind fresh thread round
leg, whenever it was possible to do so
safely. But the wasp, also, had many
Legs, and as soon as one was made fast,
another seemed to kick itself loose,
and the fastenings of the web had to
be attended to every other moment, so
the spider had his hands full, and it
was difficult to imagine how it would
end
One of the spectators was on the
spiders side. She said she was afraid
of wasps, and hoped this one would
not get away, and she admired the
GOODNESS and skill of the spider. An
other one said her sympathies were
entirely with the wasp, and it made
her blood run cold to see the spiders
deliberate proceedings. But all agreed
not to interfere on either side.
The spider had another difficulty to
contend with. While these active legs
were being fastened at one moment
and freeing themselves at another, tbs
wasp's four wings were whirling like
the wings of wind-mill-so fast tina
all that could be seen was a sort of
cloud or mist where the wings should
be. After failing many times, the spi-
der presently succeeded in flashing two
OF these wings together, and gradually
winding them tight, until they looked
more like a small, dry twig, than
pair Of wings. Then he took a secure
position upon these disabled wings,
and from these contrived to throw a
line around the other wings, which
were still whirling madly, and soon he
had them firmly bound to one of the
legs, so that they could not move.
This appeared to dishearten the wasp,
as well it might. His efforts grew
feebler and feebler, till, finally, the
spider cautiously approached him and
seemed to whisper in his ear, or he
may have stung him, but the wasp be-
came instantly motionless. His strug-
giles were over. Now that it was too
late, the spiders admirer relented, and
said she was sorry for the wasp, and
wished she had helped him.
Then the spider fastened on one
side of the wasp's head, and stayed
there till the spectators were tired Of
watching him. When they looked at
him again, some time after, he had
changed his position to the other side
Of the head. The wasp looked shrivel-
ed and dry, more like mummy than
the stout, burly fellow that he had
been,
The next time an observation was
taken, an hour or SO later, the wasp had
disappeared entirely. The spider was
reposing in his den, the web apparent
ly in perfect repair, and no trace left
of the fierce battle. -Hearth and
Home.
Sailed Wood.