wo thick shields, and he put one over
his back and one over his breast. Then he called to his fierce enemies,
"Are you not ready? Come on, fierce warriors! Shoot your arrows through
my breast if you can."

The warriors all shot, but not an arrow struck Turtle, for the two
shields covered his breast and his back, and whenever an arrow buzzed
through the air, he drew in his head and his arms between the shields,
and so he was not harmed. "Why do you not aim at me?" he cried. "Are you
shooting at the mountain, or at the sun and the moon? Good fighters you
are, indeed! Try again."

His enemies shot once more, and this time an arrow killed the wounded
friend as he lay on the ground. When Turtle cried, "Friend, are you
living?" there was no answer.

"My friend is dead," said Turtle. "I will fight no more."

"He has yielded," cried his enemies.

"He has not," said Turtle, and with one great leap he sprang into the
river. His enemies did not dare to spring after him.

"Those long arms of his would pull us to the bottom," they said; "but we
will watch till he comes up, and then we shall be sure of him."

They were not so sure as they thought, for he did not come up, and all
that they could see in the water was a strange creature unlike anything
that had been there before.

"It has arms and a head," said one.

"And it pulls them out of sight just as Turtle did," said another.

"It has a shield over its back and one over its breast, as Turtle had,"
said the first. Then all the warriors were so eager to watch the strange
animal that they no longer remembered the fight. They crowded up to the
shore of the river.

"It is not Turtle," cried one.

"It _is_ Turtle," declared another.

"It is so like him that I do not care to go into the water as long as it
is in sight," said still another.

"But if this is not Turtle, where is he?" they all asked, and not one of
the wise men of their tribe could answer.

WHY THE CROCODILE HAS A WIDE MOUTH.

"Come to my kingdom whenever you will," said the goddess of the water to
the king of the land. "My waves will be calm, and my animals will be
gentle. They will be as good to your children as if they were my own.
Nothing in all my kingdom will do you harm."

The goddess went back to her home in the sea, and the king walked to the
shore of the river and stood gazing upon the beautiful water. Beside him
walked his youngest son.

"Father," asked the boy, "would the goddess