The Tale of Timothy Turtle | Page 6

either," Mr. Crow had said. And Jasper
had agreed to that, too, although he said that it might be a hard thing to
do.
Well, Timothy Turtle crawled out upon the bank and took a long look
at the high bluff above him, from which the great rock hung over the
water of the creek.
"I believe----" he said to old Mr. Crow--"I believe I'd better wait till
to-morrow before I try to fly. I've just had a long swim, you know. And
I want to feel fresh when I take my first lesson."
"Nonsense!" Mr. Crow exclaimed. "Everything's all ready. You're not
too tired, are you, to climb to the top of the bluff?"
"No," Timothy Turtle admitted.
"Then you've no reason for waiting," Mr. Crow assured him. "Coming
down will be much easier than going up."
"I dare say that's true," Timothy remarked. "But I don't quite like to
think about this business of flying."
"Then you certainly ought not to wait any longer," Mr. Crow urged him.
"For the longer you wait the more time you'll have to think."

That appeared to Timothy Turtle to be a good bit of advice. And yet he
still seemed uneasy.
"There's just one thing that troubles me," he confessed. "After I've
jumped from the rock I might find that I couldn't fly. And I'd get a bad
fall."
"But you'd land in the water," Mr. Crow reminded him. "And that
would be much better than falling on the land.... I don't need to tell
you," he added, "that water is soft. And you're a fine 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 off into space.
Now, the moment Timothy Turtle leaped from the top of the bluff a
deafening squawk broke the silence. Old Mr. Crow cawed as loud as he

knew how. But the racket he made was as nothing compared with the
uproar of Jasper Jay and the noisy crew he had brought with him. They
squalled with delight as Timothy Turtle plunged through the air like a
stone. And when he landed upside down in the