The worst part of the job was getting up on to the long branch where the bundles were dangling. I don’t suppose he would have managed it, if a spider had not luckily left a rope hanging down; with its help, though it stuck to his hand and hurt him, he scrambled up—only to meet an old slow wicked fat- bodied spider who had remained behind to guard the prisoners, and had been busy pinching them to see which was the juiciest to eat.

Chapter 8 Flies and Spiders