STORY XVIII

NOODLE AND THE TRAP

"Boys, come over here, I want to give you a talking to," said Grandpa Whackum, the oldest beaver of them all. He spoke to Toodle and Noodle, the little boy beavers, one morning when there was no school.

"A—a talking to," said Toodle.

"I wonder if we've been bad?" asked Noodle.

"Nonsense! Bad? Of course not," said Grandpa Whackum, who heard what his little grandson said. "I just want to give you a little lesson."

"Lessons today—when it's Saturday, and there's no school?" cried Noodle.

"Oh, don't be worried!" exclaimed Grandpa Whackum, who had such a funny name because he used to whack his big tail on the ground (making a noise like a bass drum in the circus) whenever there was any danger. That's the way he used to warn the other beavers to look out. So his name was Whackum. Some of you may, perhaps have thought he was called that because he used to whack the little beavers. Never! Grandpa Whackum never did that. He gave them ice cream cones, or lollypops, instead.

"Don't be worried," said Grandpa Whackum to Toodle and Noodle, who were almost like twins—but not quite. "This will not be a very hard lesson. Besides, animal children, you know, have to always learn things—whether in school or not. And, for that matter, so do real children. Your school teacher can tell you how to add up two apples and three apples, and how to spell cat and dog and boy, and things like that. But she can't always be with you, to teach you how to look out for danger, and how to be polite—though, of course, all school teachers are always polite themselves—and she can't teach you how to eat nicely at the table.

"These things have to be done at home," said Grandpa Whackum, "and so, you see, there are lessons on Saturdays and Sundays, too, as well as on school days."

"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Toodle, looking to see if Noodle was stepping on his tail—but he was not.

"So we've got to study!" spoke Noodle, with a sigh.

"Oh, not very much," said their Grandpa Whackum. "I am just going to give you a few lessons in how to keep out of danger. And one big danger is traps."

"Traps, eh?" asked Toodle. "Are there any around here?" and he looked all about him.

"You never can tell," replied Grandpa Whackum. "It is coming on winter now, and you know we beavers get our thicker coats of fur then to keep us warm. And whenever our fur gets nice and thick hunters like to catch us, take off our fur and make muffs and caps and overcoats of it."

"Does it hurt to have your fur taken off?" asked Toodle.

"I should say so!" cried Grandpa Whackum. "Of course I never had it done to me, but lots of my friends have, and they never lived after it. So look out for hunters and dogs. And when a hunter hasn't a gun he may have a trap."

"What's a trap?" asked Noodle.

"A trap," answered Grandpa Whackum, "is something made of steel, with strong springs. Hunters put them near our houses, or where we have to walk along near the dam that holds in the waters of our pond. They cover up their traps, and if you are not careful you may step into one.

"As soon as you do, snap! it goes shut, catching you by the leg. And, unless you can pull your leg out you're caught. Then along comes the hunter, and—well, the next part isn't nice to talk about, so we'll skip that," said Grandpa Whackum. "Anyhow, you want to keep away from traps, and today I'll give you a lesson in how to do it."

Well, Toodle and Noodle thought it wouldn't be so bad after all, to have a lesson on Saturday, when there was no school, so they followed after Grandpa Whackum.

The old beaver gentleman led Toodle and Noodle off through the woods, and along the edge of the beaver pond. He walked on ahead in order to be the first one to see the traps.

"For you know," he said to Toodle and Noodle, "you may step into a trap before you see it. They may be hidden under leaves or even under water. You can't be too careful."

So Grandpa Whackum went on with Toodle and Noodle, giving them a lesson on the way. All of a sudden he stopped short.

"There!" he cried, pointing to a pile of leaves. "There's a trap. The hunter thought he hid it, but I saw it."

He led Toodle and Noodle close up, and there they saw the trap. The sharp steel jaws were open, all ready to spring shut in case any one stepped ever so lightly on the part called the trigger. You know how a toy gun shoots. Well, a trap goes off just like that.

So Grandpa Whackum told the boy beavers all about traps, the different kinds, and how they were baited and set. And he found some more traps, and let the boys look at them—but not too close, you know.

"Oh, I hope I never get caught in a trap," said Noodle.

"What can we do if we are ever caught in one?" asked Toodle.

"Bang your tail on the ground for help, and, if any of us hear you, we'll come," said Grandpa Whackum. "But if you do get caught—well—I don't like to talk about it. Let's go get some lollypops."

So they went, and Toodle and Noodle were more glad than ever that they had had a lesson in traps, even on Saturday.

"Now you may go off and play—lessons are over," said Grandpa Whackum with a smile, and Toodle and Noodle ran off to meet some of their friends.

"I wonder if I can ever find a trap?" thought Noodle, as he was playing ball with Sammie Littletail, Bully, the frog, and others of his friends. "I guess I'll go look, when this game is finished," he said.

So, when the ball game was over, Noodle started off to find a trap. He asked his brother Toodle to come with him, but Toodle said he wanted to play tag with Billie and Johnnie Bushytail, the squirrel boys. So Noodle went off by himself.

As he was walking through the woods, looking on all sides for a trap, the way Grandpa Whackum had taught him to do, the little beaver boy saw the kind old bear who had helped Toodle pull the log into the water.

"Hello, Toodle," said the bear.

"If you please," said Noodle, "I'm not Toodle; I'm his brother."

"Oh, excuse me," said the bear, and he was just going back in the forest to sleep some more, when Noodle saw that the kind bear was about to step into a big bear trap that was right behind him. The bear hadn't seen it.

"Look out!" cried the beaver boy. "A trap! A trap!"

"Mercy me!" exclaimed the bear, and he stepped to one side just in time. "Say, that certainly is a trap," he went on. "Some hunter is after me. But I'll fool him." So the bear sprung the trap shut with a piece of wood, and left it there to show the hunter that some bears were smart. "And I'm glad you told me of the trap," said the bear to the beaver boy. "Otherwise, I might have been caught."

Then Noodle went on a little farther, looking for beaver traps, and all of a sudden he heard a snap, and something caught him by the paw, and there he was, held fast. He had found another trap, but before he had seen it he was caught in it!

"Oh, dear!" he cried, and he pulled and tugged, trying to get loose, but he couldn't. Oh, how badly he felt. After all his Grandpa's lessons to be caught this way. Wasn't it too bad?

"Oh, what shall I do?" he cried. "Soon the hunter may come along and take off my fur. Oh, I know. I'll whack my tail on the ground the way Grandpa told me to. Maybe some one will come to save me."

Noodle's tail wasn't fast in the trap, so he could bang it on the ground. And he had only hit two or three times before the kind bear came rushing up.

"Hello! What's this? In trouble, eh?" said the kind bear. "Well, well! I must help you, since you were so kind to me." So the bear, with his strong paws, easily opened the beaver trap, which was small, and not like a big bear trap. Then Noodle was loose, though his paw hurt him very much.

So he thanked the good bear, and hurried home to tell Grandpa Whackum, and all the other beavers how he had found a trap, and how the bear had helped him out of it.

And now I know you must be tired and sleepy, and want to go to bed. So I'll say good-by, and next, if the frying pan doesn't fall on the gas stove and scare the milk bottle, so all the cream turns sour, I'll tell you about Toodle saving Bully, the frog.