“And now, what can I do for you?”
“Tell us, please,” said they, “how we can get up the mountain to the she-eagle’s nest.”
“Nothing is easier,” answered the spider. “Just run up there, and tell them all I sent you, and nobody will mind you.”
“But we haven’t got claws like you, Mr. Spider,” said Buffy.
“Ah! no more you have, poor unprovided creatures! Still, I think we can manage it. Come home with me.”
“You won’t eat us, will you?” said Buffy.
“My dear child,” answered the spider, in a tone of injured dignity, “I eat nothing but what is mischievous or useless. You have helped me, and now I will help you.”
The children rose at once, and climbing as well as they could, reached the spider’s nest in the centre of the web. Nor did they find it very difficult; for whenever too great a gap came, the spider spinning a strong cord stretched it just where they