“What is it?” asked Mr. Bobbsey.
“What’s the matter?” asked Flossie’s mother.
“Oh, he’s pulling me! He’s pulling me!” answered the little girl.
And, surely enough, something behind her, which Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey could not see, did appear to have hold of the little short skirt of the bathing suit Flossie wore.
“Can it be a little dog playing with her?” asked Mr. Bobbsey.
“We’d hear him bark if it was,” his wife answered. “And I don’t believe there are any dogs on this island.”
Flossie was trying to pull away from whatever had hold of her, and the little girl was having a hard time of it. Her bare feet dug in the white sand, and she leaned forward, just as she would have done if a dog had had hold of her short skirt from behind.
Mr. Bobbsey, running fast, caught Flossie in his arms, and when he saw what was behind her he gave a loud shout.
“It’s a turtle!” he cried. “A great, big turtle, and it took a bite out of your dress, Flossie girl!”
“Will it bite me?” asked the little “fairy.”