[Cover Illustration]
                              [Endpapers]




                               Billy Mink




                                Books by

                          THORNTON W. BURGESS

                       _Mother West Wind Series_
                          Old Mother West Wind
                      Mother West Wind’s Children
                   Mother West Wind’s Animal Friends
                      Mother West Wind’s Neighbors
                     Mother West Wind “Why” Stories
                     Mother West Wind “How” Stories
                    Mother West Wind “When” Stories
                    Mother West Wind “Where” Stories

                         _Green Meadow Series_
                               Happy Jack
                           Mrs. Peter Rabbit
                            Bowser the Hound
                             Old Granny Fox

                         _Green Forest Series_
                           Lightfoot the Deer
                            Blacky the Crow
                        Whitefoot the Wood Mouse
                          Buster Bear’s Twins

                         _Smiling Pool Series_
                               Billy Mink
                            Little Joe Otter
                         Jerry Muskrat at Home
                           Longlegs the Heron




[Illustration: “Of course,” said Billy Mink, “you and I are safe
enough.”]




                     =BURGESS TRADE QUADDIES MARK=

                         =Smiling Pool Series=


                              =Billy Mink=

                                  =By=
                         =THORNTON W. BURGESS=

                       =_With Illustrations by_=
                            =HARRISON CADY=

                            =[Illustration]=

                           =Grosset & Dunlap=

                       =PUBLISHERS      NEW YORK=




                     _Copyright, 1919, 1920, 1924_,
                         BY THORNTON W. BURGESS

                         _All rights reserved_

                PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

             BY ARRANGEMENT WITH LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY




                                CONTENTS

          CHAPTER                                           PAGE
                I Billy Mink Becomes Suspicious.  .  .  .      1
               II Billy Finds a Trap.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     6
              III Billy Outwits the Trapper.  .  .  .  .      11
               IV Billy Finds Some Queer Fences.  .  .  .     16
                V A Moonlight Visit.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     21
               VI Billy Warns Bobby Coon.  .  .  .  .  .      26
              VII Bobby and Billy Put Their Heads Together    31
             VIII What Bobby Coon and Billy Mink Did.  .      36
               IX Bobby Coon Gets a Fright.  .  .  .  .  .    41
                X Billy and Bobby Warn Their Friends.  .      46
               XI Billy and Little Joe Decide to Go
                    Visiting.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      51
              XII Billy Has the Wandering Foot.  .  .  .      56
             XIII Billy Makes Himself at Home.  .  .  .  .    61
              XIV Billy Has Good Hunting.  .  .  .  .  .      66
               XV A Den of Robbers.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      71
              XVI A Robber Meeting.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .      76
             XVII The Robbers Decide to Fight.  .  .  .  .    81
            XVIII The Rats Plan to Kill Billy Mink.  .  .     86
              XIX The Danger Signal.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     91
               XX Why the Plans of the Rats Failed.  .  .     96
              XXI The Rats Leave the Big Barn.  .  .  .  .   101
             XXII Billy Mink’s Surprise.  .  .  .  .  .  .   106
            XXIII Billy Hunts in Vain.  .  .  .  .  .  .     111
             XXIV Where the Rats Were.  .  .  .  .  .  .     116
              XXV The Farmer and His Wife Are in Despair.    120
             XXVI The Rats Start a Fire.  .  .  .  .  .  .   124
            XXVII Billy Is Discovered.  .  .  .  .  .  .     129
           XXVIII The Farmer Guesses the Truth.  .  .  .     134
             XXIX The Farmer Makes Friends with Billy.  .    139
              XXX Billy Lives High.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .     144
             XXXI Billy Trails His Breakfast.  .  .  .  .    148
            XXXII Billy Makes a Discovery.  .  .  .  .  .    153
           XXXIII The Farmer Sees a Strange Sight.  .  .     158
            XXXIV Billy Goes Home.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .   162
             XXXV Billy Mink Is Quick.  .  .  .  .  .  .     167
            XXXVI A Heap of Snow Comes to Life.  .  .  .     172
           XXXVII Jumper the Hare Has a Bad Hour.  .  .  .   177
          XXXVIII Jumper Is in a Dreadful State of Mind.     182
            XXXIX An Enemy Proves a Friend.  .  .  .  .  .   186
               XL Something Billy Mink Didn’t Know.  .  .    191




                              ILLUSTRATIONS

           “Of course,” said Billy Mink, “you and
             I are safe enough.”.  .  .  .  .  .   _Frontispiece_

           Jerry Muskrat was swimming over
             towards his house.  .  .  .  .  .  .              49

           The Rats leave the big barn.  .  .  .              105

           It was plain to see that those Rats
             were in a terrible fright.  .  .  .              160




                               CHAPTER I
                     BILLY MINK BECOMES SUSPICIOUS


                 The stranger and the unknown must
                 Be always looked on with distrust.
                                     _Billy Mink._

Of all the little people in the Green Forest there is none with sharper
eyes and keener wits than Billy Mink. Nothing goes on along the Laughing
Brook, from where it starts in the Green Forest to where it joins the
Big River, that Billy Mink doesn’t know about. Billy is a great
traveler. He is so full of life and energy that he cannot keep still
very long at a time. Moreover, Billy is one of those little people to
whom it makes no difference whether jolly, round, bright Mr. Sun is
shining or gentle Mistress Moon has taken his place up in the sky, or
the Black Shadows have wrapped everything in darkness. He takes a nap
whenever he feels sleepy. Whenever he doesn’t feel sleepy he travels
back and forth up and down the Laughing Brook.

In these little journeys back and forth nothing escapes Billy’s bright
eyes and sharp ears and keen nose. Being such a slim fellow, he slips in
and out of holes and hiding-places which no one save his cousin, Shadow
the Weasel, could get into. Now it happened that one day Billy curled up
in a hollow log under a pile of brush close to the Laughing Brook. In a
jiffy he was asleep. Right in the very middle of the pleasantest of
pleasant dreams he was awakened. Instantly he was wide awake. He was
just as wide awake as if he hadn’t been asleep at all. Without stopping
to think anything about it, he knew what had awakened him. Some one had
just passed his hiding-place.

Noiselessly Billy crept out of the hollow log and peeped from under the
pile of brush. Walking down the bank of the Laughing Brook was a man.

“I’ve never seen that fellow before,” muttered Billy to himself. “It
isn’t Farmer Brown’s boy and it isn’t Farmer Brown. He seems to be
looking for something. I wonder what he is about. I think I’ll watch
him.”

So, as silently as a shadow, Billy Mink followed the man down the
Laughing Brook, and the man didn’t once suspect it. You see, Billy can
always find a hiding-place if it be no more than a heap of brown leaves.
He just slipped from one hiding-place to another, always keeping the man
in sight.

Billy became more and more interested and inquisitive as he watched that
man. The man certainly did seem to be looking for something. He would
examine every half-sunken log in the Laughing Brook. He searched
carefully along each bank. He looked into every little hole. It didn’t
take Billy long to discover that this man seemed to be especially
interested in those places where Billy almost always went when traveling
up and down the Laughing Brook.

Billy stopped and rubbed his nose thoughtfully. He was growing
suspicious. “I wonder,” thought Billy, “if he is looking for me.”




                               CHAPTER II
                           BILLY FINDS A TRAP


             True wisdom watches closest where
             There seems least cause for fear or care.
                                     _Billy Mink._

For two days Billy Mink saw nothing more of the man who had made him
suspicious. But this didn’t make Billy feel any easier in his mind. He
had a feeling that the man had visited the Laughing Brook and the
Smiling Pool for no good purpose. He had a feeling that his visit had
something to do with himself. So Billy became more watchful than ever
and traveled up and down the length of the Laughing Brook more often
than ever, trying with eyes and nose to find out just what that man had
been about.

On the third day the man came again. Billy saw him almost as soon as he
reached the Laughing Brook, but not quite. The man had come down the
Laughing Brook a little way before Billy had discovered him. Just as he
had done the first time, Billy followed the man. Just as before, the man
seemed to be looking for something. Billy watched him until finally he
tramped off through the Green Forest. Then Billy turned and hurried back
to the place where he had first seen the man that morning.

“He didn’t do anything while I watched him but poke about and seem to be
looking for something,” muttered Billy. “I wonder if he did anything
else before I discovered him. I think I’ll look and make sure that
everything is all right up the Laughing Brook.”

So Billy went up the Laughing Brook above the place where he had first
seen the man that morning. He crossed back and forth from one bank to
the other, and he examined every stick and log and hole as he went
along. Being suspicious, he took the greatest care not to step anywhere
until he had first looked to make sure that it was safe.

His nose told him just where the man had been, but for some time he
found nothing suspicious. Everything was just as it should be.
Nevertheless, Billy was filled with uneasiness. He couldn’t get rid of a
feeling that something was wrong somewhere. Presently he came to a hole
in the bank, a hole with which he was very familiar. From that hole came
the most appetizing smell. Now Billy was hungry. He had spent so much
time following that strange man that for some time he had had no chance
to eat.

The smell from that hole was of fish. That fish was in the back of the
hole. There was no doubt about that. All Billy had to do was to go in
and get it, and that is what he was tempted to do. Then in a flash a
thought came to him. There never had been a fish there before, so why
should there be one now? With the greatest care Billy began to examine
everything around that hole. In the water, just at the entrance to that
hole, were some dead leaves held down by a little bit of mud. Billy
didn’t remember ever seeing those leaves before. Very cautiously he
reached out and lifted them. Underneath was a trap!




                              CHAPTER III
                       BILLY OUTWITS THE TRAPPER


                  As smart and clever as you are,
                  A Mink may smarter be by far.
                                  _Billy Mink._

This is what Billy Mink said to himself as he uncovered the trap which
had been set for him at the entrance to one of his favorite holes in the
bank of the Laughing Brook. Of course he was thinking of the trapper
when he said it. At first Billy flew into a great rage. It made him
angry clear to the tip of his brown tail just to think that he must now
be always watching for traps where for so long there had been no danger.

At first he had thought to go on at once up the Laughing Brook and see
what more he could discover. But you remember that Billy was hungry and
that there was a piece of perfectly delicious fish back in that hole. He
knew now just how that fish happened to be there. He knew that the
trapper had put that piece of fish in there, hoping that Billy would be
so eager to get it that he would be careless.

The more he smelled it, the more he wanted it. “It will serve that
trapper right if I get that fish,” muttered Billy. “Perhaps it will
teach him that he is not so smart as he thinks he is.”

Billy sat down and studied the trap and the entrance to the hole. The
more he studied, the more sure he became that he would be running a very
foolish risk if he tried to step over that trap just to get a piece of
fish. You see, that trap had been very cunningly placed. But the more he
smelled that fish, the more he wanted it.

Billy stroked his whiskers thoughtfully. Of course that didn’t have
anything to do with it, but just the same while he was stroking them he
remembered something. His eyes snapped and he grinned. Way up on the
bank between the roots of a certain tree was a little hole. It was the
entrance to a little underground tunnel, and that tunnel led right down
to the very hole in front of which the trap was set. It really was a
back door.

Billy turned and in a flash had scrambled up the bank. With his keen
little nose he made sure that there was no scent of the trapper up
there. He felt sure the trapper had not found that little hole between
the roots of a certain tree. But though he was sure of this, he took no
chances. As he approached the hole he took the greatest care to make
sure no trap was in there.

There was none. Once inside the hole, Billy ran along that little
tunnel, chuckling to himself. He knew that now there was no danger. He
could get that fish. He did get it. He got it and ate it right there.
Then he turned and ran out the way he had entered. Somehow that fish had
tasted the best of any fish he ever had eaten. It was because he had
outwitted the trapper.




                               CHAPTER IV
                     BILLY FINDS SOME QUEER FENCES


              When something new and strange you find,
              Watch out! To danger be not blind.
                                        _Billy Mink._

The trouble with a great many people is that they are heedless. When
they find something new and strange they forget everything but their
curiosity. Because of this they walk right straight into trouble. It
happens over and over again.

But Billy Mink isn’t this kind of a person. My, my, I should say not. He
never has been. If he had he would have lost that beautiful, brown coat
of his long ago and there would be no Billy Mink. Billy has his share of
curiosity, but with it he possesses a great big bump of suspicion. When
he finds anything new and strange he wants to learn all about it. But
right away he is suspicious of it.

After he had discovered the trap set for him at the entrance to one of
his favorite holes, and had fooled the trapper by getting the fish the
trapper had placed in that hole, Billy went on up the Laughing Brook to
see what else he could discover. Not very far above that place there was
a steep bank on each side of the Laughing Brook. Along the foot of each
bank was a narrow strip of level ground between the bank and the water.
You see, at this season of the year, the water in the Laughing Brook was
low.

When Billy came to this place he discovered something queer. It was a
little fence. It ran from the foot of the bank straight out into the
Laughing Brook to where the water became deep. Midway in this little
fence was a gateway just big enough to slip through comfortably. Billy
looked across to the other side of the Laughing Brook. Over there was
another little fence just like this one, and that little fence had an
opening in it.

“Huh!” said Billy. “Huh! These fences are something new. They were not
here when I came down the Laughing Brook yesterday. I wonder what they
are for. If it were not for those two little openings I would have
either to climb the bank or swim around the ends of those fences, and
that would be bothersome. I can go through that little opening there as
easily as rolling off a log. But I’m not going to do it. No, sir, I’m
not going to do it. There is something wrong about these fences. They
look to me as if they were built just to make me go through one of those
little gateways. If that’s the case, I’m not going to do it.”

So Billy plunged into the Laughing Brook and swam out into the deep
water around the end of the little fence. Then very carefully he
approached the little opening from that side. The more he looked at it,
the less he liked it. Right in the middle of that little opening were
some wet, dead leaves. “Ha, ha!” said Billy. “Another trap!”




                               CHAPTER V
                           A MOONLIGHT VISIT


                    Do a good turn for another,
                    Proving thus you are his brother.
                                      _Billy Mink._

Billy Mink was just plain mad. He had begun to get that way when he
found the trap set at the entrance to one of his favorite holes. But
when he found a little fence on each side of the Laughing Brook right
across where he was in the habit of running when traveling up and down
the Laughing Brook, and in the middle of each little fence an opening
with a trap in it, Billy lost his temper completely. He ground his teeth
and his eyes grew red with anger. You see, he knew that those traps had
been set especially for him.

“I despise a trapper,” snarled Billy. “Yes, sir, I despise a trapper. It
is bad enough to be hunted, but then a fellow does have some chance. He
knows where the danger is and what to look out for. If he is reasonably
smart he can fool the hunter. But traps don’t give a fellow any chance
at all. They are sneaky things. They jump up and grab a fellow without
any warning at all. I hate traps, and I hate trappers! I wonder if I can
find any more traps along the Laughing Brook.”

Billy continued on up to the very beginning of the Laughing Brook, but
found no more traps. Then he curled up in one of his favorite
hiding-places to rest and think things over. He was strongly tempted to
go away from the Laughing Brook altogether. He thought of going down to
the Big River for a long visit. He felt sure that if he kept away from
the Laughing Brook the trapper would become discouraged and after a
while take up his traps. He had just about made up his mind to leave
that very night when he happened to remember that while he knew all
about those traps, he had friends who didn’t know anything about them.
“I guess I’ll stay around awhile and see what happens,” muttered Billy.

That night Billy went for another look at those traps. By and by a
little noise caught his quick ears. Instantly he was alert and watchful.
There was a rustling of leaves, and then out on an old log full in the
moonlight crept a plump form and sat down. One glance was enough for
Billy. Without a sound he slipped up behind that plump form.

“Booh!” said Billy. When he said that Bobby Coon almost fell into the
Laughing Brook, he was so startled. You see it was Bobby who had come
out on that old log, and at the time he was very busy washing some food.
You know he always washes his food before eating, if he can.

For a minute Bobby lost his temper. But it was only for a minute. Then,
having washed his food to his satisfaction, he began to eat his supper
and at the same time to gossip with Billy Mink. He told Billy all the
news of the Green Forest, most of which was no news at all to Billy, for
there is little going on that Billy doesn’t know. Then Billy told Bobby
the news of the Laughing Brook, everything except about the traps and
trapper. It was a very pleasant visit they had together there in the
moonlight.




                               CHAPTER VI
                         BILLY WARNS BOBBY COON


                 A moment’s carelessness may bring
                 A sudden end to everything.
                                     _Billy Mink._

For a long time Billy Mink and Bobby Coon sat gossiping on the edge of
the Laughing Brook. Then Bobby, having finished what he had to eat,
decided that he would go down the Laughing Brook to see what he could
find. There’s nothing Bobby Coon enjoys more than wandering along the
Laughing Brook, watching for a little fish to come carelessly within
reach, or just simply playing in the water. Bobby has almost as much
curiosity as has Peter Rabbit. He simply has to examine everything which
appears strange. A white pebble in the water or a shell will catch his
eyes, and he will stop to play with it.

Billy Mink watched Bobby start along down the Laughing Brook. “I wonder
what he’ll do when he comes to that little fence,” thought Billy. So, to
find out what Bobby would do, he followed him. When Bobby came to the
little fence he sat down and stared at it in the funniest way. Then he
began to talk to himself.

“That’s a funny thing,” said he. “I wonder how that little fence happens
to be here. I’ve never seen it before. I wonder what it’s for. Nobody
had any business to build a fence like that. The only way I can get
around it is to climb way up that bank, and I don’t want to do that.”
You know Bobby is rather lazy.

So he sat and looked at the fence, which was made of sticks stuck down
in the ground, and the more he looked the more determined he became that
he wouldn’t be stopped and he wouldn’t climb that bank. Of course it
didn’t take him long to discover that right in the middle of that fence
was an opening, sort of a gateway. But it was a very narrow opening. You
see, it had been made just wide enough for Billy Mink, and Bobby Coon is
a great deal bigger than Billy Mink.

Bobby went a little nearer and once more sat down with his head cocked
on one side as he studied that little opening. “It’s too narrow for me,
but if I try hard enough, perhaps I can push those sticks aside and make
it wider. That would be easier than climbing that steep bank,” thought
he.

So Bobby walked a few steps nearer and again sat down. Somehow, he had
an uncomfortable feeling that something was wrong. He didn’t know why he
had that feeling, but he had it. Now whenever one of the little people
of the Green Forest has that feeling he becomes very cautious. Bobby was
tempted to try at once to push his way through that little opening, but
because of that feeling that something was wrong he hesitated. Then very
carefully he examined that little fence, from the bottom of the steep
bank clear to the edge of the water. He smelled of each separate stick
of that fence but he could smell nothing suspicious. Those were just
plain old sticks and nothing else. Finally he made up his mind that
there couldn’t be anything really wrong in at least trying to go through
that little opening. He reached forward with one foot to place it right
in the middle of that opening.

“Stop!” cried Billy Mink.




                              CHAPTER VII
                BOBBY AND BILLY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER


                     Oh, if we but always knew
                     What to do or not to do.
                               _Billy Mink._

When Billy Mink cried “Stop!” Bobby Coon stopped. He stopped with one
paw lifted and just ready to put it down in the middle of the little
opening in that fence which had so puzzled him. He turned his head to
look back at Billy Mink. “Why should I stop?” he demanded, and he spoke
rather crossly.

“Because, if you take one more step ahead, it will be the last step you
ever will take,” snapped Billy.

Bobby didn’t take that step. Instead he backed away in such a hurry that
it really was funny. You would have thought that he had burned his toes.
Then he turned to face Billy Mink. “What sort of nonsense is this?” he
growled. “I don’t see anything wrong.”

Billy grinned. “You may not see anything wrong,” said he, “but if you
had put your foot down in that little opening you would have felt
something wrong. Yes, indeed, you would have felt something wrong! You
certainly would. There is a trap hidden there. I suspect it was set for
me, but I guess the trapper who set it would almost as soon catch you as
me.”

Bobby Coon blinked and looked very hard at Billy Mink to see if he were
fooling. When he saw the angry red in Billy’s eyes, he knew that Billy
wasn’t fooling.

“Goodness, that was a narrow escape!” exclaimed Bobby. “I’m ever so much
obliged to you, Billy Mink. I hope that some day I can do something for
you. If you hadn’t happened along to-night, I guess I would be in a
terrible fix right now. Do you suppose that trapper built that little
fence?”

“Of course,” retorted Billy Mink. “He built it so that the only way of
going up or down the Laughing Brook without taking a lot of trouble
would be to go through that little opening, and no one could get through
that little opening without stepping in that trap. There’s another one
set just the same way on the other side of the Laughing Brook.”

Bobby Coon looked across and for the first time he saw the other little
fence. Bobby’s face became very sober. “We ought to do something about
those traps,” said he. “We are the only ones who know anything about
them, and we can’t sit here all the time to warn others who may be
traveling up and down the Laughing Brook. I wouldn’t want my worst enemy
to be caught in one of those dreadful traps. What can we do to warn
others?”

“I don’t know,” replied Billy Mink. “I guess we’ll have to put our heads
together and think up something. You know two heads are better than
one.”

Bobby nodded. “Let’s go back to that old log there and talk it over,”
said he. And this is just what they did.




                              CHAPTER VIII
                   WHAT BOBBY COON AND BILLY MINK DID


               By him who seeks is knowledge gained,
               And thus may wisdom be attained.
                                     _Billy Mink._

Bobby Coon and Billy Mink sat on an old log on the bank of the Laughing
Brook and talked over the traps Billy Mink had discovered and what
should be done about them.

“Of course,” said Billy Mink, “you and I are safe enough. We know
exactly where those traps are, and we are not going to be so foolish as
to get caught in one of them. But there are others who travel up and
down the Laughing Brook who might not discover the traps until too
late.”

Bobby Coon nodded his head. “Just what I was thinking,” said he. “But
for you, Billy Mink, I would be in that trap down there this very
minute. It was stupid of me not to have suspected that the little
opening in that fence was left purposely to tempt whoever came along to
go through it, instead of taking the trouble to climb that steep bank
and go around the fence. There may be others just as stupid. We ought to
do something about it, but what can we do?”

“Are you afraid to go near that trap?” demanded Billy.

Bobby scratched his head thoughtfully. “How near?” he asked.

“Near enough to get your paw under it,” replied Billy.

“I don’t know,” replied Bobby. “What good will that do?”

“Well, you see,” replied Billy, “that trap is set right in the middle of
that little opening, and it has been covered with wet, dead leaves. Now
I know something about traps. I’ve seen a lot of them in my day. If any
one should step on those wet leaves, two steel jaws would snap up and
grab him by the leg. But those steel jaws always snap _up_. They can’t
snap the other way. If your paw is _underneath_ the trap, there is no
danger. By doing this you can lift that trap up so that it will no
longer be covered with those dead leaves, and whoever comes along will
see it. It isn’t safe to try to pull the leaves off of it, because you
might get caught doing it. If you will do that to the trap on this side,
I will do the same thing to the trap on the other side of the Laughing
Brook. If you’re afraid, just say so, and I’ll take care of both traps.”

Now Bobby Coon _was_ afraid, because, you see, he had never had anything
to do with traps. But he wasn’t willing to own up that he was afraid. He
knew that if he showed that he was afraid he never would hear the end of
it, for Billy Mink would be sure to tell everybody he knew. He thought
the matter over for a few minutes and then he grunted, “I guess if you
can do it, I can.”

“All right. Let’s get busy,” cried Billy Mink, jumping up. “I don’t want
to spend the rest of the night sitting around here.”

So Billy Mink swam across the Laughing Brook and Bobby Coon slowly
shuffled along on his side down towards the little fence where the trap
was set.




                               CHAPTER IX
                        BOBBY COON GETS A FRIGHT


                  Sense and reason take to flight
                  In the face of sudden fright.
                                    _Billy Mink._

Bobby Coon walked slowly down the bank of the Laughing Brook to the
little fence with the little opening in it where he knew a trap was
hidden. Bobby was not at all easy in his mind. He didn’t know much about
traps. If he had known more about them than he did, he would have been
less afraid. Looking across the Laughing Brook he could see a little
brown form bounding along the other bank in the moonlight. It was Billy
Mink. He knew that Billy was not afraid and that Billy was going to do
on that side of the Laughing Brook what he himself had agreed to do on
his side.

Bobby approached the little opening in that fence made of sticks and
studied it carefully. Billy Mink had said there was a trap there, but
look as he would Bobby couldn’t see a sign of one. Some wet, dead leaves
lay in the little opening in the fence and nothing else was to be seen.
Billy Mink had said the trap was under those leaves. Bobby wondered how
Billy Mink knew. Billy had told him that there was no danger except
right in that little opening.

Very cautiously Bobby pulled away the dead leaves that covered the
ground on his side of the little fence in front of the opening. He even
dug down into the sand a little. Presently his fingers caught on
something hard. He pulled them away as if they had been burned. Nothing
happened. Curiosity gave Bobby new courage. He dug away very carefully
the leaves and sand at that particular spot and presently he uncovered
something shiny. Anything bright and shiny always interests Bobby Coon.
Again he touched it and snatched away his paw. Nothing happened. Then
Bobby got hold of that shiny thing and pulled ever so gently. The leaves
in the little opening in the fence moved. Bobby pulled again. Those
leaves moved some more. You see, Bobby had hold of the chain of that
hidden trap.

Finding that there was nothing dangerous about the chain, Bobby
continued to pull, and presently there was the trap itself right in
front of him. He sat down and studied it. He wondered how it worked. He
was afraid of it, but he was very, very curious. There it lay with its
jaws spread wide. Bobby remembered that Billy Mink had said that there
would be no danger if he put his paw under it. Very cautiously Bobby
slipped a paw underneath. All of a sudden that trap jumped right off the
ground. There was a wicked-sounding snap, and those two jaws flew up and
came together so swiftly that Bobby didn’t really see what had happened.
He had sprung the trap.

Bobby didn’t wait to see what had happened or what was going to happen
next. He almost turned a back somersault in his hurry to get away from
that strange thing. He scurried along back up the Laughing Brook as if
he expected that trap would follow him.




                               CHAPTER X
                   BILLY AND BOBBY WARN THEIR FRIENDS


                   To feel as happy as you would
                   Try working for the general good.
                                     _Billy Mink._

Bobby Coon had been so frightened when he had sprung that trap by the
Laughing Brook that probably he would have run clear back to his home in
the Green Forest had he not found Billy Mink waiting for him at the old
log where they had met earlier in the evening. Billy was grinning.

“What are you running for?” he demanded. “I thought you were not
afraid.”

Bobby Coon stopped. “It—it tried to catch me,” he panted. “It jumped
right at me.”

Billy Mink chuckled. “But I see it didn’t catch you,” said he. “Didn’t I
tell you it wouldn’t hurt you if you put your paw under it? That kind of
a trap is perfectly harmless as long as you do not step in it. I’m glad
you sprung it. I sprung the one on the other side of the Laughing Brook
the same way. Now, both of those traps are harmless. They will be until
the trapper sets them again. We can go up and down the Laughing Brook
through the openings in those little fences with nothing to fear as long
as those traps are in plain sight. That trapper will probably come
around to-morrow, but for the remainder of to-night there is nothing for
us to worry about. Let’s go down the Laughing Brook to the Smiling
Pool.”

The idea of going down to the Smiling Pool was too much for Bobby Coon
to resist. So he followed Billy Mink down the bank of the Laughing
Brook. When they reached the trap which Bobby had sprung, Billy Mink
kicked it aside as he passed. It was plain to see that Billy had known
what he had been talking about when he had said that now that trap was
perfectly harmless. Then, without hesitating, Billy slipped through the
little opening in that fence the trapper had built. That proved there
was nothing to fear there now, so Bobby followed. He had to make the
opening big enough to get through, but he did this by pulling up a
couple of the sticks.

[Illustration: Jerry Muskrat was swimming over towards his house.]

When they reached the Smiling Pool, they saw Little Joe Otter sitting on
the Big Rock. Jerry Muskrat was swimming over towards his house.

“Hi, you fellows!” called Billy Mink. “Come over here. We’ve something
to tell you.”

Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat had a race over to the place where
Billy Mink and Bobby Coon were waiting.

“What is it you have to tell us?” demanded Little Joe. “I don’t believe
it’s anything important.”

“That depends on how you look at it,” retorted Billy Mink. “Somebody has
been setting traps along the Laughing Brook. I’ve found three of them,
and Bobby Coon and I have sprung two of them. We thought we’d just come
down here and give you fellows warning.” Then Bobby and Billy told
Little Joe and Jerry all about those traps.




                               CHAPTER XI
               BILLY AND LITTLE JOE DECIDE TO GO VISITING


                 Don’t scoff at one who runs away;
                 He’ll live to scoff at you some day.
                                       _Billy Mink._

After visiting the Smiling Pool and warning Little Joe Otter and Jerry
Muskrat to watch out for traps, Bobby Coon decided that the Laughing
Brook was altogether too dangerous a place for him, so he turned back
into the Green Forest, firmly resolved to keep away from the Laughing
Brook. Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter talked things over.

“I found three traps,” said Billy Mink. “There may be some I have not
found. Anyway, it is certain that when that trapper finds that I know
about those traps, he will set some more. I don’t believe he is smart
enough to hide a trap so that we cannot find it. But you know, accidents
will happen. He knows that you and I live along the Laughing Brook and
he will simply make life miserable for us by continuing to set traps. Do
you know what I believe I’ll do?”

“What?” asked Little Joe Otter.

“I believe I’ll go away for a visit,” replied Billy Mink. “I’ve been
feeling rather restless for some time, anyway, and there isn’t any
better time of year to go visiting than right now, before the snow and
ice come. There’s a certain brook some distance from here that for a
long time I’ve been thinking of visiting. I believe I’ll start to-night
and I’ll stay long enough for this trapper to get tired of setting traps
and catching nothing.”

“That’s a good idea,” said Little Joe Otter. “I believe I’ll go visiting
myself. I always did like to travel. There is no sense in taking foolish
risks, and that is just what we would be doing by staying here. I think
I’ll go down to the Big River and stay awhile. The fishing here isn’t as
good as it might be, anyway. I wonder if Jerry Muskrat will go visiting
too. Let’s tell him what we are going to do and see if he wants to go
along with one of us.”

“He can’t go with me,” declared Billy Mink, in a most decided tone. “He
travels too slowly. I don’t believe he would want to go with me anyway,
because, between you and me, I suspect Jerry is a little afraid of me.”

Little Joe Otter grinned. “I guess he has reason to be,” said he. “I’ve
been told that the Mink family has a liking for Muskrat meat. I hardly
think he’ll want to go along with me either, because he is such a
home-loving body. But anyway, we’ll tell him what we’re going to do and
then he can do as he pleases.”

So Billy Mink and Little Joe Otter hunted up Jerry Muskrat and told him
how they were going to fool the trapper by going visiting. They urged
him to do the same thing.




                              CHAPTER XII
                      BILLY HAS THE WANDERING FOOT


                 If to yourself you would be true,
                 Use all the talents given you.
                                   _Billy Mink._

When a person becomes uneasy and cannot settle in one place for any
length of time but wants to keep traveling, he is said to be possessed
of the wandering foot. This means that he wants to wander about in
search of new scenes and new adventures. To put it very plainly, he
becomes sort of a tramp.

Billy Mink for some time had felt a desire to go visiting. These traps
gave him a real excuse for so doing. So Billy turned his back on the
Laughing Brook and started for another brook some distance away. He had
not intended to go farther than this brook. But when he got there he
found that the fishing was not as good as he had hoped it would be, so
he decided to keep on moving until he found a place where food was
plentiful and he would be contented for a while.

Now while Billy Mink is a great lover of the water and is almost as much
at home in it as Jerry Muskrat, he is equally at home on land. In fact,
Billy often wanders long distances from water. He likes variety, and
there are times when he would rather hunt than fish. He is a very good
hunter, as many a mouse and bird has found out too late. So, leaving the
brook where the fishing was poor, Billy started off across country for
nowhere in particular. He is one of the most independent of all the
little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. He never
worries over where the next meal is coming from. He feels quite capable
of taking care of himself, wherever he may be. No one understands the
art of hiding better than does Billy Mink. He is quick as a flash and
the way he can disappear when apparently there is nothing to hide under
is astonishing.

So Billy wandered about aimlessly, just having a good time. He traveled
mostly at night, though occasionally he became restless during the day
and continued his journey then. In the Green Forest he hunted Whitefoot
and Mrs. Grouse. In the open meadow land he hunted Meadow Mice. When he
came to a brook he went fishing. So, at last, his wanderings brought him
to a farmyard. There was a big barn there. Also there was a henhouse
containing many hens. Between the henhouse and the barn was a big
woodpile. At the sight of that woodpile, Billy grinned. That was just
the sort of a place he liked. You know he is so slim that he can slip
through very small places, and he knew that in that woodpile he would be
quite safe.

“This place looks good to me,” said Billy. “I think I’ll stay awhile.”




                              CHAPTER XIII
                      BILLY MAKES HIMSELF AT HOME


                  Enough to eat, a place to sleep,
                    A coat to shut out winter’s chill—
                  What more can anybody ask
                    Their cup of happiness to fill?
                                        _Billy Mink._

The big woodpile between the barn and the henhouse in the farmyard Billy
Mink had discovered was a regular castle for Billy. That is what it was,
a regular castle. Billy is so slim that he could slip through the
openings between the sticks in much the same way that Striped Chipmunk
pops in and out between the stones of the old stone wall. Billy doesn’t
need much room and he soon found that down underneath that wood were
little chambers plenty big enough for him to curl up in.

The first thing he did was to make himself thoroughly acquainted with
that woodpile. He found every opening that led into or under it. He
learned every little passage it contained. He picked out one of the best
of the little chambers down underneath in which to sleep when he was
tired. No one could get at him under that woodpile. He felt as safe
there as ever he had felt anywhere in all his life. It made him chuckle
to think how safe he was there, and all the time he would be living
right close to those two-legged creatures called men, who delight in
killing such little people as Billy.

As soon as he had become thoroughly familiar with that woodpile, Billy
set out to explore the surroundings. His new home suited him, but a home
without food would be as bad as no home at all. So Billy started out to
see what chances there were of making a good living.

First he visited the henhouse. It didn’t take him long to find a way
under the henhouse and discover a hole in a dark corner of the henhouse
floor through which he could slip with ease. But Billy didn’t go inside
that night. Billy possesses a shrewd little head. He had had experience
enough with men to know that it was best for them not to know he was
anywhere about. He knew that those hens belonged to men and that the
instant they found one killed or missing they would begin to hunt for
him. So, though the smell of those hens made Billy’s mouth water, he
decided that he would see what other food was to be found.

From the henhouse Billy went over to the big barn. This was another
place just to his liking. Underneath it was dark, the very kind of a
place Billy liked. There were holes up through the floor. Billy sniffed
at the edge of the first one he came to and he knew right away who had
made that hole. It had been made by Robber the Rat. Billy’s eyes
sparkled. It would be much more fun to hunt Robber the Rat and his
relatives than to kill stupid, helpless hens.




                              CHAPTER XIV
                         BILLY HAS GOOD HUNTING


                   He longest lives who runs away
                   When danger lurks along the way.
                                     _Billy Mink._

Billy Mink loves to hunt. He is one of the best hunters among the little
people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Not even Reddy Fox is
a better hunter than Billy Mink. In the first place, Billy has a
wonderful nose. He can follow the scent of a Mouse quite as well as can
Reddy Fox. Then, too, Billy possesses sharp ears.

The instant Billy caught the scent of Robber the Rat at the edge of the
hole in the floor of that barn, he forgot all about the hens over in the
henhouse. He popped up through the hole on to the barn floor and his
nose found the scent of Robber the Rat stronger than ever. Billy began
to follow it just as Bowser the Hound follows the scent of Reddy Fox. It
led straight over to a grain bin. Just as Billy reached one end of the
grain bin, a big gray Rat, with two others at his heels, scrambled out
of the other end of the grain bin and with squeaks of fright scampered
away. How they had known of his coming, Billy didn’t know. Probably they
had smelled him, for Billy has quite a strong scent of his own. Anyway,
they had discovered his presence.

With a bound Billy was after them. Almost at once the three Rats
separated. Billy didn’t hesitate. He followed the largest one. He
followed him with his nose; that was all he needed to guide him.

Now that Rat knew every nook and corner and every hiding-place in that
big barn. Also he knew that there was no place big enough for him to get
into which Billy Mink could not get into too, and fear gave speed to his
legs. Behind and under boxes, over grain bins, squeezing through narrow
places and racing across open places, the Rat ran, with Billy behind
him. At last he was cornered.

Instantly that Rat changed completely. He whirled about and faced Billy
Mink, showing savage teeth. He was big and strong and he intended to
fight. For just an instant Billy Mink stopped. Now a Rat is quick but
Billy Mink is quicker. That Rat was no coward. He fought and he fought
hard, but he fought in vain. He could not get those wicked-looking teeth
of his into Billy. In less time than it takes to tell it, the fight was
over and Billy Mink had his dinner.

Now Billy knew all about Robber the Rat and his relatives. He knew that
they were outcasts among all the little people of the Green Forest and
the Green Meadows. He knew that not a single thing could be said in
their favor. He knew that the Great World would be a better place for
everybody if there were no Brown Rats in it.

“There is good hunting here,” muttered Billy, as he turned to go back to
his new home under the woodpile. “As long as there is such good hunting
here in this barn, I’ll keep away from the henhouse.” Then he went home
and curled up for a nap.




                               CHAPTER XV
                            A DEN OF ROBBERS


                  Greed and Selfishness are twins
                  Who lead the way to greater sins.
                                    _Billy Mink._

When Billy Mink started to explore the big barn in the farmyard where he
had decided to stay for a while, he didn’t know that he was entering a
den of robbers. But that is what he was doing. Yes, Sir, that is just
what he was doing. You see, that barn was the home of ever and ever so
many of the tribe of Robber the Rat, and each one of them, big and
little, was a robber. They lived by robbing, which, you know, is another
name for stealing.

Now those robbers had lived in that big barn so long that they had come
to look on it as belonging to them. They knew every nook and corner and
cranny in it and under it. The farmer who owned it had tried his best to
kill them or drive them away. But those robber Rats simply laughed at
all his efforts. They were smart. Oh, yes, indeed, they were smart.
Robbers often are quite as smart as honest people. They were too smart
for that farmer.

All those Rats belonged to the Brown Rat tribe. Not that they were all
brown. The fact is, the older ones were quite gray. But that was because
they were old and had grown gray with age.

Not all Rats are bad. There is Trader the Wood Rat. He is honest and
respected by his neighbors. But all the Brown Rat tribe are outcasts,
despised by all the little people of the Green Meadows and the Green
Forest, and hated by man. There is no good in them. They become robbers
as soon as they can run about, and they remain robbers as long as they
live. There is not an honest hair on one of them. They hate the
sunlight, for their deeds are deeds of darkness. They are savage.

But with all this, they are clever, very clever, indeed. They are so
clever that, in spite of all man’s efforts to kill them, their tribe has
increased until it is probably the largest tribe of little people who
wear fur in all the world, excepting the Mouse tribe.

The farmer who owned that barn had set traps of many kinds, but the wise
old leader of the Rats had found each trap and warned all his relatives.
The farmer had tried to poison them, but somehow their wise old leader
always knew where the poison was and warned them against it. A Cat had
been brought to catch them, but the tough old fighters among the Rats
had driven that Cat out.

So the Rats had increased, and the greater the numbers, the more they
stole. They gnawed holes wherever there was a chance of getting food.
They got into the farmer’s house and did great damage there. In the
spring they had killed young chickens in the henhouse. They stole eggs.
In fact, these robbers did as they pleased, and the big barn was their
den.




                              CHAPTER XVI
                            A ROBBER MEETING


                    To judge another by his size
                    Is, to say the least, unwise.
                                  _Billy Mink._

It was night in the big barn. It was the night after Billy Mink’s visit,
when he had killed the big Rat there. As soon as Billy had left the
barn, the gray old leader of the Rats had sent word around that all the
Rats in the barn should meet him at once at their usual meeting-place
under the floor.

As soon as the word was received, each member of the robber band hurried
to the meeting-place. They knew why the gray old leader had called them
together, and as they hurried to the meeting-place, there was fear in
the heart of each of them. It was long since fear had been known in the
big barn. It was the first time some of them ever had experienced fear.
You see, they had been so well taught how to avoid traps and poison that
they did not fear those things. They had made the Cat afraid of them, so
they did not fear the Cat. It was no trouble at all to keep out of the
way of the farmer, so they did not fear the farmer.

But this slim, brown enemy who had entered their den so boldly, and had
run down and killed one of their number, had brought fear with him. So,
as from every direction the Rats scurried to that meeting-place, they
continually looked behind them for that slim, brown creature who moved
so swiftly and from whom even their gray old leader had run away. Most
of them did not know who Billy Mink was, for they had always lived in
that big barn, and no one at all like Billy had ever been there before.

As soon as all the Rats had answered his call, the gray old leader began
to speak. “I have called this meeting,” said he, “to decide what we had
best do. A terrible enemy has come among us, and, as you know, has
killed one of our number. He has left the big barn, as I know, because I
watched him. For the time being we are quite safe. But when he again
becomes hungry, he will return.”

“Who is he?” squeaked a young Rat. “He didn’t look very big to me. If we
all get together, I don’t see why we should be afraid of him. We drove
out that Cat, and that Cat is a great deal bigger than this fellow. Who
is he, anyway?”

“He is Billy Mink,” replied the gray old leader gravely.

“And who is Billy Mink?” squeaked another half-grown young robber.

“He is sure death to any Rat he may start out to catch,” replied the old
leader. “He belongs to the Weasel family, and all members of this family
are enemies of the Rat tribe and more to be feared than any other enemy
we have.”

“Why can’t we hide when he comes?” asked another young robber. “I never
have seen any one I couldn’t hide from.”

“Then, unless I am greatly mistaken, you are likely to have a chance,”
snapped the leader.




                              CHAPTER XVII
                      THE ROBBERS DECIDE TO FIGHT


                A bad name sticks as naught else can
                To bird or beast or boy or man.
                                      _Billy Mink._

When one of the young robber Rats at the meeting of all the Rats in the
big barn boasted that he never had seen any one he couldn’t hide from,
all the other young Rats nodded their heads in approval. You see, they
prided themselves on knowing every hiding-place in that big barn, and
they never had known an enemy small enough to follow them to these
hiding-places. When the gray old leader of that robber gang said that
unless he was greatly mistaken they were likely to have a chance to see
some one they couldn’t hide from, they at once demanded to know what he
meant.

The old leader looked around the circle of Rats waiting for him to
speak. There were big Rats, little Rats, and middle-sized Rats. There
were Rats gray with age, and sleek, brown-coated Rats. He counted noses.
Every Rat of the tribe, save only the babies too small to leave the
nests, and the one whom Billy Mink had caught, was present. In the faces
of the gray old Rats he could see worry. Like himself, they understood
the danger they were in. In the faces of the younger Rats there was no
worry. It was plain to see that they felt quite confident of being able
to take care of themselves. Never in all their lives had they met an
enemy they could not run away from, and he knew they didn’t believe such
an enemy lived.

“Knowledge of life is obtained only through experience,” he began. “You
who are so sure you can hide from this new enemy are confident because
you are ignorant. Cats and Dogs you do not fear, because you can go
where they cannot follow. But this Mink who has found our den can follow
where any of you, even the smallest, can go.”

“But if he does not see us hide, how can he find us?” squeaked a
sharp-nosed young Rat.

“A Mink does not have to see in order to follow,” retorted the gray old
leader. “You cannot move without leaving a scent which he can follow by
means of his wonderful nose. All he has to do is to find where you have
been and then follow straight to where you are hiding. He can run faster
than you can and longer than you can. There is no escape from him once
he sets out to catch one of you. The best fighter among us is no match
for him alone. I tell you, friends, our tribe is in danger. It is in the
greatest danger it ever has faced. I have called you together to make
this plain to you and to get your ideas as to what we should do.”

For a few moments no one spoke. The worried look on the faces of the
older Rats had crept into the faces of the younger Rats. Finally a
scarred old fighter spoke.

“It seems to me,” said he, “there is only one thing to do, and that is,
fight. What one of us alone cannot do, all of us together can. I propose
that the next time this enemy appears, we all attack him together.”

To this all the Rats agreed.




                             CHAPTER XVIII
                    THE RATS PLAN TO KILL BILLY MINK


                   An idle boaster, it is clear,
                   Is he who says he knows no fear.
                                     _Billy Mink._

It having been agreed by all the Rats in the big barn that they would
stand by each other and all attack Billy Mink at once, the next time he
appeared, they immediately began to feel better. Only the oldest ones
shook their heads doubtfully and continued to look worried. The younger
ones boasted. Had they not driven away the Cat which the farmer had put
in the barn to catch them? And was not the Cat very much bigger than
this new enemy? They began to talk among themselves of the fun they
would have when Billy Mink should next appear.

“I’m not afraid,” said one.

“Nor I,” cried another. And all the rest of the young Rats boasted in
the same way.

But the gray old leader still shook his head and looked worried. “It is
all very well for you to brag of what you will do,” said he. “But
bragging never yet won a battle. If we would keep our homes here in this
big barn, where many of you have spent your lives, we must make our
plans to kill this terrible enemy. It will not do to simply drive him
away, for he might return when least expected. Always there must be two
or three on watch. The instant that Mink appears, warning must be given,
and then all of us fall on him at once. As I told you before, the best
fighter among us would be helpless if he had to face that fellow alone.
But if we all attack him together, there will be nothing to fear.”

So certain of the sharpest-eyed Rats were appointed to watch all the
holes through which Billy Mink might enter the big barn. When it should
become necessary for them to go hunt for food, other Rats were to take
their places. All the others scattered to their homes. Some lived under
the barn, some lived on the main floor of the barn, and some lived in
the hay loft. The old Rats were still worried, but the younger ones were
filled with pleasant excitement. They rather hoped that Billy Mink would
come soon. They wanted to show how brave they could be. Not a doubt
crept into the mind of one of them that all would end as they had
planned.

Meanwhile Billy Mink was comfortably dreaming in the little chamber he
had chosen under the big woodpile between the big barn and the henhouse.
Billy’s dreams were pleasant dreams. That is, they were pleasant dreams
for him. He dreamed he was hunting Rats. Yes, they were very pleasant
dreams for Billy. But had any of the Rats in the big barn had those
dreams, they would have been anything but pleasant. It is funny how in
this world the things which are very pleasant for one are very
unpleasant for another.




                              CHAPTER XIX
                           THE DANGER SIGNAL


                  The evil-minded fear the light,
                  But love the darkness of the night.
                                      _Billy Mink._

There was a great deal of uneasiness in the big barn where the robber
Rats lived. Would Billy Mink return or had he just made a chance visit
and gone on somewhere else? The gray old leader of the Rats felt sure
that Billy would return. He was too anxious to eat, and you know when a
Rat’s appetite fails he must be very much disturbed indeed.

But the younger Rats thought the gray old leader needlessly frightened,
and they went about their business of stealing food and gnawing holes
wherever there seemed a chance of finding a new food supply, just as if
nothing had happened. However, each hole which led into the barn was
continually watched by sharp eyes. Those Rats did not intend to be taken
by surprise a second time.

Rats prefer the hours of darkness. They hate the light of day. Perhaps
that is because their deeds are deeds of darkness. So, when daylight
came, most of the Rats returned to their beds to sleep. Only underneath
the barn, where it was dark, did any of them continue to run about,
seeking what mischief they might get into. But the wise, gray old leader
saw to it that a watch was kept on each hole just the same as during the
night. He didn’t think Billy Mink would come in the daytime, but he was
wise enough to know that Billy Mink is forever doing the unexpected. He
suspected that Billy would take great pains not to let the farmer who
owned that barn know that he was anywhere about. “He’ll probably sleep
all day,” thought the gray old leader, “but just as soon as it begins to
get dark he’ll be back here. I just feel it in my bones.”

But it wasn’t dark when there suddenly sounded the danger signal from
one of the watchers. In fact, it was broad daylight, the very middle of
the day. You see, daylight and darkness are all one to Billy Mink. He
sleeps whenever he feels sleepy, regardless of whether it be night or
day. At all other times he is very wide-awake indeed.

It happened that Billy had wakened just about noon that day, and as is
usual with him, after a nap, he was hungry. If he had been a Rat instead
of a Mink, he might have remained under the woodpile until darkness
came. But Billy is very sure of his ability to take care of himself. He
first made sure that no one was about. Then he slipped out from under
that pile of wood and a minute later he was under the barn. Then it was
that the danger signal was sounded by the Rat who was watching the hole
through which Billy entered. It was at once passed on from Rat to Rat,
until every one in the barn knew that their enemy had returned.




                               CHAPTER XX
                    WHY THE PLANS OF THE RATS FAILED


                  Beware the coward and the sneak;
                  He dares to face none but the weak.
                                      _Billy Mink._

You remember that the Rats in the big barn had agreed that if Billy Mink
should return, they would all attack him at once and kill him or so
frighten him that he would leave and never return. It was a perfectly
good plan. Billy was more than a match for any single Rat. He might be
more than a match for any two Rats. But if he had to fight all the Rats
at once, he wouldn’t have the smallest chance in the world.

Those Rats had been very bold and brave when they had met to plan how
they should get rid of this new enemy. Especially bold and brave had
been the younger Rats. They had agreed that the instant they heard the
signal, they would rush to do their part in the attack on Billy Mink.

Only the wise, gray old leader had been doubtful. He had not let the
others know that he was doubtful, for this would not have done at all.
But he knew what the younger Rats did not know, which was that born in
every Rat is great fear of all members of Billy Mink’s family—a fear so
great that when it is aroused all else is forgotten. He knew that such
fear becomes terror, and terror destroys courage. It makes cowards of
even those who are thought to be brave. So the gray old leader was
doubtful, and that doubt increased the fear with which the very thought
of Billy Mink filled him.

Now the gray old leader was not a coward himself. He would never have
become a leader if he had been a coward. When he heard that dreaded
danger signal, he scrambled out of the nest where he had been taking a
nap and hurried forth to lead his tribe in the great fight they had
planned. Almost at once he met one of the loudest boasters amongst the
younger Rats, and this fellow was running in the opposite direction from
the way he should have been going. More than this, he was squealing with
fright. Then another and another and still another raced frantically
past, each squealing with terror. He could not stop them. They were
frantic with fear and gave him no heed.

In all directions he could hear frightened squeaks and squeals and the
scampering of many feet. He knew then that what he had most feared had
happened. The mere presence of Billy Mink had awakened that inborn fear,
and each Rat was thinking only of himself and how he could escape. Sadly
the old leader turned and fled to save his own life. He knew that their
plans for getting rid of Billy Mink had failed and that he never would
be able to make the other Rats stand and fight.




                              CHAPTER XXI
                      THE RATS LEAVE THE BIG BARN


             There’s nothing quite like fear to spread
             And wrap the whole Great World in dread.
                                       _Billy Mink._

Billy Mink’s second visit to the big barn had been an occasion of great
pleasure to Billy and terror to all the Rats who lived there. He had
hunted them just for the pleasure of hearing their squeals of fright and
the scampering of their feet, as they raced this way and that way,
seeking safety. With his wonderful nose he had followed them to their
most secret hiding-places. Three he had caught, and he could have caught
more had he really wanted to.

When he had become tired of the hunt, Billy had curled up for a nap in a
corner of the haymow where it was dark and quiet. He had done this
instead of going back to the woodpile. It was very comfortable there.
Besides, it would be very handy to be right there when he felt like
hunting again.

It wasn’t long before all the Rats knew just where Billy was. One of
them had happened to pass near enough to smell Billy and had at once
passed the word along to all the others.

“Now is the time,” said the wise old leader, “for us to get together and
attack him. Who will join with me?”

Not a single Rat came forward. The gray old leader shook his head sadly.
“You are cowards, all of you,” said he. “If you will not fight, there is
just one thing left for us to do.”

“What is that?” squeaked one of the young Rats who had been loudest in
his boasting before Billy Mink had appeared the second time.

“We’ve got to leave this barn,” replied the gray old leader. “If we
remain here, it will be to die. That Mink will stay here, or if he
doesn’t, he will keep coming back until he has hunted down and killed
every Rat. We must leave the barn and do it at once. There is no time to
be lost. Probably he is asleep now. By the time he awakes, we must be
out of this barn. The Rat who doesn’t leave it now never will leave it.”

Immediately there was a great discussion. Every Rat there knew that the
wise old leader was right. But where should they go? It was winter, and
they could not live long out of doors. They must go to a place where
they would find both shelter and food. They might as well remain to be
killed by Billy Mink as to go forth and starve or freeze to death. At
least that is what some of them said. Some suggested one thing and some
another. Finally they turned to the gray old leader for his advice. They
had followed him so long that they had learned to trust to his wisdom.

[Illustration: The rats leave the big barn.]




                              CHAPTER XXII
                         BILLY MINK’S SURPRISE


                 A cause there is that will explain
                 A mystery, and make it plain.
                                     _Billy Mink._

Billy Mink opened his eyes. At first he couldn’t think where he was.
Everything about him was strange. Then, all in a flash, it came to him
where he was. He was in a dark corner of the haymow in the big barn
where the Rats lived.

Billy yawned. Then he stretched one leg and then another. He yawned
again, stretched some more, then lay quiet for a few minutes, trying to
decide whether to take another nap or hunt those Rats again.

“I may as well learn all about this barn while I am here,” thought
Billy. “One never knows when such knowledge may come in very handy.
Besides, I want to find out where all these Rats live. How they did
squeal and squeak, when they discovered me!” Billy chuckled at the
memory. “It is great fun to hunt them.”

Billy lazily got to his feet and arched his back, which was one way of
stretching. Then he started out to explore the big barn. Of course he
didn’t go far before he smelled a Rat. That is to say, he smelled the
scent left by the feet of a Rat. Right away Billy forgot everything but
the fun of hunting, the game of hide-and-seek in which death was the
price of being caught. He started out along the trail of that Rat. By
and by, way down under some boxes, he came to a nest. It was made of old
rags, torn paper, and other bits of rubbish. Billy didn’t knock to find
out if any one were at home. No, indeed, Billy didn’t knock. He just
popped his head right in. He expected to find some babies at home if no
one else, because he knew that there are babies most of the time in the
home of a Rat.

Right then, Billy got his first surprise. That nest was empty! Yes, sir,
it was empty! There had been babies there, as his nose told him, but
they had been carried away. Billy hunted about a bit until he found the
trail leading away from the nest. This he followed. It led him
downstairs to a hole in the barn floor, through this to the ground, and
straight to an opening which led out of doors.

“Huh!” muttered Billy. “This is queer.” He ran about a bit and it didn’t
take him long to discover that there were many tracks leading to that
opening out of doors. He could tell by the smell that those Rats had
gone out and not come back.

“It looks as if my future dinners have run away,” muttered Billy, and
then he began to explore that barn in earnest. There wasn’t a hole or
crevice or cranny in it that he didn’t poke his nose into. There wasn’t
a Rat nest that he didn’t find. But not a glimpse of a single Rat did he
get, not the squeak of a single voice did he hear. There wasn’t a Rat in
the barn! When he had gone to sleep there had been many. He had heard
them squeaking all about him. Do you wonder that he was surprised?




                             CHAPTER XXIII
                          BILLY HUNTS IN VAIN


                 All secrets, ’tis the law of fate,
                 Will be discovered soon or late.
                                     _Billy Mink._

In vain Billy Mink searched for Rats in the big barn. The smell of them
was everywhere, but the Rats themselves had disappeared completely. Time
after time, following a trail, Billy was led to the opening out of doors
under the barn. It was clear that all the Rats had left the big barn,
and that all had gone out the same way.

“They’ve moved off somewhere,” thought Billy. “I frightened them so that
they didn’t dare stay here any longer. All have gone, young, old, big,
little, and middle-sized. There is no fun left for me here in the big
barn. I think I’ll follow them. Where they can go, I can go. They are a
gang of robbers. They are ugly, dirty, and of no account whatever. In
fact, they’re worse than that. They have so many babies at a time, and
have them so often, that there is danger that they will drive their
honest neighbors off the earth. Yes, I think I’ll follow them.”

Billy cautiously poked his head through the opening that led out of
doors. Then he blinked with surprise. Outside everything was spotlessly
white. It was snowing. It had been snowing for some time. Not a
footprint of a single Rat was to be seen. Moreover, there was no scent
for Billy to follow by means of his wonderful nose. The snow had covered
their trail. Billy could only lick his lips and wonder in which
direction those Rats had gone.

“If I knew more about this part of the country, I would know better
where to look for those Rats,” muttered Billy. “As it is, I haven’t been
here long enough to know about anything but this barn, the henhouse, and
the big woodpile between the two. I wonder if they can have moved over
to that woodpile or to the henhouse. The woodpile would give them
hiding-places, but they wouldn’t find anything to eat there. If they
have gone to the henhouse, they can hide underneath it and for food they
can steal eggs and perhaps kill a hen. I’ve known Rats to do just those
things. I’ve known them to kill chickens and then have the owner of the
chickens blame me or Jimmy Skunk for it. I hate Rats. Everybody else
does. I know nearly everybody, and I don’t know a single person who has
a good word to say for Robber the Rat and his gang. I think I’ll run
over to the henhouse to see if they are there.”

So Billy Mink went first to the big woodpile and from there to the
henhouse, but not so much as the smell of a Rat did he find in either
place.




                              CHAPTER XXIV
                          WHERE THE RATS WERE


                 The mischievous will find some day
                 That for their mischief they must pay.
                                         _Billy Mink._

If Billy Mink didn’t know where the Rats who had left the big barn had
gone to, the farmer who owned the big barn and the henhouse and the
woodpile knew. Yes, indeed, the farmer and his family knew just where
those Rats were. They were in the farmhouse!

You see, the wise, gray old leader of the Rats knew that the safest
place for them was in that farmhouse. In the first place it was big, and
that meant that there was plenty of room with ever and ever so many
hiding-places. There was food there, plenty of it, to be stolen. They
could be very comfortable in that farmhouse. More than this, they would
be safe from Billy Mink. That gray old leader knew that Billy Mink would
hesitate a long time about actually entering the house, because of his
fear of man. He didn’t believe that Billy would dream of looking for
them in that house, especially if he couldn’t track them over there.
This Billy couldn’t do, as the wise old leader very well knew, because
it had been snowing when the Rats left the big barn, and the falling
snow had covered their tracks and destroyed the scent.

So, while Billy Mink was looking under the woodpile and in the henhouse
for those Rats, they were making themselves very much at home in the
farmhouse. They could climb about between the walls and go where they
pleased. The first thing to do was to make homes for the babies. It
didn’t take some of those Rats long to find the way to the attic. Now
the attic was filled with trunks and boxes and papers and all sorts of
odds and ends. It was just such a place as Rats love. Right away the
mother Rats began to tear up papers and make rags of clothing that hung
in the attic. Rags and paper make the finest kind of a nest for a Rat.
These nests they hid in dark places behind boxes and trunks.

And while they were busy with this, the father Rats set out to search
for food. It didn’t take them long to find the pantry and gnaw holes
through the wall into it. And they were not quiet about their work,
either. The farmer and the farmer’s wife knew what was going on. They
could hear the scamper of little feet across the attic floor and faint
squeaks.

“Gracious!” exclaimed the farmer. “I should think all the Rats in the
barn had moved over here.” He little guessed how exactly he had hit on
the truth.




                              CHAPTER XXV
                 THE FARMER AND HIS WIFE ARE IN DESPAIR


                    A pity ’tis, but it is true,
                    The innocent must suffer too.
                                  _Billy Mink._

The farmer who owned the big barn where the Rats had lived was puzzled.
After a few days he became sure that there wasn’t a Rat left in the big
barn. He knew that they had all moved over to the farmhouse. They had
been bad enough when they had lived in the big barn, but they were ever
so much worse living in the house. He knew that Rats did not move like
this without a cause. This meant that they must have been driven out of
the big barn, and who or what could have driven them out was more than
the farmer could guess. For years he had tried to get rid of the Rats
there and hadn’t been able to. Now suddenly they had deserted the big
barn and taken possession of his house.

“I wish,” said the farmer, “I could find out what drove those Rats over
here. Then perhaps I could use the same means to drive them out of the
house.”

“I wish you could,” replied his wife. “I don’t know what we’re going to
do. Those Rats are getting so bold that they don’t pay any attention to
me at all. They run across the pantry floor in broad daylight. The only
way I can keep food safe from them is in tin cans or earthen jars with
covers, and they have even managed to get the covers off of some of
these. They get in the flour barrel. They have spoiled the milk. They
have stolen the eggs. In fact, there isn’t anything they haven’t gotten
into. They keep me awake nights by their squealing and racing about
through the walls. They’re getting so bold that I am afraid of them.”

So the farmer set all his traps. He set traps in the attic and in the
pantry and in the woodshed. He put poisoned food where he was sure the
Rats would find it. But it was all in vain. Those Rats had learned all
about traps, and the gray old leader of them had learned to be
suspicious of food left where it was easy to get. He warned the other
Rats not to touch this food. The farmer blocked up the holes in the
pantry walls, but as fast as he blocked them up, the Rats gnawed new
ones.

So it was that the farmer and his wife were in despair. Do what they
would, they couldn’t get rid of those Rats. The Rats got into the cellar
and stole the vegetables. It got so the farmer’s wife didn’t dare go
down cellar. She was afraid of being bitten by a Rat, and you know the
bite of a Rat often is poisonous.




                              CHAPTER XXVI
                         THE RATS START A FIRE


                   A tiny spark, once it is free,
                   An awful thing may grow to be.
                                   _Billy Mink._

Rats are born thieves. They not only steal food, but they carry off many
other things, things for which they really have no use at all. Now it
happened that one of the young Rats in the farmhouse found some matches
and took them to his nest under the floor of the shed. There, having
nothing else to do, he nibbled at them to see what the queer stuff on
the ends of them might be. His sharp teeth caused one of them to light,
and of course that instantly lighted all the rest of them. With a squeak
of fright the Rat ran away, for like all the little people of the Green
Forest and the Green Meadows, a Rat fears the Red Terror, which we call
fire, more than anything else.

Now that Rat’s nest was made chiefly of chewed-up paper and old rags.
Nothing could have been better for the Red Terror. It blazed up
instantly. The floor just above was of very, very dry wood, for the
boards of that floor had been there many years. In no time at all that
shed was afire.

All the Rats under the floor fled in terror into the house. Smoke began
to pour out of the open door of the shed. The farmer at work in the
barnyard saw it and ran as fast as he could to try to put the fire out.

For a while the farmer and his wife had a hard fight with the Red
Terror. They pumped water as fast as ever they could and carried it in
pails to throw on the fire. At first it looked as if the Red Terror
would be too much for them and their house would be burned up, but after
a while the water was too much for the Red Terror and drowned it out.

“Whew!” exclaimed the farmer, as he and his wife sat down to rest for a
moment. “That was a narrow escape. How under the sun could that fire
have started?”

“I haven’t the least idea,” replied his wife. “I was upstairs at the
time. There wasn’t a thing in that shed which could have started it. Do
you suppose that anybody could have set it?”

The farmer shook his head. “No,” said he, “that fire started under the
floor.” Then a sudden thought came to him. “I know how it started!” he
cried angrily. “It was those pesky Rats. It was those pesky Rats, as
sure as I live. They must have found some matches somewhere and taken
them to a nest under the floor. Then, while they were nibbling at them,
they set one going. We’ve got to get rid of those Rats or we won’t have
a house left over our heads. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but
we’ve got to get rid of those Rats.”




                             CHAPTER XXVII
                          BILLY IS DISCOVERED


                 Before you act be sure you _know_
                 That what you _think_ is really so.
                                       _Billy Mink._

After the Rats left the big barn, Billy Mink found it less easy to get
plenty to eat. There were Mice in the big barn, and for several days
Billy managed to catch enough of these to keep from going hungry. But
Mice can get into places too small for Billy to follow, and those that
were left soon learned to keep out of his way.

Then Billy’s thoughts turned to the hens in the henhouse. He had not
intended to kill any of those hens, because he knew that as soon as he
did, the farmer who owned them would hunt for him, and then he would
have to move on. He was so comfortably located in the woodpile that he
was not anxious to move on. But one must eat, and now that the Rats had
disappeared and the Mice had learned to keep out of his way, Billy’s
thoughts turned to those hens.

It was the very night after the fire which the Rats had started in the
back shed of the farmhouse that Billy made up his mind to have a chicken
dinner. He slipped under the henhouse and up through a hole in the
corner which he already knew about. All the hens were roosting high,
fast asleep with their heads under their wings. Had Reddy Fox been in
Billy Mink’s place, he would have been somewhat puzzled as to how he
might catch one of those hens. But Billy wasn’t puzzled. Not a bit of
it. You see, Billy can climb almost like a Squirrel. Reddy Fox would
have had to jump, and probably would have awakened and frightened the
whole flock. Billy Mink simply climbed up to one of the roosts, stole
along it to the nearest hen, and with one quick snap of his stout little
jaws, he killed that hen without even waking her.

Now, had Billy’s cousin, Shadow the Weasel, been in his place, he would
have gone right on killing those hens from sheer love of killing. But
Billy Mink killed that hen simply because he must have something to eat,
and one hen was more than enough to furnish him a dinner. When he had
finished his dinner, he went back to his snug bed under the big
woodpile.

Of course, when the farmer came out to feed the hens in the morning he
discovered what had happened. He didn’t know who had killed that hen,
but he knew that it must have been some one very small to have gotten
into the henhouse. He hunted about until he found the hole in the dark
corner. He knew that that hole had been made by a Rat, and at first he
thought it must have been Rats who killed that hen and this increased
his anger.

That afternoon he happened to look out of the barn door towards the
woodpile, and he was just in time to see a slim, brown form whisk out of
sight under the wood.

“Ha, ha!” exclaimed the farmer. “Now I know who the thief is. There is a
Mink in that woodpile. He is the fellow who killed that hen last night.
I think, Mr. Mink, we’ll make you pay for that hen with your brown
coat.”




                             CHAPTER XXVIII
                      THE FARMER GUESSES THE TRUTH


               Who heeds a warning proves he’s wise,
               And guards himself against surprise.
                                     _Billy Mink._

If Billy Mink had known that he had been discovered by the farmer, under
whose woodpile he was living, it is probable that he would have moved on
in search of new adventures just as soon as the Black Shadows had crept
out across the barnyard that night. But Billy didn’t know. He had been
living there so comfortably that he had grown a little careless,
otherwise he never would have ventured out in broad daylight.

That night he decided he would have another chicken for dinner, so he
ran over to the henhouse, intending to slip through the hole in the dark
corner, just as he had done the night before. But the minute Billy had
poked his nose through that hole, he knew something was wrong. There was
a queer smell. Billy tested it very carefully with his nose. It was the
man smell. That was enough to make Billy suspicious. In less time than
it takes to tell it, he had found a trap in that henhouse, so placed
that he couldn’t possibly get in through that hole without stepping in
it. Right away Billy decided that he didn’t care for a chicken dinner
that night. He would go back to the big barn and try to catch a mouse.

Now, when the farmer had first discovered Billy Mink, his one thought
had been to catch Billy. He knew that Billy’s brown coat could be sold
for enough to pay several times over for the hen Billy had killed. So he
had set a trap in the henhouse. That night the Rats in the house were
noisier than ever. For a while he forgot Billy Mink, trying to think of
some way to get rid of those Rats. Then his thoughts came back to Billy
Mink, and all in a flash he understood why those Rats had deserted the
big barn and come over to the house.

“It was that Mink!” he exclaimed, right out loud.

“What are you talking about?” demanded his wife.

“That Mink I saw to-day going under the woodpile, the one who killed the
chicken last night,” replied the farmer. “That fellow must have been
living around here for some time, and he chased those Rats out of the
barn. There isn’t a doubt about it. He hunted those Rats in the barn
until he frightened them so they moved over here. You see, he could
follow them everywhere, and there was no getting away from him. The
pesky robbers simply decided they had got to move and our house was the
best place to move to.

“It’s all as plain as the nose on my face. If the rats had remained in
the barn, I don’t believe that Mink would have bothered the chickens.
Probably he doesn’t dare come over here to the house, or else he doesn’t
know where the Rats went to. If he would just come over here for a
while, we would soon be rid of those pests, and I would forgive him for
killing that hen.”




                              CHAPTER XXIX
                  THE FARMER MAKES FRIENDS WITH BILLY


                   Friendship is most surely won
                   By kindly deeds for others done.
                                     _Billy Mink._

The farmer did a lot of thinking after he guessed that it was Billy Mink
who had driven all the Rats out of his barn into his house. “If I could
get that little brown rascal over here to the house,” thought the
farmer, “I would soon be rid of those robber Rats. But how am I going to
do it? If he doesn’t know that those Rats are over here, he certainly
will not venture any nearer to the house than that woodpile. And if he
cannot get into the henhouse to steal my chickens, he won’t stay around
here very long, because he will have little to eat. The thing for me to
do is see that he has plenty to eat and learns where it comes from.”

So the very first thing the farmer did the next morning was to put some
scraps of fresh meat just outside the woodpile. It didn’t take Billy
Mink long to find them. Of course the farmer was out of sight. He was in
the barn, peeping through a crack. He saw Billy come out from under the
wood and sniff at the pieces of meat. It was clear that Billy was
suspicious. He went all around those scraps of meat, and the farmer
could tell by the way he moved that Billy suspected a trap.

But Billy found no trap. Of course not, because there was no trap. At
last he ventured to seize one of those scraps of meat and darted back
into the woodpile with it. A few minutes later he was out again, just as
cautious as before. So, one by one, he took the scraps of meat under the
woodpile. The farmer smiled as he saw the last scrap disappear. He knew
that Billy had enough for a good meal and that with a stomach well
filled he would probably take a nap.

This is just what Billy did. All the time he kept wondering about those
scraps of meat and how they had happened to be so handy. “It’s queer,”
thought Billy, “how that meat happened to be right there. I wonder if
that farmer could have dropped it. If he did, I hope he’ll do it again.”
With this, Billy went to sleep.

Just at dusk Billy awoke. He was hungry again. He began to think of
those hens over in the henhouse. Then he remembered the trap he had
found over there and decided he would keep away from the henhouse. He
decided that he would go over to the big barn to see if any of those
Rats had returned. And then, all of a sudden, he remembered the easy
breakfast he had had that morning. Instantly Billy popped his head out
from under the woodpile. He didn’t really expect to find any more scraps
of meat, and you can guess just how surprised and pleased he was when he
found that there were some more scraps just where he had found his
breakfast that morning. For the first time Billy suspected that they
might have been put there especially for him, and in his heart he began
to have a friendly feeling for that farmer.




                              CHAPTER XXX
                            BILLY LIVES HIGH


                   Misunderstandings cleared away
                   Bring peace and happiness to stay.
                                       _Billy Mink._

Billy Mink was living high. Yes, sir, Billy Mink was living high. For
the first time in his life he didn’t have to hunt for his meals.
Whenever he became hungry, all he had to do was to slip out from under
the woodpile—and there was a meal waiting for him. Of course it hadn’t
taken Billy long to find out where those meals came from. After the
first day Billy had watched. Peeping out from his hiding-place under the
wood, he had seen the farmer come from the house and leave something for
him to eat, and then go on to feed the hens.

Sometimes Billy would find scraps of meat. Sometimes it would be a piece
of fish. Once, when the farmer and his wife had had a chicken dinner,
Billy found a couple of chicken heads, of which he is very fond. Always
it was something Billy liked. He was living so high that he was actually
growing fat and lazy.

And as the days went on, Billy grew less and less afraid of that farmer.
He decided that no one who meant harm to him would be so good to him. So
after a while Billy would come out in broad daylight. In fact, the
farmer would have gone hardly ten steps away before Billy would be out
to see what had been left for him. And the farmer, on his part, took the
greatest care not to do anything to frighten Billy. In short, Billy and
the farmer were becoming very good friends.

Just for exercise Billy would occasionally run over to the big barn and
hunt for mice. Once he visited the henhouse and found that no longer was
there a hole by which he could get into the henhouse. The farmer had
blocked up the hole through which Billy had once entered. After he
discovered this, Billy kept away from the henhouse. He knew that it was
of no use to go there. You see, he is not like the Rats; he doesn’t gnaw
holes. He makes use of holes some one else has made. His teeth are not
made for gnawing.

But Billy wasn’t especially disappointed because he couldn’t get into
the henhouse. In fact, he seldom thought about chickens. You see, he had
plenty to eat, and having plenty there was no temptation to try to kill
a chicken. So Billy felt very much at home and worried about nothing at
all. There was nothing to worry about. He felt as if he quite belonged
in that farmyard. Yes, sir, that is how he felt.




                              CHAPTER XXXI
                       BILLY TRAILS HIS BREAKFAST


                   Thoughtful kindness in the end
                   Is bound to win for you a friend.
                                     _Billy Mink._

Billy Mink had overslept. This was very unusual for Billy. Usually he
was watching for the farmer to bring him his breakfast. But this morning
Billy had overslept. He knew it the minute his eyes opened. Right away
he scrambled out to see what had been left him for breakfast. He found
nothing.

He blinked two or three times, for he had become so used to finding his
breakfast right at the edge of the woodpile, that he couldn’t believe
there was none left for him that morning. But there wasn’t a thing. Not
even the tiniest scrap. Billy began to wonder if some one had stolen his
breakfast while he slept.

Right away he put his nose to the ground and began to run about, this
way and that way. He was trying to find out if something had been put
down and then taken away. He knew that if anything had been there he
would be able to smell it, for he has a very wonderful little nose.

Presently a very delicious smell tickled that wonderful little nose.
That is, it was a very wonderful smell to Billy. It wouldn’t have been
wonderful to you. You would have called it a very bad smell. It was the
smell of fish, and not fresh fish at that.

Billy began to gallop along with his nose to the ground, following that
smell. He didn’t care who saw him. You see, he had become so at home in
that farmyard that he felt quite safe there. He and the farmer had
become very good friends. There was no dog to fear, and Billy wasn’t
afraid of the Cat. He had just one thought in his mind, and that was to
find out what had become of that fish. He was sure it had been meant for
him. Whoever had taken it away had dragged it along the ground, and so
it was easy for Billy to follow the smell.

He was trailing his breakfast in just the same way he had followed the
Rats in the barn. Straight across the barnyard the trail led and over to
the shed at the back of the house. There, just in front of a hole under
the shed, Billy found the fish. His eyes sparkled and he wasted no time.
He began to eat that fish at once. He didn’t stop to wonder who had
dragged it there. He didn’t care. It was his fish, and he intended to
make sure of it.

When he had finished the last scrap, Billy felt so stuffed that he
didn’t want to move any more than he had to. He looked over to the
woodpile, and then he looked at the hole under the shed. The woodpile
was too far away. He felt sure that he would find a nice comfortable
dark place under that shed. Without hesitating a second, he disappeared
in the hole.




                             CHAPTER XXXII
                        BILLY MAKES A DISCOVERY


                  Keep at whate’er you once begin;
                  It is the only way to win.
                                   _Billy Mink._

When Billy Mink slipped through the hole under the floor of the shed at
the back of the farmer’s house, his one thought was to find a
comfortable place for a nap. He found it without any trouble. You know
Billy is not fussy, and he can curl up and sleep almost anywhere. He had
stuffed himself so with that fish he had found just outside the hole
that he had felt too lazy to explore. So he picked out the first
comfortable-looking place he came to and curled up for a nap.

When Billy awoke, he couldn’t at first remember where he was. Then he
recalled the fish and how he had slipped in under the shed floor.

“Now I am here, I may as well find out all about this place,” thought
Billy, and got to his feet. He yawned and stretched and then began to
run around underneath the floor of the shed, using his nose as he always
does. In no time at all a familiar scent tickled his nose.

“Ah, ha!” exclaimed Billy Mink. “So this is where those Rats came when
they left the big barn. I’m not hungry, but I certainly would enjoy a
good hunt. I haven’t hunted anything bigger than a mouse for ever so
long.”

Away raced Billy, with his nose to the ground, following the scent of a
Rat. It didn’t take him long to find a nest under the shed floor. But
there was no one in that nest. The Rat smell was very strong, and Billy
knew that Rats had been there only a short time before. The fact is, the
Rats who owned that nest had discovered Billy Mink and had promptly
moved into the house. Billy eagerly followed the trail. It led him to
the hole which led in between the walls of the house. Without hesitating
a second, Billy popped through, following that scent. It was a queer
place. He had never been in such a place before. But Billy knew that
where a Rat could go he could go, and so he followed, climbing up
between the walls of the house until at last he reached the attic.

He could hear the scampering of many feet and he could hear squeaks of
fright, so he knew the Rats knew that he was there. Once in the attic,
Billy found the Rat scent everywhere. It was useless to try to follow
with his nose, because the Rats had crossed and recrossed each other’s
paths so often that the trail was all mixed up.

But if Billy couldn’t trust to his nose, he could trust to his ears. The
sound of scampering feet and the frightened squeaks told him where the
Rats were. His eyes blazed with the eager light of the hunter, and
without even a glance at all the queer things in that attic, things such
as he had never seen before, Billy kept on after those Rats.




                             CHAPTER XXXIII
                    THE FARMER SEES A STRANGE SIGHT


                 The really clever folks are those
                   Who get their friends for them to do
                 The things they cannot do themselves.
                   Where’er you go you’ll find this true.
                                       _Billy Mink._

The farmer had watched Billy Mink disappear through the hole beneath the
shed of the farmhouse. He had chuckled as he saw the tip of Billy’s tail
disappear. You see, it was to get Billy over to the house that he had
made friends with Billy.

For days the farmer had placed food for Billy close to the woodpile
under which Billy was living. On this particular morning he had tied a
big piece of fish to a string and then had dragged it from the place
where he usually left Billy’s meals over to the hole under the shed. As
you know it hadn’t taken Billy long to find that piece of fish.

The farmer hoped that if he could get Billy over to the house, he would
follow those Rats and drive them out, just as he had driven them out of
the barn. That is why the farmer chuckled when he saw Billy Mink
disappear through that hole under the floor of the shed.

For a long time the farmer kept watch, but he was disappointed. Nothing
happened. You see, Billy Mink, having eaten a hearty breakfast, had
curled up for a nap under the floor of the shed. The farmer didn’t know
this and so at last he concluded that somehow Billy Mink had slipped out
unseen.

“I did hope that little brown rascal would drive those Rats out,”
muttered the farmer, as he went about his work.

It was some time later in the day that the farmer went to the barn door
and glanced over towards the house. Then it was that he saw a strange
sight, a very strange sight indeed. Out from that hole through which
Billy Mink had entered came a crowd of Rats. There were big Rats, little
Rats, and middle-sized Rats. There were gray old grandfather Rats and
sleek young Rats. Never had the farmer seen so many Rats at one time.

[Illustration: I was plain to see that those rats were in a terrible
fright.]

And it was plain to see that those Rats were in a terrible fright. They
were squeaking and squealing with fear, and every one of them was
running as fast as he could. They scattered in all directions. Some made
for the big barn, some made for the woodpile, some made for the
henhouse, and others started off straight toward the next farm, in spite
of the snow on the ground. The farmer shouted aloud for joy. He knew
there wouldn’t be one Rat left in that house by the time Billy Mink came
out.




                             CHAPTER XXXIV
                            BILLY GOES HOME


                You’ll ne’er regret the kindly deed
                That aids another in his need.
                                    _Billy Mink._

Almost at the heels of the last frightened Rat fleeing from the house of
Billy Mink’s friend, the farmer, appeared Billy Mink himself. The Rat
started for the big barn, but Billy caught him before he was halfway
there.

The farmer who had been watching knew that was the last Rat. He knew it
because he knew that Billy would not have shown himself outside as long
as there was a Rat left inside. At once the farmer went over and stopped
up that hole, so that no Rat could get back into the house.

“You killed one of my chickens, you little brown rascal,” said he, “but
you’ve paid for it ten times over. I had intended to kill you for that
beautiful, brown coat of yours, but now I wouldn’t harm a hair of it. As
long as you want to stay around here, you are welcome. In fact, the
longer you stay around here, the better I will like it, and I shall see
to it that you have plenty to eat.”

Billy Mink didn’t hear this, and he wouldn’t have understood it if he
had. But he had already made up his mind that the farmer was his friend
and that was sufficient.

After catching that last Rat to leave the house, Billy went over to the
woodpile where he was making his home. It didn’t take him long to
discover that some of those Rats were hiding in the woodpile, and he
promptly hunted them out of there just as he had hunted them out of the
house. Then, being tired, he curled up for a nap.

For two or three days after that Billy Mink hunted Rats. He hunted them
until there was not one of that robber gang left in the big barn, the
henhouse, or under the woodpile. In fact, there wasn’t one of those
robber Rats left on the farm. Where those who had escaped had gone, the
farmer didn’t know and Billy Mink didn’t know, and neither of them
cared. The farmer was so happy at being rid of those robbers that it
seemed as if he couldn’t do enough for Billy Mink. He kept Billy
supplied with good things to eat, so that Billy didn’t know what it was
to be really hungry. He grew as fat as a Mink can be, and he grew lazy
as well.

Now Billy Mink is not naturally lazy. He is one of the most active of
all the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Not
having to hunt for his food, Billy found little to do but eat and sleep,
and after a week of this, he began to get uneasy. He began to long for
excitement and new scenes.

And so one night Billy left his comfortable quarters and started back
for the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, the place he really called
home. He was anxious to find out if any of his old friends had been
caught in the traps which had been the cause of his leaving the Laughing
Brook. The next morning the food put out for him by the farmer was
untouched, and the farmer knew that Billy had left, and he was sorry.




                              CHAPTER XXXV
                          BILLY MINK IS QUICK


                    Eyes were given us for use;
                    For failure there is no excuse.
                                    _Billy Mink._

When Billy Mink decides to do a thing he wastes no time thinking about
it. He does it instantly. Therein he differs from many of his neighbors
of the Green Forest. You see, Billy Mink is very quick. He makes quick
decisions and he acts just as quickly. That is one reason why Billy is
able to go and come as he pleases. There are few he fears.

This doesn’t mean that Billy has no enemies who could kill him easily if
they caught him. He has several, but he isn’t afraid of them simply
because he is so quick that he feels sure of being able to escape, even
though one of these enemies may surprise him. So it is probable that
few, if any, of the little people of the Green Forest and the Green
Meadows are filled with fear as seldom as is Billy Mink.

The night he decided to leave the farm where he had been living so well,
and go back to the Laughing Brook, he slipped out from under the
woodpile almost the instant he had made up his mind. It was a moonlight
night, just the kind of a night to travel. Billy bounded along,
care-free and happy. As is his way, he stopped to investigate whatever
attracted his attention. He looked into every little hole he came to,
and when he reached a hollow log he ran through it just to find out if
anybody else had used it lately.

By and by, he came to the Green Forest. The moonbeams crept through the
branches overhead and there were all sorts of Black Shadows. This was
just the kind of a place to suit Billy. Occasionally he ran across a
bright open place, but for the most part he kept in the Black Shadows.
You see, Billy knows very well that it is difficult for any one to see
him in the Black Shadows. Not that he cared particularly who saw him,
but he long ago learned that if one is unseen it is much easier to see
others.

He was running across one of the bright open places when from the corner
of one of his eyes he caught sight of a moving shadow. Now most folks in
Billy’s place would have stopped, or at least turned to see what that
shadow meant. Billy did nothing of the kind. The very second that he
caught that glimpse of the moving shadow, Billy bounded off to one side.
He didn’t hesitate a fraction of a second. Then he darted under a pile
of brush, from which he peeped out with his little eyes glowing red with
anger. Just over the brush pile Hooty the Owl hovered for an instant,
and his great, yellow eyes glared fiercely down into Billy Mink’s angry
little red ones.

“I almost got you that time,” hissed Hooty. “The next time I _will_ get
you.”

“Almost never got anybody yet,” snapped Billy. “You’ll be an old, old
Owl, Hooty, before ever you dine on me.” With this, Billy actually
darted right out, and before Hooty could turn, was under another pile of
brush, laughing at Hooty and making fun of him.




                             CHAPTER XXXVI
                      A HEAP OF SNOW COMES TO LIFE


                   Appearances sometimes deceive;
                   Be not too ready to believe.
                                   _Billy Mink._

After his adventure with Hooty the Owl, Billy Mink kept on his way
through the Green Forest toward the Laughing Brook. He felt very good.
It always makes one feel good to have proven smarter than some one else.
Billy had had a very narrow escape. It is doubtful if there was one
among Billy’s friends who would have escaped had they been in his place.
That is because none of them act so quickly as does Billy. It was his
quickness which had saved him, for when he had caught sight of that
moving shadow, Hooty was already reaching for him with those great,
cruel claws of his.

But escapes like this are so common to Billy Mink that he gave no
further thought to the adventure. Without any trouble at all, he had
given Hooty the Owl the slip, and he knew that Hooty hadn’t the least
idea in which direction he had vanished. So light-heartedly he continued
on his way. But never for an instant did he fail to make use of eyes,
ears, and nose to find out what was going on about him.

Presently Billy spied off to one side a little white mound under a
hemlock tree. It looked very much like other little white mounds
scattered here and there. Billy knew that these little mounds were
simply snow-covered logs and stumps. They were everywhere through the
Green Forest. So Billy paid no particular attention to this little mound
and ran past with hardly a glance at it. But he had gone only a few feet
when a wandering Little Night Breeze caught up with him and tickled his
nose. Instantly Billy Mink turned and with hardly a pause bounded
straight toward that little mound. You see, that wandering Little Night
Breeze was tickling his nose with a delicious scent. It was the scent of
Jumper the Hare.

Billy didn’t know where Jumper was, but he knew that all he had to do to
find him was to follow that scent with his nose. So Billy bounded along
with the eager look of the hunter in his eyes, watching ahead for some
sign of Jumper. “I don’t see him, but I know he’s somewhere near,”
muttered Billy. “What a blessed thing a good nose is. I don’t know what
I would do if it were not for mine. Jumper may be ever so well hidden,
but my nose will take me straight to him.”

He was going straight toward that little mound under the hemlock tree.
He was within two jumps of it when suddenly there wasn’t any mound
there! No, sir, there wasn’t any mound there! Instead, a certain little
person in white, with long hind legs, was bounding away through the
Green Forest. It was Jumper the Hare.




                             CHAPTER XXXVII
                     JUMPER THE HARE HAS A BAD HOUR


                 When once you start a thing to do
                 Keep at it ’til you see it through.
                                     _Billy Mink._

When that little white mound under the hemlock tree suddenly came to
life Billy had been surprised. He had known that Jumper the Hare was
very near because he had smelled him. But there had been so many little
white mounds all about that Billy had paid no special attention to this
particular one. As Jumper bounded away Billy Mink chuckled.

“He fooled me that time,” muttered Billy. “Jumper certainly fooled me
that time. If that wandering Little Night Breeze had not brought the
smell of him to me, I would have gone straight on without once
suspecting that Jumper was anywhere about. That white coat of his is
worth a whole lot to him. I don’t doubt he saw me all the time and was
laughing to himself as he saw me go past. Well, he laughs best who
laughs last. It is a long time since I have had a good run through the
Green Forest, and I don’t know of any one who can give me a better run
than Jumper the Hare.”

So Billy Mink started after Jumper, his nose to the snow, following the
scent Jumper couldn’t help leaving. Now Jumper can run much faster than
Billy Mink. You know, when he is really frightened, Jumper travels in
big leaps. That is how he comes by his name of Jumper. But if Jumper can
travel fast, Billy Mink can travel tirelessly, and so right from the
start Jumper was worried.

Jumper was worried because he knew that there was not a single place in
all the Green Forest where Billy Mink could not follow him. Had it been
Old Man Coyote or Reddy Fox in Billy Mink’s place, Jumper would not have
been nearly so worried. Either of them could run faster than Billy Mink,
but there were plenty of places in the Green Forest where neither Old
Man Coyote nor Reddy Fox could get at Jumper. You see, there were brush
piles under which Jumper could crawl but they could not. But Billy Mink
was so small that he could follow wherever Jumper might go, and poor
Jumper was worried. His one chance was to make Billy Mink lose his
trail.

So Jumper tried all the tricks he knew. He made his jumps just as long
as he could, hoping that Billy would lose the scent in between. Round
and round through the Green Forest Jumper ran. Every little while he
would sit down to rest, but he never had a chance to rest long. In a few
minutes a slim brown form would come in sight, running easily and as if
not at all tired. Then in a panic Jumper would bound away again.

Now when Jumper ran he ran so fast that he soon grew tired. This was
because he was so frightened. Billy Mink, on the other hand, ran easily
and did not get at all tired. Billy was enjoying that hunt. It was fun
to work out that trail where Jumper tried to mix it up. So, for an hour
Billy Mink followed Jumper and had a good time, but it was a bad hour
for Jumper.




                            CHAPTER XXXVIII
                 JUMPER IS IN A DREADFUL STATE OF MIND


                May fortune spare you from the fate
                Of those who find mistakes too late.
                                      _Billy Mink._

Jumper was so intent watching behind him for Billy Mink that he forgot
to keep a sharp watch ahead of him. The result was that he almost ran
into Old Man Coyote. Old Man Coyote had come over to the Green Forest,
hoping to find Whitefoot the Wood Mouse or Mrs. Grouse or some one else
who would furnish him with a dinner. So, you can guess how pleased Old
Man Coyote was when he caught sight of that white form bounding along
straight toward him.

Old Man Coyote crouched as flat as he could right where he was. He
didn’t dare move lest Jumper should see him. “That fellow is in a
terrible hurry,” thought Old Man Coyote. “He acts as if he is scared
half to death. He never runs that way unless some one is chasing him. I
wonder if it can be that Reddy Fox is hunting over here to-night. Well,
it doesn’t make much difference to me who is after Jumper so long as he
drives Jumper right into my mouth. It looks to me as if I am to have the
best dinner of the whole winter. Goodness knows I need it. It’s a long
time since I’ve had a good, square meal.”

Straight toward Old Man Coyote, Jumper bounded along. His eyes were
rolled back to watch for Billy Mink and he paid no heed at all to what
was ahead of him. Now it seemed as if a good fairy must have been
watching over Jumper the Hare, for just before he reached Old Man Coyote
something prompted him to change his course. He didn’t see Old Man
Coyote. He didn’t know that Old Man Coyote was anywhere about. But
something prompted him to change his course, and he turned abruptly to
the right.

With a little snarl of disappointment Old Man Coyote sprang after him.
The instant he moved, Jumper saw him. Now Old Man Coyote is very swift
of foot. Jumper was tired. You know he had been running for an hour.
Jumper gave a little shriek of fear and then he headed straight for a
brush pile not far off. He reached it none too soon.

With his heart going pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat, Jumper crouched
under the pile of brush and hope died within him. He had escaped Old Man
Coyote, but there was Billy Mink following him. He didn’t dare leave the
brush pile because of Old Man Coyote, and he didn’t dare stay there
because of Billy Mink. Jumper was in a dreadful state of mind.




                             CHAPTER XXXIX
                        AN ENEMY PROVES A FRIEND


                  Be not too sure lest at the last
                  Grim disappointment grips you fast.
                                      _Billy Mink._

Jumper the Hare crouched under the big pile of brush where Old Man
Coyote had driven him and wondered what he should do next. He didn’t
dare leave that pile of brush for fear of Old Man Coyote, and he didn’t
dare remain there for fear of Billy Mink. So Jumper was in despair. He
couldn’t remember ever having been in quite such a bad situation. Not
knowing what to do, he did nothing but sit still and shake with fright.
From where he was he could peep out. He could see Old Man Coyote sitting
down with his head on one side, as if studying some way to get Jumper
out from under that pile of brush.

For perhaps two minutes Old Man Coyote sat that way. Suddenly he pricked
up his ears and turned his head. Jumper knew that Old Man Coyote had
heard something. Jumper crept a few steps nearer the edge of the old
pile of brush in order to see out better. Right away he saw a slim,
brown form bounding along toward him. It was Billy Mink.

Old Man Coyote was crouched down with his feet set for a quick spring.
Jumper knew then that Old Man Coyote had heard Billy Mink coming. It was
this that had made him prick up his ears and turn. Billy Mink stopped
very abruptly. Then like a flash he turned. He had seen Old Man Coyote,
or else he had smelled him. The instant Billy Mink turned, Old Man
Coyote sprang forward. There was no place near for Billy Mink to seek
safety in save the brush pile where Jumper was and Old Man Coyote was
between Billy and that brush pile.

“Old Man Coyote will get him this time,” thought Jumper, and didn’t know
whether to be glad or sorry. He wanted with all his might to be rid of
Billy Mink. At the same time he didn’t want anything to happen to Billy.

Billy Mink wasted no time looking for a hiding-place. Like a flash he
climbed the nearest tree, for you know Billy is a very good climber.
There, just out of reach of Old Man Coyote, Billy crouched on a limb and
told Old Man Coyote just what he thought of him. Billy was angry clear
through. It was one thing to hunt and quite another thing to be hunted.
Old Man Coyote didn’t seem to mind what Billy Mink said. He sat down at
the foot of the tree quite as if he intended to stay there.

Jumper waited to see no more. Very quietly he crept out from under the
brush pile on the other side and then took to his heels. He meant to put
as great a distance as possible between himself and these two enemies.
And as he ran he chuckled. “That’s the time an enemy proved a friend,”
said he, for he knew that he would have nothing more to fear from Billy
Mink that night.




                               CHAPTER XL
                    SOMETHING BILLY MINK DIDN’T KNOW


                    A time there is to run away,
                    And also there’s a time to stay.
                                      _Billy Mink._

The tree up which Billy Mink had scrambled was a big hemlock. He went
only high enough to be out of reach of Old Man Coyote, for while Billy
can climb easily, he doesn’t do any more of this than he has to. He
prefers to be on the ground. He will climb readily enough when there is
something to climb for, but otherwise he seldom takes the trouble.

Billy was very angry. Old Man Coyote had appeared at just the wrong
time. Billy had felt sure that sooner or later he would catch Jumper.
But Old Man Coyote had interfered. So Billy spitefully called Old Man
Coyote all the bad names he could think of. Old Man Coyote simply looked
up at Billy and grinned. “That’s a sharp tongue of yours, Billy,” said
he, “but calling another bad names never yet hurt anybody. I have a mind
to keep you up there for a while just to pay you for your impudence.”

This is just what Old Man Coyote did. Perhaps he hoped that Billy Mink
might lose patience and try to get down. But Billy didn’t. He knew when
he was well off. He proposed to stay right where he was until Old Man
Coyote should lose patience and give up. After a long time Old Man
Coyote did give up, and trotted off through the Green Forest.

Then Billy Mink came down. He went at once to the brush pile where
Jumper the Hare had hidden, but it didn’t take him two minutes to find
out that Jumper’s trail had grown cold. You see, after a little time the
scent left by the foot of an animal disappears. It had been so long
since Jumper had left that brush pile that there was no longer any scent
where his feet had touched the snow. So Billy Mink gave up in disgust
and continued on his way to the Laughing Brook which he soon reached and
was once more at home.

Now all the time Billy Mink had been up in the hemlock tree, he had not
been alone. He hadn’t known this. If he had, he wouldn’t have been in
such a hurry to come down. Up above his head where the branches were
thickest, Mr. and Mrs. Grouse had been roosting. They had been fast
asleep when Billy started up the tree, but the sound of his claws on the
bark had wakened them instantly. They had been ready to take to their
strong wings, if it became necessary, but they were wise enough to keep
perfectly still. They liked that big hemlock tree and they felt sure
that no one knew that they were in the habit of using it for a roost. So
they had sat perfectly still and watched all that happened down below.

When at last Old Man Coyote went away and Billy Mink scrambled down, Mr.
and Mrs. Grouse sighed with thankfulness. Then they promptly went to
sleep again. Their secret was still their own.

So Billy Mink returned to the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, for
you know his heart was really there all the time. I could tell you a
great deal more about him and I would like to. But I am not going to,
because Little Joe Otter says that he spends more time in the Smiling
Pool than Billy Mink does, and that therefore he should have a book in
this series. So the next volume will be Little Joe Otter.

                                The End
[Illustration]




                           TRANSCRIBER NOTES

Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. Where multiple
spellings occur, majority use has been employed.

Punctuation has been maintained except where obvious printer errors
occur.