The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-11-27


continued making scalloped course
around the ant until he came to the
point where the stick was imbedded
in the earth. Then he crawled upon
the stick, which was broader than his
body, and began walking up it toward
the elevated end under which the ant
was working so busily that he did not
seem to suspect the presence of a
dreadful enemy. Every now and then
the spider stopped and seemed to Fred
to peep over the edge of the stick to
make sure of the ants position. AS he
neared the point directly over the ant
he crept with the utmost caution, and
at last, when he had made ready, by
fastening an end of web securely to
the stick (these spiders do this so that
they may climb back if need be), he
settled himself several times as cat
settles herself for a spring, and quick
as fash was upon the unsuspecting
ant. graphing him tightly in his long,
Hairy legs.
The struggle that followed was dis
appointment to Fred. The great bulk
of the spider completely covered the
ant from view, and after few slight
upheavals, as if the ant were making
his last desperate effort to free himself
from the merciless grip, all became
quiet. For as much as half an hour
the boy watched the insects, for he
wished to- know what the spider was
going to do with the ants carcass.
And as boys generally sympathize with
the under dog, so Fred sympathized
with the poor little ant. He could not
help admiring the shrewd generalship
, of the spider, but it seemed mean
sort of thing to pounce on the ant from
this vantage point without giving him
the least chance to save himself. and,
besides. the spider was more than ten
times as big as the ant. Fred was now
sorry that he had not pushed the spider
off and given the ant a chance to stand
up for fair fight or at least to have q
Try at a foot race.
After long. long time the spider be-
gan to loosen the murderous grip in
which he had held his prey, and as the
long hairy legs Strengthened away Fred
knelt down close and got peep under
the spiders big body. The ant was lying
| fiat upon its back. Farther and far
Their the spiders legs spread until they
met above his back. Fred had never
before seen spider do this, so he bent
down closer to see what it meant. Then
the strangest thing Of all happened:
The spider. with all his eight legs
| raised above his back. rolled over on his
side, and Fred saw not only that he
| was dead, but that the ant had cut
him open and scooped everything out
! of him, leaving only the empty skin in
the outward form of a spider. So, aft
! err all, the boy had wasted his sympa-
| thy on the poor little ant, who seemed
| to be amply able to take care of him
self. And when the little black fellow
| began dragging the great hulk of the
dead spider across the road, over the
mountains and through the valleys
made by hoofs and wheels, Fred's ad-
| miration for the ants enormous
strength was aroused, and he said to
! himself:
Gee! If could lift load like that.
l could walk off with a house,"
Then he added, We'll, the ant has
got his Thanksgiving dinner all right"
i And this brought back to his mind the
thought of his own errand, SO he set
out again for the market. But, though
he did not think he had spent much
time watching the ant and the spider
the market was closed for the day
when he reached it.
1t was long, unhappy trudge back
home for Fred. He did not take the
short cut, for he was in no hurry to
face the wrath that he felt awaited
him there. But as he came up the al
ley and climbed the back fence he saw
something which made him wonder.
There was the whole family in the
back yard and Dennis strutting about,
tied long by one leg to the clothes post
Mr.. Slawson was digging worms. which
Robbie was feeding to the turkey.
while the women stood looking on.
Fred could not understand it at ALL
On his slow way home he had consid-
cred many different excuses, but when
he saw the cheerful faces in the back
yard he forgot them all. AS he slid
down from the fence he was greeted
with laughter, and Robbie came run
ming toward him, shouting:
"Oh, Fred, pa amt going to kill Den
nisy'
This was the way of 1t: When Fred
had started for market, Robbie, partly
from fear that somebody would ex
tract from him the terrible secret which
was burning in his conscience and
partly to see If Dennis was all right,
had crawled under the front porch.
Once there with the turkey, he had for
gotten his fears and soon was holding
Dennis in his little, arms and talking
to him as if they two were the only liv-
ing creatures on earth. The sound IF
his shrill little voice had been heard by
Mrs. Slawson when she went out to
pick flowers for the table, and she had
discovered him and the lost turkey.
2 Thus driven to the last defense, Robbie
had crawled out and, with great tears
running down his dirty cheeks, had
begged his mamma not to let papa kill