red us, he had often eaten
before, and which tasted equal to young pig. None of us were likely to
join Cudjo in such a meal; but at all events, thought we, when the
quills and skin are removed, our dogs might get a morsel of it as a
reward for their sufferings. This was an object, certainly; as, out of
our scanty larder, Castor and Pollux did not fare the best sometimes.

"We soon arrived upon the bank of the creek, and close to the pool.
This was a long stretch of deep dark water, with a high bank on one
side, shadowed over with leafy trees. On the opposite side, the bank
was low, and shelved down to the edge--while several logs lay along it,
half covered with water, and half of them stretching up against the
bank.

"We took the high bank for our station, as upon this there was a spot of
smooth grassy turf, shaded by beautiful palmetto-trees, where the
children could tumble about. Here Mary sat down with them, while the
rest of us proceeded to fish. Of course, we could do no more than throw
in our lines, and then wait until the fish should be fools enough to
bite. We conversed very quietly, lest the noise of our talking should
frighten the fish--though this was only an imagination of our own. We
had not been watching our floats more than five minutes, when we
noticed, here and there, a slight stir in the water; and, in the midst
of the little circles thus made, we could see small black objects not
unlike the heads of snakes. At first we took them for these. Cudjo,
however, knew better than we what they were, for he had often seen them
while fishing in the creeks of Virginia.

"`Golly, Massa!' cried he, as soon as they made their appearance, `de
creek here am full ob de turtle.'

"`Turtles!' exclaimed Harry.

"`Yes, Massa Harry,' replied Cudjo; `and as dis nigger lib, de am de
real soff-shell turtle! Dat's de meat for dis child Cudjo,--better dan
fish, flesh, fowl, or 'possum,--dat am de soff-shell.'

"As Cudjo spoke, one of the turtles `bobbed' up nearly under where we
sat; and, from the elongated shape of its head, resembling a snout, and
the flexible shell that bent up and down along its edges, as he swam, I
saw it was a species of _trionyx_, or soft-shelled turtle,--in fact, it
was that known as _trionyx ferox_, the most prized of all the turtle
race for the table of the epicure. Here, then, was another luxury for
us, as soon as we could catch them.

"I turned round; and was on the point of asking