My Boyhood and Youth 



boy dog getting his first entomological lesson 

 in this wonderful world was so immoderately 

 funny that I had great difficulty in keeping 

 from laughing out loud. 



Snapping turtles were common throughout 

 the woods, and we were delighted to find that 

 they would snap at a stick and hang on like 

 bull-dogs; and we amused ourselves by intro- 

 ducing Watch to them, enjoying his curious 

 behavior and theirs in getting acquainted with 

 each other. One day we assisted one of the 

 smallest of the turtles to get a good grip of poor 

 Watch's ear. Then away he rushed, holding 

 his head sidewise, yelping and terror-stricken, 

 with the strange buglike reptile biting hard and 

 clinging fast, a shameful amusement even for 

 wild boys. 



As a playmate Watch was too serious, though 

 he learned more than any stranger would judge 

 him capable of, was a bold, faithful watch-dog, 

 and in his prime a grand fighter, able to whip 

 all the other dogs in the neighborhood. Com- 

 paring him with ourselves, we soon learned that 

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