ter,
and sometimes with only the end of his nose out of water. When he went
on land, he would cover himself with mud, and then when he heard
anybody coming, he would lie perfectly still, with his legs and his
tail and his head drawn in just as close as possible, so that he
looked for all the world like just a little lump of brown earth.

"One day he had crawled under a piece of bark to rest and at the same
time keep out of sight of any who might happen along. When he got
ready to go on his way, he found that the piece of bark had caught on
his back, and that he was carrying it with him. At first he was
annoyed and started to shake it off. Before he succeeded, he heard
someone coming, so he promptly drew in his head and legs and tail. It
was Mr. Fisher, and he was very hungry and fierce. He looked at the
piece of bark under which Mr. Turtle was hiding, but all he saw was
the bark, because, you know, Mr. Turtle had drawn himself wholly
under.

"'I believe,' said Mr. Fisher, talking out loud to himself, 'that I'll
have a look around the Smiling Pool and see if I can catch that
slow-moving Turtle who lives there. I believe he'll make me a good
dinner.'

"Of course Mr. Turtle heard just what he said, and he blessed the
piece of bark which had hidden him from Mr. Fisher's sight. For a long
time he lay very still. When he did go on, he took the greatest care
not to shake off that piece of bark, for he didn't know but that any
minute he might want to hide under it again. At last he reached the
Smiling Pool and slipped into the water, leaving the piece of bark on
the bank. Thereafter, when he wanted to go on land, he would first
make sure that no one was watching. Then he would crawl under the
piece of bark and get it on his back. Wherever he went he carried the
piece of bark so as to have it handy to hide under.

"Now all this time Old Mother Nature had been watching Mr. Turtle, and
it pleased her to see that he was smart enough to think of such a
clever way of fooling his enemies. So she began to study how she could
help Mr. Turtle. One day she came up behind him just as he sat down to
rest. The piece of bark was uncomfortable and scratched his back, 'I
wish,' said he, talking to himself, for he didn't know that any one
else was near, 'I wish that I had a house of my own that I could carry
on my back all the time and be perfectly safe when I was inside of
it.'

"'You shall have,' said Old Mother Nature, and reaching out