ived alone in the garden, thinking
only of my Matilda Jane. You can imagine my joy when, this fall, four
more turtles were brought and placed in the yard, and one of them was my
long-lost friend! I knew her immediately, from her having the letters
"A. F., 1869," cut on her shell. Ever since that joyful meeting we have
lived very happily together.

Of course we have troubles, like every one else, but they mostly arise
outside our own household. There was one old turtle who used to put on
airs because he had "Adam, year 1," cut on his shell; but my Matilda
stopped his boasting by telling how she saw my master cut the name at
the same time that he marked her. Old Adam, as we used to call him,
sneaked off, and I have not seen him since.

I want to tell you one thing more, and then I will be done. Perhaps you
don't know how the little turtles are born. The mamma turtle finds a
quiet, secluded place where the soil is sandy; there she digs a hole,
and lays from twelve to thirty eggs. The eggs are perfectly round, and
about an inch in diameter. They do not have shells like birds' eggs, but
they are covered with a coating like parchment. After she has laid her
eggs she covers them up, and leaves them to be hatched by the heat of
the sun. In about three weeks the young turtles make their appearance;
they are not much larger than a silver fifty-cent piece. They are very
lively, and are very cunning about hiding when any one comes near their
home. They grow very rapidly, however, and in a short time wander away,
as I did. I hope that you will all remember that turtles more than pay
for the fruit that they eat by keeping your gardens free from worms and
insects; and I trust that you will let your pet turtles sleep through
the winter, and not keep them awake to study about them as my master has
done.

Yours truly,
LAND TURTLE.

FUN IN A CHINESE SCHOOL-ROOM.

BY WILLIAM ELLIOT GRIFFIS.

[Illustration]

These five Chinese boys (except the one whose ear is being pulled) are
having fine fun. The Fu-tse, or old teacher, has gone out of the room
for a few minutes to fill his tobacco pouch. Let us look round and see
what kind of school-rooms they have in China, and how the pupils study.

The boys in this case are all of one family, and the old gentleman is
their private tutor. He is white-bearded and shaven-pated, and has
rather long finger-nails, as the fashion is in China among those who do
not have to work with the