The Project Gutenberg eBook of Billy Mink, by Thornton W. Burgess This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title: Billy Mink Author: Thornton W. Burgess Illustrator: Harrison Cady Release Date: May 10, 2021 [eBook #65308] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 Produced by: Al Haines, Cindy Beyer & the online Project Gutenberg team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net *** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BILLY MINK *** 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 “Of course,” said Billy Mink, “you and I are safe enough.” 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. 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.