STORY XVII

TOODLE AND THE BIG LOG

One day, when Toodle and Noodle Flat-tail, the little beaver boys, were on their way to school, Grandpa Whackum, the oldest beaver gentleman in the beaver town, called to them:

"I say, boys, when you come home from school this afternoon I'll have something for you to do."

"Is it a secret?" asked Noodle, wishing he did not have to go to school that day, for he didn't know his reading lesson.

"No, not a secret," answered Grandpa Whackum. "But swim along now. I'll tell you when you come home."

"If it is a secret I hope it's one like Crackie's apple-mud pie," spoke Toodle. "Oh, wasn't that good?" he asked his brother.

"Yum! Yum!" exclaimed Noodle, smacking his lips, and flopping his big tail up and down. "I should say it was! I wish we had some now, and a piece for recess."

"So do I," went on Toodle. "Well, anyhow, if we go somewhere with Grandpa Whackum he's sure to treat us. Maybe he'll get us ice cream cones."

"It's getting too cold for them," spoke Noodle. "I'd rather have some candied water-lily roots, or maybe a birch bark lollypop."

"Oh, I guess I would, too," said his brother.

Well, they went on and on to school, but in the night the wind had blown pretty hard, and the schoolhouse, which, as I have told you, was in an old boat, had drifted off. So Toodle and Noodle couldn't find it right away. Neither could some of the other animal boys and girls who were on their way to recite their lessons.

"Let's look over this way for it," said Bully No-Tail, the frog, pointing one paw toward an old stump where a bear used to live. But the bear had gone off to act in a circus so he wasn't there any more. "Let's look over that way," went on Bully. "Maybe the boat is hidden behind the bushes."

"Oh, no, don't let's look any more," suggested Jillie Longtail, the mousie girl. "I—I don't want to go to school, anyhow."

"Neither do I," added Toodle. "Besides, we've looked pretty good, anyhow, and if we can't find it it isn't our fault."

Well, some of the other animal children said the same thing, and they were just thinking about giving up the search for the school-boat, when along it came floating in the pond, and out in front was Professor Rat himself.

"Good morning, children!" exclaimed Professor Rat.

"Good morning, teacher!" said all the animal children, sort of disappointed-like.

"I'm sorry I am late bringing the school to you this morning," went on Mr. Rat, "and I would have been later only Miss Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy kindly pulled the school along for me. It had drifted away off this time."

"Indeed it had," said Nurse Jane Fuzzy-Wuzzy, who used to take care of Uncle Wiggily Longears, the rabbit gentleman, when he had the rheumatism. "But now, children, you have your school back again, and I hope you also have your lessons. Good-by."

Off swam Nurse Jane, and some of the animal children—in fact, all of them, thanked her kindly, as did Professor Rat. Still, all the children would have been more thankful if Nurse Jane had not brought the school to them. But there it was, and inside they had to go to study their lessons.

But I started to tell you about Toodle and the big log, and it's about time I began, isn't it?

By and by, after a while, not so very long, school was out, and Toodle and Noodle hurried home, for they wanted to find out what Grandpa Whackum wanted of them.

Soon the two boys saw the old beaver gentleman waiting for them, and as they swam up to him, Grandpa Whackum said:

"Now, boys, you know winter will soon be here, and we beavers must begin to store away the things that we are going to eat when the cold weather comes. Real people put a lot of coal in their cellars, but in our cellars we will put sticks and logs of wood, covered with bark, and we will eat this bark all winter.

"We will store it down under the water, where, even when the pond is covered with ice, we can get it. And besides logs and sticks of wood, we can also eat grass and roots that grow on the bottom of the pond. But we must have lots of bark. So now if you will come with me to the woods, we'll gnaw down some trees and bring them home to put in the cellar for winter. That is something all young beavers must learn, and it is time you began."

"All right," said Toodle.

"We'll be glad to come with you," said Noodle. And he smiled, for he saw, sticking from his grandpa's pocket, some nice, sweet, juicy, mushroom lollypops, which he and his brother like very much.

Well, soon Toodle and Noodle were in the woods gnawing down little trees with their four sharp orange-colored front teeth, about which I have told you. Grandpa Whackum also gnawed down trees with his teeth.

By and by, somehow or other, Toodle wandered away from his grandpa and brother, and soon he was in a lonely part of the forest. But he didn't mind that—at least not just then.

"Ah, there is a fine big aspen tree!" exclaimed Toodle, as he looked at a large one. "That will be dandy for us this winter. I'll gnaw that down."

And he started to do it, sitting on his broad, flat tail, which was like a stool for him, as I have told you before.

Soon Toodle had almost cut the tree down, and when it began to fall he hurried out of the way, and whacked with his tail on the ground, to give warning to any other beavers, that might be nearby, to get out of the way. But Toodle was all alone. None of his animal friends was in sight.

When the tree was down Toodle tried to drag it toward the pond, so it would float like a boat to his house. But Toodle found that the tree was too heavy for him to pull. He wished he had not cut down such a big one, but he did not want to have to ask his grandpa and brother to help him. Toodle was sort of proud, you know, and he wanted to get this large log to his house all by himself, just as you want to do things all for your own self sometimes.

"Well, I can cut the top branches off and then I think I can pull the rest of the log," said Toodle.

So, sitting down on his tail again, Toodle gnawed the top off the log. Then he thought surely he could pull it to the water. But though he strained and tugged and pushed and pulled with all his might, still he couldn't do it.

"I guess, after all, I'll have to get grandpa to help me," he said. "But I don't want to. I'll try once more."

My! how hard Toodle tried. And just as he was going to give up, and call his brother to help him, out of the bushes jumped a big black bear.

"Oh, dear!" cried Toodle. "Now I am a goner! This bear will get me surely!" and he was so frightened that he couldn't jump into the water and swim away; this little beaver boy couldn't. He just sat there shivering and sort of hiding down behind the log, hoping the bear hadn't seen him. But the bear had, and the bear said:

"Ah, ha! There you are!"

"Ye—yes," stammered Toodle. "Are you going to—going to eat me—all up?"

"Why, no, indeed!" laughed the bear in a jolly voice. "I just came to help you, Toodle. I have been watching you trying to roll that big log into the water. It is too much for you, so I'll help. Let me get hold of it."

So the bear stuck his long claws into the log and he pushed, and Toodle pulled, and in a jiffy, which is a very short time, indeed, that log was in the water. Then Toodle could very easily swim along and push it with his paws.

"Thank you very much—thank you twice, Mr. Bear," he called out.

"Why twice?" asked the bear, wiggling his short tail.

"Once for not eating me," said Toodle, "and once for helping me."

"Pray do not mention it," said the bear, blinking both eyes. And then he went back in the woods to go to sleep.

So that's how Toodle gnawed down a big log, and how he got it home with the help of the kind bear. And Noodle and Grandpa Whackum were very much surprised when Toodle told them about it.

And in the next story—that is if the clothespin doesn't pinch the table leg and make it dance so the sugar bowl rolls off and tickles the parlor rug—I'll tell you about Noodle finding a trap.