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T
HERE was once a king of
Battle after battle had been fought. Six times had Bruce
led his brave little army against his foes;
and six times had his men been beaten, and driven into
flight. At last his army was
One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed,
As he lay thinking, he saw a spider over his head, making ready to weave her web. He watched her as she toiled slowly and with great care. Six times she tried to throw her frail thread from one beam to another, and six times it fell short.
"Poor thing!" said Bruce: "you, too, know what it is to fail."
But the spider did not lose hope with the sixth failure.
With still more care, she made ready to try for the seventh
time. Bruce almost forgot his own troubles as he watched her
swing herself out upon the slender line. Would she fail
again? No! The thread was carried safely to the beam, and
"I, too, will try a seventh time!" cried Bruce.
He arose and called his men together. He told
them of his plans, and sent them out with
I have heard it said, that, after that day, no one by the name of
Bruce would ever hurt a spider. The lesson which the little