"Oh, dear!" cried Noodle, and he looked for a window so he could jump out into the pond and swim away.
"It's a bear after us!" cried Toodle, jumping up.
The professor rat teacher got out his ruler to fight the bear, if he should come in, but instead, there walked into the school only little Crackie, the baby beaver girl. She had her rubber doll with her.
"I want Toodle and Noodle!" said Crackie. "I'm tired of staying home and playing all alone. Please teacher, can't you let them out of school and amuse me?"
Well, you should have heard the animal children laugh at that! The idea of a little girl beaver coming to get her brothers out of school to play with her! Did you ever hear of anything like that? I guess not!
Even Professor Rat had to laugh, and there was so much fun that no one could study.
"Can't Toodle and Noodle come home with me?" asked Crackie again.
"Well, pretty soon," said the teacher. "You just sit down here, Crackie, and make some pictures on the blackboard."
So Crackie came to school also, you see, though it was not intended, and pretty soon, when school was nearly out a bad old fox stuck his nose in the window, looking to see if he could grab Lulu Wibblewobble, the duck girl. But Crackie Flat-tail threw a piece of chalk at him, and the fox was glad to run off and not come back any more that week, fearing he was going to get a bad chalk-mark, you see.
So that's how Crackie did good by going to school to get her brothers. And when lessons were done she went out with them and had a good time. And on the next page, if the door knob doesn't turn over in its sleep and roll out of the window, I'll tell you about Crackie breaking her doll.