Fig. 115. —The Crawling Turtle's shell Is a Jelly Mould.
Fig. 117.—How Head, Feet, and Tail are Attached to a Jelly Mould to Make the Turtle shown in [Fig. 115].
Fig. 118.—The Spool Wheels and the Rubber-bands which Propel them
The head, the tail, and the four feet are cut out of tin from a can, and bent into the forms shown in [Fig. 117]. Then slits are cut through the narrow rim of the mold by piercing the tin with the point of a nail at the proper places for attaching them, as shown in the small detail drawing, and the tab ends are pushed through the slits, bent over, and clinched with a pair of pincers.
A thread spool 1¼ inches long forms the wheels on which the turtle runs, and two rubber-bands 1½ inches long propel it. Cut a piece of a lead pencil a trifle longer then the spool, split it into halves, remove the lead, and insert the rubber bands in the groove; then slip the piece of pencil into the hole in the spool ([Fig. 118]). The rubber-band ends must project an equal distance beyond the spool-ends. Before fastening the spool to the tin mold shell, tie the end of a piece of heavy linen thread to its center, and then wind about twenty turns about it. Pierce a hole through each side of the mold a trifle in front of the center, and after slipping pieces of string through the ends of the rubber-bands ([Fig. 118]), tie them through the holes pierced through the sides of the mold. Pierce a hole through the shell, directly over the center of the spool, slip the free end of the thread wound on the spool through this hole, and tie it to a fancy-work ring ([Fig. 117]).
To Make the Turtle Crawl, place it upon the floor, pull on the ring, and as the thread unwinds from the spool the rubber-bands will twist; then slacken the thread, and the turtle will crawl along the floor. As the rubber-bands untwist, the thread will wind up on the spool again. Continue pulling and slackening the thread alternately, and the turtle will continue to crawl.