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!