eek, or my name's not--ahem--Mr.
Crow."

"What's your first name?" Timothy Turtle inquired, as he stared
unpleasantly at the speaker.

"Never mind!" said the other. "Mr. Crow will do, if you want to attract
my attention."

Timothy Turtle frowned.

"I don't want to," he retorted. "The fact is, I'd rather be alone. I
don't care to have strangers peeping down at me when I'm enjoying a
sun-bath."

"But I like to look at you," old Mr. Crow assured him solemnly. "You
make me think of somebody I've known for a good many years."

"Ah! An old friend!" Timothy exclaimed.

"Well--not a _friend_, exactly," Mr. Crow explained. "He lives in the
South, where I spend the winters. You look like him, in many ways."

"And his name?" Timothy Turtle said.

"Mr. Alligator!"

Timothy Turtle grunted.

"Humph!" he said. "I've never heard of him."

"That's not strange," old Mr. Crow told him. "He stays all the time in
the South and you stay all the time in the North. You couldn't very well
meet, you see."

"Your tail is a good deal like his," Mr. Crow continued. "And when you
walk you have a trick of raising yourself sometimes on your hind legs,
with your head and tail stretched out--a trick that reminds me of him."

For once Timothy seemed pleased.

"Anything else?" he demanded, with something that was almost like a
smile. Unfortunately, he had passed so many years with a constant frown
on his face that smiling actually hurt him.

"Why, yes! There is something else," old Mr. Crow went on. "You and he
have the same way of _snapping_ at things."

There was no doubt, now, that Timothy Turtle was gratified.

"He must be a fine bird--this Mr. Alligator!" he exclaimed.

Old Mr. Crow spluttered. And he had to hang on tight to save himself
from tumbling off his perch.

A bird! Timothy Turtle thought that Mr. Alligator was a bird!

The mistake was so amusing that Mr. Crow wanted to laugh. But he knew
that would never do--if he wanted any more fun with Timothy Turtle.

So he pretended to cough. And he wrapped his muffler more snugly about
his neck, remarking that there was a cold wind that day, even though the
sun _was_ warm.

VI

MR. CROW'S KIND OFFER

"I suppose----" Timothy Turtle said to his young friend, old Mr.
Crow--"I suppose Mr. Alligator is a fine flier."

"He's a very powerful fellow," old Mr. Crow replied with a sly smile.

"Did you ever try to follow him?" Timothy wanted to know.

Mr. Crow shook