[XVII]
WHAT BROWNIE WANTED
Nimble Deer had stopped at Brownie Beaver's pond to get a drink. Just as he raised his head from the water he spied Brownie a little way off, on the bank, gnawing at a box alder tree.
"Good evening!" Nimble called to him.
"Good evening!" Brownie Beaver answered.
"I see you're busy, as usual," Nimble remarked.
"Yes!" Brownie replied. "And what are you doing—if I may ask?"
"Oh! I'm just rambling about," Nimble explained.
"Then you're not doing much of anything," said Brownie Beaver.
Nimble admitted that he wasn't.