And in the next story, if the cocoanut pie doesn't roll off the table and break the cream pitcher's leg, I'll tell you tomorrow night about Toodle and Noodle sliding down hill.
[STORY IX]
TOODLE AND NOODLE SLIDE DOWN
Once upon a time Toodle and Noodle Flat-tail, the little beaver boys, went sliding down hill when there wasn't any snow on the ground, and a very strange thing happened to them. I'm going to tell you all about it, if you'd like to hear it. So, if you will kindly not wiggle too much, and not call the dog over here to rub his wet tail on my newly polished shoes and take all the shine off so I can't go to the party, I'll tell you all about it.
It began this way. Toodle said to Noodle, his brother, one day:
"Let's have some fun."
"All right," said Noodle to Toodle, "we will. What shall we do?"
"Let's go out on the dam and look around," said Toodle. "Maybe we'll see something there."
The dam, you know, was the big wall of sticks and stones, and grass and mud, that held the water of the beaver pond from running away and leaving all the beaver houses on dry land. Because the beaver animals, you know, like to have their houses in water.