The former, Dr. Prendergast, was one day writing in his log cabin, when a
huge Tarantula spider gently lowered itself from the roof by its slender
cord, and dangled in front of him. "Ha!" said the naturalist, making sure
of the handsome specimen that had thus unwittingly come within his reach,
"I'll have you, my good fellow"; and taking a valuable pin from his necktie
he made a dexterous shot, and pierced him through the body.
To his dismay, however, the spider, quite equal to the occasion, turned
and bit him so sharply that he drew back with a cry, and before he could
recover himself, the Tarantula had scrambled back up its rope, bearing the
pin with it, and was again safe in its hiding place in the roof.
Now as the pin contained a precious stone which Dr. Prendergast had had set
in order to carry it about in safety, he was exceedingly annoyed at this
loss, and he and his companion searched the roof with care in the hope
of finding it; but all in vain, and Dr. Prendergast could only reproach
himself with having made such a foolish experiment.
A few days later he was again writing in the same position, when he beheld
his enemy the spider once more descending from the roof, and to his
surprise and joy it carried with it the pin, still sticking through its
body. This time our naturalist made no vainglorious display of his power as
a marksman, but beating down the spider with the nearest object at hand,
he again possessed himself of the lost treasure, now doubly valuable on
account of its extraordinary adventure, and his mother, for whom he was
preserving the beautiful stone, afterwards wore it, set in a small brooch.
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