and worn had he only looked upward and desired the best gifts.
"Straws and sticks and dust are the great things which many people now spend their time in raking together," said the Interpreter.
Then he led them into the largest room of the house, and a very brave room it was. "Tell me what you see here," he said.
They looked round and round, but there was nothing to be seen but a big spider on the wall.
"I see nothing," said Mercy.
"Look again," said the Interpreter.
"Well, I see an ugly spider hanging on the wall," answered Mercy.
"Yes, and this spider teaches us a lesson," said the Interpreter. "For is it not written, 'The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces'? So there are bad and loathly things even in the highest places."
Then he led them into the barnyard and showed the boys a brood of chickens drinking at a trough. And he told them how the mother hen cared for them and called them as she had need.
"She has a common call, when she gives them noth-
