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The Boy md the Turtle

My granddaughter, Gay Brurnon, agc 8, ir bccoming ae enthuriartic a rtory-teller ar hcr Grandpa, and docr a vcry good job of it, Her favorite yarn, which she tcllg on all occasionr when her parentt permit her to entertain viritors at home, is one rhe heard Bob Burne tcll on television, and it goes likc thir:

Littte Willie was six yeare old when someone made him a prescnt of a live turile, one of thesc little toy fellows not much biggcr around than a silver dollar, with the name "Tomie" painted on its back.

The little turtle became an obsession with the little boy, who fixed up a nice glass bowl for it to live in, with a fat rock in thc center on which the turtle could rest. The boy spent most of his waking hours for a while just playing with the turtle, and when he went to bed at night he put the turtle bowl on a table right close to his bed where he could see it the first thing in the morning. But one day when he woke he was shocked to discover that Tomie the turtle was lying on his back on the rock in the bowl, all four feet in thc air, and looking very dcad indecd.

Willie war inconrolable. He cried and wcpt and took on so about his dear turtle that his mother had to aend for his father to try and etop his grieving. The father said: "Don't cry any more Willie, and I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll give Tomic a wondcrful funeral, and a party to go with it. Wc'll use thig nice silver cigarette case for a coffin for Tomie, and wc'll dig him a grave in thc yard right outsidc your window wherc you can see it all the time. Wc'll build a pretty fence around the grave, and put Tomie's name on it to remember him by. And we'll have a farewell party for Tomie. We'll call in all the neighbor kids, and we'll serve ice cream, and lemonade, and cake, and give Tomie a grand farewell. What do you say?"

Willie was all smiles at the prospect of the grand party, so they went in his room to get Tomie; and what do you know? There was Tomie, swimrning around in his bowl, lively as could be. And little Willie looked at him in shocked surprise, and said: "LET'S IKILL HIM !"