Now, though the boys didn't know it, there was hiding behind the fence the same old bear that had chased Toodle and Noodle and Crackie one day on the ice.
"I'll just wait until one of those animal boys comes near this hole in the fence," thought the bad bear, "then I'll grab him and have a nice lunch."
Well, Toodle was going to kick the football and Noodle got away over by the fence to grab it when it came down.
"Kick away!" called Noodle to Toodle.
"And now is my chance to get him," thought the bear. Toodle kicked the balloon-football as hard as he could and just as Noodle was going to get it, the bear made a grab for him. But all of a sudden, the wind blew the football off to one side, and instead of Noodle getting it, that football hit the bear on the nose. Smacko! Cracko!
The football was so light and fluffy that it tickled the bear and made him sneeze, and whenever a bear sneezes he can bite no one except his own tongue. That's what this bear did, and he was so angry that he gave three howls and part of another one, and then he ran home to his den where he belonged.
Then the football game went on until it was time to go into school and all the boy animals said they had had a fine time.
They thanked Toodle and Noodle for buying the balloon-football from the monkey-doodle and many times that winter, when it was not too cold, there were football games.
So no more just now, if you please, but in the next story, if the rocking chair doesn't step on the molasses jug's ear and make the popcorn balls cry to go to the moving pictures, I'll tell you about Crackie Flat-tail and Joie Kat.