er told him.

"That's so!" said Timothy Turtle. "Mr. Crow was telling me this very day
that Farmer Green was ploughing his cornfield; but of course that
doesn't interest me much.... What else does the book say?" Timothy
continued.

"Well, here's some general advice," Peter Mink remarked, as he looked at
the Almanac again. "It says: 'If anybody comes to you and asks for a
place to sleep, give him a bed--but first of all, give him a good
supper.'"

"I don't believe I want to hear any more to-night," said Timothy Turtle
hastily. "It's late; so we'd better go to bed right away."

Peter Mink was somewhat disappointed. He had hoped to get a fish or two
to eat. But there was nothing he could say, though he did wish Timothy
Turtle could take a hint.

"In the morning you can read to me again," Timothy told him.

So they went to bed.

But in the morning the Almanac was nowhere to be found. Timothy Turtle
hunted for it in every place he could think of--except Peter Mink's
pocket.

After Peter had gone, Timothy continued his search. And at last he found
the Almanac beneath the heap of dry leaves which Peter Mink had used for
a bed.

"That's queer!" Timothy Turtle said. "I'm almost sure I looked there
before Peter Mink went away.... My eyes must be growing worse."

The more he thought of the matter, the gladder he was that he hadn't
found the book before. For there was no knowing but that Peter Mink
might have found some advice about giving a good breakfast to a guest
who stayed over night.

Then Timothy Turtle went into Black Creek and caught a fine fish, for he
was hungry. And he enjoyed his meal mightily, because he had it all to
himself.

While he was eating he kept thinking what a disagreeable fellow Peter
Mink was. No doubt he would have been surprised had he known that Peter
Mink was thinking the same thing about _him_, at exactly the same
moment.

XXI

A QUEER WISH

Fishing was one of Timothy Turtle's favorite sports. He was a skillful
fisherman, too. And though it only happened once that he caught more
than one fish at a time, on that occasion he captured seven. This was
the way it happened:

Johnnie Green had come to Black Creek to fish for pickerel. And Timothy
Turtle was much annoyed when he found Johnnie fishing in the pool that
he liked best of all. Timothy thought it was mean of Johnnie Green to
catch _his_ fish, in _his_ creek.

And Timothy's beady eyes glared as he watched Johnnie fr