St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-02-17
FRANKS OF A SPIDER.
1t Paid Nightly Visits to a Family
Gathering.

Gathering.
We named him BelshaZZar on the oc-
casion of his first visit to us, though l
have forgotten what suggested the
name, says the Philadelphia Times. He
was big. black spider, with a shiny.
fat body, suggestive of all abundance of
flies, but for all this appreciation of the
good things of life he was of scholarly
turn of mind.
We were all seated around the study
table preparing next days lessons and
tasks, when Minnie gave a scream that
made me jump, and even the boys
looked up startled. There was a big
black spider calmly seated on a Latin
dictionary regarding us intently. |
tapped paper at him, but he only drew
in his legs with a slightly contemptuouS
air and did not stir.
'Let him alone, sister" said Tom.
1--WE been studying about spiders, and
here is good opportunity for observ-
ing their habits''
ship, BelShaZZar descended from the
dictionary and crawied slowly over the
open page of an algebra. as If trying to
make out what it was. From this he
went over all the books, inspecting them
all with the same critical air, and at
last settled on physical geography as
most worthy of his attention. Every
now and then he would refresh himself
with drink out of Alexis ink bottle.
Ali at once we missed him, and as he
has last been seen drinking from the
bottle, suspicion Immediately arose that
he had fallen in. He had, and was
laundering helplessly about in the
black pool
In ~ To- =
of waste paper, with injunctions to re-
main there until dry, but this he had no
intention of doing. On the contrary, he
showed fixed determination to walk
over Toms neatly written Latin exer-
else.
You shan't. sir" said Tom, gently
hosting him with the feathered end of
quill pen on to his scrap of paper.
And then for the next few minutes
we forget all about him, till Toms cry
OF dismay called attention to his eXer-
else. 1t was lined and refined and lined
again with Balshazzar's tracks. He had
not left an inch unmarked, and was
even looking very complacently over
his nice black tracing when our exela-
nations of sorrow and anger seemed to
arouse him to sense of shame, and he
scrambled down the table and was gone
in the twinkling of an eye.
We thought we had seen the last, of
him. but the next night he came again
and the next, until we looked for him as
regular visitor, and placed the phys
zeal geography open to him for his
fancy, for it seemed to last.
The accident of his fall into the ink
bottle was repeated several times, for
ha would drink the ink, and once for
some minutes we feared that he
was drowned, but he gradually revived,
and beyond appearing rather subdued
was little the worse for the adventure.
But whenever he has been in the ink
after that first night nothing could in
duce him to stir Off the paper on which
he was placed to dry, though he would
run over that and seemed to take pride
in the designs with which he ornament
ed it.
What became of our queer pet we
never knew, but one night he failed to
make his appearance. and we were sur
prised to find out how much we missed
him. We hoped. however, he would
come the next evening, but he never
did, and somehow the study hour after
| that seemed longer and duller, and not
| to be looked forward TO.