THE SEQUEL.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 231, 14 February 1885, Page 8

THE SEQUEL.

I suppose you've read the story of the spider and the fly, And pondered o'cv its edifying moral ? — so have I; But I'm going to teli the sequai to that dark and tragic crime, How the gpider expiiited for his villainy in lime : 'Tis of the Siiine old insect I am goin<: to relate, How he travelled many thousand miles to meet a shocking fate. He found li is way on board a ship, bound for New* Zealand's shore, ' And he stowed himself away behind the captain's cabin door. Ha hadn't any object to induce him thus to roam, He'd a fairish way of. doing iv .1 grocer's shop at home, But discontentment even reigns within the spider's breast. So on board this outward bounder he built his cunning nest. And. when the voyage ended he got ashore all right, «And began to look about him for an eligible site, Till he found a place that suited, retired and ■weather-proof — Beneath the jutting eaves of a sloping shingle root; ; ■ ■ Anl there lie spread his artful nets to carry on his game — He gobbled little sandflies and mosquifoes as they came, Till he'd got so many blow-flies pickled down for winter use That he'd throw away the carcase — when he'd sucked out v \ll the juice, And he gambolled and he frolic'd, and he wunk his wicked eye, " Was there ever such a happy little roving cuss as 1 ?" And he gloated and he chuckled with derision in his glee, As he thought upon his poor relations far across the sea. But, one day an ancient-looking fly came sailing in that way — Between her two fore arms she held a piece of wetted cliy. As the spider glared upon her from his lurking place hard by, He fancied he detected speculation in her eye ; He saw her take this clay up to a crevice in t,he wall, And fasten it securely there so that it could not fall ; She then manipulated it until she made it hollow, While the spider looked, and wondered what the deuce was going to follow. Within the tiny mud recess the fly then laid an The spider thought he " smelt a rat," but never stirred a leg, Till the fly came out, and looked about, as if she something lacked, When the spider thus addressed her with captivating tact : " Will you walk into my ?" " Hullo ! you are j"rt the chap I want!" And with her long fore-aims she seized the spider by the front ; " What were you going to observe ?" " I — I — merely meant to say I'm not accu6tomed to be treated in this off hand sort of way — Let go, you saucy insect, or your wretched life Flftake!" But she siiiili-fl. ii modsing smile, and whi.-pered, " Si cm U on I ho brake I' Let mi; :ifk jipu hero in <-oiifidenee — ' does your mother kiiww um'ro out?'" But the spider, mud with rugc and pain, began to squirm aliout ; " Now, pray don't get your monkey up, nor give yourself such airs,. But take the multw quietly, and — say youv shortest, prayers. \ Control your agitation, jun're the victim of a v .-c , In one of Natuiv'.s universal compensating laws ; By way of explanation, 1 will merely state that 1, Uy-i'aiiious entyuiologista, am called ' The Huson L jfiyv*' --•■••■■--•

And by the laws of [Nature, which we must all obey, Spiders are our choicest diet, and yon are now my prey ! In fact, I am the right boner, the joker and the ace, So throw jour cards upon the pack, for with you it's a case. When he heard this dire oration, the spider was aghnst, He could not get away becuuse the fly had got him fast, He took the situation in, in horror and dismay, And wished himself among his poor relations far away ; But he struggled and he blustered, and threatened what he'd do, Till, with her vengeful sting, the fly' then run him through and through, And as the little bully expired with a sigh, She sarcastically asked him—" Pray, how is that for high?" She dragged him then up to the cell, and there she made a stop, Then straightway through the orifice she pitched him neck and crop ; And then she closed the outlet, and sailed upon her way To get another spider and another piece of clay. So this finishes the history of this roving little elf, It tenches its own moral, so apply it to yourself ; Aud if you're doing well at home, don't overstrain youn cord, For there's many sorts of spider-flies a-knocking round abroad. Kangaroo. Kere Kere, Jan. 24th, 1885.