STORY X

TOODLE AND NOODLE AT SCHOOL

"Hark! What's that?" cried Toodle Flat-tail, the little beaver boy, as he rolled over in his bed of clean, white pine-splinters one morning. "Did you hear that, Noodle?"

"Indeed I did," answered the other beaver boy. "Listen, Toodle."

They both listened, and they heard a bell ringing off in the distance:

"Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"

"Fire!" cried Noodle. "It's a fire. Let's get up and—"

"Fire! That's no fire!" said Toodle. "That's the school bell that's ringing, and we have to go to school today, Noodle, my boy. Don't you remember what Grandpa Whackum said to us?"

"Indeed I do," answered Noodle. "So this is the day we have to start school? I wonder if our little sister Crackie is coming?"

"I don't believe she is old enough," answered Toodle. "It would be fun if she could, though. But did you hear anything else besides the bell, Noodle?"

Then both the little beaver boys listened again, just as the telephone girl does when you talk to her, and they heard some one calling:

"Hi there, Noodle! Hi there, Toodle! Time to get up! You have to go to school today." It was their papa.

"All right!" called the two beaver boys very politely, as all animal children do. "We're coming."

Quickly they washed their faces and paws in the water of the beaver pond, and then they were ready for breakfast. They had water-lily pancakes with birch bark syrup on, and winter-green muffins with maple sugar, and their mamma, Mrs. Flat-tail, also put them up a nice lunch of watercress bread with willow bark jam in between the slices.

"I wish I could go to school," said Crackie, the little beaver girl baby, whom the two boys had found in a hollow stump one day. "I'd like to go and learn how to make mud pies."

"Some day you may, my dear," said Mrs. Flat-tail, as she hurried about the kitchen, making some nice warm ginger-root soup for Grandpa Whackum.

So Toodle and Noodle started for school. They were a little bit behind the other animal children, for the school had opened a week or so before this, but then the beaver boys had to practice their swimming, and gnawing and other lessons, which is what kept them home.

But now they were going to school, and as they waddled along, wondering what sort of lessons they would have to recite, they met a number of their friends. Bully No-tail, the frog, was hopping on the path by the water, and Jimmie Wibblewobble, the boy duck, was swimming in the water, as were Toodle and Noodle. Overhead, also on his way to school, was Dickie Chipchip, the sparrow boy.

The school where Toodle and Noodle went was in an old boat that floated around the beaver pond, just like the grocery store that one of the animals kept. And the school-boat, not being tied fast anywhere, was never in the same place any two mornings. Sometimes it would be here, and sometimes it would be there.

And on that account the animal children were often late. They would start for the boat-school at the place where it had been the day before. But in the night the wind might have blown it far off, so by the time they found it the animals would be late for their lessons. But the old gentleman teacher, Mr. Water Rat, did not mind that much, and he never kept any of the children in for being late. Sometimes Woodie and Waddie Chuck, the groundhog boys, would be so late that they only got to school just as it was letting out for the day. That was jolly.

So, as I said, Toodle and Noodle started for school. On the way they had lots of fun with their animal friends, and once, when Sammie Littletail, the rabbit boy, was chasing Toodle, the beaver boy jumped into the water and swam a long way, so Sammie couldn't tag him.

But the school bell kept ringing and ringing, and finally Toodle and Noodle were at the old floating boat where they were to study their lessons. It had not drifted very far in the night, so no one was late this morning.

"Now, children, attention!" said old Mr. Water Rat, who kept the school. "We will first have a lesson in arithmetic, or number work.

"Toodle Flat-tail, you may tell me this. If you had a pear and your brother, Noodle, had two apples, how many would there be altogether?"

"Do you mean if we were very hungry?" asked Toodle, slowly like.

"Why, what has that to do with it?" asked the school teacher rat. "Two apples and one pear are always the same, whether you are hungry or not."

"Oh, no," said Toodle, as politely as he knew how. "For if Noodle and I were hungry there wouldn't be any left no matter how many pears or apples there were at first. We would eat them up, you see, teacher."

"I see," said the teacher. "That is very good. You may go up head, Toodle." So that is how Toodle got up to the head of his class the first day in school. Wasn't that good?

Well, then, the teacher asked Noodle a question. Said Professor Water Rat:

"If you had five pennies, and your mamma should give you ten pennies more, how many pennies would you have?"

"Not any," said Noodle, as politely as he knew how.

"Why not?" asked the teacher. "Do not five pennies and ten pennies make fifteen pennies?"

"Maybe," said Noodle; "but, please sir, if I had fifteen pennies I'd buy three ice cream cones—one for Toodle and one for my sister Crackie, and one for myself, so I would not have any pennies, you see."

"Very good," said the professor rat. "You may also go up head, Noodle." So Noodle did, and he and Toodle sat in the same seat. They were quite proud, too, at getting up head their first day in school. Not too proud, you know, but just proud enough.

Well, all of a sudden, as the animal children were studying away very quietly, a voice called:

"I want Toodle! I want Noodle!"

Everybody looked up surprised like. The two beaver boys were sort of scared, too.

"Oh, dear!" cried Noodle, and he looked for a window so he could jump out into the pond and swim away.

"It's a bear after us!" cried Toodle, jumping up.

The professor rat teacher got out his ruler to fight the bear, if he should come in, but instead, there walked into the school only little Crackie, the baby beaver girl. She had her rubber doll with her.

"I want Toodle and Noodle!" said Crackie. "I'm tired of staying home and playing all alone. Please teacher, can't you let them out of school and amuse me?"

Well, you should have heard the animal children laugh at that! The idea of a little girl beaver coming to get her brothers out of school to play with her! Did you ever hear of anything like that? I guess not!

Even Professor Rat had to laugh, and there was so much fun that no one could study.

"Can't Toodle and Noodle come home with me?" asked Crackie again.

"Well, pretty soon," said the teacher. "You just sit down here, Crackie, and make some pictures on the blackboard."

So Crackie came to school also, you see, though it was not intended, and pretty soon, when school was nearly out a bad old fox stuck his nose in the window, looking to see if he could grab Lulu Wibblewobble, the duck girl. But Crackie Flat-tail threw a piece of chalk at him, and the fox was glad to run off and not come back any more that week, fearing he was going to get a bad chalk-mark, you see.

So that's how Crackie did good by going to school to get her brothers. And when lessons were done she went out with them and had a good time. And on the next page, if the door knob doesn't turn over in its sleep and roll out of the window, I'll tell you about Crackie breaking her doll.