e been asleep in there all winter!
It's weeks and weeks since I last saw you. And I'm here now only because
I happened to wander this way, when I heard old dog Spot baying."

Cuffy Bear was so surprised that he couldn't say another word. His mouth
fell open. And he gazed blankly at Nimble.

But at last he spoke. "I must apologize to you," he said, "though it was
really no wonder I called you 'madam.' You have changed a great deal
since I left you here."

"And you--" Nimble told him--"you have changed too."

"I have?" Cuffy Bear cried. "How's that? How have I changed?"

"You look much hungrier," Nimble explained.

Cuffy Bear laid a paw across his waistcoat.

"I _am_ hungry," he admitted. "And if you're going down the mountain I
think I'll stroll along with you and see what I can find to eat."

"Very well!" Nimble agreed.

"One moment!" Cuffy Bear said hastily. "Just one moment, please! Wait
till I go inside my cave! I believe I left my cap in there."

"I'm not going to wait for you," Nimble replied firmly. "For all I know
you might not come out again till haying time."

And then Nimble trotted off down the mountainside, heading for Cedar
Swamp. For he didn't think old dog Spot would wander in that direction.

XIV

ANTLERS

Although Nimble had lost his horns he managed to go through the winter
without missing them as much as he had expected. And in time he had
almost forgotten the pair of spikes that he had worn on his head the
summer before. Then, one day, he made a great discovery. He found that
new horns were sprouting to take the place of those that he had lost!

"Now I can have some mock battles again--when my horns get long enough,"
he thought. And then he stopped short. What if the Spike Horns of the
year before had no more horns? If they were hornless they certainly
wouldn't care to take part in any mock battles.

Nimble's fears were soon set at rest. His old playmates soon let him
know that they were all going to have new horns too.

And then, a little later, Nimble made another great discovery. He was
looking into a pool one morning when he saw something that gave him huge
delight. His new horns were not like last year's horns. He beheld,
mirrored in the water, a handsome pair of Y-shaped antlers, each with
two points!

"Hurrah!" he cried. "I'll make those Spike Horns feel like hiding
themselves again."

He had expected to have a pleasant time showing his new antlers to his
old fr