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diff --git a/old/brbvr10.txt b/old/brbvr10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7daa98 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/brbvr10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2114 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Brownie Beaver, by Arthur Scott Bailey +#4 in our series by Arthur Scott Bailey + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Tale of Brownie Beaver + +Author: Arthur Scott Bailey + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6754] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 23, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER *** + + + + +Produced by Phil McLaury, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +[Illustration: Mr. Frog Had Been Hiding Among the Lily-pads] + +THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER + +BY + +ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY + + + + +CONTENTS + +I A QUEER PLACE TO LIVE + +II HOW TO FELL A TREE + +III STICKS AND MUD + +IV THE FRESHET + +V BROWNIE SAVES THE DAM + +VI A HAPPY THOUGHT + +VII A NEWFANGLED NEWSPAPER + +VIII MR. CROW IS UPSET + +IX THE SIGN ON THE TREE + +X A HOLIDAY + +XI BAD NEWS + +XII GRANDADDY BEAVER THINKS + +XIII A LUCKY FIND + +XIV WAS IT A GUN? + +XV JASPER JAY'S STORY + +XVI LOOKING PLEASANT + +XVII BROWNIE ESCAPES + +XVIII MR. FROG'S QUESTION + +XIX THE NEW SUIT + + + + + +I + +A QUEER PLACE TO LIVE + + +The village near one end of Pleasant Valley where Farmer Green often +went to sell butter and eggs was not the only village to be seen from +Blue Mountain. There was another which Farmer Green seldom visited, +because it lay beyond the mountain and was a long distance from his +house. Though he owned the land where it stood, those that lived there +thought they had every right to stay there as long as they pleased, +without being disturbed. + +It was in this village that Brownie Beaver and his neighbors lived. It +was a different sort of town, too, from the one where Farmer Green +went each week. Over beyond Blue Mountain all the houses were built in +a pond. And all their doors were under water. But nobody minded that +because--like Brownie Beaver--everybody that dwelt there was a fine +swimmer. + +Years and years before Brownie's time his forefathers had come there, +and finding that there were many trees in the neighborhood with the +sort of bark they liked to eat--such as poplars, willows and box +elders--they had decided that it was a good place to live. There was a +small stream, too, which was really the beginning of Swift River. And +by damming it those old settlers made a pond in which they could build +their houses. + +They had ideas of their own as to what a house should be like--and +very good ideas they were--though you, perhaps, might not care for +them at all. They wanted their houses to be surrounded by water, +because they thought they were safer when built in that manner. And +they always insisted that a door leading into a house should be far +beneath the surface of the water, for they believed that that made a +house safer too. + +To you such an idea may seem very strange. But if you were chased by +an enemy you might be glad to be able to swim under water, down to the +bottom of a pond, and slip inside a door which led to a winding hall, +which in its turn led upwards into your house. + +Of course, your enemy might be able to swim as well as you. But maybe +he would think twice--or even three times--before he went prowling +through your crooked hall. For if you had enormous, strong, sharp +teeth--with which you could gnaw right through a tree--he would not +care to have you seize him as he poked his head around a corner in a +dark passage of a strange house. + +It was in a house of that kind that Brownie Beaver lived. And he built +it himself, because he said he would rather have a neat, new house +than one of the big, old dwellings that had been built many years +before, when his great-great-grandfather had helped throw the dam +across the stream. + +The dam was there still. It was so old that trees were growing on it. +And there was an odd thing about it: it was never finished. Though +Brownie Beaver was a young chap, he worked on the dam sometimes, like +all his neighbors. You see, the villagers kept making the dam wider. +And since it was built of sticks and mud, the water sometimes washed +bits of it away: so it had to be kept in repair. + +If Brownie Beaver and his friends had neglected their dam, they would +have waked up some day and found that their pond was empty; and +without any water to hide their doorways they would have been safe no +longer. + +They would have had no place, either, to store their winter's food. +For they were in the habit of cutting down trees and saving the bark +and branches too, in order to have plenty to eat when cold weather +came and the ice closed their pond. + +Some of their food they carried into their houses through a straight +hall which was made for that very purpose. And some of the branches +they fastened under water, near the dam. It was just like putting +green things into a refrigerator, so they will keep. + +Now you see why Brownie Beaver would no more have thought of building +his house on dry land than you would think of building one in a pond. +Everybody likes his own way best. And it never once occurred to +Brownie Beaver that his way was the least bit strange. + +Perhaps it was because his family had always lived in that fashion. + + + + +II + +HOW TO FELL A TREE + + +Brownie Beaver could do many things that other forest-people (except +his own relations) were not able to do at all. For instance, cutting +down a tree was something that nobody but one of the Beaver family +would think of attempting. But as for Brownie Beaver--if he ever saw a +tree that he wanted to cut down he set to work at once, without even +going home to get any tools. And the reason for that was that he +always had his tools with him. For strange as it may seem, he used his +teeth to do all his wood-cutting. + +The first thing to be done when you set out to fell a tree with your +teeth is to strip off the bark around the bottom of the trunk, so that +a white band encircles it. At least, that was the way Brownie Beaver +always began. And no doubt he knew what he was about. + +After he had removed the band of bark Brownie began to gnaw away chips +of wood, where the white showed. And as he gnawed, he slowly sidled +round and round the tree, until at last only the heart of the tree was +left to keep the tree from toppling over. + +Then Brownie Beaver would stop his gnawing and look all about, to pick +out a place where he wanted the tree to fall. And as soon as Brownie +had made up his mind about that, he quickly gnawed a few more chips +out of the heart of the tree on the side toward the spot where he +intended it to come toppling down upon the ground. + +Brownie Beaver would not have to gnaw long before the tree would begin +to lean. All the time it leaned more and more. And the further over it +sagged, the faster it tipped. Luckily, Brownie Beaver always knew just +the right moment to jump out of the way before the tree fell. + +If you had ever seen him you might have thought he was frightened, +because he never failed to run away and hide as the tree crashed down +with a sound almost like thunder. + +But Brownie was not at all frightened. He was merely careful. Knowing +what a loud noise the falling tree would make, and that it might lead +a man (or some other enemy) to come prowling around, to see what had +happened, Brownie used to stay hidden until he felt quite sure that no +one was going to trouble him. + +You can understand that waiting, as he did, was no easy matter when +you stop to remember that one of Brownie's reasons for cutting down a +tree was that he wanted to eat the tender bark to be found in the +tree-top. It was exactly like knowing your dinner was on the table, +all ready for you, and having to hide in some dark corner for half an +hour, before going into the dining-room. You know how hungry you would +get, if you had to do that. + +Well, Brownie Beaver used to get just as hungry as any little boy or +girl. How he did tear at the bark, when he finally began to eat! And +how full he stuffed his mouth! And how he did enjoy his meal! But +everybody will admit that he had a right to enjoy his dinner, for he +certainly worked hard enough to get it. + + + + +III + +STICKS AND MUD + + +Like the dam that held back the water to form the pond where Brownie +Beaver lived, Brownie's house was made of sticks and mud. He cut the +sticks himself, from trees that grew near the bank of the pond; and +after dragging and pushing them to the water's edge he swam with them, +without much trouble, to the center of the pond, where he wished to +build his house. Of course, the sticks floated in the water; so +Brownie found that part of his work to be quite easy. + +He had chosen that spot in the center of the pond because there was +something a good deal like an island there--only it did not rise quite +out of the water. A good, firm place on which to set his house-- +Brownie Beaver considered it. + +While he was building his house Brownie gathered his winter's food at +the same time. Anyone might think he would have found it difficult to +do two things at once like that. But while he was cutting sticks to +build his new house it was no great trouble to peel the bark off them. +The bark, you know, was what Brownie Beaver always ate. And when he +cut sticks for his house there was only one thing about which he had +to be careful; he had to be particular to use only certain kinds of +wood. Poplar, cottonwood, or willow; birch, elm, box elder or aspen-- +those were the trees which bore bark that he liked. But if he had cut +down a hickory or an ash or an oak tree he wouldn't have been able to +get any food from them at all because the bark was not the sort he +cared for. That was lucky, in a way, because the wood of those trees +was very hard and Brownie would have had much more work cutting them +down. + +A good many of Brownie Beaver's neighbors thought he was foolish to go +to the trouble of building a new house, when there were old ones to be +had. And there was a lazy fellow called Tired Tim who laughed openly +at Brownie. + +"When you're older you'll know better than to work like that," Tired +Tim told him. "Why don't you do the way I did?" he asked. "I dug a +tunnel in the bank of the pond; and it's a good enough house for +anybody. It's much easier than building a house of sticks and mud." + +But Brownie told Tired Tim that he didn't care to live in a hole in +the bank. + +"Nobody but a very lazy person would be willing to have a house like +that," Brownie said. + +Tired Tim only laughed all the harder. + +"Old Grandaddy Beaver has been talking to you," he remarked. "I saw +him taking you over to the dam day before yesterday and telling you +where to work on it. Of course, that's all right if you're willing to +work for the whole village. But I say, let others do the work! As for +me, I've never put a single stick nor a single armful of mud on that +dam; and what's more, I never intend to, either. + +"My tunnel in the bank suits me very well. Of course, it may not be so +airy in summer as a house such as you're making for yourself. But I +don't live in my house in summer. So what's the difference to me? In +summer I go up the stream, or down--just as it suits me--and I see +something of the world and have a fine time. There's nothing like +travel, you know, to broaden one," said Tired Tim. + +Brownie Beaver stopped just a moment and looked at the lazy fellow. He +was certainly broad enough, Brownie thought. He was so fat that his +sides stuck far out. But it was no wonder--for he never did any work. + +"You'd better take my advice," Tired Tim told Brownie. + +But Brownie Beaver had returned to his wood-cutting. He didn't even +stop to answer. To him, working was just fun. And building a fine +house was as good as any game. + + + + +IV + +THE FRESHET + + +The rain had fallen steadily for two days and two nights-not just a +gentle drizzle, but a heavy downpour. + +For some time it did not in the least disturb Brownie Beaver and his +neighbors--that is to say, all but one of them. For there was a very +old gentleman in the village known as Grandaddy Beaver who began to +worry almost as soon as it began to rain. + +"We're a-going to have a freshet," he said to everybody he met. "I've +seen 'em start many a time and I can always tell a freshet almost as +soon as I see it coming." + +Grandaddy Beaver's friends paid no heed to his warning. And some of +them were so unkind as to laugh when the old gentleman crawled on top +of his house and began to mend it. + +"You young folks can poke fun at me if you want to," said Grandaddy +Beaver, "but I'm a-going right ahead and make my house as strong as I +can. For when the freshet gets here I don't want my home washed away." + +All day long people would stop to watch the old fellow at work upon +his roof. And everybody thought it was a great joke--until the second +day came and everybody noticed that it was raining just as hard as +ever. + +But no one except Grandaddy Beaver had ever heard of a freshet at that +time of year. So even then nobody else went to work on his house, +though some people _did_ stop smiling. A freshet, you know, is a +serious thing. + +As the second day passed, the rain seemed to fall harder. And still +Grandaddy Beaver kept putting new sticks on the roof of his house and +plastering mud over them. And at last Brownie Beaver began to think +that perhaps the old gentleman was right, after all, and that maybe +everybody else was wrong. + +So Brownie went home and set to work. And all his neighbors at once +began to smile at him. + +But Brownie Beaver didn't mind that. + +"My roof needed mending, anyhow," he said. "And if we _should_ +have a freshet. I'll be ready for it. And if we don't have one, +there'll be no harm done." + +[Illustration: Mr. Crow Called Down the Chimney] + +Now, all this time the water had been rising slowly. But that was no +more than everyone expected, since it was raining so hard. But when +the second night came, the water began to rise very fast. It rose so +quickly that several families found their bedroom floors under water +almost before they knew it. + +Then old Grandaddy Beaver went through the village and stopped at +every door. + +"What do you think about it now?" he asked. "Is it a freshet or isn't +it?" + +In the houses where the water had climbed above the bedroom floors the +people all agreed that it was a freshet and that Grandaddy Beaver had +been right all the time. But there were still plenty of people who +thought the old gentleman was mistaken. + +"The water won't come any higher," they said. "It never has, at this +time of year." But they looked a bit worried, in spite of what they +said. + +"It's a-going to be the worst freshet that's happened since you were +born," their caller croaked. "You mark my words!" + +When he came to Brownie Beaver's house Grandaddy found that there was +one person, at least, that had taken his advice. + +"I see you're all ready for the freshet!" the old gentleman remarked. +"They laughed at me; but I was right," he said. + +"They laughed at me, too," Brownie Beaver told him. + +"There's nobody in this village that'll laugh again tonight," +Grandaddy said very solemnly, "for there's a-going to be a flood +before morning." + + + + +V + +BROWNIE SAVES THE DAM + + +Brownie Beaver was always glad that he had taken Grandaddy's advice +about the freshet. And Brownie's neighbors were glad that he had, too. +For that was really the only thing that saved the village from being +carried away by the flood of water that swept down upon the pond, +after it had rained for two days and two nights. + +The pond rose so quickly and the water rushed past so fast that people +had to scramble out of their houses and begin working on them, to keep +them from being washed away. + +That rush of water meant only one thing. The pond was full and running +over! And just as likely as not the dam would be carried away--the dam +on which Grandaddy Beaver had worked when he was a youngster, and on +which his own grandaddy had worked before him. It would take years and +years to build another such dam as that. + +Now, with almost everybody working on his own house, there was almost +no one left to work upon the dam. But people never stopped to think +about that. They never once remembered that out of the whole village +old Grandaddy and Brownie Beaver were the only persons whose houses +had been made ready for the freshet and that those two were the only +people with nothing to do at home. + +"There'll be plenty to help save the dam," everybody said to himself. +"I'll just work on my house." + +Now, Brownie Beaver knew that there was nothing more he could do to +make his house safe, so he swam over to the dam, expecting to find a +good many of his neighbors there. But old Grandaddy Beaver was the +only other person he found. And he seemed worried. + +"It's a great pity!" he said to Brownie. "Here's this fine dam, which +has taken so many years to build, and it's a-going to be washed away-- +you mark my words!" + +"What makes you think that?" asked Brownie. + +"There's nobody here to do anything," said Grandaddy Beaver. "The +spillways of this dam ought to be made as big as possible, to let the +freshet pass through. But I can't do it, for I can't swim as well as I +could once." + +Brownie Beaver looked at the rushing water which poured over the top +of the dam in a hundred places and was already carrying off mud and +sticks, eating the dam away before his very eyes. + +"I'll save the dam!" he cried. "You?" Grandaddy Beaver exclaimed. +"Why, what do you think you can do?" Being so old, he couldn't help +believing that other people were too young to do difficult things. + +"Watch me and I'll show you!" Brownie Beaver told him. And without +saying another word he swam to the nearest spillway and began making +it bigger. + +Sometimes he had to fight the freshet madly, to keep from being swept +over the dam himself. Sometimes, too, as he stood on the dam it +crumbled beneath him and he found himself swimming again. + +How many narrow escapes he had that day Brownie Beaver could never +remember. When they happened, he didn't have time to count them, he +was working so busily. And if old Grandaddy Beaver hadn't told +everyone afterward, how Brownie saved the great dam from being swept +away, and how hard he had worked, and how he had swum fearlessly into +the torrent, people wouldn't have known anything about it. + +To be sure, they had noticed that the water went down almost as +suddenly as it rose. But they hadn't stopped to think that there must +have been some reason for that. And when they learned that Brownie +Beaver was the reason, the whole village gave him a vote of thanks. + +They wanted to give him a gold-headed cane, too. But they were unable +to find one anywhere. + +When Brownie Beaver heard of that he said it was just as well, because +he seldom walked far on land and there wasn't much use in a person's +carrying a cane when he swam, anyhow. Although it was sometimes done, +he had always considered it a silly practice--and one that he would +not care to follow. + + + + +VI + +A HAPPY THOUGHT + + +Brownie Beaver liked to know what was going on in the world. But +living far from Pleasant Valley as he did, he seldom heard any news +before it was quite old. + +"I wish--" he said to Mr. Crow one day, when that old gentleman was +making him a visit--"I wish someone would start a newspaper in this +neighborhood." + +Mr. Crow told Brownie that he would be glad to bring him an old +newspaper whenever he happened to find one. "Thank you!" Brownie +Beaver said. "You're very kind. But an old newspaper would be of no +use to me." + +"Why not?" Mr. Crow inquired. "They make very good beds, I've been +told. And I suppose that is what you want one for." + +"Not at all!" Brownie replied. "I'd like to know what's happening over +in Pleasant Valley. It takes so long for news to reach us here in our +pond that it's often hardly worth listening to when we hear it--it's +so old. Now, what I'd really prefer is a newspaper that would tell me +everything that's going to happen a week later." + +Mr. Crow said he never heard of a newspaper like that. + +"Well, somebody ought to start one," Brownie Beaver answered. + +Mr. Crow thought deeply for some minutes without saying a word. And at +last He cried suddenly: + +"I have an idea!" + +"Have you?" Brownie Beaver exclaimed. "What is it, Mr. Crow?" + +"I'll be your newspaper!" Mr. Crow told him. + +At that Brownie Beaver looked somewhat doubtful. + +"That's very kind of you," he said. "But I'm afraid it wouldn't do me +much good. You're so black that the ink wouldn't show on you at all--- +unless," he added, "they use _white_ ink to print on you." + +"You don't understand," old Mr. Crow said. "What I mean is this: I'll +fly over here once a week and tell you everything that's happened. Of +course," he continued, "I can't very well tell you everything that is +going to take place the following week. But I'll do my best." + +Brownie Beaver was delighted. And when Mr. Crow asked him what day he +wanted his newspaper Brownie said that Saturday afternoon would be a +good time. + +"That's the last day of the week," Brownie Beaver remarked, "so you +ought to have plenty of news for me. You know, if you came the first +day of the week there would be very little to tell." + +"That's so!" said Mr. Crow. "Well say 'Saturday,' then. And you shall +have your newspaper without fail--unless," he explained--"unless there +should be a bad storm, or unless I should be ill. And, of course, if +Farmer Green should want me to help him in his cornfield, I wouldn't +be able to come. There might be other things, too, to keep me at home, +which I can't think of just now," said Mr. Crow. + +Again Brownie Beaver looked a bit doubtful. + +"I hope you'll try to be regular," he told Mr. Crow. "When a person +takes a newspaper he doesn't like to be disappointed, you know." + +Old Mr. Crow said that he hoped nothing would prevent his coming to +Brownie's house every Saturday afternoon. + +"There's only one more thing I can think of," he croaked, "that would +make it impossible for me to be here. And that is if I should lose +count of the days of the week or have to see a baseball game or fly +south for the winter." + +"But that's _three_ things, instead of only _one_," Brownie Beaver +objected. + +"Well--maybe it is," Mr. Crow replied--"the way you count. But I call +it only one because I said it all in one breath, without a single +pause." + +"I hope you won't tell me the news as fast as that," said Brownie +Beaver, "for if you did I should never be able to remember one-half of +it." + +But Mr. Crow promised that he would talk very slowly. + +"You'll be perfectly satisfied," he told Brownie. "And now I must go +home at once, to begin gathering news." + + + + +VII + +A NEWFANGLED NEWSPAPER + + +After Mr. Crow flew back to Pleasant Valley to gather news for him, +Brownie Beaver carefully counted each day that passed. Since Mr. Crow +had agreed to be his newspaper, and come each Saturday afternoon to +tell him everything that had happened during the week, Brownie was in +a great hurry for Saturday to arrive. + +In order to make no mistake, he put aside a stick in which he gnawed a +notch each day. And in that way he knew exactly when Saturday came. + +That was probably the longest day in Brownie Beaver's life. At least, +it seemed so to him. Whenever he saw a bird soaring above the tree-tops +he couldn't help hoping it was Mr. Crow. And whenever he heard a +_caw_--_caw_ far off in the distance Brownie Beaver dropped whatever +he happened to be doing, expecting that Mr. Crow would flap into sight +at any moment. + +Brownie had many disappointments. But Mr. Crow really came at last. He +lighted right on top of Brownie Beaver's house and called "Paper!" +down the chimney--just like that! + +Brownie happened to be inside his house. And in a wonderfully short +time his head appeared above the water and he soon crawled up beside +Mr. Crow. + +"Well, I _am_ glad to see you!" he told Mr. Crow. + +"Peter Mink caught a monstrous eel in the duck pond on Monday," Mr. +Crow said. Being a newspaper, he thought he ought to say nothing +except what was news--not even "Good afternoon!" + +"Mr. Rabbit, of Pine Ridge, with his wife and fourteen children, is +visiting his brother, Mr. Jeremiah Rabbit. Mrs. Jeremiah Rabbit says +she does not know when her husband's relations are going home," Mr. +Crow continued to relate in a singsong voice. + +"Goodness gracious!" Brownie Beaver exclaimed. + +"Fatty Coon--" Mr. Crow said--"Fatty Coon was confined to his house by +illness Tuesday night. He ate too many dried apples." + +"Well, well!" Brownie Beaver murmured. And he started to ask Mr. Crow +a question. But Mr. Crow interrupted him with more news. + +"Mrs. Bear had a birthday on Wednesday. An enjoyable time was had by +all--except the pig." + +"Pig?" Brownie Beaver asked. "What pig?" + +"The pig they ate," said Mr. Crow. And he went right on talking. "On +Thursday Mr. Woodchuck went to visit his cousins in the West. Mrs. +Woodchuck is worried." + +"What's she worried about?" Brownie inquired. + +"She's afraid he's coming back again," Mr. Crow explained. + +"I _have_ heard he was lazy," Brownie said. "What happened on Friday?" + +"Tommy Fox made a visit. But he didn't have a good time at all," Mr. +Crow reported, "and he left faster than he came." + +Brownie Beaver wanted to know where Tommy Fox made his visit. + +"At Farmer Green's hen-house," Mr. Crow explained. + +"Why did he hurry away?" Brownie asked. + +"Old dog Spot chased him," Mr. Crow replied. "But you mustn't ask +questions," he complained. "You can't ask questions of a newspaper, +you know." + +"Well--what happened on Saturday?" + +"There you go again!" cried Mr. Crow. "Another question! I declare, I +don't believe you ever took a newspaper before--did you?" + +Brownie Beaver admitted that he never had. + +"Then--" said Mr. Crow--"then don't interrupt me again, please! I'll +tell you all the news I've brought. And when I've finished I'll stop +being a newspaper and be myself for a while. And then we can talk. But +not before!" he insisted. + +Brownie Beaver nodded his head. He was afraid that if he said another +word Mr. Crow would grow angry and fly away without telling him any +more news. + +"On Saturday--this morning, to be exact"--said Mr. Crow, "there came +near being a bad accident. Jimmy Rabbit almost cut off Frisky +Squirrel's tail." + +Mr. Crow paused and looked at Brownie Beaver out of the corner of his +eye. He knew that Brownie would want to know what prevented the +accident. But he was in no hurry to tell him. + +For a few moments Brownie waited to hear the rest. But a few moments +was more than he could endure. + +"Why didn't Jimmy cut off his tail?" Brownie asked eagerly. + +"There!" said Mr. Crow. "You've done just as I told you not to. So I +shall not tell you the rest until next Saturday.... You see, you have +a few things to learn about taking a newspaper." And 'he would give +Brownie no more news that day. To be sure, he was willing to talk--but +only about things that had happened where Brownie Beaver lived. + + + + +VIII + +MR. CROW IS UPSET + + +Brownie Beaver couldn't help feeling that Mr. Crow had not treated him +very well, because Mr. Crow hadn't told him all the news about Frisky +Squirrel's tail. He thought that maybe there were things about a +newspaper that even Mr. Crow didn't know. + +Another week had passed. Brownie knew that it had, because since Mr. +Crow's last call he had cut a notch in a stick each day. And there +were now seven of them. + +Late Saturday afternoon Mr. Crow came back again. He lighted on top of +Brownie's house and called "Paper!" down the chimney, just as he had a +week before. + +Brownie Beaver came swimming up once more. + +"Look here!" he said to Mr. Crow. "I don't believe yon know much about +being a newspaper, do you?" + +That surprised Mr. Crow. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +"A newspaper--" said Brownie Beaver--"a newspaper is always left on, a +person's doorstep. I've talked with a good many people and not one of +them ever heard of a paper being left on the roof." + +Mr. Crow's face seemed to grow blacker than ever, he was so angry. + +"How can anybody leave a newspaper on your doorstep, when the step's +under water?" he growled. + +Brownie Beaver did not answer that question, for he had something else +to say to Mr. Crow. + +"I've talked with a good many people," he said once more, "and not one +of them ever heard of such rudeness as _shouting down a person's +chimney_. If there was anybody asleep in the house, it would +certainly wake him; and if a person had a fire in his house, shouting +down the chimney might put it out." + +Mr. Crow looked rather foolish. + +"I'll try to think of some way of leaving your newspaper that will +suit us both," he said. Then he _hemmed_ and began to tell Brownie +the week's news. + +"On Sunday," said Mr. Crow, "there was a freshet." + +"I knew that before you did," said Brownie Beaver. + +Mr. Crow looked disappointed. + +"How?" he asked. + +"Why, I live further up the river than you," said Brownie Beaver. "And +since freshets always come _down_ a river, this one didn't reach you +till after it had passed me." + +Something made Mr. Crow peevish. + +"I don't believe you'd care to hear any more of my news," he said. +"You appear to know it already. Perhaps you'll be kind enough to tell +me the sort of news you prefer to hear." + +"Certainly!" Brownie Beaver replied. "Now, there's the weather! I've +talked with a good many people and they all say that a good newspaper +ought to tell the weather for the next day." + +Mr. Crow cocked an eye up at the sky. + +"To-morrow will be fair," he said. + +"I'm told that a good newspaper ought to tell a few jokes," Brownie +Beaver continued. + +But Mr. Crow sneered openly at that. "I'm a _newspaper_--not a +_jest-book_," he announced. + +"Then you refuse to tell any jokes, do you?" Brownie Beaver asked him. + +"I certainly do!" Mr. Crow cried indignantly. + +"Very well!" Brownie said. "I see I'll have to take some other +newspaper, though I must say I hate to change--after taking this one +so long." + +"I hope you'll find one to suit you," Mr. Crow said in a cross voice. +And he flew away without another word. He was terribly upset. You see, +he had enjoyed being a newspaper, because it gave him an excuse for +asking people the most inquisitive questions. He had intended all that +week to ask Aunt Polly Woodchuck whether she wore a wig. But he hadn't +been able to find her at home. And now it was too late--for Mr. Crow +was a newspaper no longer. + +As for Brownie Beaver, he succeeded in getting Jasper Jay to be his +newspaper. Though Jasper told him many jokes, Brownie found that he +could not depend upon Jasper's news. And as a matter of fact, Jasper +made up most of it himself. He claimed that the _newest news_ was +the best. + +"That's why I invent it myself, right on the spot," he explained. + + + + +IX + +THE SIGN ON THE TREE + + +On one of Brownie Beaver's long excursions down the stream he came +upon a tree to which a sign was nailed. Now, Brownie had never learned +to read. But he had heard that Uncle Jerry Chuck could tell what a +sign said. So Brownie asked a pleasant young fellow named Frisky +Squirrel if he would mind asking Uncle Jerry to come over to Swift +River on a matter of important business. + +When Uncle Jerry Chuck appeared, Brownie Beaver said he was glad to +see him and that Uncle Jerry was looking very well. + +"I've sent for you," said Brownie, "because I wanted you to see this +sign. I can tell by the tracks under the tree that the sign was put up +only to-day. And I thought you ought to know about it at once, Uncle +Jerry." + +As soon as he heard that, Uncle Jerry Chuck stepped close to the tree +and began to read the sign. + +Now, there was something about Uncle Jerry's reading that Brownie +Beaver had heard. People had told him that Uncle Jerry Chuck couldn't +tell what a sign said unless he read it _aloud_. That was why Brownie +Beaver had sent for him, for Brownie knew Uncle Jerry well enough to +guess that if anybody _asked_ Uncle Jerry to read the sign, Uncle +Jerry would insist on being paid for his trouble. + +But now Uncle Jerry was going to read the sign for himself. And +Brownie Beaver moved up beside him, to hear what he said. + +The sign looked like this: + +NO HUNTING + +OR FISHING + +ALOUD + +Uncle Jerry repeated the words in a sing-song tone. + +"I don't think much of that," he said. "It's bad enough to be hunted +by people who make a noise, though you have _some_ chance of getting +away then. But if they can't make a noise it will be much more +dangerous for all of us forest-people." + +If Tommy Fox hadn't happened to come along just then Uncle Jerry +wouldn't have found out his mistake. But Tommy Fox soon set him right. +As soon as he had talked a bit with Uncle Jerry he said: + +"What the sign really means is that no hunting or fishing will be +permitted. That last word should be 'allowed,' instead of 'aloud.' +It's spelled wrong," he explained. + +"That's better!" Uncle Jerry cried. "Now there'll be no more hunting +in the neighborhood and we'll all be quite safe.... Farmer Green is +kinder than I supposed." + +When Brownie Beaver heard that, he said good-by and started home at +once to tell the good news to all his friends. He had leaped into the +river and was swimming up-stream rapidly when Uncle Jerry called to +him to stop. + +"There's something I want to say," Uncle Jerry shouted. "I think you +ought to pay me for reading the sign." + +But Brownie Beaver shook his head. + +"I didn't ask you to read the sign for me," he declared. "You read it +for _yourself_, Uncle Jerry. And besides, you didn't know what it +meant until Tommy Fox came along and told you.... If you want to know +what I think, I'll tell you. I think you ought to pay Tommy Fox +something." + +Uncle Jerry at once began to look worried. He said nothing more, but +plunged out of sight into some bushes, as if he were afraid Tommy Fox +might come back and find him. + +[Illustration: Brownie Beaver Returned to His Wood-cutting] + + + + +X + +A HOLIDAY + + +There was great rejoicing in the little village in the pond when +Brownie Beaver returned with the good news that there would be no more +hunting and fishing. And when old Grandaddy Beaver said that everybody +ought to take a holiday to celebrate the occasion, all the villagers +said it was a fine idea. + +So they stopped working, for once, and began to plan the celebration. +They thought that there ought to be swimming races and tree-felling +contests. And Brownie Beaver said that after the holiday was over he +would suggest that someone be chosen to go down and thank Farmer Green +for putting the notice on the tree. + +The whole village agreed to Brownie's proposal and they voted to see +who should be sent. Brownie Beaver himself passed his hat around to +take up the votes. And it was quickly found that every vote was for +Brownie Beaver. He had even voted for himself. But no one seemed to +care about that. + +Then the swimming races began. There was a race under water, a race +with heads out of water--and another in which each person who took +part had to stay beneath the surface as long as he could. + +That last race caused some trouble. A young scamp called Slippery Sam +won it. And many people thought that he had swum up inside his house, +where he could get air, without being seen. But no one could prove it; +so he won the race, just the same. + +Next came the tree-felling contest. There were six, including Brownie +Beaver, that took part in it. Grandaddy Beaver had picked out six +trees of exactly the same size. Each person in the contest had to try +to bring his tree to the ground first. And that caused some trouble, +too, because some claimed that their trees were of harder wood than +others--and more difficult to gnaw--while others complained that the +bark of their trees tasted very bitter, and of course that made their +task unpleasant. + +Those six trees, falling one after another, made such a racket that +old Mr. Crow heard the noise miles away and flew over to see what was +happening. + +After everybody crept out of his hiding-place some time afterward +(everyone had to hide for a while, you know), there was Mr. Crow +sitting upon one of the fallen trees. + +"What's going on?" he inquired. "You're not going to cut down the +whole forest, I hope." + +Then they told him about the celebration. And Mr. Crow began to laugh. + +"What are you going to do next?" he asked. + +"We're a-going to send Brownie Beaver over to Pleasant Valley to thank +Farmer Green for his kindness in putting an end to hunting and +fishing," said old Grandaddy Beaver. "And he's a-going to start right +away." + +Mr. Crow looked around. And there was Brownie Beaver, with a +lunch-basket in his hand, all ready to begin his long journey. + +"Say good-by to him then," said Mr. Crow, "for you'll never see him +again." + +"What do you mean?" Grandaddy Beaver asked. And as for Brownie--he was +so frightened that he dropped his basket right in the water. + +"I mean----" said Mr. Crow--"I mean that it's a very dangerous errand. +You don't seem to have understood that sign. In the first place, it +was not Farmer Green, but his son Johnnie, who nailed It to the tree." + +"Ah!" Brownie Beaver cried. "_That_ is why one of the words was +misspelled!" + +"No doubt!" Mr. Crow remarked. As a matter of fact, not being able to +read he hadn't known about the word that was spelled wrong. "In the +second place," he continued, "the sign doesn't mean that hunting and +fishing are to be stopped. It means that no one but Johnnie Green is +going to hunt and fish in this neighborhood. He wants all the hunting +and fishing for himself. That's why he put up that sign. And instead +of hunting and fishing being stopped, I should say that they were +going to begin to be more dangerous than ever.... They tell me," he +added, "that Johnnie Green had a new gun on this birthday." + +Brownie Beaver said at once that he was not going on the errand of +thanks. + +"I resign," he said, "and anyone that wants to go in my place is +welcome to do so." + +But nobody cared to go. And the whole village seemed greatly +disappointed, until Grandaddy Beaver made a short speech. + +"We've all had a good holiday, anyhow," he said. "And I should say +that was something to be thankful for." + + + + +XI + +BAD NEWS + + +"Have you heard the news?" Tired Tim asked Brownie Beaver one day. +"There's going to be a cyclone." + +"A cyclone?" Brownie exclaimed. "What's that? I never heard of one." + +"It's a big storm, with a terrible wind," Tired Tim explained. "The +wind will blow so hard that it will snap off big trees." + +"Good!" Brownie Beaver cried. "Then I won't have to cut down any more +trees in order to reach the tender bark that grows in their tops." + +Tired Tim laughed. "You won't think it's very 'good,'" he said, "when +the cyclone strikes the village." + +"Why not?" Brownie inquired. + +"Because--" said Tired Tim--"because the wind will blow every house +away. It will snatch up the sticks of which the houses are built and +carry them over the top of Blue Mountain. Then I guess you'll wish you +had taken my advice and not built that new house of yours. + +"_I_ shall be safe enough," the lazy rascal continued. "All I'll +have to do will be to crawl inside my house in the bank; for the wind +can't very well blow the ground away." + +Brownie Beaver thought that Tired Tim was just trying to scare him. + +"I don't believe there's going to be any such thing!" he exclaimed. + +"Don't you?" Tim grinned. "You just go and ask Grandaddy Beaver. He's +the one that says there's going to be a cyclone." + +At that Brownie Beaver stopped working and hurried off to find old +Grandaddy Beaver. And to his great dismay, Grandaddy said that what +Tired Tim had told him was the truth. + +"It's a-coming!" Grandaddy Beaver declared. "I saw one once before in +these parts, years before anybody else in this village was born. And +when I see a cyclone a-coming I can generally tell it a long way off." + +"When is it going to get here?" Brownie asked in a quavering voice. + +"Next Tuesday!" Grandaddy replied. + +"What makes you think it's coming?" + +"Well--everything looks just the way it did before the last cyclone," +Grandaddy Beaver explained, as he took a mouthful of willow bark. "The +moon looks just the same and the sun looks just the same. I had a +twinge of rheumatics in my left shoulder yesterday; and to-day the +pain's in my right. It was exactly that way before the last cyclone." + +Brownie Beaver did not doubt that the old gentleman knew what he was +talking about. He remembered that Grandaddy Beaver had warned everyone +there was going to be a freshet. And though people had laughed at the +old chap, the freshet had come. + +Sadly worried, Brownie went and called on all his neighbors and asked +them what they were going to do. And to his surprise he found that +they were laughing at Grandaddy once more. They seemed to have +forgotten about the freshet. + +But Brownie Beaver could not forget that dreadful night. And now he +tried to think of some way to keep his new house from being blown away +by the great wind, which Grandaddy Beaver said was coming on Tuesday +without fail. + + + + +XII + +GRANDADDY BEAVER THINKS + + +It was on a Friday that Brownie Beaver first heard the cyclone was +coming. And after making sure that Grandaddy Beaver knew what he was +talking about when he said the great wind would sweep down upon the +village on the following Tuesday, Brownie spent a good deal of time +wondering what he had better do. + +He wanted to save his house from being blown over the top of Blue +Mountain. And he wanted to save himself from being carried along at +the same time. + +Before Friday was gone Brownie Beaver began to heap more mud and +sticks upon his house, to make it stronger. And when Tired Tim came +swimming past the lazy scamp laughed harder than ever. + +"I see you're afraid of the cyclone," he called. "But what you're +doing won't help you any. The wind will blow away those sticks easily +enough.... What you ought to do is to dig a house like mine in the +bank. Then you won't have to worry about any cyclone." + +So Brownie set to work and made him a house like Tired Tim's. On +Monday he had finished it. But he didn't like his new home at all. + +"It's no better than a rat's hole," he said. "My family have never +lived in such a place and I'm not used to it. I prefer my house that's +built of sticks and mud. And I'm going to see if there isn't some way +I can make it safe." + +So Brownie went to Grandaddy Beaver again and asked him what he ought +to do. + +The old gentleman said he would try to think of a plan to save +Brownie's house. + +"I wish you would hurry," Brownie urged him. "To-day is Monday; and +tomorrow the cyclone will be here.... What are you going to do to your +own house, Grandaddy?" + +"My house----" said Grandaddy Beaver--"my house is very old. It has +had mud and sticks piled upon it every season for over a hundred +years. You can see for yourself that it's much bigger than yours. And +I reckon it's strong enough to stay where it is, no matter how hard +the wind blows. But your house is different.... Let me think a +minute!" the old gentleman said. + +Brownie waited in silence while the old gentleman thought, with his +eyes shut tight. Brownie watched him for a long time. Once or twice he +thought he heard something that sounded like a snore. But he knew it +couldn't be that--it was only the thoughts trying to get inside +Grandaddy's head. + +At last Grandaddy sat up with a start. + +"Have you thought of something?" Brownie inquired. + +"What's that?" Grandaddy asked. "Oh, yes! I've a good idea," he said. +"What you must do is to tie your house so the wind can't blow it +away." + +Brownie thanked him. And he went away feeling quite happy again--until +he reached home and started to follow Grandaddy's advice. Then he saw +that he had forgotten something. He hadn't anything with which to tie +his house and make it safe from the cyclone. + + + + +XIII + +A LUCKY FIND + + +Brownie Beaver almost wished he hadn't spent so much time waiting for +Grandaddy to tell him to tie down his house so it wouldn't be carried +away by the big wind on the following day. With no rope--or anything +else--to tie the house with, Brownie could not see that Grandaddy's +advice was of any use to him. + +Anyhow, he was glad he had done as Tired Tim had suggested and dug a +house in the bank, where he could hide until the storm passed. But he +felt sad at the thought of losing his comfortable home. And since he +could hardly bear to look at it and imagine how dreadful it would be +to have it blown over the top of Blue Mountain into Pleasant Valley, +Brownie went for a stroll through the woods to try to forget his +trouble. + +He found himself at last in a clearing, where loggers had been at +work. They had chopped down many trees. And the sight made Brownie +Beaver angry. + +"This is an outrage!" he cried aloud. "I'd like to know who has been +stealing our trees. I suppose it's Farmer Green; for they say he's +always up to such tricks." He took a good look around. And then he +turned to go back to the village and tell what he had discovered. + +Just as he turned he tripped on something. And something clinked +beneath his feet. It didn't sound like a stone. So Brownie Beaver +looked down to see what was there. + +Now, in his anger he had quite forgotten the great storm. But as he +saw what had tripped him he remembered it again. But he was no longer +worried. + +"Hurrah!" Brownie cried. "Here's just what I need!" And then he +hurried back home again--but not to tell about the trees that had been +stolen. He hastened home to _chain down his house_ and save it from +the great wind. For Brownie Beaver had found a chain, which the +loggers had used to haul the logs out of the woods, and had forgotten. + +It was almost dark when Brownie reached his house in the village in +the pond. He was never a very good walker. And dragging that heavy +chain behind him through the forest only made him slower than ever. +Sometimes the chain caught on a bush and tripped him. But Brownie was +so pleased with his find that he only laughed whenever he fell, for he +was not hurt. + +The whole village gathered round his house to watch him while he tied +the chain on it and anchored the ends of the chain to the bottom of +the pond with a big stone. + +"Why do you do that?" people asked. + +"He's afraid of the cyclone to-morrow," Tired Tim piped up, without +waiting for Brownie to answer. "You know, old Grandaddy Beaver says +that there's going to be a great wind. This young feller----" said +Tim--"he's already dug a house in the bank near mine--ha! ha! He +thinks Grandaddy knows. But I say that Grandaddy Beaver is a--a fine, +noble, old gentleman," Tired Tim stammered. He had happened to glance +around while he was talking; and to his surprise there was Grandaddy +floating in the water close behind him. + +"He certainly is," everybody agreed. "But we hope he's mistaken about +the great wind." + +When Tuesday came--which was the very next day--Brownie Beaver crept +into his tunnel in the bank at sunrise. And he never came outside +again until the sun had set. + +When he saw that his house was still there, in the middle of the pond, +he shouted with joy. + +"Hurrah!" he cried. "The chain saved my house!" Then he noticed that +all the other houses were still there, too. "How's this?" he asked +Tired Tim, who stood on the bank beside him. "Did my chain save the +whole village?" + +Tired Tim grinned--for he was not too lazy to do that. + +"There wasn't any cyclone," he said. "There wasn't a breath of wind +all day. And old Grandaddy Beaver is so upset that he's gone to bed +and won't talk with anybody." + + + + +XIV + +WAS IT A GUN? + + +Everybody in the village where Brownie Beaver lived was very much +upset. Most people were angry, too. And no doubt it was natural that +they should feel that way, because while they were taking their midday +naps a man had come and paddled about their village in a boat. + +Brownie Beaver was the first to hear him and he quickly spread the +alarm. There was a great scurrying as all the villagers stole out of +their houses and swam away under water to hide in holes in the bank of +the pond and in other places they knew. + +Toward night, when they all came back again, the man had gone. But +Brownie and his neighbors were still angry. You must remember that +their rest had been disturbed and they were feeling somewhat sleepy. + +So far as they could see, the man had done no damage either to their +houses or to the dam. But people felt a bit uneasy just the same, +until old Grandaddy Beaver looked all around and reported that the man +had set no traps. You see, Grandaddy knew a great deal about traps. He +had been caught in one when he was young. Luckily, he managed to get +away; and he learned a few things that he never forgot. + +Now, Brownie Beaver had begun to cut down a tree the night before. +Something had interrupted him and he had left the tree not quite +gnawed through and needing only a few more bites to bring it down. He +was intending to finish his task soon after dark--which was the time +he liked best for working. + +Accordingly, after Brownie had finished his supper and had called at +every house in the village to talk over the visit of the strange man, +he swam to the shore of the pond and made his way to the slanting +tree, which stood a short distance from the water. + +It was quite dark. And that was what Brownie liked, because he could +work without being disturbed--at least, that was what he thought. + +Since he could see quite well in spite of the dark he had no trouble +in finding his tree. And he lost no time in setting to work on it +again. + +He began to gnaw at it once more. But he hadn't moved more than +half-way around the tree-trunk when something happened that almost +frightened him out of his skin. + +Right out of the darkness came a blinding flash of light. And at the +same time a queer _click_ sounded in the bushes close by. + +Just for a moment Brownie Beaver was stiff with fear. But when the +darkness closed in upon him again he ran for his life toward the pond. +And plunging into the water he swam quickly to the bottom and hurried +up his winding hall into his bedroom, where he crouched trembling upon +his bed, wondering whether he had been shot. + +Brownie knew that at night a gun made a flash of light. But this gun +(if it was a gun) made no roar such as was made by the guns Brownie +had sometimes heard at a distance in the woods. He wished that old +Grandaddy Beaver was there. For he did not doubt that the old +gentleman could tell him exactly what had happened. + + + + +XV + +JASPER JAY'S STORY + + +After the blinding flash of light and the queer click had sent Brownie +Beaver hurrying home from his partly gnawed tree, he stayed in his +house for a long time before he ventured out again. + +Indeed, the night was half gone when he at last he stole forth to find +Grandaddy Beaver and tell him about his awful fright. + +Brownie found the old gentleman resting after several hours' work upon +the big dam. And when young Brownie told Grandaddy what had happened, +the old gentleman didn't know just what to think. + +"It couldn't have been a moonbeam," he said, "because there's no moon +to-night. And I don't see how it could have been a gun, because there +was no roar.... Did you hear a sort of whistle?" he asked. "Anything +that sounded like a bullet passing over your head?" + +Brownie Beaver shuddered at the mere mention of a bullet. + +"I heard nothing but that odd click," he replied. + +"That's what a gun sounds like when it's cocked," said Grandaddy +Beaver. "But with a gun, the click comes first, the flash next, and +the roar last of all. And here you tell me the flash came first, the +click next, and there was no roar at all.... What's a body a-going to +think, I'd like to know? It wasn't a gun--that's sure. And if you want +to know what I say about it, why--I say that it was a very strange +thing that happened to you. And I'd keep away from that tree for a +long time." + +"I had made up my mind that I'd do that," Brownie told him. And then +he went home again. But he never went to sleep until almost noon the +following day; for whenever he closed his eyes he seemed to see that +blinding flash of light again. + +When Jasper Jay came on Saturday afternoon to tell Brownie Beaver what +had happened in the world during the past week he had an astounding +piece of news. + +"Here's something about you," Jasper told Brownie, as soon as he could +catch his breath. Jasper had flown faster than usual that day, because +he had such interesting news. "Your picture," he told Brownie, "is in +the photographer's window, way over in the town where Farmer Green +goes sometimes." + +Brownie Beaver gave Jasper a quick look. + +"I've often suspected," he said, "that you don't always tell me the +truth. And now I know it. I've never been to the photographer's in my +life. So how could he have my picture, I should like to know?" + +"But you don't have to go to the photographer's to have your picture +taken," Jasper Jay retorted. "Why couldn't the photographer come to +you?" + +"I suppose he could," Brownie Beaver said. "But he's never been here." + +Jasper Jay gave one of his loud laughs. + +"That--" he said--"that is just where you are mistaken. And when I +explain how I came by this news, maybe you'll believe me. + +"Tommy Fox told it to me," Jasper went on, "and old dog Spot told it +to him. Everybody knows that old Spot sometimes goes to town with his +master. They were there yesterday. And Spot saw your picture himself. +What's more, he heard the photographer tell Farmer Green that he came +up here almost a week ago, hid his camera in some bushes, and set a +flashlight near a half--gnawed tree. And when you started to work on +the tree that night you brushed against a wire, and the flashlight +flared up, and the camera took your picture before you could jump +away.... Now what do you say?" Jasper Jay demanded. "Now do you think +I'm telling you the truth?" + +Brownie Beaver was so surprised that it was several minutes before he +could speak. Then he said: + +"Grandaddy Beaver was right. It wasn't a gun. I was just having my +picture taken." Brownie was actually pleased, because he knew he was +the only person in his village that had ever had such a thing happen +to him. + +After that he was ready to believe everything Jasper Jay told him. So +Jasper related some wonderful news. And it would hardly be fair for +anyone not present at the time to say that it wasn't perfectly true-- +every word of it. + +[Illustration: The Chain Caught on a Bush and Tripped Him] + + + + +XVI + +LOOKING PLEASANT + + +After Jasper Jay left Brownie Beaver, on that day when Jasper told +Brownie that the photographer had made a flashlight picture of him, +Brownie could hardly wait for it to grow dark. He had made up his mind +that he would go back to that same tree, which was still not quite +gnawed through; and he hoped that he would succeed in having his +picture taken again. Like many other people, Brownie Beaver felt that +he could not have too much of a good thing. + +There was another reason, too, for his going back to the tree. If the +light flared again and the click sounded in the bushes, Brownie +intended to go right into the thicket and get his picture before +anybody else could carry it away with him. (You can understand how +little he understood about taking photographs.) + +Well, the dark found Brownie back at the tree once more. And he began +once more to gnaw at it. He tried to look pleasant, too, because he +had heard that that was the way one should look when having his +picture taken. + +He found it rather difficult, gnawing chips out of the tree and +smiling at the same time. But he was an earnest youngster and he did +the best he could. + +Brownie Beaver kept wishing the flashlight would go off, because--what +with smiling and gnawing--his face began to ache. But no glare of +light broke through the darkness. + +It was not long before Brownie had gnawed away so many chips that the +tree began to nod its head further and further toward the ground. And +Brownie wished that the flash-light would hurry and go off before the +tree fell. + +But there was not even the faintest flicker of light. It was most +annoying. And Brownie was so disappointed that for once he forgot to +be careful when he was cutting down a tree. He kept his eyes on the +bushes all the time, instead of on the tree--as he should have done. +And all the time the tree leaned more and more. + +At last there was a _snap!_ Brownie Beaver should have known what +that meant. But he was so eager to have his picture taken that he +mistook the _snap_ for the _click_ that he had first heard almost a +week before. + +He thought it must be the click of a camera hidden in the bushes. And +he stood very still and looked extremely pleasant. Now, Brownie Beaver +should have known better. But like most people, for once he made a +mistake. What he really heard was the tree snapping. And before he +could jump out of the way the tree came crashing down upon him and +pinned him fast to the ground. He saw a flash of light, to be sure, +and a good many stars. But all that only came from the knock on his +head which the tree gave him. + + + + +XVII + +BROWNIE ESCAPES + + +When the tree crashed down upon Brownie Beaver and held him fast, it +was some time before he came to his senses. Then he did not know, at +first, where he was nor what had happened to him. But at last he +remembered that he had been cutting down a tree not far from the pond +and he saw that it must have fallen upon him. + +Of course, the first thing that occurred to him was to call for help. +But just as he opened his mouth to shout, another thought came into +his head. _Perhaps some man might hear him--or a bear!_ And Brownie +Beaver closed his mouth as quickly as he had opened it. + +Then he tried to squirm from under the tree-trunk. But he couldn't +move himself at all. Next he tried to push the tree away from him. But +he couldn't move the tree either. + +For a long while Brownie Beaver struggled, first at one impossible +thing, and then at the other. And all the time the tree seemed to grow +heavier and heavier. + +Finally, Brownie stopped trying to get free and began to feel hungry. + +You can see that he must have been worried, because there was the +tree, with plenty of bark on it which he could eat. But he never +noticed it for a long time. + +At last, however, he happened to remember that in the beginning he had +started to cut down that very tree so he could reach the bark and eat +it. + +Then Brownie Beaver had a good meal. And just as he finished eating, +another thought came into his head. _Why shouldn't he gnaw right +through the tree?_ + +Since there seemed to be no answer to that question, he began to gnaw +big chips out of the wood. And in a surprisingly short time he had cut +the tree apart just where it pressed upon him. + +Then, of course, all he had to do was to get up and walk away. + +When he reached the village he found that all his neighbors had been +looking everywhere for him. + +"That is," Grandaddy Beaver explained, "we looked everywhere except +near the tree where you had that adventure a few nights ago. I said +you wouldn't be there, for I advised you to keep away from that spot, +as you will recall." + +Now, Brownie Beaver said nothing more. He knew that it was an +unheard-of thing for one of the Beaver family to be caught by a falling +tree. To have everyone know what had happened to him would be a good +deal like a disgrace. + +But there are plenty of people who would think they had done something +quite clever if they had gnawed through a tree with their teeth-- +though that was something that never once entered Brownie Beaver's +head. + + + + +XVIII + +MR. FROG'S QUESTION + + +"Why don't you get some new clothes?" + +It was Mr. Frog that asked the question; and he asked it of Brownie +Beaver, who was at work on top of his house. Mr. Frog had been hiding +among the lily-pads, watching Brownie. But Brownie hadn't noticed him +until he stuck his head out of the water and spoke. + +At first Mr. Frog's question made Brownie a bit peevish. + +"What's the matter with my clothes?" he asked hotly. + +"There's nothing the matter with them--nothing at all," said Mr. +Frog--"except that they are not as becoming to you as they might be. +Of +course," he added, as he saw that Brownie Beaver was frowning, "you +look handsome in them. But you've no idea how you'd look in clothes of +_my_ making." + +Brownie Beaver felt more agreeable as soon as Mr. Frog had told him +what he meant. + +"Do _you_ make clothes?" he inquired. + +"I'm a tailor," Mr. Frog replied. "And I've just opened a shop at the +upper end of the pond." + +"What's the matter with my tail?" Brownie snapped. He was angry again. + +Then Mr. Frog explained that a tailor made suits. + +"We've nothing to do with _tails,"_ he said--"unless it's coat-tails." + +"What about cattails?" Brownie asked. "You're pretty close to some +right now. So you can hardly say you have nothing to do with them." + +Mr. Frog smiled. + +"I see you're a joker," he said. "And it really seems a pity," he went +on, "that a bright young fellow like you shouldn't wear the finest +clothes to be had anywhere. If you'll come to my shop I'll make you a +suit such as you never saw before in all your life." + +"I'll come!" Brownie Beaver promised. "I'll be there at sunset." + +And he went. Mr. Frog was waiting for him, with a broad smile on his +face. Any smile of his just had to be broad, because he had such a +wide mouth. + +"Come right in!" Mr. Frog said. "I'll measure you at once." So Brownie +Beaver stepped inside Mr. Frog's shop to be measured for his new suit. + +It was all over in a few minutes. Mr. Frog scratched some figures on a +flat stone. And then he went into the back room of his shop. + +He stayed there a long time. And when he came into the front part +again he found Brownie Beaver still there. + +"What are you waiting for?" Mr. Frog asked. He seemed surprised that +Brownie had not left. + +"I'm waiting for my suit, of course," Brownie Beaver said. + +"Oh! That won't be ready for three days," Mr. Frog told him. "I have +to make it, you know." + +Brownie thought that Mr. Frog must be a slow worker; and he told him +as much. + +But Mr. Frog did not agree with him. + +"I'm very spry!" he claimed. "On the jump every minute!" + +As Brownie started away, Mr. Frog called him back. + +"I'd get a new hat if I were you," he suggested. + +"What's the matter with this hat?" Brownie wanted to know. "It's a +beaver hat--one my great-grandfather used to wear. It's been in our +family a good many years and I'd hate to part with it." + +"You needn't part with it," Mr. Frog said pleasantly. "Just don't wear +it--that's all! For it won't look well with the clothes I'm going to +make for you." + +Then Brownie Beaver moved away once more. And again Mr. Frog stopped +him. + +"I'd buy a collar if I were you," he said. + +"What's the matter with this neckerchief?" Brownie Beaver demanded. +"It belonged to my great-grandmother." + +"Then I'd be careful of it if I were you," Mr. Frog told him. "And +please get a stiff white collar to wear." + +"Won't it get limp in the water?" Brownie asked, doubtfully. + +"Get a celluloid one, of course," Mr. Frog replied. "That's the only +kind of collar you ought to wear." + +So Brownie Beaver left the tailor-shop. And he was feeling quite +unhappy. He had always been satisfied with his clothes. But now he +began to dislike everything he had on. And he could hardly wait for +three day to pass, he was in such a hurry for Mr. Frog to finish his +new suit. + + + + +XIX + +THE NEW SUIT + + +Three days had passed. And as soon as he had finished his breakfast +Brownie Beaver hastened to the tailor-shop of Mr. Frog, who had been +making him a suit of clothes. + +Much to Brownie's disappointment, he found that Mr. Frog's door was +locked. But he sat down on the doorstep and waited a long time. And at +last Mr. Frog appeared. + +After bidding Brownie Beaver good-morning, Mr. Frog yawned widely, +remarking that he had been out late the night before, "at a +singing-party," he said. "What can I do for you?" he asked Brownie +Beaver. + +"You can let me have my new suit of clothes," Brownie told him. + +"You must be mistaken," Mr. Frog replied. "I don't remember you. I'm +not making any suit for you." + +At that Brownie Beaver became much excited. + +"Why--" he exclaimed--"I was here three days ago and you measured +me.... Don't you know me now?" he asked. + +"Sorry to say I don't," was Mr. Frog's answer. + +Brownie Beaver was desperate. He had looked forward eagerly to having +his new suit. And he wanted it at once. + +"You advised me to get a new hat and a collar," Brownie reminded him. + +Mr. Frog smiled. + +"Ah! That's it!" he cried. "You're wearing them now; and it's no +wonder I didn't recognize you. You look ten years younger." + +Brownie Beaver was puzzled. + +"I'm not ten yet," he said. "So if I look ten years younger, I must +appear very young indeed." + +"The new clothes will fix that," Mr. Frog assured him. + +"But you just told me you were not making a suit for me," said +Brownie. + +"Quite true, too!" answered Mr. Frog--"because it's all finished. So, +of course, I'm not making it now." + +They had stepped inside the shop. And Mr. Frog carefully took some +garments off a peg and spread them before Brownie Beaver. + +"There!" he said with an air of pride. "The finest suit you ever saw!" + +"I'll slip it on," said Brownie. + +"Oh! I wouldn't do that!" Mr. Frog told him. "You might stretch it." + +But nothing could have kept Brownie Beaver out of his new suit. He +scrambled into it quickly, while the tailor stood by with a worried +look upon his face. + +"The coat seems to be all right," Brownie remarked. "But there's +something wrong with the trousers. I can't see my feet!" He bent over +and gazed down where his feet ought to have been. But they had +vanished. And an end of each trouser-leg trailed on the floor. "These +trousers are too long!" Brownie declared. + +"Then you stretched them, putting them on," Mr. Frog said. "I warned +you, you know." + +"I was very careful," Brownie said. "I'm sure it can't be that." + +"Then your legs are too short," Mr. Frog told him glibly. "They look +to me to be _much_ shorter than they were when I measured you." + +"My legs--" Brownie Beaver exclaimed--"my legs are exactly the same +length they were three days ago! You've made a mistake, Mr. Frog. +That's what's the matter with these trousers!" + +But Mr. Frog shook his head. + +"I made them according to your measurements," he insisted. + +"Let me see your figures!" Brownie Beaver cried. + +But Mr. Frog shook his head again. + +"I don't do business that way," he explained. "As soon as I've +finished a suit I throw away the stone on which I've written the +measurements. It saves trouble, if there's any complaint afterwards." + +"Well!" said Brownie. "What can we do about this? I can't wear the +trousers as they are." + +"You'll have to get your legs stretched," Mr. Frog told him. "Just tie +a stone to each foot and wear the trousers for a few days. As soon as +you see your feet, take off the stones.... It's simple enough." He +helped tie some heavy stones to Brownie's feet. And then Brownie swam +away. + +Now, swimming with your feet weighted like that is no easy matter. But +Brownie managed to reach home. He stayed there, too, for the rest of +the day, because it was hard for him to move about. And since he had +nothing else to do, he went to sleep. + +When he awoke, about an hour before sunset, he couldn't think at first +what made his feet feel so heavy. He thought he must be ill--until he +remembered about the stones being tied to his feet. + +Then he looked down. And to his great surprise and joy there were his +feet sticking out of his trousers, just as they ought to stick out! + +Brownie untied the stones. He had not supposed his legs would stretch +so quickly as that. And he told himself that Mr. Frog was a good +tailor. He certainly knew his business. Now, as a matter of fact, Mr. +Frog was a very careless person. He had thrown away Brownie's +measurements _before_ he made his clothes, instead of _afterwards_. +And he had made the new suit entirely by guesswork. It was only +natural that he would make some mistake; and so he had cut the +trousers entirely too long. + +When he discovered that, he wanted to get Brownie out of his shop. And +what happened next was simply this: After Brownie's trousers were wet +in the pond, they dried while he was sleeping. And while they were +drying they were shrinking at the same time. + +Though Brownie Beaver didn't know it, his legs had not stretched at +all. They were exactly the same length they had always been. + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Tale of Brownie Beaver, by Arthur Scott Bailey + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TALE OF BROWNIE BEAVER *** + +This file should be named brbvr10.txt or brbvr10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, brbvr11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, brbvr10a.txt + +Produced by Phil McLaury, Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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