And those who have looked on the footprints bright,
They know, in the dusk 'twixt day and night,
(On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day,)
That Christ has passed with the passing feet
Of folk that praised Him in carols sweet
On Christmas Day in the morning.
[LESSONS FROM NATURE.]
By JEAN A. OWEN, Author of "Forest, Field and Fell," etc.
PART III.
THE PERSEVERING SPIDER.
Can any pleasant moral lesson be learned from the spider? I fancy some of our readers asking—the spider, whom many regard as the most treacherous, cruel, and unrelenting of those creatures who lie in wait for prey? By the song "Will you walk into my parlour? said the spider to the fly," in the nursery, several generations of children have been early prejudiced against this useful and most intelligent insect.
When they are a little older, it is true, the spider is held up to them as a wonderful example of perseverance in that story of King Robert the Bruce, who, when he was banished from his country, lying in concealment in a miserable hovel, and considering whether it would not be well to give up the struggle to secure his own, and with it restore freedom to his country, was attracted by the sight of a spider hanging at the end of a thread and trying to swing from one part of the cabin roof to another in order there to fix its line. Six times whilst the King watched it attempted to do this and failed. The Bruce remembered then that he also had made just six attempts—that is, fought six battles with his enemies, and without success. "Now," thought he, "if that spider tries a seventh time and succeeds, I will take it as a good omen for myself, and will also try my fortune a seventh time." The spider reached the beam, and Bruce went forth to victory after victory.