CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
227 
the swampland and pond places, found food sufficient for his 
need. Between minnows, insects and moth which become 
trapped in the mire, these fellows experienced an easy and 
luxurious existence. As in all nature, one of these creatures 
would prey upon another, while his assailant would, in turn, 
be sought by his own most loved ( ?) enemy, and as a result 
of this whole revolting war, nature’s perfect balance would be 
maintained, and for man’s good. The minnow was eternally 
seeking the larvae of the mosquito, the frog lying in wait for 
the minnow, and the moccasin kept eyes which were never 
closed eternally upon the frog. The bullfrog, besides being 
endowed by nature with a low bass voice, was also a noted 
tenor—on occasions. When skies were rosy and all serene he 
could be heard singing his bass solo, but occasionally he would 
be heard from afar rending the air with his shrill cry as a 
child frightened out of its wits. When Spot heard such lamen¬ 
tations he knew perfectly well that murder was-being done 
down at the Devil’s Swimming Hole, and that some unfor¬ 
tunate bullfrog was destined to become the victim. He would 
often go unaccompanied and break it up, returning with a feel¬ 
ing of self-satisfaction—with a feeling that an imperative duty 
had been well performed. 
The mud turtle caused Spot no little bit of concern, and we 
doubt that he ever knew for certain what was at the bottom 
of all the tragedies he promoted. While he appears to be a 
slothful and rather stupid creature, yet he is endowed by 
nature with the means of earning a living with a minimum of 
physical exertion. He has his fishing tackle with him at all 
times, in the likeness of a pink-colored eel worm attached to 
his tongue. By opening his mouth wide, in the shallow waters, 
he can doze off to sleep if he likes and await a “bite.” When 
he gets the call, his giant jaws click shut like the jaws of a 
steeltrap, and he has fish sufficient for the day. 
When some luckless water fowl, or perchance a chicken 
which strayed from the barnyard stepped upon this mire, he 
would take them gently but firmly by the leg and gradually 
draw them beneath the surface and feast for days upon the 
carcass, far removed from the menace of his enemies. 
During the noon-hour one sultry summer day, while the 
