He spent some time in observing the different kinds of webs, and then proceeded to his aunt to ask her about them. She accordingly sat down, took her knitting-work, and while she worked briskly at her needles, she gave Jack the information he desired. The best way to tell the story, is to put it in the form of a dialogue. _Jack._ Oh! aunt Betsey, I’ve found something so curious! Do you know I’ve been looking at the spiders, and I want to have you tell me about them. Pray, where do they get their threads? and how do they weave their nets so curiously? and how do they fasten their thread to the leaves? and how do they stretch their threads from one tree to another? and what do they do it all for――for fun, or for business? _Aunt P._ One question at a time, if you please, Jack. _Jack._ Why, I want you to tell me all about the spiders. _Aunt P._ But where shall I begin? _Jack._ Oh! I don’t care where you begin――I want to have you tell me everything. _Aunt P._ Well, Jack, I’ll tell you what I know, and I shall answer your last question first. The spiders, I suppose, make their nets both for fun and business, for pleasure and profit. These creatures are made to live chiefly upon flies, but they are themselves destitute of wings. They are, therefore, provided with the means of making nets, by which they can catch as many flies as they want. Thus you see that God, who made the spiders, has provided them with a good trade, by which they can get a living. So it is, dear Jack, that Providence provides for everything――the wants of even the insects are supplied; nothing is overlooked, and we shall see, on investigation, what wonderful ingenuity and contrivance the Creator has resorted to, in order to take care even of such insignificant creatures as spiders. _Jack._ I thank you, aunt Betsey, for that idea――it makes the spider much more interesting, when we consider it as the work of God. _Aunt P._ Yes, that is true, my boy. Now, as the spiders spread their nets in order to get a living, or for business, as you express it, they do it also for pleasure――for business and pleasure usually go together. It may be very agreeable to children to scamper about, just for the sake of a frolic, but, generally speaking, the path of pleasure is the path of utility――in other words, there is more real satisfaction in doing something that is useful, than in mere idle sport. It is so with human beings, and, no doubt, it is so with spiders. _Jack._ Well, aunt Betsey, you have answered one of my questions; but pray tell me where the spiders get their threads. They must have an immense manufactory of it somewhere. Are any of them rope-makers? _Aunt P._ Yes, Jack, every one of them. Each one spins his own thread, and this is the most wonderful part of the whole story. You observe that the lower part of a spider’s body consists of a round ball.