you take this bunch of nice
wiggly worms to my little ones for their lunch? I shall be so very
grateful."

"Don't mention it," snapped the Tortoise, who was rather tired of
hearing Mrs. Partridge's shrill thanks. "I'm perfectly willing to take
the lunch, since I am going to the same place. But I don't know your
babies. What do they look like, ma'am?"

"Oh, that is easily told," cried Mrs. Partridge. "They are the most
beautiful little creatures in the school. They are said greatly to
resemble me. You will have no trouble in recognizing them. When you
come to the school just look around at all the children, and pick out
the three most beautiful of all. Those are certain to be mine. Give them
the wiggly worms, please, with my love. And oh, _thank_ you, Madame
Tortoise, so very much! Some time I will do as much for you. So
neighborly! Thank you!"

[Illustration: _Here are some nice fat wiggly worms!_]

"Don't mention it!" snapped the Tortoise again, very much bored by all
this chatter. She sniffed as she moved slowly along towards the school,
with the second lunch carried carefully on her broad shell-back. "They
are nice fat worms," she said.

Now when the Tortoise came to the school it was high noon, and all the
children were waiting open-mouthed for their mammas and the lunches
which they expected. Such rows and rows of wide hungry mouths! Madame
Tortoise moved slowly up and down and round and round, eyeing the
various children who begged for the nice wiggly worms. "H'm!" she said
to herself, "hungry children seem to look considerably alike, and none
of them are so wondrously beautiful when their mouths are wide open
greedily. I wonder which are Mrs. Partridge's children. She told me to
give this lunch to the handsomest babies here. Well, I will, and if I
make a mistake it will not be my fault. Hello! Here are my dear little
Turtlets! Bless the babies, how pretty they are! Why, I declare, I never
realized that they were so handsome. Certainly, they are the
best-looking children in the school. Then I must give them Mrs.
Partridge's luncheon, for so I promised. Yes, my little ones, here is
your lunch which I brought for you. And when you have finished that,
here is another, some nice, fat, wiggly worms which mother collected on
the way,--a prize for the handsomest children in the school."

So the little Turtlets fared wonderfully well that day; but the poor
little Partridges went hungry, and had dreadful headaches,