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.