Toodle and Noodle Flat-tail: The Jolly Beaver Boys

by Howard Roger Garis

"Oh, that's not the reason," spoke Noodle quickly. "Thank you just the same. Our mamma is going to be so busy that she gave us our lunch to take to school."

Then Noodle and Toodle and Crackie showed their little bundles of lunch and Peetie and Jackie said:

"Oh, dear! We wish we could bring our lunch. We'll do it tomorrow!"

"Then we'll all have a regular picnic!" exclaimed Crackie.

So on the beaver children went to the hollow-stump school, and along the way they met more of their friends, all of whom thought it was just the finest idea in the world to carry a lunch, and they all said—from Sammie and Susie Littletail, the rabbits, down to Jollie and Jillie Longtail, the mousie boy and girl—they all said that, the next day, they were going to do as Toodle and Noodle and Crackie had done, and bring something to eat for the noon recess.

"Ding-dong!" went the last bell, and all the animal children scampered into the hollow stump and took their seats, while Miss Lady Bug, the teacher played on the tin-pan piano so they could sing the morning song.

Then Professor Rat heard the lessons, and some of the pupils went up head, and some went down foot, for there was not room at the head of the class for all of them, you see.

Well, when noon time came all the animal children, except Toodle and Noodle and Crackie hurried home to get their dinners. But the little beavers took their packages of lunch and went out in a small grove of trees back of the hollow stump school. There, sitting on their broad, flat tails, which were like stools to them, with the brown leaves rustling all around, and a sweet, spicy smell coming up from the earth, they ate the lunches their mamma had put up for them.

And oh! How good everything tasted! Really twice as good as if they had gone home and had sat down to the table to eat.

Pretty soon Noodle said: "I'm going off in the woods a little way and see if I can find any chestnut trees. If I can, I'll tell Johnnie and Billie Bushytail, the squirrels, and after school they can climb up and get the nuts. Come on, Toodle."