ir Hawerburch sank down in
the water and died. Then the spider returned and surrounded him with
its web, and he floated gently, gently, to the back of the cavern. It
drew in on the web. Now he is all black."

The doctor, turning to me, who no longer felt the shock, asked:

"Is it true, Frantz, that the commodore went in bathing?"

"Yes, Cousin Christian."

"At what time?"

"At four o'clock."

"At four o'clock--it was very warm, wasn't it?"

"Oh, yes!"

"It's certainly so," said he, striking his forehead. "The monster
could come out without fear--"

He pronounced a few unintelligible words, and then, looking toward the
mountaineers:

"My friends," he cried, "that is where this mass of debris came
from--of skeletons--which spread terror among the bathers. That is
what has ruined you all--it is the spider crab! It is there--hidden in
its web--awaiting its prey in the back of the cavern! Who can tell the
number of its victims?"

And full of fury, he led the way, shouting:

"Fagots! Fagots!"

The woodcutters followed him, vociferating.

Ten minutes later two large wagons laden with fagots were slowly
mounting the slope. A long file of woodcutters, their backs bent
double, followed, enveloped in the somber night. My tutor and I walked
ahead, leading the horses by their bridles, and the melancholy moon
vaguely lighted this funereal march. From time to time the wheels
grated. Then the carts, raised by the irregularities of the rocky
road, fell again in the track with a heavy jolt.

As we drew near the cavern, on the playground of the roebucks, our
cortege halted. The torches were lit, and the crowd advanced toward
the gulf. The limpid water, running over the sand, reflected the
bluish flame of the resinous torches, the rays of which revealed the
tops of the black firs leaning over the rock.

"This is the place to unload," the doctor then said. "It's necessary
to block up the mouth of the cavern."

And it was not without a feeling of terror that each undertook the
duty of executing his orders. The fagots fell from the top of the
loads. A few stakes driven down before the opening of the spring
prevented the water from carrying them away.

Toward midnight the mouth of the cavern was completely closed. The
water running over spread to both sides on the moss. The top fagots
were perfectly dry; then Dr. Weber, supplying himself with a torch,
himself lit the fire. The flames ran from twig to twig with an angry