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diff --git a/20716.txt b/20716.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4221d51 --- /dev/null +++ b/20716.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2622 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Timothy Turtle, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Tale of Timothy Turtle + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Illustrator: Harry L. Smith + +Release Date: May 5, 2007 [EBook #20716] +[This file was first posted on March 1, 2007] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE *** + + + + +Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE TALE OF + TIMOTHY TURTLE + + + + _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + BY + ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + + AUTHOR OF + _TUCK-ME-IN TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + THE TALE OF CUFFY BEAR + THE TALE OF FRISKY SQUIRREL + THE TALE OF TOMMY FOX + THE TALE OF FATTY COON + THE TALE OF BILLY WOODCHUCK + THE TALE OF JIMMY RABBIT + THE TALE OF PETER MINK + THE TALE OF SANDY CHIPMUNK + THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER + THE TALE OF PADDY MUSKRAT + THE TALE OF FERDINAND FROG + THE TALE OF DICKIE DEER MOUSE + THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE + THE TALE OF MAJOR MONKEY + THE TALE OF BENNY BADGER + +[Illustration: Timothy was going through the queerest motions.] + + _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ + (Trademark Registered) + + THE TALE OF + TIMOTHY + TURTLE + + BY + ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + Author of + "_TUCK-ME-IN TALES_" + (Trademark Registered) + + ILLUSTRATED BY + HARRY L. SMITH + + + NEW YORK + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + Made in the United States of America + + COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY + GROSSET & DUNLAP + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER + + I A FAMOUS BITER + II AN OLD-TIMER + III TIMOTHY'S GRUDGE + IV A TIGHT SQUEEZE + V MR. TURTLE'S MISTAKE + VI MR. CROW'S KIND OFFER + VII LEARNING TO FLY + VIII TURNING TURTLE + IX A PLEASURE TRIP + X A WARNING + XI ON THE BEAVER DAM + XII KIND TIMOTHY TURTLE + XIII THE PLOT + XIV CAUGHT! + XV THE REDSKINS' WAY + XVI JOHNNIE GREEN'S INITIALS + XVII TIMOTHY NEEDS HELP +XVIII PETER MINK'S PLAN + XIX CAREFUL MR. FROG + XX THE ALMANAC + XXI A QUEER WISH + XXII THE UNWELCOME GUEST +XXIII A MERRY SONG + + + Illustrations + +Timothy was going through the queerest motions. + Frontispiece + +"Let Me In!" said Timothy to Mr. Frog. + +Timothy began to climb the steep bluff. + +"Let me go!" Fatty Coon shrieked. + + + + +THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE + +I + +A FAMOUS BITER + + +That black rascal, Mr. Crow, was not the oldest dweller in Pleasant +Valley. There was another elderly gentleman who had spent more +summers--and a great many more winters--under the shadow of Blue +Mountain than he. + +All the wild folk knew this person by the name of Timothy Turtle. And if +they didn't see him so often as Mr. Crow it was because he spent much of +his time on the muddy bottom of Black Creek. Besides, he never flapped +his way through the air to Farmer Green's cornfield, in plain sight of +everyone who happened to look up at the sky. + +On the contrary, Mr. Timothy Turtle seldom wandered far from the banks +of the creek--for the best of reasons. He was anything but a fast +walker. In fact, one might say that he waddled, or even crawled, rather +than walked. But in the water he was quite a different creature. By +means of his webbed feet he could swim as easily as Mr. Crow could fly. +And he could stay at the bottom of Black Creek a surprisingly long time +before he came up for a breath of air. Indeed, Mr. Crow sometimes +remarked that _he_ would be just as well pleased if Timothy Turtle +buried himself in the mud beneath the water _and never_ came up again! + +Such a speech was enough to show that Mr. Crow was not fond of Timothy +Turtle. Perhaps Mr. Crow disliked to have a neighbor who was older than +he. But Mr. Crow himself always laughed at such a suggestion. + +"The trouble is----" he would say--"the trouble is, Timothy Turtle is +_too grumpy_. Now, _I'm_ old. But I claim that that's no reason why I +shouldn't be pleasant." And then he would laugh--somewhat harshly--just +to show that he knew how. + +There was a good deal of truth in what Mr. Crow said. Timothy Turtle was +grumpy. But it was not old age that made him so. He had been like that +all his life. There never was a time when he Wasn't snappish, when he +wouldn't rather bite a body than not. + +And that was the reason why he had not more friends. To be sure, many +people knew him. But usually they took good care not to get too near +him. + +For Timothy Turtle had a most unpleasant way of shooting out his long +neck from under his shell and seizing a person in his powerful jaws. In +spite of his great age he was quick as a flash. And one had to step +lively to escape him. + +If Timothy had bitten you just for an instant, and then stopped, this +trick of his wouldn't have been so disagreeable. But he was not content +with a mere nip. When he had hold of you he never wanted to let you go. +And it was no joke getting away, once you found yourself caught by him. + +As for Timothy Turtle, he never could understand why his neighbors +objected to this little trick of his. He always said that it was more +fun than almost anything else he could think of. And it is true that he +never seemed so happy as he did when he had caught some careless person +and was biting him without mercy. + +"Anybody that wants to may bite _me,"_ Timothy used to declare. But +perhaps he never stopped to think that one might almost as well bite a +rock as his hard shell. And anybody might better chew a piece of leather +than try to take a mouthful out of his legs, or his neck, or his head. + +So no one paid any heed to Timothy Turtle's kind offer. Even Peter Mink, +who was himself overfond of biting people, wisely let Mr. Turtle alone. + +There is no doubt that it was the safer way. + + + + +II + +AN OLD-TIMER + + +It was pleasant for Timothy Turtle that he lived in Black Creek, for he +was very fond of fishing. If he had happened to make his home among the +rocks on the top of Blue Mountain he would have had to travel a long way +to find even a trout stream. But in Black Creek there were fish right in +his dooryard, one may say. + +It was lucky for him, too, that he liked fish to eat. And whenever he +wanted a change of food the creek was a good place in which to find a +frog, or perhaps a foolish duckling who had not learned to be careful. + +It was no wonder that all the mother birds in the neighborhood used to +warn their children to beware of Timothy Turtle. Did not Long Bill Wren, +who lived among the reeds on the bank of Black Creek, have a narrow +escape when he was only a few weeks old? + +He had just learned to fly. And although his mother had told him not to +leave the bank, he disobeyed her. When she was not watching him he +sailed over the water for the first time in his life and alighted on a +flat object on top of a rock. + +Bill supposed it was a stone that he was sitting on. And he felt so +proud of what he had done that he cried, "Look! Oh, look!" + +His poor mother was dreadfully frightened when she saw him. + +"Come back!" she shrieked. "You're in great danger!" + +So Bill flew back to the bank as fast as he could go. + +"What have I told you about Timothy Turtle?" his mother asked him +sharply. + +"You've said to keep away from him, or he might eat me," young Bill +faltered. + +"Exactly!" his mother cried. "And the moment I glance away, here you go +and sit right on his back! It's a wonder you're alive." + +Her son hung his head. And never again did he pick out a perch until he +was sure it wasn't old Mr. Turtle. + +When he was older, and had children of his own, Long Bill often remarked +that it was too bad Mr. Turtle didn't live in some other place. "He +makes my wife so nervous!" he used to exclaim. "With a new brood of at +least a half-dozen youngsters to take care of every summer one has to +watch sharp for Mr. Turtle whenever the children play near the water." +And Long Bill always took pains to tell his children of his own +adventure with Timothy Turtle and warn them not to make such a mistake. + +"Luckily I sat exactly in the center of Mr. Turtle's shell, so he +couldn't reach me," Long Bill was explaining to his family one day. "But +if I had happened to perch on his head I certainly wouldn't be here +now." + +"Oh, Mr. Turtle is too slow to catch me," one of the youngsters boasted. +"I saw him on the bank to-day; and he only _crawled_." + +"Ah! You don't know him," Long Bill Wren replied. "When he wants to, he +can stand up on his hind legs as quick as a wink. And he can dart his +head out just like a snake." + +"Ugh!" Long Bill's small son shivered as he spoke. "I wish Mr. Turtle +would go away from our creek." + +"_He_ thinks it's _his_ creek," Long Bill Wren observed. "He has lived +in it years and years and years. We'll have to get on with him as best +we can, for there's no doubt that Timothy Turtle is here to stay." + + + + +III + +TIMOTHY'S GRUDGE + + +Sometimes Fatty Coon liked a taste of fresh fish, just by way of a +change from Farmer Green's corn, and blackberries, wild grapes, +bugs--and all the other dainties on which he dined. + +So it happened that one day he visited Black Creek, where he crouched +near the water with the hope that some silly fish would swim within +reach of his sharp claws. + +For a long time he waited patiently. And at last, to his great joy, a +young pickerel nosed his way through the shallow water in front of him. + +The newcomer was hunting flies. And he did not notice the eager +fisherman. + +Fatty Coon waited until just the right moment. And then one of his paws +darted suddenly into the water. + +But instead of Fatty Coon catching the pickerel, someone else caught +Fatty Coon. + +His captor was no less a person than Timothy Turtle himself, who had +been buried all this time in the mud almost under Fatty Coon's nose. +That is, his body was buried. His head and neck he had left free, so +that he might strike at a fish when one came his way. But he had seen +something else that took his fancy. When Fatty's paw scooped into the +water Timothy Turtle just _had_ to grab it. + +"Let me go!" Fatty Coon shrieked, for Mr. Turtle's cruel jaws hurt him +terribly. + +"Why, this is fun!" Timothy Turtle muttered thickly, as he took a firmer +hold on Fatty's paw. "Besides, I've been wanting to talk with you for a +long time." + +"Then you'd better let me go," Fatty groaned, "because you can't talk +well with your mouth full." + +"I can say all I need to," Timothy Turtle grunted. "And I know that if I +dropped your paw you'd run off." + +"Hurry, then!" Fatty Coon begged him piteously. "Hurry and tell me what +you have to say. And please talk fast!" + +Timothy Turtle almost smiled. + +"Am I hurting you?" he inquired. + +"Yes, you are!" cried Fatty Coon. + +"Good!" Mr. Turtle snorted. "I meant to, because I've a grudge against +you." + +Fatty Coon couldn't think what he meant. + +"I've never done a thing to you," he declared. + +"Perhaps not!" Timothy Turtle admitted. + +"But you stole Mrs. Turtle's eggs--twenty-seven of them--and you can't +deny it." + +Now, it was true--what Timothy Turtle said. Hidden among the reeds one +day, Fatty Coon had watched Mrs. Turtle bury her eggs in the sand, to +hatch. And when she had gone he had crept out from his hiding-place, dug +up her precious, round, white treasures, and eaten them, every one. + +Well, Fatty Coon dropped his head in front of Mr. Turtle. He was +somewhat ashamed, and frightened, too. And he did not like to look into +Timothy Turtle's blinking eyes. "How did you know?" he asked Mr. Turtle. + +"Mrs. Turtle told me," said Timothy, shifting his hold slightly, for a +better one. + +"How did the old lady know who took her eggs?" Fatty persisted. + +"Mr. Crow saw everything that happened--and don't you call my wife an +old lady!" Timothy Turtle spluttered. + +"Very well! She's a _young_ one, of course," Fatty said hastily. "But I +don't know how I've harmed you." + +"You don't, eh?" Timothy Turtle snarled. "Then I'll explain. I meant to +have those eggs myself, young man!" + + + + +IV + +A TIGHT SQUEEZE + + +Timothy Turtle's remark was most surprising. It almost took Fatty Coon's +breath away. And for a moment or two he even forgot the pain in his paw. + +"Do you mean to say," he asked, "that you like turtles' eggs!" + +"Do I?" said Timothy. "There's no better treat, in my opinion, than a +tender young egg, especially if it's well mixed with sand. And, of +course, twenty-seven of them are twenty-seven times as good." + +"I'm sorry----" Fatty told him--"I'm sorry that I ever touched the +old--I mean the _young_--lady's eggs. And now that you've almost bitten +my paw in two, please--good Mr. Turtle--let me go!" + +But good Mr. Turtle had no notion of freeing his prisoner. + +"Not yet!" he snapped. "I'm going to bite you twenty-seven times as +long, and twenty-seven times as hard--if I can." + +"But it was only a mistake!" Fatty Coon moaned. "I never knew you wanted +those eggs yourself." + +"Take care----" said Timothy Turtle sternly--"take care that you never +make such a mistake again." + +"Don't do that!" Fatty Coon suddenly cried. + +"Don't do _what_?" was Mr. Turtle's testy reply. + +"Don't pull on my leg!" Fatty Coon pleaded. "You'll have me in the water +in another moment, and I'll get wet, and my mother won't like it a +bit." + +But Timothy Turtle paid no heed to Fatty Coon's objections. + +"Certainly I'll pull you into the creek," he declared. "I'm going to +take you out where the water's deep, and drag you down, down, down to +the very bottom. We'll have lots of fun burying ourselves in the mud. +And I venture to say that you'll like it so well down there that you'll +never want to come up again." + +If Fatty Coon was frightened before, now he was terrified almost out of +his wits. And he began to claw frantically at Timothy Turtle's head. + +Luckily he had three free paws. And of these he made good use. In the +shallows near the bank he struggled with all his might and main. And +soon the water was churned into a muddy pool. + +[Illustration: "Let Me In!" said Timothy to Mr. Frog.] + +Fatty never knew exactly how he succeeded in breaking loose from Mr. +Turtle. Anyhow, he found himself free at last; and he lost no time in +scrambling up the bank to safety. + +Afterward Timothy Turtle always complained that Fatty Coon didn't "fight +fair." + +"He gouges," Timothy would explain. "He'd just as soon stick one of his +claws into your eye as not. And I claim that's something no real +gentleman will do." + +Now, Fatty did not leave Black Creek at once, after his adventure with +Timothy Turtle. He paused for a time, to squat on the bank and nurse his +injured paw. + +While he lingered there he happened to glance up. And whom should he +see, sitting motionless in a tree near-by, but that old rascal, Mr. +Crow! + +"Oh! Naughty, naughty!" Mr. Crow cawed in a mocking voice. "You've been +fighting." + +"It's all your fault," Fatty growled. "If you'd minded your own affairs +Timothy Turtle would never have known anything about those eggs." + +"Bless your heart!" old Mr. Crow cried. "Timothy Turtle would have +seized you just the same, if you'd never touched his wife's eggs. You +don't know him as well as I do." + +"Perhaps not!" Fatty Coon replied. "And what's more, I don't want to. I +never want to see Timothy Turtle again." + +Old Mr. Crow laughed merrily at that speech. But Fatty Coon only turned +his back on him. + +_He_ was in no mood for laughter. + + + + +V + +MR. TURTLE'S MISTAKE + + +Mr. Crow was in no hurry to leave Black Creek. And after Fatty Coon had +limped away the old gentleman still sat in the tree which hung over the +water. He hoped that Timothy Turtle would crawl out upon the bank and +growl about Fatty. + +The old black rascal was not disappointed. Fatty Coon had not been gone +long when Timothy Turtle dragged himself out of the creek and stretched +himself upon the sand in the warm sunshine. + +"How's your eye?" Mr. Crow asked him hoarsely. + +"It's feeling better; but it's a wonder that I can see with it at all," +Timothy Turtle grumbled. "If I ever get hold of that fat young fellow +again I'll pull him under the water before he knows what's happened to +him. He doesn't fight _fair_." + +Old Mr. Crow chuckled. + +"You'll never have another chance to show him the right way," he +remarked. "He won't come near this creek, or my name's not--ahem--Mr. +Crow." + +"What's your first name?" Timothy Turtle inquired, as he stared +unpleasantly at the speaker. + +"Never mind!" said the other. "Mr. Crow will do, if you want to attract +my attention." + +Timothy Turtle frowned. + +"I don't want to," he retorted. "The fact is, I'd rather be alone. I +don't care to have strangers peeping down at me when I'm enjoying a +sun-bath." + +"But I like to look at you," old Mr. Crow assured him solemnly. "You +make me think of somebody I've known for a good many years." + +"Ah! An old friend!" Timothy exclaimed. + +"Well--not a _friend_, exactly," Mr. Crow explained. "He lives in the +South, where I spend the winters. You look like him, in many ways." + +"And his name?" Timothy Turtle said. + +"Mr. Alligator!" + +Timothy Turtle grunted. + +"Humph!" he said. "I've never heard of him." + +"That's not strange," old Mr. Crow told him. "He stays all the time in +the South and you stay all the time in the North. You couldn't very well +meet, you see." + +"Your tail is a good deal like his," Mr. Crow continued. "And when you +walk you have a trick of raising yourself sometimes on your hind legs, +with your head and tail stretched out--a trick that reminds me of him." + +For once Timothy seemed pleased. + +"Anything else?" he demanded, with something that was almost like a +smile. Unfortunately, he had passed so many years with a constant frown +on his face that smiling actually hurt him. + +"Why, yes! There is something else," old Mr. Crow went on. "You and he +have the same way of _snapping_ at things." + +There was no doubt, now, that Timothy Turtle was gratified. + +"He must be a fine bird--this Mr. Alligator!" he exclaimed. + +Old Mr. Crow spluttered. And he had to hang on tight to save himself +from tumbling off his perch. + +A bird! Timothy Turtle thought that Mr. Alligator was a bird! + +The mistake was so amusing that Mr. Crow wanted to laugh. But he knew +that would never do--if he wanted any more fun with Timothy Turtle. + +So he pretended to cough. And he wrapped his muffler more snugly about +his neck, remarking that there was a cold wind that day, even though the +sun _was_ warm. + + + + +VI + +MR. CROW'S KIND OFFER + + +"I suppose----" Timothy Turtle said to his young friend, old Mr. +Crow--"I suppose Mr. Alligator is a fine flier." + +"He's a very powerful fellow," old Mr. Crow replied with a sly smile. + +"Did you ever try to follow him?" Timothy wanted to know. + +Mr. Crow shook his head. + +"No!" he answered. "I shouldn't want to do that, because one never could +tell when he might take a notion to jump into the water." + +"Oh! Then he can swim, can he?" + +"Certainly!" Mr. Crow assured him. + +"Then that's another way in which he's like me!" Timothy Turtle cried. +"And if I could only fly, I'd be still more like him." + +"Why don't you learn?" Mr. Crow suggested wickedly. + +"I'm too old," Timothy sighed. + +"Not at all!" Mr. Crow hastened to assure him. "One can never be too old +to _try_ a thing." + +But Timothy Turtle replied that even if he was young enough to attempt +such a feat as flying, he hadn't the least idea of the way to go about +it. + +Old Mr. Crow was most helpful. + +"I'll tell you what you ought to do," he advised. "You swim down the +creek as far as the big bluff. And it will be a simple matter for you to +climb up to the top of the bluff and jump off the rock that hangs high +up over the water." + +Timothy Turtle looked far from happy at that suggestion. + +"I shouldn't care to do that," he said. + +"Why not?" Mr. Crow asked him. "You know there's only one way of flying, +and that's through the air." + +"I might fall," Timothy objected. + +"What if you did?" said Mr. Crow glibly. "You'd only fall into the +water. And everybody agrees that you're a fine swimmer.... You aren't +afraid of getting your feet wet, are you?" And he laughed loudly at his +own joke. + +For some reason Timothy lost his temper. Perhaps he thought Mr. Crow was +disrespectful to his elders. + +"Look here, young man!" he snapped, glaring angrily at old Mr. Crow. "If +you're laughing at me, I'll invite you to drop down here and stand on +the end of my nose." + +Old Mr. Crow grew sober at once. The mere thought of perching himself in +so dangerous a place was enough to put a quick end to his noisy +_haw-haws_. + +"My dear sir!" he cried. "I wouldn't _dream_ of standing on the nose of +a fine old gentleman like you. No indeedy! My manners are too good for +that." + +Timothy Turtle said bluntly that he had always been told that Mr. Crow +was the rudest person in all Pleasant Valley--unless it was Mr. Crow's +boisterous cousin, Jasper Jay. + +When he heard that, Mr. Crow pretended to wipe a tear away from each of +his eyes. + +"I've always been misunderstood," he declared mournfully. "I'm really a +kind-hearted soul. And just to prove to you that I want to be helpful, +I'll meet you at the bluff any time you say, and tell you exactly what +to do if you want to learn to fly." + +Timothy Turtle seemed to think that the chance was too good a one to +lose. + +"I accept your offer," he shouted. "And I'll start downstream this very +moment." + + + + +VII + +LEARNING TO FLY + + +Timothy Turtle reached the overhanging bluff in a surprisingly short +time. But it must be remembered that he did not walk there on land, but +swam down Black Creek with the current. When he crawled out upon the +bank he was glad to see that old Mr. Crow was waiting for him, on a pine +stump that stood near the water. + +He failed utterly to notice that Mr. Crow was not alone. Hidden in all +sorts of places were as many as a dozen of Mr. Crow's friends. For the +old gentleman had invited his cousin, Jasper Jay, to come to the bluff +"to enjoy the fun," as he expressed it. + +"But don't let Timothy Turtle see you!" Mr. Crow had warned Jasper. "At +least, don't let him know you're there until after he has jumped off the +big rock." + +Jasper Jay had given his solemn promise. + +"And don't let him hear you, either," Mr. Crow had said. And Jasper had +agreed to that, too, although he said that it might be a hard thing to +do. + +Well, Timothy Turtle crawled out upon the bank and took a long look at +the high bluff above him, from which the great rock hung over the water +of the creek. + +"I believe----" he said to old Mr. Crow--"I believe I'd better wait till +to-morrow before I try to fly. I've just had a long swim, you know. And +I want to feel fresh when I take my first lesson." + +"Nonsense!" Mr. Crow exclaimed. "Everything's all ready. You're not too +tired, are you, to climb to the top of the bluff?" + +"No," Timothy Turtle admitted. + +"Then you've no reason for waiting," Mr. Crow assured him. "Coming down +will be much easier than going up." + +"I dare say that's true," Timothy remarked. "But I don't quite like to +think about this business of flying." + +"Then you certainly ought not to wait any longer," Mr. Crow urged him. +"For the longer you wait the more time you'll have to think." + +That appeared to Timothy Turtle to be a good bit of advice. And yet he +still seemed uneasy. + +"There's just one thing that troubles me," he confessed. "After I've +jumped from the rock I might find that I couldn't fly. And I'd get a +bad fall." + +"But you'd land in the water," Mr. Crow reminded him. "And that would be +much better than falling on the land.... I don't need to tell you," he +added, "that water is soft. And you're a fine swimmer." + +So Timothy Turtle yielded. And thereupon he began to drag himself up the +steep bluff. + +It seemed to Mr. Crow that he had never known anybody to walk so slowly. +But then, of course, he was in a hurry to see the fun. And it couldn't +really begin until Mr. Turtle should reach the big rock and take the +leap that Mr. Crow had suggested to him. + +Jasper Jay and the rowdies he had brought with him stirred impatiently. +And Jasper said aloud to one of them: + +"What an old slow-poke he is!" + +"What's that!" Timothy Turtle inquired, as he stopped and looked around +at Mr. Crow. + +"I didn't speak," Mr. Crow told him. + +Timothy glared at his teacher for a few moments. And Mr. Crow began to +think that Jasper Jay had spoiled the fun. But at last Timothy Turtle +plodded on. And when his back was turned old Mr. Crow flew over to the +place where Jasper Jay was hidden and whispered to him that he had +better keep still or there would be trouble for him. + + + + +VIII + +TURNING TURTLE + + +So Timothy Turtle struggled up the steep face of the bluff. And as he +neared the top Mr. Crow began to hop up and down upon the old pine +stump. He was almost bursting with silent laughter. But he succeeded in +keeping quiet. And now and then he made threatening motions toward +Jasper Jay and his friends, who stuck their heads from behind limbs of +trees and hummocks and bushes, lest they miss any of the fun. + +Once on top of the great rock that capped the bluff and hung out over +the creek, Timothy Turtle clung there and peered down at the gently +flowing water below. + +"What a long way it is down there!" he called to Mr. Crow. + +"Don't think about that!" Mr. Crow cautioned him. + +"Is this the way Mr. Alligator learned to fly?" Timothy Turtle demanded. + +"Don't think about him!" Mr. Crow shouted. "Just jump out as far as you +can!" + +"I believe I don't care to fly to-day," Timothy Turtle faltered, drawing +back from the edge of the rock. "I----I'll wait till some other time. +You know, I'm older than you are." + +"Tut, tut!" said Mr. Crow. "When I'm your age I shall still be flying as +well as I do now. It's nothing, when you know how. Nothing at all!" + +Urged by Mr. Crow, Timothy Turtle once more crept to the very edge of +the cliff and stretched his neck out as far as he could, to gaze down at +the black water. And at last, after making several false starts and +drawing back to a place of safety, he stood up on his hind legs, shut +his eyes, and hopped off into space. + +Now, the moment Timothy Turtle leaped from the top of the bluff a +deafening squawk broke the silence. Old Mr. Crow _cawed_ as loud as he +knew how. But the racket he made was as nothing compared with the uproar +of Jasper Jay and the noisy crew he had brought with him. They squalled +with delight as Timothy Turtle plunged through the air like a stone. And +when he landed upside down in the creek, striking the water with a great +splash, the whole company shrieked louder than ever. + +"_Ha! ha! ha_!" Mr. Crow cried, holding his sides and rocking backwards +and forwards upon the old stump. + +"_Jay_! _jay_! _jay_!" Jasper and his friends bawled, hopping up and +down and cutting capers in the air. + +As for Timothy Turtle, he made no sound at all. And neither did he make +the slightest motion. The current of Black Creek caught him and bore him +away down the stream. But at last he managed to paddle ashore. And he +pulled himself slowly out of the water, and lay upon the sand and +groaned. + +Mr. Crow and his cronies gathered quickly about him. + +"What's the matter?" Mr. Crow inquired. "Don't you like flying?" + +It was some time before Timothy could answer. + +"I've had an awful fall," he moaned finally. + +"Where are you hurt?" Mr. Crow asked him. + +"Everywhere!" Timothy Turtle told him. "I thought you said that water +was soft to fall into." + +"Well, isn't it?" + +"It certainly is _not,_" Timothy Turtle declared. "I believe there's +nothing harder in the whole world.... I've heard, sir, that you are very +wise. But for once, anyhow, you've made a great mistake." + +Old Mr. Crow coughed--and winked at his friends. "The trouble was"--he +explained--"the trouble was, you lost your balance and landed in the +creek upside down. And of course you couldn't fly in that position. It's +what's called 'turning turtle,'" he added, "and I might have known--if I +had stopped to think--that you'd be sure to do it." + +"Well," said Timothy Turtle, drawing a long breath, "I'll tell you right +now that I'll never, _never_, turn turtle again." + + + + +IX + +A PLEASURE TRIP + + +Almost always the wild folk in Pleasant Valley knew that if they wanted +to see Timothy Turtle they could find him somewhere in Black Creek. But +once in a great while he liked to go on what he called "an excursion." +By that he meant a pleasure trip to some spot not too far away--never +outside of Pleasant Valley. + +Nobody meeting Timothy Turtle on one of those journeys would have +suspected that he was bent on pleasure. Or at least, nobody would have +supposed that Mr. Turtle had found what he was looking for. Certainly if +he was hunting for fun, he never looked as if he had discovered any. +For no smile showed itself upon his face. Instead, he met every one with +a frown. And if a body gave him a cheery "Good morning," just as likely +as not Timothy would answer with a grunt, and pass on. + +Naturally, when Timothy Turtle arrived anywhere and told people that he +expected to spend a few days among them they did not feel any great joy +at the news. On the contrary, they were quite likely to say to one +another, "I hope he won't stop long," or "He looks more grumpy than +ever." And some would even remark that they wished Timothy Turtle would +go home and stay there. + +So no one of the Beaver colony was glad when Timothy appeared in their +pond one day and explained that he intended to be in the neighborhood at +least a week. In the first place, the Beavers, as a whole, were a busy, +cheerful family, who did not like disagreeable folk for company. And in +the second place, they were spry workers; and they had little use for +anybody as slow as Timothy Turtle, who never did any work at all. + +It is no wonder, then, that as soon as the news of Timothy's coming +spread up and down and across the pond, the busy Beavers stopped their +work and said things about the crusty outsider who had forced himself +upon them. And almost everybody went to call upon Grandaddy Beaver and +asked him what he thought ought to be done. + +Now, Grandaddy was a good old soul. And he told the hot-headed younger +members of the colony to keep cool, which seems a simple thing for them +to have done, swimming about as they were in the icy water, which +flowed down from springs on the side of Blue Mountain. + +"Timothy Turtle has been here before," Grandaddy Beaver announced. "I +can remember my great-grandfather's telling me about his passing two +whole weeks in our pond. And though everybody wished he would leave, he +never harmed anybody, because people kept out of his way." + +"Well, he ought to work while he's here," said a brisk gentleman, +tugging at his moustache. + +"Timothy Turtle will never lift his hand to do a single stroke of work," +said old Grandaddy Beaver. "He has already spent a long life without +working. And he'll be lazy if he lives to be a hundred years old--or +even a hundred and fifty." + +Now, a young chap called Brownie Beaver heard all this, as he stood in +Grandaddy's doorway and peeped inside the house. And he thought it was +a shame that _somebody_ couldn't make Timothy Turtle mend his ways. To +Brownie Bearer it seemed that Timothy Turtle was old enough to behave +himself. + + + + +X + +A WARNING + + +Timothy Turtle's visit at the beaver pond was just like all of his +outings. Wherever he went he was so disagreeable and snappish that there +wasn't a single person in the whole village that didn't wish Timothy had +stayed away from that place. + +He was forever grumbling, complaining that the fishing was poor in the +pond. And as for frogs, he declared that he hadn't seen even one. + +"Why anybody wants to live here is more than I can understand." That was +what Timothy Turtle told everyone he met. And of course it was a poor +way of making himself welcome. + +"Why do you come here, if you don't like our pond?" people asked him. + +"It's a change for me," was Timothy's reply. "After I've spent a week +with you I'll be pretty glad to get back home again. And I won't want to +go on another excursion for a whole year--or maybe two. + +"It's twenty years since I was here before. And I sha'n't care to come +again for forty, at least." + +Now, such dreadfully rude remarks hurt the Beaver family's feelings. And +when Timothy Turtle seized a fat lady by the tail one day and wouldn't +let her go until sunset, her feelings were hurt most of all. She cried +that she had never been so insulted in all her life. + +Timothy Turtle merely said that she ought not to object. He explained +that he had been _giving her a rest_--for of course she couldn't cut +down a tree, nor work upon the dam that held the water in the pond, +while he clung fast to her tail. + +Well, this fat lady happened to be Brownie Beaver's mother. And after +her disagreeable experience with the stranger, Brownie made up his mind +that he _would make Timothy Turtle work_. That was the worst punishment +he could think of. + +Whenever the members of the Beaver family were not sleeping, or eating, +either they were gathering food by cutting down trees, or they were +mending their dam. + +The dam always had leaks here and there. And sooner or later every one +of them had to be stopped, before it grew so big that the water would +rush through it and tear a hole so great that the pond would be drained +dry. + +During his stay among the Beavers Timothy Turtle often crawled on top +of the dam and stretched himself out and watched the Beavers at their +task. He said that if there was one thing that he liked to see more than +another it was "a gang of men working." But he complained that they +ought to work in the daytime, when the sun was shining, because then it +would have been "much pleasanter for him." + +"Don't you want to help us?" asked the brisk fellow who had told +Grandaddy Beaver that he thought Timothy Turtle ought to go to work. + +That question actually made Timothy snort. + +"_Me work_?" he snapped scornfully, as he glared at the speaker. + +Everybody knew what he meant. And everybody knew how Timothy felt, too, +when he edged along the dam and made a savage pass at the plump +gentleman who had spoken to him. + +[Illustration: Timothy began to climb the steep bluff.] + +Luckily the brisk Beaver jumped aside before Timothy Turtle's jaws +closed on him. And he did not say another word to the stranger during +the rest of his stay at the pond. + +But Timothy Turtle became quite talkative. He stopped all he met--old +and young both--and warned them that nobody need try to get him to work, +for he never had worked, and he never intended to. + + + + +XI + +ON THE BEAVER DAM + + +Timothy Turtle was so angry that he went about snapping at everybody and +everything. And since the whole Beaver family kept carefully out of his +way, he had to content himself with setting his jaws upon roots and +sticks. + +Now, the Beavers' dam was made of sticks and mud. So Timothy found +plenty of chances to bite. And because he could not hurt the sticks, no +matter how much he tried, nobody cared. + +Really he acted in a most silly, surly fashion. + +Out of a corner of his eye Brownie Beaver watched Timothy Turtle +closely. Brownie had not forgotten how Timothy seized his mother by the +tail. And while he was helping his elders on the dam, at the same time +he was trying to think of some way to outwit Timothy Turtle. + +It happened that just at that time the dam needed a great deal of +mending. There were so many holes to be filled that the Beavers worked +all night long. And in spite of all their efforts they saw that even +then a few leaks would have to go unmended. But they did not get +snappish nor lose their tempers. They were not like Timothy Turtle. +Though he slept a great part of the night, and waked up to watch the +workers early in the morning, his temper was worse than ever. + +He was paddling through the water close to the dam when Brownie Beaver +called to him. + +"You see that stick??" said Brownie, pointing to a stout piece of box +elder that stuck out of the dam. + +"I'm not blind," Timothy Turtle snarled back at him. + +"Well, please don't bite it, anyhow!" Brownie Beaver begged him. + +That was enough for Timothy Turtle. The mere fact that he thought +somebody didn't want him to do a certain thing was sure to make him do +it. So without saying another word he seized that stick in his powerful +jaws. And bracing his feet against the inner side of the dam, half in +the water and half out, he pulled with all his strength. + +Now and then he turned his beady eyes toward Brownie Beaver and frowned +at him, as if to say, "Don't give _me_ any orders, young fellow! I shall +do just as I please; and nobody can stop me." + +Timothy noticed that Brownie went to a number of the other workers and +whispered to them. And when everyone to whom he spoke called to Timothy +and asked him if he wouldn't just as soon let go of that stick and grab +another one, that crusty old codger made up his mind that nobody should +move him from that spot. He took an even firmer hold and tugged as if he +meant to tear the whole dam down. + +But the Beaver family knew that he couldn't do any damage. And as soon +as it was light enough they all went home to take a nap, leaving Timothy +Turtle to pull away to his heart's content. + + + + +XII + +KIND TIMOTHY TURTLE + + +All day long Timothy Turtle stayed on the Beaver dam. And when the +Beavers returned in the evening, to resume their work, they found +Timothy still clinging to the box elder stick. + +To Timothy Turtle's deep disgust the plump workers gathered round him +and laughed. He could never bear to hear people laugh--laughing was so +silly, he always said. And now Brownie Beaver laughed louder than all +the rest. + +"Look!" Brownie cried, pointing straight at Timothy Turtle. "Isn't he +kind? He has stopped up that big hole for us all day.... And +now"--Brownie added, turning to Timothy Turtle--"now if you'll kindly +_stop working_ for us and move aside we'll fill that hole that's right +under you, with mud." + +Timothy Turtle never felt more ashamed in all his long life. There he +had been working all day long, helping the Beaver family by plugging a +hole in their dam with his flat body--and he had never guessed what he +was doing! + +He let go of the stick and sank hastily in the pond, where the water was +deepest, to bury himself in the soft bottom. And there he stayed and +sulked for the rest of the week, until his visit was done. If he stuck +his head out of the water now and then for a breath of air, he was +careful to let no one see him. + +He did not even bid the Beaver family good-by at the end of his visit, +but left in the middle of the day, when everybody was sound asleep. + +Grandaddy Beaver said it was no more than one could expect of a person +so rude as Timothy Turtle. + +"He was just like that in my great-grandfather's time," the old +gentleman explained. + +And all the rest of the villagers remarked that Timothy Turtle was old +enough to have better manners. Certainly, they said, the youngest Beaver +child knew better than to treat people in such a rude fashion. + +Brownie Beaver's mother especially announced that she had never in all +her life met a gentleman who had treated her so disrespectfully as old +Mr. Turtle. And she grew red and pale by turns as she recalled how he +had seized her by the tail and held her fast for a whole day. + +"I hope," she said, "that by the time he comes here again he will have +learned how to behave himself." + +But Grandaddy Beaver shook his head. + +"Timothy Turtle," he declared, "will be no different even if he lives to +be a thousand years old." + +And everybody said that it was a great pity. + + + + +XIII + +THE PLOT + + +Of all the creatures that walked or swam or flew, Timothy Turtle liked +boys the least of all. He said that if they ever did anything except +throw stones he had never caught them at it. + +"It's a wonder"--he often remarked--"it's a wonder that there's a stone +left anywhere along this creek. I've lived here a good many years; and +no boy ever spied me sunning myself on a rock in the water without +trying to hit me." + +Once in a great while some youngster was skillful enough to bounce a +stone off Mr. Turtle's back. And when the old scamp flopped into the +water he always heard a great whooping from the bank. + +At such times as likely as not Timothy had been awakened from a sound +sleep. But when that jeering noise greeted his ears he knew at once what +had struck him. + +It was a good thing for him that he had a hard back. Nevertheless it +always made him angry to be disturbed when he was taking a nap. And some +people said that if Timothy Turtle ever grabbed a boy by his great-toe, +when he was in swimming, that youngster would limp for many a day +thereafter. + +But the boys went in swimming just the same. Black Creek would have had +to be alive with turtles to keep them out of it on a hot summer's day. +Indeed Farmer Green often said that he wished his son Johnnie would +spend half the time in the hayfield that he wasted around the creek. + +When questioned by his father, Johnnie said that there was an old turtle +in Black Creek that he wanted to catch. + +"What are you going to do with him--make soup of him?" Farmer Green +inquired solemnly. + +Johnnie shook his head. + +"I want to cut my initials on his shell and let him go," he explained. +"Then if I catch him again when I'm grown up I'll know him when I find +him.... I'll put the date under my initials, too," Johnnie added. + +Farmer Green laughed. + +"When you're grown up," he said, "you'll have something else to do +besides catching snapping turtles. This afternoon you may carve your +initials on the hay-rake and then take it over to the big meadow and +play with it." + +For a few moments Johnnie Green couldn't help looking glum. He had +intended to visit the creek that very afternoon. But now he knew that +his father expected him to work--to _work_ on one of the finest days of +the whole summer! + +"I'll let you off all day to-morrow," Farmer Green said. "And you know +there's that calf I told you I'd give you if you helped me with the +haying." + +And then Johnnie actually smiled. + + * * * * * + +Well, the next morning was just as fine as the afternoon before. And +Johnnie Green set off early for Black Creek, with his pockets stuffed +full of cherries, because he was afraid he might get hungry. He ate a +few of them on the way to the creek. But when he reached that delightful +place he found something that made him forget what he had in his +pockets. For there near the top of the bank, too far from the water to +escape him--there lay Timothy Turtle himself, taking a sun-bath on the +warm sand. + + + + +XIV + +CAUGHT! + + +As soon as Johnnie Green saw Mr. Turtle he let out a loud whoop. And as +soon as Mr. Turtle saw Johnnie, _he_ scrambled up and made awkwardly for +the water as fast as he could go. + +But Timothy's fastest, on land, was so slow that Johnnie Green stopped +him in two seconds. + +Catching up a long stick, Johnnie thrust it in front of Timothy Turtle, +who promptly seized it in his hooked jaws. + +Johnnie Green couldn't help laughing at him. + +"You're a stupid old fellow!" he cried. "You could bite that stick all +day and not hurt me." + +But Timothy Turtle said never a word. He wished, however, that he could +shift his grip to one of Johnnie's bare toes. He rather thought, if he +could have done that, that Johnnie Green would give such a yell as had +never before been heard in Pleasant Valley. + +But Johnnie was careful. After catching Mr. Turtle he hardly knew what +to do with him. All summer long Johnnie had kept his jackknife sharp as +a razor, ready to carve his initials on Mr. Turtle's hard shell whenever +the chance came. The knife was in his pocket. There was Mr. Turtle +before him on the sand. And yet Johnnie was puzzled. + +Close at hand his captive looked fiercer than he had appeared at a +distance, lying on a rock in the creek. And his jaws had closed upon +the stick in a vise-like hold. Johnnie winced when he tried to imagine +how he would feel with Mr. Turtle fastened firmly to a toe or a finger. + +It was not a pleasant thought. But Johnnie Green soon had a happier one: +why not turn the old scamp over upon his back? + +Johnnie had heard that a turtle was helpless when upset in that way. And +he had already made up his mind to flop this one over when he realized +that even with his captive upside down there was still a certain +difficulty. + +To be sure, Mr. Turtle couldn't walk away. But he could bite just the +same. And how was a boy going to carve his initials on anybody's back, +when that person was lying on it? + +Johnnie Green saw that that plan wouldn't do at all. But he turned +Timothy over, just for fun, upsetting him neatly by lifting him on the +stick--for Timothy had not sense enough to let go of it in time to save +himself. + +Johnnie stayed there only long enough to make sure that Timothy Turtle +was unable to move. And he soon decided that the savage old rascal would +have to lie on his back until somebody came along and tipped him over. +Then Johnnie Green scampered away. + +To be sure, Mr. Turtle wriggled his legs, and twisted his neck about. +But all his wiggling and twisting were of not the slightest help to him. + +It was the first time in his long life that he had ever found himself in +that position on land. And he was both frightened and angry. + +Old Mr. Crow, who had a way of knowing when there was anything unusual +going on, arrived in time to hear Timothy's remarks. And what he said +about boys--and especially about Johnnie Green--made Mr. Crow catch his +breath. + + + + +XV + +THE REDSKINS' WAY + + +Of course Timothy Turtle was glad that Johnnie Green was gone. But he +was far from happy, lying helpless on his back on the bank of Black +Creek. + +He told Mr. Crow that he hoped Johnnie would forget to come back +again--a remark which made old Mr. Crow laugh. Being very wise, he saw +at once that Timothy Turtle knew next to nothing about boys. + +"I should think," Mr. Crow told Timothy, "you'd want Johnnie Green to +return." + +"Why?" Timothy snapped out his question in an angry tone, as he lay +there upside down and stared at old Mr. Crow, who sat in a tree near-by. + +"Well," Mr. Crow answered, "who'll set you on your feet again if he +doesn't?" + +"Don't you worry about me!" Timothy Turtle sneered. "I'll right myself +as soon as there's a freshet. If there's a big enough rain the creek +will rise as high as I am now. And nobody could keep me on my back in +the water." + +Old Mr. Crow actually snickered. + +"You might have to wait till next spring for a freshet," he said +cheerfully. "And what would you eat meanwhile?" + +Having had a hearty meal of fish just before leaving the creek, Timothy +Turtle hadn't once thought of _eating_. And naturally Mr. Crow's +question troubled him. So he frowned frightfully. And he snapped his +hooked jaws together, for he had to take something in his jaws and bite +it, if it was no more than the air. + +"I suppose"--Mr. Crow remarked--"I suppose you would call that _taking +the air, eh_?" And there was a merry twinkle in his eye. + +"Go away!" Timothy Turtle growled. + +But his guest declined to leave. + +"There's likely to be some fun here," he thought, "and I don't intend to +miss it." + + * * * * * + +If Timothy Turtle was surprised, Mr. Crow certainly was not, when a +little later Johnnie Green and another boy whom he called "Red" (on +account of his hair) came hurrying up to the spot where Timothy Turtle +lay. + +Upon the ground they dropped a number of things, such as pieces of rope, +an old grain-sack, and an axe. + +"Goodness!" said Mr. Crow to himself, as he looked on. "I'm glad I'm not +Timothy Turtle. It appears to me that he's going to have a terrible +time." + +And Timothy himself seemed to think the same. He made savage passes at +Johnnie and Red whenever they came near him. But they took good care to +keep beyond his reach. + +On the whole their captive behaved in a most foolish manner. Instead of +drawing his head as far as he could into his shell, he thrust his neck +out as far as it would go. + +And that was exactly what the boys wanted him to do. Before Timothy +Turtle--who was somewhat slow-witted--before he realized what their plan +was, Johnnie Green and his friend Red had slipped one noose around his +head and another around his body. And after turning their captive right +side up they staked him out upon the sand so that he could not move. + +"There!" Johnnie Green cried when they had Timothy Turtle where they +wanted him. "That's the way the Redskins do with their enemies." + +And his friend the red-haired boy danced something that might have been +an Indian war dance. + +Anyhow, neither old Mr. Crow nor Timothy Turtle had ever seen anything +like it. + + + + +XVI + +JOHNNIE GREEN'S INITIALS + + +Timothy Turtle found himself in a very uncomfortable position, staked +out as he was on the bank of Black Creek, with one rope about his body +and another about his neck. + +And even then Johnnie Green was not satisfied. Though his friend Red +insisted that their captive could do them no harm (saying, "How can he +bite when he can't move his head?") Johnnie Green replied that he would +"fix him" so there couldn't possibly be any accident. And taking the old +grain-sack he had brought back with him, he wrapped it carefully around +Timothy's head, till he looked for all the world as if he had the +earache. + +"There!" Johnnie Green said, when he had finished. "He'll have to bite +through that bag before he bites us; and I guess he'll find he has a +pretty big mouthful." + +Then he pulled out his jackknife and felt its sharp edge with his thumb. + +"Lemme do it for you!" Red begged him, holding out his hand for the +knife. + +But Johnnie Green had no such idea. + +"No!" he said firmly. "I've got to cut my initials myself." + +"He might get loose and grab you," the red-haired boy remarked +hopefully. + +But Johnnie Green told him that he would risk that. + +"Which way are you going to cut them?" Red asked him. + +"What do you mean?" Johnnie inquired. + +"Are you going to make 'em read when he's going or coming?" Red +explained. + +"I hadn't thought of that," Johnnie Green replied. "But I guess _going_ +would be better. Then if he stands up you can read 'em just the same, +without any trouble." + +So Johnnie kneeled down beside Timothy Turtle. It took him some time to +decide just where he would carve his initials on Timothy's shell. And he +had about decided that the best place to put his mark on Mr. Turtle's +back would be exactly in the middle of it, when he cried all at once, +"Look, Red! Look!" + +"Whassamatter?" the red-haired boy wanted to know. + +"This is the queerest thing I ever heard of!" Johnnie exclaimed. "Here +are my initials already cut!" + +Red could not believe him, until he had peered at Timothy's shell +himself. And then he saw that what Johnnie had said was true. + +"There's a date, too," Johnnie pointed out. And he read it aloud. +"That's more'n thirty years ago," he declared. + +But the red-haired boy laughed boisterously. + +"Shucks!" he jeered. "Somebody's been playin' a joke on you. Somebody +knew you were lookin' for this old turtle and put your initials and that +old date on him just to puzzle you." + +Johnnie Green didn't know exactly what to think. But probably he was no +more upset than was Timothy Turtle, who was not having a good time at +all. + +"I don't care if some one did catch this turtle first," Johnnie said at +last. "I'm going to carve my mark on him just the same." + +So he began to cut "J. G." in the exact center of the back of Timothy +Turtle, much to that old fellow's rage. + +And when Johnnie Green had finished the letters he cut the date below +them. + +"What you goin' to do with him now?" Red asked Johnnie then. + +"Turn him loose!" Johnnie replied. + +"Aw--don't do that! Lemme have him!" Red coaxed. + +Johnnie Green said that he was sorry--but he intended to set his captive +free, just as he had planned. + +He soon found that turning Mr. Turtle loose was no easy matter. Strange +to say, Timothy Turtle did nothing to help. On the contrary, he made the +task as hard as he could for Johnnie Green, trying his best to bite that +young man. + +In the end Johnnie had to cut the rope that held Timothy's head. And +when that furious old fellow at last found himself in Black Creek once +more he still wore a noose of rope, like a collar, around his neck. + + * * * * * + +When Johnnie Green told his father about his adventure with Timothy +Turtle, he had a great surprise. Farmer Green said that when he was just +about Johnnie's age he had cut _his_ initials on a turtle, down by the +creek. + +Now, since Johnnie was named for his father, their initials had to be +alike. So the J. G.--and the old date--that Johnnie had found must have +been carved by Farmer Green when he was a youngster. + +Somehow, Johnnie found it very hard to imagine that his father had ever +been a boy like himself and had spent his time playing near the creek, +and carving his initials on the back of a turtle. + +"How old do you suppose that turtle is?" he asked his father. + +"Oh, he must be a regular old settler," Farmer Green declared. "He may +have been around here when your grandfather was a boy, for all I know." + +"Do you really believe that?" Johnnie exclaimed. + +"Well," his father answered, "there's only one way to find out." + +"What's that?" Johnnie inquired eagerly. + +"Ask Mr. Turtle himself," Farmer Green replied with a smile. + + + + +XVII + +TIMOTHY NEEDS HELP + + +Everybody who lived near Black Creek noticed Timothy Turtle's new +collar. And almost every one, being curious, asked Mr. Turtle where he +got it, and why he was wearing it. + +Now, Timothy Turtle would give such folk no answer at all. But old Mr. +Crow knew what had happened--of course. And he took pains to tell all +his friends how Johnnie Green had caught Timothy and tied a rope around +his neck, and cut something on Timothy's back, besides. + +[Illustration: "Let me go!" Fatty Coon shrieked.] + +So it was not long before Timothy Turtle's neighbors began to ask him +what was on his back. + +"My shell's on my back!" he snapped, when any one put that question to +him. + +"Yes--but what's on your shell?" everybody was sure to answer back. + +Timothy Turtle couldn't have replied to that question, even if he had +wanted to. And though he always sneered when hearing it and turned his +head away, as if the matter was something he didn't care to talk about, +there was nobody who was any more eager to know the answer than he. + +To be sure, by raising his head he could get a slanting view of the top +of his shell. But such a glimpse was not enough to tell him anything. + +Under the constant inquiries of his neighbors Timothy's curiosity grew +every day. Soon he took to staring at his reflection in the surface of +the water, with the hope that he might be able to see his back in that +way. + +But it was all in vain. Though Timothy twisted and turned and stretched +his long neck, he couldn't see his own back, no matter how much he +tried. + +Now, there was an ill-mannered scamp named Peter Mink who happened to go +prowling up the creek one day. And as he quietly rounded a bend he came +upon an odd sight. + +In front of him, and perched on a rock in the midst of the water, +Timothy Turtle was going through the queerest motions. He seemed to be +peering into the water at something, while wriggling about in a most +peculiar fashion. + +He did not notice Peter Mink, who stood stock still and watched him for +some time without speaking. + +At last Peter's prying ways got the better of him. He simply had to say +something. + +"What on earth are you doing!" he called to Timothy. + +Mr. Turtle gave a great start. + +"I'm looking at myself--that's all," he said. He was so surprised that +for once he actually answered a question politely. + +His reply amused Peter Mink. And that ill-bred rascal laughed right in +Timothy Turtle's face. + +"Time must hang heavy on your hands, if you can't find anything +pleasanter to do than that," he remarked--for Peter Mink never cared how +rude he was. In fact he liked to make unkind remarks. "Aren't you +afraid," he added, "that you'll wear out the surface of the creek, +gazing into it? I shouldn't like that very well," said Peter Mink, +"because then it couldn't freeze in winter, and you know it's great +sport to hunt muskrats under the ice." + +Well, Peter's speech alarmed Timothy Turtle. And yet he felt that he +could not rest until he knew what was on his back. So he asked Peter +Mink to meet him on the bank. + +"I want you to help me," he said. "I have reason to believe that there's +something written on my back. And you must tell me what it is." + + + + +XVIII + +PETER MINK'S PLAN + + +Now Peter Mink had never learned to read. In the first place, he had +never had a chance to learn. And in the second, he was such a +good-for-nothing rascal that he wouldn't have gone to school anyhow. + +But he did not tell all this to Timothy Turtle. When he stepped behind +Timothy and gazed at his back, Peter Mink thought of a fine way to tease +the old fellow. + +Of course, he had not the slightest idea what those marks on Mr. +Turtle's shell meant. But he looked down at them with a wise smile. + +Mr. Turtle, watching Peter out of the corner of his eye, saw that smile; +and he did not like it in the least. In fact, it made him feel quite +peevish. + +"Well, what do you see?" he asked Peter Mink impatiently. + +"Ah!" Peter Mink replied with a shake of his small head. "I'm not going +to tell you, Mr. Turtle. I don't want to hurt your feelings. And if I +were to explain that your back says you're a disagreeable, mean old +scamp, you know you'd be very angry." + +Peter Mink jumped out of the way just in time. For Timothy Turtle +wheeled with amazing swiftness and snapped at his tormentor. + +"Don't do that!" Peter cried. "_I_ didn't say anything about you, Mr. +Turtle." + +"You'd better not," Timothy warned him. "And if Johnnie Green carved +any such words as those on my shell I don't know what to do. I certainly +don't want to carry them about with me for the rest of my life." He +looked unhappy, to say the least. He knew that probably he would live a +great many years longer. And he was puzzled. + +"Why don't you get a new shell?" Peter Mink inquired. + +"I'd hate to do that," Timothy Turtle told him. "I've had this one a +long time; and it fits me perfectly." + +"Then why don't you get the well-known tailor, Mr. Ferdinand Frog, to +make you a coat that will cover your back? If you did that, nobody could +see what's on your shell." + +"A good idea!" Timothy Turtle exclaimed. "I'll see Mr. Frog at once. And +some day I'll do something handsome for you, because you've been a +great help to me." + +"Why wait?" Peter Mink demanded. "Why don't you do it now?" Knowing that +Timothy was stingy, Peter thought that the old gentleman would soon +change his mind about "doing something handsome" for him. + +"No!" Timothy Turtle declared. "I want to wait a while and think it +over." + +"Well, then," Peter Mink urged him, "why don't you crawl under that +shelving rock and think it over right now?" + +"You ask too many questions," Mr. Turtle told him. "And besides, I must +hurry away and find Ferdinand Frog. I want my new coat as soon as I can +get it. And the longer I stay here, the more time I shall lose." So in +spite of all Peter Mink could say, Timothy slipped into Black Creek and +swam away. + + + + +XIX + +CAREFUL MR. FROG + + +Somebody had knocked. And with a wide smile upon his face Mr. Ferdinand +Frog, the tailor, went to his door and peeped out. + +One look was enough. He shut the door again with great haste and barred +it. And he held one hand over his heart, as if he had just received a +terrible fright. + +"Let me in!" somebody called. The tailor knew that it was Timothy +Turtle's voice, for he had seen that crusty old person standing upon his +doorstep. + +"Go away!" Mr. Frog replied. "I'm not here." + +He was an odd chap--this Ferdinand Frog. One never could tell what he +was going to do--or say. + +"Yes, you are!" Timothy Turtle insisted. "I saw you only a moment ago." + +The tailor then peered out of the window at his caller. + +"There you are now!" Timothy shouted, as he caught sight of Mr. Frog. "I +say, let me in!" + +"I can't," Mr. Frog answered. "I'm sick a-bed." + +"Nonsense!" Timothy cried. + +"Well, I expect I'll be ill if you don't go away," the tailor answered. +"I'm having a nervous chill this very moment." + +He was afraid of Timothy Turtle. And it was no wonder. For Timothy had +tried, more than once to make a meal of the nimble Mr. Frog. + +"I haven't come here to hurt you," Timothy Turtle explained, trying to +smile at the face in the window. "I want you to make me a new coat--a +big one that will cover my back all over." + +To his great disappointment Mr. Frog shook his head with great force. + +"I'm not interested," he announced. + +"Do you mean"--Timothy Turtle faltered--"do you mean that you won't make +a coat for me?" + +"Exactly!" + +"Why?" Timothy pressed him. + +"Too busy!" was Mr. Frog's answer. + +"Who is?" + +"You are!" said Mr. Frog. "Ever since I've known you, you've been trying +to catch me and my friends." + +"Why--er--I was only joking," Timothy Turtle told him. "You mustn't mind +my playful ways. Just make me a coat and I'll do something handsome for +you." + +It was now the tailor's turn to ask questions. + +"What"--he inquired--"what will you do?" + +"I couldn't just say at this moment," Timothy replied. + +"Why not?" + +"Oh, I'd want to think a while," said Timothy Turtle. + +"Very well!" was the tailor's answer. "I've no objection, though it's +something I never do myself." + +"I wish you'd come outside a moment, since you don't want me inside your +shop," Timothy remarked. "I'd like to whisper to you." + +"I'm deaf," Mr. Frog informed him. "I couldn't hear a single word, even +if you were to shout your head off." + +"You can hear what I'm saying now well enough," Timothy pointed out. + +"I read the lips," said Mr. Frog with a snicker. + +That speech made Timothy Turtle start. + +"Then if you can read my lips, no doubt you can read what's on my back," +he said. + +"That's easy," the tailor observed. "Your shell's on your back, of +course." + +Timothy Turtle glanced up with a look of scorn. + +"Don't be silly!" he snapped. "I mean, can you read what's carved on my +shell?" + +"Certainly!" Mr. Frog replied. And he began to mutter, as if to himself, +"J. G.--that means _just grumpy_, of course----" + +Timothy Turtle interrupted him quickly. + +"I don't care to hear any more," he screamed. And turning away, he +waddled towards the water. + +"That Ferdinand Frog has no manners," he spluttered. "I only wish he +wasn't quite so spry." And Mr. Turtle looked very fierce as he snapped +his jaws together. + + + + +XX + +THE ALMANAC + + +One rainy night Peter Mink stopped at Black Creek; and calling loudly to +Timothy Turtle he asked for a place to sleep. + +"You remember," he said, when Timothy drew himself upon the bank, "you +told me that you would do something handsome for me some time. And now +that I'm wet and tired I hope you can offer me a snug, dry spot in which +to spend the night." + +"What can you do to pay me?" asked Timothy Turtle. He never did anything +for anybody without pay. "Can you saw wood?" + +Now, Peter Mink would rather stay out in the rain forever than saw a +single stick of wood. So he said: + +"No, I can't!" just like that. + +"Well, it's about time you learned," said Timothy Turtle. + +Peter Mink was about to leave in disgust; and he was wondering what name +he would call Timothy Turtle, when he was a little further away, when he +noticed that Timothy had a thin book in his hand. + +"What's that?" Peter asked. + +"It's the Farmer's Almanac," said Timothy Turtle. "I've been looking +through it; but my eyes are bad and I can't read." + +Now that was quite true; for Timothy's eyes _were_ bad--and he had never +learned to read. + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," Peter Mink announced. "If you'll give me a +place to spend the night I'll read the Farmer's Almanac to you." + +"Come right in!" Timothy Turtle cried, leading the way to a cozy nook +beneath a big rock which was not far from the water. And Peter Mink was +very glad to creep inside that comfortable shelter. He took the Almanac +from Timothy Turtle and they both sat down. + +Peter opened the book. + +"I see," he said, "that it says the weather was fair to-day, but look +out for a heavy rain to-night!" + +Now, Timothy Turtle had not felt quite sure that Peter Mink knew how to +read. But when he heard that he quickly changed his mind. + +"That's exactly what's happened!" he exclaimed. And he was greatly +pleased. + +But the next moment he noticed that Peter Mink was holding the book +upside down. Timothy could tell that because the picture of the man +ploughing, on the cover, was upside down. + +"You can't read!" he cried angrily. "You don't even know how to hold a +book. You've got it bottom side up!" + +But Peter Mink only smiled pleasantly at him. + +"You don't understand," he said. "That's the way I was taught to read. +Then, if you want to read when standing on your head, you don't need to +turn the book over.... It's the latest method," he explained. + +"Oh!" said Timothy Turtle. "That's different!" + +"Yes--quite different!" said Peter Mink. + +"What does the Almanac say about next week?" Timothy inquired. + +"Time to plant corn!" Peter told him. + +"That's so!" said Timothy Turtle. "Mr. Crow was telling me this very day +that Farmer Green was ploughing his cornfield; but of course that +doesn't interest me much.... What else does the book say?" Timothy +continued. + +"Well, here's some general advice," Peter Mink remarked, as he looked at +the Almanac again. "It says: 'If anybody comes to you and asks for a +place to sleep, give him a bed--but first of all, give him a good +supper.'" + +"I don't believe I want to hear any more to-night," said Timothy Turtle +hastily. "It's late; so we'd better go to bed right away." + +Peter Mink was somewhat disappointed. He had hoped to get a fish or two +to eat. But there was nothing he could say, though he did wish Timothy +Turtle could take a hint. + +"In the morning you can read to me again," Timothy told him. + +So they went to bed. + +But in the morning the Almanac was nowhere to be found. Timothy Turtle +hunted for it in every place he could think of--except Peter Mink's +pocket. + +After Peter had gone, Timothy continued his search. And at last he found +the Almanac beneath the heap of dry leaves which Peter Mink had used for +a bed. + +"That's queer!" Timothy Turtle said. "I'm almost sure I looked there +before Peter Mink went away.... My eyes must be growing worse." + +The more he thought of the matter, the gladder he was that he hadn't +found the book before. For there was no knowing but that Peter Mink +might have found some advice about giving a good breakfast to a guest +who stayed over night. + +Then Timothy Turtle went into Black Creek and caught a fine fish, for he +was hungry. And he enjoyed his meal mightily, because he had it all to +himself. + +While he was eating he kept thinking what a disagreeable fellow Peter +Mink was. No doubt he would have been surprised had he known that Peter +Mink was thinking the same thing about _him_, at exactly the same +moment. + + + + +XXI + +A QUEER WISH + + +Fishing was one of Timothy Turtle's favorite sports. He was a skillful +fisherman, too. And though it only happened once that he caught more +than one fish at a time, on that occasion he captured seven. This was +the way it happened: + +Johnnie Green had come to Black Creek to fish for pickerel. And Timothy +Turtle was much annoyed when he found Johnnie fishing in the pool that +he liked best of all. Timothy thought it was mean of Johnnie Green to +catch _his_ fish, in _his_ creek. + +And Timothy's beady eyes glared as he watched Johnnie from a safe +hiding-place under the bank. + +He saw that Johnnie Green was a good fisherman. Before he moved on he +caught three big fish from that pool; and one of them--the biggest of +the three--was the very fish on which Timothy Turtle had been expecting +to dine that day. + +It was really no wonder that he was annoyed. And when Johnnie went +further up the creek to try his luck elsewhere Timothy Turtle slipped +into the water and followed him. + +The more fish he saw Johnnie Green catch, the angrier Timothy grew. And +he went out of his way to tell a number of his neighbors what was +happening. + +"Something ought to be done about it!" he complained. + +"Why don't you go down and speak to Farmer Green?" Peter Mink +suggested. Peter liked fish, too. And he had often said that Johnnie +had no right to take food away from him, when everybody knew that there +was a plenty at the farmhouse. + +Timothy Turtle did not care for Peter's suggestion. + +"I've no time to waste talking to Farmer Green," he said. "It seems to +me a letter would be better. Now, if somebody would write a letter, and +get everybody to sign his name to it, and send it down to Farmer Green +by a messenger, I would do my share to help. I would tell the messenger +where to leave the letter so that Farmer Green would be sure to find +it." Timothy then said that he must hurry back to the creek, for he +wanted to see how many fish Johnnie Green took, so the number could be +mentioned in the letter. But before he left Timothy told Peter Mink to +go and find somebody to write the letter. "There's old Mr. Crow," +Timothy said. "You might ask him. He could use one of his quills for a +pen, you know." + +When Timothy Turtle reached the creek once more he found that while he +was talking to Peter Mink, Johnnie Green had moved oh again. + +So Timothy started to follow him. But what should he see, lying on the +bank right before him, but a string of seven pickerel! Johnnie Green had +left them there, while he went still further up the creek to catch more. + +Timothy Turtle suddenly changed his mind about sending a letter to +Farmer Green. He wished that Johnnie would come there to fish every day. + +"He's a kind boy, after all!" said Timothy Turtle to himself. "I never +dreamed that he was catching these fish for me. But here they are, +waiting for me! For Johnnie must have known that I would find them." + +Timothy Turtle didn't say anything more. Of course he was only talking +to himself, anyhow. And he seized the string of pickerel and waddled +into the bushes, where he ate every one of those seven fish. + +When Peter Mink met Timothy the next day he said he had not yet found +anybody who would write the letter to Farmer Green. + +"Mr. Crow told me that if it was anybody but you he might be willing to +pull out one of his quills for a pen," Peter explained. "But he said +that he hoped Johnnie Green would come here every day to fish, until +there are no fish left for you." + +Timothy Turtle sniffed. + +"You go back," he directed Peter Mink, "and tell Mr. Crow that _I_ hope +Johnnie Green will come here _twice a day_ until he has caught every +fish in Black Creek." + +Peter Mink thought that that was a queer thing for Timothy to wish. +Neither he nor old Mr. Crow could understand it. + + + + +XXII + +THE UNWELCOME GUEST + + +Ferdinand Frog did not like Timothy Turtle. But he always said he +thought Mr. Turtle could be _trusted_. + +"You can _depend_ on him," Mr. Frog often remarked. "Yes, you can depend +on him to grab you if he ever gets a chance." + +And all the rest of the musical Frog family agreed with him. + +It is not surprising, therefore, that they never invited Timothy Turtle +to attend their singing parties in Cedar Swamp. It made no difference +how much Timothy Turtle hinted. Though he frequently took pains to tell +Ferdinand Frog how fond he was of music, Mr. Frog never once asked him +to come to a concert. + +In private Mr. Frog and his friends often spoke of Mr. Turtle--and +giggled. And one of the Frog family even made up a song about Timothy +Turtle, which the whole company loved to chant in Cedar Swamp, safe--as +they thought--from Timothy's snapping jaws. + +But one fine summer's evening they had a great surprise. They had +scarcely begun their nightly concert when Timothy Turtle appeared, out +of the water and crawled upon an old stump, right in their midst. + +"Good evening!" he cried. "I was just passing on my way home; and +hearing the singing, I thought I'd stop and enjoy it." + +For a few moments none of the Frog family said a word. And then +Ferdinand Frog spoke up and asked Mr. Turtle a question: + +"Have you had your dinner?" + +"No, I haven't," Timothy answered. "But you needn't trouble yourselves +on my account. Go on with your singing. And if I feel faint no doubt I +can find a bite to eat hereabouts." + +Now, Mr. Turtle hoped that his speech would put the singers quite at +their ease. But they looked at one another and rolled their eyes as if +to say, "This Timothy Turtle is a dangerous person. Look out for him!" + +At the same time they did not wish to appear frightened. And Ferdinand +Frog's mother's uncle even made a short speech, saying that he hoped Mr. +Turtle would enjoy the singing half as much as everybody else enjoyed +his company. + +He was about to make some further remark. But no one knew what. For +Timothy Turtle wheeled about to look at the old gentleman. And the +moment Timothy moved, Ferdinand Frog's mother's uncle jumped hastily +into the water from the hummock where he had been sitting, and swam +away. + +The rest of the company then sang a song. And their listener said that +he had never heard anything like it. + +"I wish you'd sing it again," he said, "with your mouths open and your +eyes shut." + +But the musical Frog family objected that they were not used to singing +in that fashion. + +"Why don't you keep your own eyes shut?" Ferdinand Frog asked Mr. +Turtle. "Then you wouldn't know whether ours were open or closed." + +"Let us _all_ shut our eyes!" Timothy Turtle then suggested. And when +the Frog family began another song, a few of the younger and more +foolish singers followed Mr. Turtle's advice. + +So, too, did Mr. Turtle himself--_for a few moments_. + +But he soon opened his eyes slyly. And he became very angry when he saw +that most of the singers were watching him. + +"You aren't doing as I asked you!" he shouted. + + + + +XXIII + +A MERRY SONG + + +Timothy Turtle made such a noise that the Frog family had to stop +singing. + +"It's not fair!" he cried. "You're peeping!" + +"Well, so are you!" Ferdinand Frog retorted. + +"I only opened my eyes to make sure that you were doing as I asked you +to," Mr. Turtle replied with an injured air. + +"And we didn't shut ours, because we wanted to watch _you_," said Mr. +Frog. + +"Can't you trust me?" Timothy snapped. + +"Certainly!" Ferdinand Frog replied. + +"Oh, yes! We can trust you!" And he winked at his friends. + +"You don't want to hurt my feelings, do you?" Timothy Turtle went on. + +"No, indeed!" everybody exclaimed. + +And then Ferdinand Frog told Timothy that they would sing a special song +in his honor. + +"Fire away!" Timothy ordered them. And the whole company knew, when he +said that, that if he really cared anything at all for singing he never +would have spoken of it in that fashion. + +They were just about to begin the song when Timothy Turtle stopped them. + +"What's this thing called?" he demanded. + +"It's known," Ferdinand Frog explained, "as 'A Merry Song.'" + +And then the whole Frog family began to bellow their loudest: + + Come let us sing a merry song! + To you it may sound sad. + And if you think it loud and long + _We_ think that it's not bad. + + "We'll sing about a grumpy one + Who snaps and bites all day. + And if you call that "having fun" + We make reply, "Go 'way!" + + He has a glittering, wicked eye + And also cruel jaws. + And if you ask the reason why, + We'll answer you, _"Because!"_ + + He'll stretch his neck and grab you quick-- + Don't let him come too near! + And if you poke him with a stick + He'll seize that too--oh, dear! + + Now, we'll admit he swims quite well + And that he's slow ashore. + Don't ask us if he wears a shell + Until we tell you more. + + Don't ask us if he's fond of fish + Nor seek to learn his age. + And kindly don't express a wish + To see him in a rage! + + Don't ask us if his claws are strong + And if he has a tail. + It might be short and blunt, or long + And pointed like a nail. + + We do not want to cause you pain. + We would not give offense-- + But, sir, you'll not come here again + If you have any sense. + +After the last echo of the song had lost itself in the depths of Cedar +Swamp, the singers all turned, smiling, to their listener. + +But his face wore no smile. On the contrary, Timothy Turtle frowned +darkly. + +"You can't fool me!" he cried. "You don't like me! You don't want me +here!" + +Ferdinand Frog swallowed a few times. + +"Well," said he, "of course my manners are so elegant that I simply +_couldn't_ dispute one of my elders. And anyhow, Mr. Turtle, you'd find +that our singing sounded twice as well if you were half a mile away." + +"It certainly couldn't sound any worse than it does here," Timothy +Turtle declared--a remark which made the Frog family grin broadly. + +He said no more, but slipped into the water and struck out towards home. + +There was a lively scattering of those who found themselves in Timothy +Turtle's path. And for a time it looked as if the singing party had +broken up in disorder. + +But after a while everybody came back again--that is, everybody but +Timothy Turtle. He hurried away and spent most of the whole night buried +in the mud at the bottom of Black Creek. For even until daybreak that +merry song came floating now and then across Pleasant Valley. + +And Timothy Turtle did not like it. He thought it not only loud and +long, but most unpleasant as well. + +THE END + + + + +Little Jack Rabbit Books + +(Trademark Registered) + +By DAVID CORY + +Author of "Little Journeys to Happyland" + +Colored Wrappers With Text Illustrations. + +A new and unique series about the furred and feathered little people of +the wood and meadow. + +Children will eagerly follow the doings of little Jack Rabbit, and the +clever way in which he escapes from his three enemies, Danny Fox, Mr. +Wicked Wolf and Hungry Hawk will delight the youngsters. + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT'S ADVENTURES + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND DANNY FOX + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE SQUIRREL BROTHERS + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND CHIPPY CHIPMUNK + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE BIG BROWN BEAR + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE JOHN HARE + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND PROFESSOR CROW + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND OLD MAN WEASEL + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MR. WICKED WOLF + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND HUNGRY HAWK + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE POLICEMAN DOG + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND MISS MOUSIE + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND UNCLE LUCKY + +LITTLE JACK RABBIT AND THE YELLOW DOG TRAMP + + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, _Publishers_, NEW YORK + + + + +LITTLE JOURNEYS TO HAPPYLAND + +By DAVID CORY + +PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED. INDIVIDUAL COLORED WRAPPERS. + +Printed in large type--easy to read. For children from 6 to 8 years. + +A new series of exciting adventures by the author of the LITTLE JACK +RABBIT books. This series is unique in that it deals with unusual and +exciting adventures on land and sea and in the air. + +THE CRUISE OF THE NOAH'S ARK + +This is a good rainy day story. On just such a day Mr. Noah invites +Marjorie to go for a trip in Noah's Ark. She gets aboard just in time +and away it floats out into the big wide world. + +THE MAGIC SOAP BUBBLE + +The king of the gnomes has a magic pipe with which he blows a wonderful +bubble and taking Ed. with him they both have a delightful time in +Gnomeland. + +THE ICEBERG EXPRESS + +The Mermaid's magic comb changes little Mary Louise into a mermaid. The +Polar Bear Porter on the Iceberg Express invites her to take a trip with +him and away they go. + +THE WIND WAGON + +Little Hero stepped aboard the Wind Wagon and started on a journey to +many wonderful places and had a delightful time. + +THE MAGIC UMBRELLA + +A little old man gave Jimmy the Magic Umbrella which took him to +Happyland, where he had many adventures. + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Timothy Turtle, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF TIMOTHY TURTLE *** + +***** This file should be named 20716.txt or 20716.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/7/1/20716/ + +Produced by Joe Longo and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team +at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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