"Show us how you played ‘Turtle', Grandfather." Ardath teased.

"That was a long time ago," Grandfather Considered, "but I'll see if I can remember how we did it."

Grandfather thought a minute then he said, "We will need a cover for the turtle's back and a string or ribbon. That is all we need besides our own imagination."

"Miss Mary, could you help us out by giving us something suitable as a cover that may look somewhat like the color of a turtle?" Grandfather asked, but he did not make his idea clear enough for Ardath to know exactly what he needed. Mary seemed to know and stopped dusting furniture.

She found an old tapestry table cover in the sewing room on a high shelf in the closet. Grandfather said it was just right for his purpose. It was a bronze-green in color and about five feet long and four feet wide,

"Now, we need a strong string," Grandfather said, then looked at his shoe. "Never mind to find one, Miss Mary, I'll use my shoe lace." he decided as he untied the lace from the shoe on his right foot.

"We'll go to the front hall. There is more room there for rough and tumble games than where there is much furniture." Grandfather led the way and the children followed, ready for a kind of fun that was new to them.

"First, I'll be the turtle, then you two can take turns and play as long as you enjoy it." Grandfather said as he got down on his knees and told them what to do.

"You both sit in front of me and ask me questions about what I like when I'm the turtle." Grandfather gave them examples of the questions they might ask him when he was the turtle.

"Do you like cabbage?"

"Do you like carrots?"

"Do you like whole wheat muffins?"

"Do you like cheeses?"

"The game is to find something the turtle dislikes very much. It need not be something to eat. It could be ‘wasting time', for instance." Grandfather tried to explain the game, but decided the children would learn to play it, by playing it, better than by telling how it can be played.

"I'm going to put my forehead on the floor and put my hands back of my head in two hard fists." Grandfather showed them how he would do it, then he got up on his knees again and explained more about the game.

"When I am down on the floor, you cover me with the old table cloth and tuck in all the edges the way a turtle looks. I'm sure you know what one looks like because we saw one in the vegetable garden several days ago." The children said they knew what a turtle looked like.

"Then you tie my fists together with the shoe lacer. That is to be the turtle's head." Grandfather told Ardath and Arthur who were listening to every word he said.

"All right, we are ready to begin. When I am the turtle, you sit in front of me and ask questions." Grandfather reminded as he put his head on the floor.

Arthur put the old table cover over him and Ardath tucked in the edges, then she found to two fists through the cloth and tied them together. The children laughed so much when the turtle was all made out of Grandfather that they almost forgot there was more to the game until a corner of the cloth was lifted and a muffled voice reminded them, "Get on with your questions."

The children took turns asking questions. They asked all the questions they could think about vegetables and fruits. The turtle nodded his head, for "yes" all the time. Once he seemed undecided and cocked his head a bit to one side before he nodded. He liked rain, snow, wind and even naughty boys. Ardath was about to give up finding something that Grandfather-turtle would not like, then she thought of what she was certain he would not like.

"Do you like cigarettes?" she asked. The turtle not only shook his head, vigorously, but jumped after the children, trying to get one of them.

Both children scrambled away, but the turtle caught Ardath.

"Now, you are the turtle because you were caught." Grandfather explained the game.

"Let me be the turtle," Arthur got down on the floor like Grandfather had done. "Cover me with the table cloth."

"No, I'm the turtle because I was caught." Ardath defended as she put the cover over herself.

Grandfather tied her fists into a head while muffled giggles came from under the cover.

Arthur sat squarely in front of the turtle's head, so he would be sure to be caught the next time. When he and Grandfather had asked a lot of questions and the turtle had nodded and shook its head many times, Grandfather whispered to Arthur.

Arthur snickered so as not to give away the secret, then asked, "Do you like to see people have bad manners?" The turtle shook its head from side to side then jumped and caught Arthur.

"Now, I think you know how to have fun playing turtle. You keep playing, I need to get back to my desk and writing.." Grandfather said as he went back to his Study. He left the door open so he could keep check on their advancement in understanding the game. Their laughter did not disturb him at his work.

When Ardath asked, considerately, "Are we making too much noise for your writing, Grandfather ?" Grandfather replied as though he enjoyed it.

"The birds aren't singing, today. You take the place of their songs." By that he meant, their glee was his joy.
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