"Mother! Father!" Fuzz said suddenly in an eager little squeak. "Why shouldn't Buzz and I go down to the barn where my aunt lives and bring back as much corn as ever we can carry'?"
But no sooner had he said that than Mrs. Brownie stopped crying, and told her son in a very severe voice indeed not to talk nonsense; and Mr. Brownie said that if he let them go he was sure that they would never come back again, for some big dog or cat would be sure to kill and eat them.
"Well, you see, Father," said Fuzz, "if we don't go we shall die just the same, for there are only three acorns and one nut, which is a bad one, left in the larder."
And what Fuzz said was so very true that in the end he had his way, and before the Brownie family went to bed that night it was settled that the very next morning he and Buzz should start for the barn where their aunt lived.
Miss Patty Grey-Fur was the name of their aunt, and once, about two summers ago, she had come out to the wood on a visit to the Brownies. She had not stayed very long, for she said she found the country a very dull place. She had seemed a nice, gentle old lady-mouse, and Fuzz and Buzz were sure that she would be kind to them and give them as much corn as they wanted.
So early the next morning, after having said good-bye to their father and mother, Fuzz and Buzz set out on their travels.
It would take them quite two days to reach the barn; but they could not lose their way, for all they had to do was to follow the stream that ran through the wood until it brought them out into the big river on the bank of which the barn stood.
It was such a fine frosty morning, that although Fuzz and Buzz had only had two bites each at an acorn they were very merry; and as they ran in and out over the dry leaves that lay on the ground, they talked gaily of the great heap of oats and corn that they meant to bring back with them. How they were going to carry it they did not stop to think, for, as Fuzz, who was a very wise young mouse, said, the first thing they had to do was to get to the barn.
The sound of the running water led them straight to the stream, which flowed through the wood very quickly, and was quite deep enough to drown both of them if they had fallen into it. After they had run beside the stream for some time Buzz began to get rather tired.
"Oh, wouldn't it be nice," she said, "if we had a boat, Fuzz, and could be carried down the stream in it!"