ly I know of nowadays, and didn't need any
glasses to see an article the size of a bug floating on the Wide Blue
Water, no matter how high he was flying. We tried to keep a lookout in
several directions, but, of course, as we got older without accidents,
we grew careless, and our mother used to count us every night and be
surprised that we were all there, and give us a good scolding to go to
bed on.

"Nothing happened to any of us for a good while, and then it happened to
me. I was the biggest and strongest of our lot, and had the thickest
shell, and I liked to show how grown-up I was, and would swim out
farther, and make believe I wasn't afraid any more of Mr. Eagle and Old
Man Moccasin, which wasn't true, of course, for Mr. Eagle could have
handled me with one claw and Old Man Moccasin could have swallowed me
like a pill and enjoyed the operation.

"Well, one day I was showing off more than usual and had paddled out
farther toward the Drifts, saying to the others that I was going to pay
a call on Old Man Moccasin. I kept on farther than I intended, for it
was a nice summer day and the water felt good. I didn't know how far I
had gone until I turned around to look, and then I didn't think about
that any more, for a quarter of a mile away, and between me and the
shore, was Old Man Moccasin, coming straight in my direction. He was a
good two feet out of the water and had on his far-sighted glasses, and I
knew he was after me. He was coming, too. He was swimming with a wide,
wavy motion, and making a little curl of white foam in front, and
leaving a long trail behind.

"I was so scared, at first, that I couldn't do anything. Then I thought
I'd better dive, but I knew that Old Man Moccasin could swim faster
under the water than on top of it, and see just as well. I began to
paddle for dear life toward the other side of the Wide Blue Water, which
was a long way off, with Old Man Moccasin gaining fast. I knew he was
bound to overtake me before I got across, and I was getting weaker every
minute, from being so scared and trying so hard, and I could hear Old
Man Moccasin's steady swimming noise coming closer all the time.

[Illustration: "OLD MAN MOCCASIN WAS ONLY ABOUT TWENTY FEET AWAY"]

"Of course it wasn't very long until I gave up. I was too worn out to
swim another stroke. Old Man Moccasin was only about twenty feet away,
and when I looked back at him over my shoulder I saw that he was smiling
because he was so sure