She had just finished digging a tunnel seven inches long in the earth, and had lined it with a substance that looked like silk. Now she was spinning a web to cover the outer door, which was really a dry oak leaf. She left an opening large enough to pass through. Then she pulled some blades of grass and fastened them across the leaf so securely that the entrance to her home could not be seen. She worked very busily, although occasionally a rude wasp came along and tried to sting her. In spite of disturbing insects, the spider finished building her home. Then she twined some tiny vines about the entrance, making a green bower that looked very pretty. When her difficult task was completed, she crawled into her silk-lined hall and went to sleep.
“Plucky wood spider!” cried Tiny in admiration. “Although the wasps threaten her life, she never gives up. You work diligently, little friend. I admire you very much. I have learned a lesson in perseverance.”
HE SAW A DARK OBJECT SITTING DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF HIM.
Tiny did not hunt a place in which to sleep until it was quite late. Indeed, the moon was beginning to shine before he thought of rest. Just as he was about to leave the path turning to the right, he saw a dark object sitting directly in front of him. It was singing in a clear and plaintive voice:
“Wur-r-r, wur-r-r, wur-r-r,
Though the fox and the bat and the weasel and cat
Are waiting to seize me and roll me out flat,
And swallow me down like a great lump of fat,