and the fault was
mine. I placed in the jar a Bumble-bee of average size. A day later the
Spider was dead; the rude sharer of her captivity had done the deed.

Let us say no more of these unequal duels in the glass prison and
complete the story of the Pompilus whom we left at the foot of the wall
with the paralysed Segestria. She abandons her prey on the ground and
returns to the wall. She visits the Spider's funnels one by one, walking
on them as freely as on the stones; she inspects the silken tubes,
dipping her antennae into them, sounding and exploring them; she enters
without the least hesitation. Whence does she now derive the temerity
thus to enter the Segestria's haunts? But a little while ago, she
was displaying extreme caution; at this moment, she seems heedless
of danger. The fact is that there is no danger really. The Wasp is
inspecting uninhabited houses. When she dives down a silken tunnel, she
very well knows that there is no one in, for, had the Segestria been
there, she would by this time have appeared on the threshold. The fact
that the householder does not show herself at the first vibration of the
neighbouring threads is a certain proof that the tube is vacant; and the
Pompilus enters in full security. I would recommend future observers not
to take the present investigations for hunting-tactics. I have already
remarked and I repeat: the Pompilus never enters the silken ambush while
the Spider is there.

Among the funnels inspected one appears to suit her better than
the others; she returns to it frequently in the course of her
investigations, which last for nearly an hour. From time to time she
hastens back to the Spider lying on the ground; she examines her, tugs
at her, drags her a little closer to the wall, then leaves her the
better to reconnoitre the tunnel which is the object of her preference.
Lastly she returns to the Segestria and takes her by the tip of the
abdomen. The quarry is so heavy that she has great difficulty in moving
it along the level ground. Two inches divide it from the wall. She gets
to the wall, not without effort; nevertheless, once the wall is reached,
the job is quickly done. We learn that Antaeus, the son of Mother Earth,
in his struggle with Hercules, received new strength as often as his
feet touched the ground; the Pompilus, the daughter of the wall, seems
to increase her powers tenfold once she has set foot on the masonry.

For here is the Wasp hoisting her prey b