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
s