Bert and Freddie laughed at Nan for this.
“The turtle must have been crawling along the beach, to go back into the ocean for a swim,” said Cousin Jasper, “and it ran right into Flossie as she sat on the sand. Then, not knowing just what sort of danger was near, the turtle bit on the first thing it saw, which was Flossie’s dress.”
“And it held on awful tight,” said the little girl. “It was just like, sometimes, when our dog Snap takes hold of a stick and pulls it away from you. At first I thought it was Snap.”
“Snap couldn’t swim away down here from Lakeport!” said Freddie, with some scorn.
“I know he couldn’t!” said his little sister. “But only at first I thought it was Snap. Are there any more turkles here, Cousin Jasper?”
“Well, yes, a great many, I suppose. They come up out of the sea now and then to lie on the sand in the sun. But I don’t believe any more of them will take hold of you. Just look around before you sit down, and you’ll be all right.”
“My, he’s a big one!” cried Bert, as he looked at the wiggling creature turned on its back.
“Oh, that isn’t half the size of some,” said Cousin Jasper. “They often get to weigh many hundreds of pounds. But this one is large enough to make plenty of soup for us. I’ll tell Captain Crane to send the men over to get it.”
A little later the turtle was taken on board the Swallow in the boat, and the cook got it ready for soup.
“And I think he’ll make very good soup, indeed,” said the cook.