"No, not a secret," answered Grandpa Whackum. "But swim along now. I'll tell you when you come home."
"If it is a secret I hope it's one like Crackie's apple-mud pie," spoke Toodle. "Oh, wasn't that good?" he asked his brother.
"Yum! Yum!" exclaimed Noodle, smacking his lips, and flopping his big tail up and down. "I should say it was! I wish we had some now, and a piece for recess."
"So do I," went on Toodle. "Well, anyhow, if we go somewhere with Grandpa Whackum he's sure to treat us. Maybe he'll get us ice cream cones."
"It's getting too cold for them," spoke Noodle. "I'd rather have some candied water-lily roots, or maybe a birch bark lollypop."
"Oh, I guess I would, too," said his brother.
Well, they went on and on to school, but in the night the wind had blown pretty hard, and the schoolhouse, which, as I have told you, was in an old boat, had drifted off. So Toodle and Noodle couldn't find it right away. Neither could some of the other animal boys and girls who were on their way to recite their lessons.
"Let's look over this way for it," said Bully No-Tail, the frog, pointing one paw toward an old stump where a bear used to live. But the bear had gone off to act in a circus so he wasn't there any more. "Let's look over that way," went on Bully. "Maybe the boat is hidden behind the bushes."
"Oh, no, don't let's look any more," suggested Jillie Longtail, the mousie girl. "I—I don't want to go to school, anyhow."
"Neither do I," added Toodle. "Besides, we've looked pretty good, anyhow, and if we can't find it it isn't our fault."