"Oh, what shall I do?" he cried. "Soon the hunter may come along and take off my fur. Oh, I know. I'll whack my tail on the ground the way Grandpa told me to. Maybe some one will come to save me."
Noodle's tail wasn't fast in the trap, so he could bang it on the ground. And he had only hit two or three times before the kind bear came rushing up.
"Hello! What's this? In trouble, eh?" said the kind bear. "Well, well! I must help you, since you were so kind to me." So the bear, with his strong paws, easily opened the beaver trap, which was small, and not like a big bear trap. Then Noodle was loose, though his paw hurt him very much.
So he thanked the good bear, and hurried home to tell Grandpa Whackum, and all the other beavers how he had found a trap, and how the bear had helped him out of it.
And now I know you must be tired and sleepy, and want to go to bed. So I'll say good-by, and next, if the frying pan doesn't fall on the gas stove and scare the milk bottle, so all the cream turns sour, I'll tell you about Toodle saving Bully, the frog.
[STORY XIX]
TOODLE SAVES BULLY
Toodle Flat-tail, the little beaver boy, was coming home from school all alone. The reason of this was that his brother, Noodle, and all his other friends had gone on ahead, not waiting for Toodle.
No, Toodle didn't have to stay in—don't think it! He hadn't whispered, or chewed gum in school, or anything like that. Still he didn't get out when the others did because, you see, he happened to lose a penny out of his pocket, and he stayed to find it—find the penny, not the pocket, you understand, for the pocket was still fast in his little spotted trousers.