All the Rats under the floor fled in terror into the house. Smoke began to pour out of the open door of the shed. The farmer at work in the barnyard saw it and ran as fast as he could to try to put the fire out.
For a while the farmer and his wife had a hard fight with the Red Terror. They pumped water as fast as ever they could and carried it in pails to throw on the fire. At first it looked as if the Red Terror would be too much for them and their house would be burned up, but after a while the water was too much for the Red Terror and drowned it out.
“Whew!” exclaimed the farmer, as he and his wife sat down to rest for a moment. “That was a narrow escape. How under the sun could that fire have started?”
“I haven’t the least idea,” replied his wife. “I was upstairs at the time. There wasn’t a thing in that shed which could have started it. Do you suppose that anybody could have set it?”
The farmer shook his head. “No,” said he, “that fire started under the floor.” Then a sudden thought came to him. “I know how it started!” he cried angrily. “It was those pesky Rats. It was those pesky Rats, as sure as I live. They must have found some matches somewhere and taken them to a nest under the floor. Then, while they were nibbling at them, they set one going. We’ve got to get rid of those Rats or we won’t have a house left over our heads. I don’t know how we’re going to do it, but we’ve got to get rid of those Rats.”
CHAPTER XXVII
BILLY IS DISCOVERED
Before you act be sure you know
That what you think is really so.
Billy Mink.
After the Rats left the big barn, Billy Mink found it less easy to get plenty to eat. There were Mice in the big barn, and for several days Billy managed to catch enough of these to keep from going hungry. But Mice can get into places too small for Billy to follow, and those that were left soon learned to keep out of his way.