When Johnnie Green told his father about his adventure with Timothy Turtle, he had a great surprise. Farmer Green said that when he was just about Johnnie's age he had cut his initials on a turtle, down by the creek.
Now, since Johnnie was named for his father, their initials had to be alike. So the J. G.—and the old date—that Johnnie had found must have been carved by Farmer Green when he was a youngster.
Somehow, Johnnie found it very hard to imagine that his father had ever been a boy like himself and had spent his time playing near the creek, and carving his initials on the back of a turtle.[p. 81]
"How old do you suppose that turtle is?" he asked his father.
"Oh, he must be a regular old settler," Farmer Green declared. "He may have been around here when your grandfather was a boy, for all I know."
"Do you really believe that?" Johnnie exclaimed.
"Well," his father answered, "there's only one way to find out."
"What's that?" Johnnie inquired eagerly.
"Ask Mr. Turtle himself," Farmer Green replied with a smile.