go with me into
the hole?" He swung over the edge, and his comrades were about
following, when they were stopped by a sharp cry from Jumbo: "Look out
there!"

"Look in, you mean," said Filip. And they all looked into the burrow.
They saw a row of gleaming eyes that sparkled like jewels as they slowly
moved upward into the light. Then came into view a claw; then another,
and another, and next the brown head of a great Pixie!

"Whew!" cried Jumbo. "Somersault all, and out of this, instanter!" He
swung himself back over the outer edge of the nest and rattled down the
rugged side in such haste that he tumbled in a little heap upon the
grass, and was presently buried under the sprawling limbs of his
comrades. When the Brownies got to their feet they saw a huge ground
Pixie of the clan Lycosa, glaring at them over the edge of the nest, and
plainly getting ready to spring down upon them.

"Cut and run, lads!" shouted Jumbo, and away the squad scurried out of
the thicket, leaving Lycosa perched upon the crest of her nest-like
tower. When they told their story to Captain Clearview, he bade two of
the Natties remain in the path, and keep watch upon the nest-building
Pixie lest she might sally forth and attack the party on flank or rear.
Then he bade the squad move on. They had gone but a short march when the
Captain called a halt.

[Illustration: FIG. 138.--The Tower or Surface Nest of a Lycosid
Spider.[BM]]

"See," he said, pointing toward the lake, "yonder is the boat! It is
tied to the shore, without any attempt at concealment. Plainly, the crew
has no suspicion of our presence here. Their camp can't be far away."
The scouting party was halted, and Clearview and True stole through the
young willows that fringed the shore.

"Hist! there they are!" whispered True, who had caught the sound of
voices. "Do you see them?"

"No, but they are just beyond this fallen sapling. Here, we can climb
upon the trunk and overlook the bivouac safely."

In a small open space, near the point where the boat lay, the camp had
been pitched. A large tent with a tubular entrance had been built over
the hole made by the uplifted root of an overthrown oak. Another tent
was pitched above this on a platform made of earth which had adhered to
the projecting roots; and a third was woven over the top of a clump of
weeds, its tubular entrance or hall running straight down to the ground.
A bridge of silken ropes stretched from the camp to the tops o