“Anything, except wood,” the trapper told them. “Give him a piece of duck-meat. We have ducks enough for the whole boat.”
When Tim offered the raccoon a piece of duck-meat, he took it, soused it in the water in the boat, devoured it greedily and began whining for more. He ate several other pieces in the same way.
“Why does he wash his meat?” the boys asked.
“It’s just his queer way,” the trapper told them. “You give him a piece of fresh pie, and he’ll souse it in a mudhole before he eats it.
“A coon’s a queer fellow. My German neighbors call him ‘washbear,’ on account of his peculiar habits. I had a tame coon once, but he died from eating a pan of boot-grease.”
“Why didn’t you watch him?” asked Tim.
“You can’t watch a coon,” the trapper laughed, “he’s always in some mischief. I’d rather watch ten boys than one coon.”
On the four days it took the boat to reach Fort Ridgely the boys had plenty of time to ask the trapper about the war.
“It won’t last long, that’s what I think,” the trapper told them. “When the Confederates see that Abe Lincoln has 75,000 soldiers, they will quit.”
“Will they fight at Vicksburg?” asked Bill.