Chapter 33
public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Read by Stacey M. Billy Mink by Thornton Burgess. The farmer sees a strange sight. The really clever folks are those who get their friends for them to do the things they cannot do themselves. Wherever you go, you'll find this true Billy Mink. The farmer had watched Billy Mink disappear through the hole beneath the shed of the farmhouse. He had chuckled as he saw the tip of
Billy's tail disappear. You see, it was to get Billy over to the house that he had made friends with Billy. For days, the farmer had placed food for Billy close to the wood pile under which Billy was living. On this particular morning, he had tied a big piece of fish to a string and then had dragged it from the place where he usually left Billy's meals over to the hole under the shed. As you know, it hadn't taken Billy long to find that piece of fish. The farmer hoped that if he
could get Billy over to the house, he would follow those rats and drive them out, just as he had driven them out of the barn. That is why the farmer chuckled when he saw Billy Mink disappear through that hole under the floor of the shed. For a long time, the farmer kept watch, but he was disappointed. Nothing happened. You see, Billy Mink, having eaten a hearty breakfast, had curled up for a nap under the floor of the shed. The farmer didn't know this,
and so at last he concluded that somehow Billy Mink had slipped out unseen. I did hope that little brown rascal would drive those rats out, muttered the farmer as he went about his work. It was sometime later in the day that the farmer went to the barn door and glanced over towards the house. Then it was that he saw a strange sight, a very strange sight indeed. Out from that hole through which Billy Mink had entered came a crowd of rats. There were big rats,
little rats, and middle-sized rats. There were gray old grandfather rats and sleek young rats. Never had the farmer seen so many rats at one time, and it was plain to see that those rats were in a terrible fright. They were squeaking and squealing with fear, and every one of them was running as fast as he could. They scattered in all directions. Some made for the big barn, some made for the woodpile, some made for the hen house, and others started off straight toward the
next farm in spite of the snow on the ground. The farmer shouted aloud for joy. He knew there wouldn't be one rat left in that house by the time Billy Ming came out. End of chapter 33.
