"I caught a wildcat!" Tad said gleefully. "Caught him right in a snare I
set myself!"
"Don't you know better than to fool around with wildcats?"
"It's only a little one," Tad said, as though that explained everything.
"Not hardly big enough to chew anything yet. Got him in the barn, I
have. I'm goin' to tame him."
"Get rid of him," Joe ordered.
"Aw, Pa!"
Joe was inflexible, "Get rid of him now! One thing we don't need around
here, it's a wildcat!"
He caught up a lantern, lighted it, and with Tad trotting protesting at
his heels, stamped out to the barn. The wildcat had already seen to its
own liberation. Tad had put him in one of the mules' feed boxes, covered
it with a board, and weighted the board with a rock. The imprisoned cat
had worked the board free and slipped away.
"Blast his ornery hide!" Tad ejaculated.