above on a silken thread. The creature sat down on the log beside the
maiden; but she was not in the least startled and did not scream nor run
away. Indeed, she spoke to the spider as an old friend:

"Well, playmate of my babyhood, what have you to tell me?"

"I came to offer you my love. You need not marry me yet, but if you will
let me spin a web in your room, I shall live there, and, by and by,
reward you. Let me be in your sight always, and you will not be sorry
for it."

The maiden had no sooner agreed than a terrible tempest uprooted the oak
and levelled the trees of the forest. In a moment more, a new and very
beautiful house rose up out of the ground. It was as noble to look at as
a palace. Near by was a garden, and one day when she walked in it, out
of it sprang a blue flower, almost under her feet.

"Choose the best room for your own self," said Spin Head, "and then show
me my corner. After a hundred days, if you treat me kindly, I shall
reveal the secret of that blue flower."

Dri'-fa, the maiden, chose the sunniest room, and gave Spin Head the
best corner, near the window and close to the ceiling. At once he began
to weave a shining web for his own house. She wondered at such fine
work, which no human weaver could excel, and why she was not able to
spin silk out of her head, nor even with her fingers, like her strange
lover. But the oak had promised that Spin Head would reveal a secret,
and she was curious to know what it was. Like all girls, she was in a
hurry to have the secret. To ease her impatience, Dri'-fa looked on,
while Spin Head was thus busy at making his dwelling place, with shining