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