Toodle and Noodle ate a few oranges and then they began to play. They took some poles and made themselves a wigwam, which is what an Indian calls a house. It has a hole in the roof for the smoke to go out, and it looks like a lot of bean poles stacked up in the garden after summer is over.
Toodle and Noodle were playing away at a great rate in their Indian wigwam, shooting arrows at other make-believe Indians in the bushes, sometimes hitting and knocking down an orange or two. And whenever they did this they would stop and eat the oranges. In this way their faces and paws got quite yellow. But the boy beavers did not mind that.
"It only makes us look more like Indians," said Noodle.
"To be sure," agreed his brother.
"Now," said Noodle after a bit, "let's both shoot our arrows at once at that big black stump over there. We'll make believe it's a bear."
Whizz went the two arrows. And then—
"Yow! Wow! Growl! Howl! Scowl!" some one yelled, and the stump rose up on its hind legs and came rushing at Toodle and Noodle. You see it wasn't a stump at all—it was really a bear.
"Oh, dear!" yelled Noodle dropping his bow and arrows. "Come on, Toodle!"
"Yes, let's jump in the water, and then the bear can't catch us!" said Toodle. For you know beavers are very swift in the water, and few animals can swim as rapidly as they.
But alas! Likewise alack-a-day! Before Toodle and Noodle could get to the water the bear had grabbed them in his hairy paws and hugged them. He didn't hug them because he loved them. Oh, no! But because he thought he was going to have a good dinner.