Mr. Flat-tail saw that his little son was learning his lesson well, so he said:
"Now, Toodle, I'll go over here and cut down a large tree by myself. But don't forget what I told you about whacking your tail on the ground just before your tree falls."
"I won't," promised Toodle.
Well, he was cutting and cutting away with his teeth, and then he began to think what fun he and his brother would have that afternoon, playing water-tag.
And Toodle was thinking so much about the fun that he forgot all about what his papa had told him. All of a sudden he heard a sound he knew well.
"Whack! Whack! Thud! Thud!" echoed through the woods.
"That's Grandpa Whackum!" exclaimed Toodle. "Good gracious sakes alive! There must be some danger. I must run!"
Poor Toodle started to run, but alas he was not quick enough. Down crashed the tree he had been cutting, and one limb struck him on the back, pinning him fast to the ground. Poor Toodle could not move. It was just as though he had been caught in a trap.
"Oh, dear!" he cried. "Oh, dear! My tree fell on me!"
And had it not been that Grandpa Whackum and Papa Flat-tail were there in the woods Toodle might never have gotten loose. But the two old beaver gentlemen soon came up and gnawed through the tree branches so Toodle could get up. His brother Noodle helped, too.