The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1908-08-14
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The Golden
Notified Spider
By MARINER J. KENT
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Copyright, by shortstory Pub. Coz

1t was quite a number Of years be-
fore the United States government be-
gan its archaeological researches
along the Little Colorado river in
Arizona that the following announce
ment, which attracted considerable
attention, appeared in the advertising
columns of the Winslow Courier:
WANTED. SPECIMENS OF GOLDEN
mottled spiders of the species Mygale
Hentzii One dollar each will be paid
for specimens, in lots not exceeding one
dozen from the same locality, which must
be accurately described. Deliver to I'M
dersigned at the Union hotel
CLARA WHARTON.
Clinton Mather, on the staff of the
Courier, made it his purpose to find
out about the spider ad. He readily
found Miss Wharton, and was gra-
ciously received. She was a charming
young woman, of perhaps %, and
without hesitation told a very inter
esting story:
A brother and herself were left or
phans when she was 20 and he Is
years old. Their inheritance was
ample, and Alfred the brother, be-
came an enthusiastic student of arch
aeology. When he was of age he de-
parted for Arizona to pursue his
studies there.
This was five years ago." con-
tinued Miss Wharton, "and excepting
a single letter, have received no
tidings of him. After exhausting all
means to find him, | was led to final
resort by peculiar account of golden
spiders my brother gave in his letter
the one letter l received from Alfred
at our home in Boston a few months
after he left me. 1t was dated from
The Ruin, Arizona and briefly told
that he had discovered a Tusayan
cave, heaped with gold dust. He was
led to excavate for the cave because
of the great number of golden-mottled
spiders that came out of the ground
through an opening they had made.
This opening led to the mouth of the
cave, which had been covered with
rocky debris and sand. He inclosed
a little of the gold dust in his letter,
and upon that slight clew am work
i4g."
Yes" interrupted Mather, Il know
that spiders marked with gold are
common to the southwest, but why
are you hunting them?"
Il am naturalist enough" replied |
Miss Wharton, ITO know that the col |
oring and marking of insects are
largely Influenced by their environ |
ment and it is logical to infer that as
the cave my brother found was the
home of golden-mottled spiders, their
markings would reflect the character
of the gold-dust in the cave. At any
rate l have proceeded upon this the
DRY, and, with the aid of a powerful
microscope, | compare the golden
markings of the spiders l obtain with
the gold dust from the cave. When I
shall find lot of spiders whose marx
ings are of the same color, texture
and fineness as the gold dust, then |
can locate the cave and, l fear, find
the remains of my brother"
AS the weeks went on Mathers ac
quaintance with Miss Wharton ripened
and he grew enthusiastic over her
quest One day he found her greatly
agitated, and she could only exclaim:
81 have found the spiders!"
From what part did they Gomez"
eagerly questioned Mather.
From the Homolobi ruin"
''Why, that is only three miles from
Winslow!" exclaimed Mather. 1--WE
will go there tomorrow"
1t was so arranged and for many
days the two hunted the ruin for the
golden spiders At last they found
them, countless numbers of them,
pouring out from under large fiat
stone imbedded in shattered rock and
powders and half buried by drifted
sands.
The following day they returned
and, with suitable tools, cleared the
fiat stone and raised it on its edge.
The lifting of the stone disclosed an
aperture only large enough to admit a
single person. From it extended a
flight of steps rudely cut in the solid
rock There was nothing forbidding
or uncanny about the passageway and
Mather at once descended, followed
by Miss Wharton. At the depth of ,
perhaps a dozen feet the steps ended
in an almost square cavern, ex- ,
ceeding but little in width or .
height the stature of tall man.
it was the treasure vault of I
some archaic tribe, followed, with in
finite labor, out of a mass. of granite.
The rock had been covered for ages
with hot and arid sands, baking in an 6
almost rainless region, and the air in i
the vault was therefore as dry and |