After catching that last Rat to leave the house, Billy went over to the woodpile where he was making his home. It didn’t take him long to discover that some of those Rats were hiding in the woodpile, and he promptly hunted them out of there just as he had hunted them out of the house. Then, being tired, he curled up for a nap.
For two or three days after that Billy Mink hunted Rats. He hunted them until there was not one of that robber gang left in the big barn, the henhouse, or under the woodpile. In fact, there wasn’t one of those robber Rats left on the farm. Where those who had escaped had gone, the farmer didn’t know and Billy Mink didn’t know, and neither of them cared. The farmer was so happy at being rid of those robbers that it seemed as if he couldn’t do enough for Billy Mink. He kept Billy supplied with good things to eat, so that Billy didn’t know what it was to be really hungry. He grew as fat as a Mink can be, and he grew lazy as well.
Now Billy Mink is not naturally lazy. He is one of the most active of all the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows. Not having to hunt for his food, Billy found little to do but eat and sleep, and after a week of this, he began to get uneasy. He began to long for excitement and new scenes.
And so one night Billy left his comfortable quarters and started back for the Laughing Brook and the Smiling Pool, the place he really called home. He was anxious to find out if any of his old friends had been caught in the traps which had been the cause of his leaving the Laughing Brook. The next morning the food put out for him by the farmer was untouched, and the farmer knew that Billy had left, and he was sorry.
CHAPTER XXXV
BILLY MINK IS QUICK
Eyes were given us for use;
For failure there is no excuse.
Billy Mink.
When Billy Mink decides to do a thing he wastes no time thinking about it. He does it instantly. Therein he differs from many of his neighbors of the Green Forest. You see, Billy Mink is very quick. He makes quick decisions and he acts just as quickly. That is one reason why Billy is able to go and come as he pleases. There are few he fears.
This doesn’t mean that Billy has no enemies who could kill him easily if they caught him. He has several, but he isn’t afraid of them simply because he is so quick that he feels sure of being able to escape, even though one of these enemies may surprise him. So it is probable that few, if any, of the little people of the Green Forest and the Green Meadows are filled with fear as seldom as is Billy Mink.