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.