THE MASON FLY.

NZ Truth, Issue 65, 15 September 1906, Page 4

THE MASON FLY.

(For "Truth.")

I suppose youlve read the gtory of tKo "Spider. and the Fly" And pondered o*er its edifyi. 5 moral? so have I ! t ' But I'm going to tell the sequel- to that sad and tiragic crime, How the spider expiated for his* villainy m time. \ 'Tis of the same old insec&l am .go? ing to relate, . \ How he travelled many thousand miies N to meet a shocking fate ; \ '. \ He found his way on board a. ship "> bound for New Zealand's shdjre, \ And he stowed himself away behind the captain's cabin door. *

He hadn't any object to induce him ' thus to foam, ; He'd a proper way of doing m a grocer's shop at . home ; But discontentment even reigns with- \ m 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 aj» eligible site ; ; Till he found a place that suited, retired, and weather-proof, "\' t ". Beneath the jutting eaves of a sloping shingle roof. j ■ * I And there he spread his artful nets ■, ■ to carry on his game, v And he gobbled little and i mosquitoes.. as. they .came ;. ■ Till he'd got so to any hlpw-flies pickled down for winter t , use, . , That he'd , throw away' the . carcase when he'd sucked out all the juice.

But, one day, an ancient looking fly,. came sailing m that way, Between her two forearms she held' a

piece of wetted clay ; And as the spider glared upon her from his lurking place hard by, He fancied he detected speculation m her eye.

He saw her talce this day- up to a ' crevice m the wall, >.i And fasten it securely there so that it could not fall. She then manipulated it until she made it hollow,' : - - . And the spider- looked^ and wondered , what the deuce was-going to follow.

Within ; the tiny mud >recess • the fly , ; then "laid an egg ;■ The spider; thought he smelt a rat^ but jiever stirred a peg, "-■ "■■' -■■ Till the fly catne out and looked about as if she 'something lacked, ; ■ When the spider thus addressed her with, captivating tact : . -

"Will you jwalk; 'into my - — " "Hul- . lo ! yoti are jiist the chap I want,-" And with her long forearms she seiz- '•■ ed this, spider by the front.! "What were you going to obsecye ?" "I-I merely meant to sayj .'- " : I'm not accustomed to be. treated In this offhand sort of jvaV.

Let go you saucy insect or your wretched life I'll take,'; 7 But she smiled a mocking '<bnfie and whispered "Steady on the brake ! Let me ask; you here, -in' confidence, '■how long have" you-been out ?"?■ But the spider, mad with rage and pain, began to squirm about.

"Now, pray don't get your monkey up, nor give yourself such airs, But take the matter quietly, and say your shortest, prayers : By way of explanation I will merely state that I, . . - By famous entomologists, am called the Mason Ply.

And, by the* laws of Nature, ' which we must "all objsy, Spiders are. our choicest d^iet, and you are now my' prey j Control your agitation, you're the victim of a clause, ' Of one of Mother Nature's grandest .compensating laws.

You have your little parlor, with its mirror on the shelf, I have a spare apartment— you shall . have it to yourself !" When he heard this dire oration the spider was aghast ! , He couldn't get away because the fly, had got him fast.

He took the situation m, m horror and dismay, And wished himself amdnjrst his poor relations far away ; , But he struggled and he blustered and he threatened what he'd do, Till with her vengeful sting the fly then ran him through and throiigh.

And as the little bully expired With a sigh;. ' N .-'""''.'" She sarcastically asked him, "Pray how is .that for high ?" ■ And, glaring down upon him her liljtle eyes aflame, V ". ' She waited for an answer— but, alas, no answer came.

She dragged him then vp 1 to the cell, and there she made a stop, Then straight m. through the orifice she pitched him neck and crop ; ; And then she closed ' the outlet- up and sailed upon her way, To get another spider and another piece of clay.

This closes up the history of this roving little elf, It teaches its own moral so apply it to yourself ; * And if you're doing well at home, don't overstrain your cord, For there's many sorts of spider-flies a-knocking round abroad ! JACK VINCENT.

"No cards, no cake, plenty of joy," appears at the foot of a marriage announcement m a Hamilton paper. What ho, she bumps f '

A Taihape Jay Pay, m deal ing leniently with some, drunks the other day. advised them "to take a pull at themselves." Where's Mr Bligh ; this should appeal to his tender heart.

"Women clerks" are having a corerespondence turn m the newspapers. Merchants say there is no more t)leasant assistant than a pretty typewriter. The broken-down clerk with the seedy clothes and struggling wife and squawling kids has not a chaneet alongside, the scrumptious female,