STORY XXII

NOODLE AND THE POPCORN

One day, when Noodle and Toodle and little Crackie Flat-tail, the beaver children were on their way to school, which, as I have told you, was in an old boat, kept by Professor Rat, the three little animal children saw Grandfather Goosey Gander, the old duck gentleman, going along with a bag over his shoulder.

"Ha! Where do you s'pose he's going with that bag?" asked Toodle of Noodle, as the beaver boys stopped on the path to watch.

"I don't know," said Noodle to Toodle. "Maybe he is pretending to be Santa Claus."

"It is too early—Christmas is too far off—for anyone to be practicing Santa Claus now," said Toodle. "And anyhow, Grandpa Goosey hasn't a red coat on, all trimmed with white, and he hasn't any white whiskers, so he can't be Santa Claus."

"That's so," said Noodle. "Let's ask him what he's got in that bag. He'll tell us, and if it's something good to eat maybe he'll give us some."

"You boys had better come on to school," said Crackie, "or else you may be late."

"Oh, this won't take a minute," said Noodle. "I'll run after Grandpa Goosey and ask him. You and Toodle can go on, Crackie, and tell Professor Rat that I'm coming."

So Toodle and Crackie, the two little beaver children, went on to school, holding their broad, flat tails up out of the mud. Their tails were so large that when they grew tired the beaver children could sit on them, just as you children sit on a stool.

Noodle ran after the old duck gentleman, who had kept wobbling along with the bag over his shoulder, and, when the little beaver boy got near enough, he saw that the bag was very heavy indeed, and that Grandpa Goosey had hard work to carry it.

"Good morning, Grandfather Goosey Gander," said Noodle politely. "Don't you want me to help you carry that bag?" You see, Noodle wanted to know what was in it, but he knew it wasn't just nice to ask at once. So he offered first to help the duck gentleman.

"Ha! Hum!" exclaimed Grandfather Goosey, with a sneeze that made his hat fall off. Noodle kindly picked it up for him.

"Excuse me," went on Grandfather Goosey, speaking through his yellow bill. "You see I have a bad cold in my head. I can't talk very well, and I can't hear very well. Jimmie Wibblewobble, my little grandson, dropped part of his ice cream cone down my back the other night, at the duck party, and that gave me a cold. Oh dear!" and poor Grandfather Goosey Gander sneezed again. This time his spectacles flew off, and bounced into the pond of water.

But, in a second, Noodle, who could swim better than a fish, jumped in and got them out.

"Thank you very kindly," said Grandfather Goosey Gander, as he put his glasses on his ears—I beg your pardon—I mean his nose.

"What was it you asked me, Noodle?—just before I sneezed—excuse me—here I go again—aker-choo-choo-choo!" and surely enough, the duck gentleman sneezed like a choo-choo engine. This time a penny jumped out of his pocket, he sneezed so hard, and when Noodle picked up the money, Grandfather Goosey said the little beaver boy could keep it for himself.

"I asked if I couldn't help you carry your bag, Grandfather Goosey," said Noodle, when the sneezing had ended. "It seems too heavy for you. Maybe there is gold in it," he added, for, through a hole in the bag, the little beaver boy saw something yellow, just like gold.

"Gold! Ha! ha! No, I wish it were," said Grandfather Goosey Gander. "Then I would be as rich as Uncle Wiggly Longears, the rabbit gentleman.

"No, Noodle, this isn't gold. It is yellow corn, that we ducks will eat this winter, just as you beavers will eat the bark of trees."

"Do you want me to help you carry it?" asked Noodle. Somehow or other he was just a little sorry that the bag didn't have in it some Santa Claus Christmas presents. But then there was time enough for them later, he thought.

"Oh, bless your tail, no!" said Grandpa Goosey Gander, with a laughing quack. "I shall manage it very well. But, since you were so kind as to offer to help, Noodle, I will give you an ear of corn. It isn't the yellow kind that we ducks eat, but a white kind.

"And if you shell off the kernels and put them in a popper or a pan over the fire the corn will pop, and you can put butter on it, and salt; or you can put sugar on it, just like down on the board walk at Asbury Grove. Here is your ear of pop corn."

"Oh, thank you very much," said the little beaver boy, as Grandpa Goosey gave him the extra white ear of pop corn. "I'll pop it tonight and give Toodle and Crackie some," said Noodle.

"Very good," spoke Grandpa Goosey, and then, slinging his bag over his shoulder he started for home, while Noodle went on to school. He left the ear of pop corn outside in a hollow stump, where no one could find it, for he did not want to take it in school with him.

"Well, what did Grandpa Goosey have in the bag?" asked Toodle of Noodle at recess that day.

"Corn," answered Noodle, "and he gave me some of my own to pop. We'll have a good time home tonight."

Well, when evening came in the Flat-tail house, and when the lessons were all done, Noodle brought out his ear of corn, and he and Toodle and Crackie shelled off the kernels. There was a fire on the open fire place, and when the logs had burned down to red, glowing coals, Noodle put the popper over them and shook it back and forth, just as Grandpa Goosey had told him to do, so the corn would not burn.

"Now, children," said Mrs. Flat-tail to them, "your papa and I are going over to call on Uncle Wiggily Longears for a few minutes. Grandpa Whackum is out to a moving picture show, and so you will be all alone. But I know you will be all right."

"Yes, mamma," said Toodle and Crackie.

Then Noodle shook the popper some more, while his papa and mamma went out. The corn was rather slow in popping, and the beaver children were just wondering whether Grandpa Goosey had not made a mistake, and given Noodle the wrong kind, when, all of a sudden, the front door quietly opened, and in came creeping softly—oh! so softly!—a bad old fox!

He wanted to get one of the beaver children, but neither Noodle nor Toodle nor Crackie heard the fox, as they were so busy watching for the corn to pop.

Nearer and nearer crept the fox, and the bad creature suddenly stuck out his paws and grabbed Crackie.

"Now, I have you!" cried the fox, and at that Noodle, who was shaking the popper, turned around to see what had happened. And when he saw that the fox had hold of his sister Crackie, Noodle was so surprised that he forgot to shake the popper. That made the corn get very hot, and it quickly began to pop all at once.

All of a sudden poppity-pop-pop! it went, just like a lot of firecrackers, and the popper was so full that the cover flew off, and the white pop corn was scattered all over the room.

It showered on the fox just like snow, and the bad creature was so frightened at hearing the popping noise, and at seeing the snow white kernels burst out, that he cried:

"Oh, wow! Double wow and some pepperhash. Oh, I am shot! I am caught in a snow storm! Excuse me!"

And with that he let go of Crackie, and out of the door he rushed, home to his den where he belonged. And so he didn't get Crackie after all, nor Toodle nor Noodle. And the beaver children weren't frightened any more, and they popped corn, and made some with butter on, and some with sugar, and their papa and mamma and Grandpa Whackum said it was just fine.

So that's the story of Noodle and his pop corn, that Grandpa Goosey Gander gave him, and I hope you liked it. And next, if the puppy dog doesn't pull off the baby's stockings to play tag with in the gold-fish tank, I'll tell you about Toodle and Noodle in trouble.