64 
LITTLE FOLKS 
A FELLOW WHO WEARS HLS RLBS OUTSLDE. 
It isn't because he is nothing but bones, either. He has 
plenty of flesh, and you have seen some of his relations dozens of 
times, I have no doubt. Only you didn't know that the snug 
house he lives in is made of the usual bones ; the ribs made broad 
and strongly united together to form a roof, and the breast bones 
widened to make his floor. 
He lives in a regular fort, where he can draw in his- head and 
feet, and bid defiance to most of his enemies. And more than 
that — he never leaves his fort for a moment, but carries it every- 
where he goes. All he has to do is to raise his roof a little, stick 
out four stout feet and a head, and he can walk off as well as 
anybody. Then, if surprised by an enemy, he jerks in his head 
and feet, snaps down his roof, and then he is snugly hidden by his 
shell house. 
This curious fellow is a Tortoise, or turtle, and of course 
you boys have seen many of his small relations, that you call 
mud turtles. But I want to tell you about the big ones, the 
