ate fellow, with no respect
whatever for academic authority, refused to progress in the appointed
path, and for some five minutes they argued it out together, with no
manifest result except a distinct access of temper, rather evenly
divided.

Your true philanthropist is not easily balked, and Professor Emily,
returning the scrutiny of those small, keen, sinister eyes that watched
her every movement, skillfully dodged that dark, vicious head which
kept lurching forward from the olive-mottled shell in lightning-swift
motions, seeking to strike this determined benefactor whom only muddled
wits could mistake for an enemy.

"No, you don't," she answered him sternly, retreating before a sudden
forward scramble of the broad webbed feet. Regardless of the terrified
protests of a group of freshmen, who had gathered on the outskirts of
the fray, she executed a rapid rear movement and seized the reptile
firmly toward the end of its long, rough tail. Swinging this furious
Caliban clear of the ground and holding it well out from her body, she
considered what to do next.

The noon had suddenly turned hot. She found herself panting a little.
That turtle was surprisingly heavy. He was awkward to handle, too,
twisting his neck back over his shell and darting it out left and right
to a disconcerting distance. Soothing tones had no effect whatever and
there seemed to be no suitable surface to pat. Even if he could and
would have told her the exact location of his native creek, it might
prove an irksome task to carry him so far, with those powerful jaws
snapping most suggestively, only biding their time to get in an
effective argument. Our house was close at hand. Why not accomplish two
good deeds in one and give this self-willed waif to us for a pet? He
would have a happy home and we another of God's creatures to love.

Dear Emily!

A shriek from Mary brought us to the kitchen. There was our household
staff and stay mounted on a chair, clasping her skirts tight about her
and apparently addressing the ceiling. There was our generous-hearted
friend, flushed and weary, but, by a miracle, unbitten. There was our
neighbor, Young Audubon, a budding naturalist, who had come to her aid
_en route_ and shared the honors of the delivery. And there was an
indignant snapping turtle, lying on its back in the middle of the
kitchen floor. Notwithstanding the pale yellows of its under-side,
shell and legs and tail, its expression was profane.

Joy