Under the Lilacs by Louisa May Alcott

of woe on the dog’s neck. Not a word was said to disturb the boy’s comfort in these poor
     attempts, however; and he went out to do his chores, conscious that he was an object of interest to his friends, especially
     so to Bab and Betty, who, having been told of Ben’s loss, now regarded him with a sort of pitying awe very grateful to his
     feelings.
    “I want you to drive me to church by and by. It is going to be pretty warm, and Thorny is hardly strong enough to venture
     yet,” said Miss Celia, when Ben ran over after breakfast to see if she had anything for him to do; for he considered her his
     mistress now, though he was not to take possession of his new quarters till the morrow.
    “Yes, ’m, I’d like to, if I look well enough,” answeredBen, pleased to be asked, but impressed with the idea that people had to be very fine on such occasions.
    “You will do very well when I have given you a touch. God doesn’t mind our clothes, Ben, and the poor are as welcome as the
     rich to him. You have not been much, have you?” asked Miss Celia, anxious to help the boy, and not quite sure how to begin.
    “No, ‘m; our folks didn’t hardly ever go, and father was so tired he used to rest Sundays, or go off in the woods with me.”
    A little quaver came into Ben’s voice as he spoke, and a sudden motion made his hat brim hide his eyes, for the thought of
     the happy times that would never come anymore was almost too much for him.
    “That was a pleasant way to rest. I often do so, and we will go to the grove this afternoon and try it. But I love to go to
     church in the morning; it seems to start me right for the week; and if one has a sorrow that is the place where one can always
     find comfort. Will you come and try it, Ben, dear?”
    “I’d do anything to please you,” muttered Ben, without looking up; for, though he felt her kindness to the bottom of his heart,
     he did wish that no one would talk about father for a little while; it was so hard to keep from crying, and he hated to be
     a baby.
    Miss Celia seemed to understand, for the next thing she said, in a very cheerful tone, was, “See what a pretty sight that
     is. When I was a little girl I used to think spiders spun cloth for the fairies, and spread it on the grass to bleach.”
    Ben stopped digging a hole in the ground with his toe, and looked up, to see a lovely cobweb like a wheel, circle within circle,
     spun across a corner of the arch over the gate. Tiny drops glittered on every thread as the light shonethrough the gossamer curtain, and a soft breath of air made it tremble as if about to blow it away.
    “It’s mighty pretty, but it will fly off, just as the others did. I never saw such a chap as that spider is. He keeps on spinning
     a new one every day, for they always get broke, and he don’t seem to be discouraged a mite,” said Ben, glad to change the
     subject, as she knew he would be.
    “That is the way he gets his living. He spins his web and waits for his daily bread — or fly, rather; and it always comes,
     I fancy. By and by you will see that pretty trap full of insects, and Mr. Spider will lay up his provisions for the day. After
     that he doesn’t care how soon his fine web blows away.”
    “I know him; he’s a handsome feller, all black and yellow, and lives up in that corner where the shiny sort of hole is. He
     dives down the minute I touch the gate, but comes up after I’ve kept still a minute. I like to watch him. But he must hate
     me, for I took away a nice green fly and some little millers one day.”
    “Did you ever hear the story of Bruce and his spider? Most children know and like that,” said Miss Celia, seeing that he seemed
     interested.
    “No, ‘m; I don’t know ever so many things most children do,” answered Ben, soberly; for, since he had been among his new friends,
     he had often felt his own deficiencies.
    “Ah, but you also know many things which they do not. Half the boys in town would give a