STORY XXX NEDDIE HELPS SANTA CLAUS

 “Only three days more until Christmas! Aren’t you glad, Neddie?” asked Beckie Stubtail, the little girl bear, one morning as she jumped out of her bed in the clean straw of the cave-house where she lived, and ran to the door of her brother’s room. “Aren’t you just glad, Neddie?”

“Glad? Well, I guess I am!” answered Neddie, as he tickled¹ himself with a clothespin to make himself laugh. “I don’t even want to go to school to-day, I’m so happy.”

“Oh, but I s’pose we do have to go,” spoke² Beckie. “But maybe we’ll get out early.”

Just then from the kitchen came a call:

“Hurry, Neddie—Beckie—breakfast is ready! Come and get your griddle cakes with honey on!”

Then Beckie and Neddie, the little bear children, hurried downstairs. Soon they were eating their breakfast. Their papa, Mr. Stubtail, the 240old bear gentleman, had had his breakfast some time ago and gone to work. Uncle Wigwag, the gentleman bear, who was always playing tricks and cracking jokes, as a squirrel cracks nuts, was sitting in a corner, trying to think of something new to do to make Aunt Piffy, the fat lady bear, laugh.

Mr. Whitewash³, the Polar bear gentleman, was out in the yard, looking for a fresh cake of ice to sit on while he read the morning paper.

Pretty soon Neddie and Beckie started for their classes. They had on their fur coats, for it was rather cold, you see. And in a little while, when the bear children were almost at school, and had met Tommie and Joie and Kat, the kitten children, in their red mittens⁴ and rubber boots, it began to snow.

“Oh, how nice!” cried Beckie, jumping about.

“It’s just fine!” exclaimed Neddie. “I always like it to snow around Christmas, for I’m going to get a new sled.”

“And I’m going to have a pair of skates,” said Tommie Kat. “At least I asked Santa Claus for them, and I hope he brings them, and also some ice, so I can use them.”

“Mr. Whitewash will lend you his cake of ice to skate on, if the pond doesn’t freeze,” said Neddie.

241And then the school bell rang, and the animal children had to hurry on, so they would not be late.

Such fun as they had in school that day! It was so near Christmas that the professor-teacher was not very strict, and when the children missed their lessons he gave them another chance.

And the Professor let Beckie draw a picture of Santa Claus on the blackboard, with a red cap, and fur on the coat and a big pack on his back—I mean Santa Claus had all these things on, though of course the blackboard had also, after Beckie got through drawing.

Well, when school was out, Neddie and Beckie ran home with the rest of the animal children, but, all of a sudden, as the little bear boy came to the old hollow stump⁵, where Bully⁶, the frog, used to give jumping lessons in summer, Neddie happened to think that he had left his reading book in school.

“I’ll run back and get it,” he said. “You go on, Beckie, and I’ll soon catch up to you.”

But Neddie Stubtail didn’t come back as soon as he thought he would, for when he got to the school he found that a little mouse boy had taken the reading book down a rat hole to look at the pictures. And by the time Neddie got his book back it was quite late, and growing dark.

242“But I’m not afraid,” said Neddie as he hurried on toward home, with the book under his paw. On and on he went, through the wood. It became darker and darker. Neddie began to whistle, so he could not hear any rustling⁷ in the bushes. For when the bushes rustled⁸ he imagined it might be the skillery-scalery alligator⁹, or maybe a bad wolf after him.

But nothing like that took place, and soon Neddie was almost home. Then all of a sudden something did happen. Just as he was passing under a big oak tree, with the brown leaves on it shaking in the wind, the little bear boy heard a buzzing sound, and then a crash and a bang, and a rattle¹⁰, and some one cried:

“Oh, dear! Now I have gone and done it! Oh, my, yes! and some reindeer-lollypops besides! Oh, what am I going to do now? And not half my work done!”

Neddie crouched¹¹ down under the bushes. He knew well enough that something had happened up in the oak tree. What it was he could not tell.

“But if it’s a giant, or a bad elephant or a flying eagle trying to get me, they shan’t!” exclaimed Neddie.

Then he heard the voice crying again:

243“Help! Help! Is there anybody around to help me? I’m stuck in the tree!”

“Ha!” exclaimed Neddie to himself. “He’s only saying that to fool me. I believe that’s the skillery-scalery alligator sailing around in a balloon, looking for me. But he shan’t find me. I’ll hide here until he goes away.”

So Neddie got farther under the bush, and then the voice cried again:

“Help! Help! Please help me!”

Then some bells jingled¹², and Neddie heard a song that went something like this:

“Won’t you please come to help me.

I am caught fast in a tree.

Christmas time will soon be here,

But I’ll sure be late this year,

Unless some one comes quickly,

And gets me loose from out this tree.”

Hearing that nice song Neddie wasn’t afraid any more. He opened his ears as wide as he could and listened. He opened his eyes as wide as he could and looked up. Then he saw a strange sight.

Caught fast in the tree was an airship—you know what they are—a sort of flying balloon, like a toy circus one, only larger. And in the airship 244was a nice old gentleman, with a red coat and long white whiskers; and beside him in the airship was a big bag just filled to the top with sleds and dolls and rocking horses and cradles, and steam engines and toy motor boats, and skates and jumping-jacks, and, oh! I couldn’t begin to tell you what was in it. Neddie knew right away who was in trouble.

“You’re Santa Claus, aren’t you?” he asked, as he came out from under the bush.

“That’s who I am,” answered the old gentleman. “I was flying down here from the North Pole in my airship, when I got caught in the tree. I’m stuck fast and I can’t get out, and I don’t know what to do. Can you find some one to help me?”

“I will help you myself,” said Neddie bravely and kindly¹³. Then, laying down his school books, he climbed the tree sticking in the bark his sharp claws as he had learned to do from George, the tame trained bear, who went around with the Professor.

Soon Neddie was at the top of the tree. Then he broke off the branches that held fast Santa’s airship, and dear old St. Nicholas could travel on again, with his bag of good things for Christmas.

Off through the air sailed Santa Claus, and 245as Neddie climbed down the tree, after having helped the nice old gentleman, a voice called.

“I’ll see you soon again, Neddie. But don’t tell anybody you saw me for it’s a secret.”

“I won’t,” said Neddie, and he didn’t. Then the little bear boy hurried on home, and he had honey cakes for supper, and he never said a word about Santa Claus. And on the next page, if the umbrella doesn’t climb up the hat tree and pick off all the breakfast oranges, I’ll tell you about Neddie and Beckie in the chimney.

1 tickled   

（使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐

参考例句：

• We were tickled pink to see our friends on television. 在电视中看到我们的一些朋友，我们高兴极了。
• I tickled the baby's feet and made her laugh. 我胳肢孩子的脚，使她发笑。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 whitewash   

v.粉刷，掩饰；n.石灰水，粉刷，掩饰

参考例句：

• They tried hard to whitewash themselves.他们力图粉饰自己。
• What he said was a load of whitewash.他所说的是一大堆粉饰之词。

4 mittens   

不分指手套

参考例句：

• Cotton mittens will prevent the baby from scratching his own face. 棉的连指手套使婴儿不会抓伤自己的脸。
• I'd fisted my hands inside their mittens to keep the fingers warm. 我在手套中握拳头来保暖手指。

5 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

6 bully   

n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮

参考例句：

• A bully is always a coward.暴汉常是懦夫。
• The boy gave the bully a pelt on the back with a pebble.那男孩用石子掷击小流氓的背脊。

7 rustling   

n. 瑟瑟声，沙沙声 adj. 发沙沙声的

参考例句：

• the sound of the trees rustling in the breeze 树木在微风中发出的沙沙声
• the soft rustling of leaves 树叶柔和的沙沙声

8 rustled   

v.发出沙沙的声音( rustle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He rustled his papers. 他把试卷弄得沙沙地响。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Leaves rustled gently in the breeze. 树叶迎着微风沙沙作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 alligator   

n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼)

参考例句：

• She wandered off to play with her toy alligator.她开始玩鳄鱼玩具。
• Alligator skin is five times more costlier than leather.鳄鱼皮比通常的皮革要贵5倍。

10 rattle   

v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓

参考例句：

• The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓，笑着叫着。
• She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。

11 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

12 jingled   

喝醉的

参考例句：

• The bells jingled all the way. 一路上铃儿叮当响。
• Coins in his pocket jingled as he walked. 走路时，他衣袋里的钱币丁当作响。

13 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。