98 The Turtles, 



followed me down. I had taken it up stairs and 

 left it while I went down to read. 



" Soon, I heard a noise. It sounded as if some- 

 thing had dropped on the stairs. 



" Going out into the hall, I saw the turtle on 

 one of the top steps. I stood still to see what it 

 would do. 



" It crawled out until its shell just balanced on 

 the edge of the step. Then it drew in its head, 

 legs, and tail, and dropped to the next step. It 

 waited a minute, then out came its head, legs, 

 and tail, and it crawled to the edge of that step. 

 Here, it balanced itself ready for its fall to the 

 next. It kept this up until it came down all the 

 stairs to the place where I stood. 



" Turtles have been known to go without any- 

 thing to eat for weeks, and it has not seemed to 

 harm them. They have no teeth ; but their jaws 

 are covered with horn. 



" Most land and pond turtles are quite harmless, 

 if you are careful not to put your fingers near 

 their mouths. But there is one kind of fresh- 

 water turtle that would bite off your finger in a 

 moment. This is called the snapping turtle. The 

 snapping turtle lives in the water most of the 

 time, but comes out long enough to lay its eggs. 



