He appeared weary Wednesday, resting in the shade of his small house. He hadn’t eaten much of the fruits and vegetables laid out in front of him.

But Cruiser, the stolen 90-pound tortoise, was home, back where he belonged in the front yard of Karen Short’s Carson house.

“He’s tired. He’s tired from his ordeal,” Short said Wednesday. “He’s happy to be home.”

Short had pleaded for his return Tuesday in an article published in the Daily Breeze and on its website. Sometime between Sept. 10 and Sunday, a thief plucked the African spur-thighed sulcata tortoise from her front yard, leaving behind an even larger tortoise, Tank.

Short realized Cruiser was gone after he failed to emerge from his dog house for a few days to eat his food. A friend told her Cruiser appeared to be gone when he visited the house in the 22100 block of Nicolle Avenue.

Short posted signs outside her house, filed a theft report at the Carson Sheriff’s Station and called the newspaper. She hoped someone might contact her and return her pet of nine years.

After the story posted at dailybreeze.com Tuesday evening, KTLA followed with a story about Cruiser on its 10 p.m. newscast. A man who saw that broadcast knocked on Short’s front door about midnight.

“He said, ‘I think I have your turtle,’ ” Short said. “I said, ‘Really?! Are you kidding me?’ ”

The man — whom Short would not identify — said he had purchased the tortoise for $200 from a man and woman at a Wilmington fair over the weekend. He said his children had become attached to the tortoise, but he wanted to return it. He went home to retrieve Cruiser, and returned later to the tortoise’s grateful owner.

“It was him. It was my baby,” Short said. “I offered him a reward of $100. He wouldn’t take it. He didn’t feel right about it. Good guy.”

Carson sheriff’s deputies visited her house Wednesday morning and told her they had some leads to investigate. Short said she did not suspect the man who brought Cruiser back was the thief.

“It’s all wonderful,” Short said. “There are still good people around. I’m so happy he’s back. So happy.”