"Well, I guess we may as well get up," said Toodle, when he saw how high the sun was. "And I'm glad it's Saturday, so we don't have to go to school."
I believe I forgot to tell you that Toodle and Noodle went to school just the same as any animal children do, and later on in these stories I'm going to tell you some of the things they did there.
"Yes, we can have a lot of fun," spoke Noodle. "Bully No-tail, the frog, is going to have a ball game, with the broad lily pad leaves for bases, and you and I can play."
"Good!" cried Toodle.
So the two little beaver boys hurried down to their breakfast of willow bark oatmeal with frizzled watercress pancakes, and soon they had dived down through the water, in their rubber cloth suits, out of the front door, and across the pond they swam.
Down on the beaver dam, which was built to keep the water from running out of the pond where the animal folk lived, were a number of the grown-up beavers, and they were very busy. They were bringing mud and sticks and stones and grass in their paws, and putting it in a pile near where Grandpa Whackum stood on his hind legs sitting on his tail for a stool.
"That's right!" the old gentleman beaver was saying. "Hurry now, everybody, bring a lot of mud and plaster it over the hole. Hurry, everybody!"
"What's the matter?" asked Noodle. "Is there a fire?"
"No, but in the night a bad bear tore a hole in our dam, to let all the water out of our pond, so he could tear open our houses and get us," said a policeman beaver, who was sitting on top of the police station, looking out for danger. And when he saw any he was ready to whack his tail on the water, making a noise like a fire-cracker. When the other beavers heard this they would all run and hide.
"A bear; eh?" exclaimed Toodle. "Wow!"