Mrs. Turtle stopped then; and for a few minutes she was very busy about
something. First she dug a hole in the sand. And Fatty wondered what she
was looking for. But he kept very quiet. And after a time Mrs. Turtle
splashed into the creek again and paddled away. But before she left she
scooped sand into the hole she had dug. Before she left the place she
looked all around, as if to make sure that no one had seen her. And as
she waddled slowly to the water Fatty could see that she was smiling as
if she was very well pleased about something. She seemed to have a
secret.

Fatty Coon had grown very curious, as he watched Mrs. Turtle. And just
as soon as she was out of sight he came out from his hiding place in the
tall reeds and trotted down to the edge of the creek. He went straight
to the spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug the hole and filled it up again.
And Fatty was so eager to know what she had been doing that he began to
dig in the very spot where Mrs. Turtle had dug before him.

It took Fatty Coon only about six seconds to discover Mrs. Turtle's
secret. For he did not have to paw away much of the sand before he came
upon--what do you suppose? Eggs! Turtles' eggs! Twenty-seven round,
white eggs, which Mrs. Turtle had left there in the warm sand to hatch.
THAT was why she looked all around to make sure that no one saw her.
THAT was why she seemed so pleased. For Mrs. Turtle fully expected that
after a time twenty-seven little turtles would hatch from those eggs--
just as chickens do--and dig their way out of the sand.

But it never happened that way at all. For as soon as he got over his
surprise at seeing them, Fatty Coon began at once to eat those twenty-
seven eggs. They were delicious. And as he finished the last one he