172 INDOOR STUDIES 



ters are devoted to the "old family tortoise." What 

 a clear and vivid impression we get of the creature ! 

 and what a lively interest we feel in his stupid 

 ways! "No part of its behavior," says White, 

 "ever struck me more than the extreme timidity it 

 always expresses with regard to rain; for, though 

 it has a shell that would secure it against the wheel 

 of a loaded cart, yet does it discover as much solici- 

 tude about rain as a lady dressed in all her best 

 attire, shufHing away on the first sprinklings and 

 running its head up in a corner." The old tortoise 

 begins to dig a hole in the ground to go into winter 

 quarters early in November. "It scrapes out the 

 ground with its fore-feet," says the historian, "and 

 throws it up over its back with its hiad; but the 

 motion of its legs is ridiculously slow, little exceed- 

 ing the hour-hand of a clock. " " This creature not 

 only goes under the earth from the middle of No- 

 vember to the middle of April, but sleeps great part 

 of the summer; for it goes to bed in the longest 

 days at four in the afternoon, and often does not 

 stir in the morning till late. Besides, it retires to 

 rest for every shower, and does not move at all in 

 wet days." Though so stupid and sleepy most of 

 the time, "yet there is a season of the year (usually 

 the beginning of June) when his exertions are 

 remarkable. He then walks on tiptoe, and is stir- 

 ring by five in the morning, and, traversing the 

 garden, examines every wicket and interstice in the 

 fences, through which he will escape, if possible, 

 and often has eluded the care of the gardener and 



