<div><h1 id='ch8'>CHAPTER VIII<br/> <span class='sub-head'>WHAT BOBBY COON AND BILLY MINK DID</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>By him who seeks is knowledge gained,</p>
<p class='line0'>And thus may wisdom be attained.</p>
<p class='line0'>                      <span class='it'>Billy Mink.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>Bobby Coon</span> and Billy Mink sat
on an old log on the bank of the
Laughing Brook and talked over
the traps Billy Mink had discovered
and what should be done about
them.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Of course,” said Billy Mink,
“you and I are safe enough. We
know exactly where those traps are,
and we are not going to be so foolish
as to get caught in one of them.
But there are others who travel up
and down the Laughing Brook
who might not discover the traps
until too late.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Bobby Coon nodded his head.
“Just what I was thinking,” said
he. “But for you, Billy Mink, I
would be in that trap down there
this very minute. It was stupid
of me not to have suspected that
the little opening in that fence was
left purposely to tempt whoever
came along to go through it, instead
of taking the trouble to climb
that steep bank and go around the
fence. There may be others just
as stupid. We ought to do something
about it, but what can we
do?”</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Are you afraid to go near that
trap?” demanded Billy.</p>
<p class='pindent'>Bobby scratched his head
thoughtfully. “How near?” he
asked.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Near enough to get your paw
under it,” replied Billy.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“I don’t know,” replied Bobby.
“What good will that do?”</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Well, you see,” replied Billy,
“that trap is set right in the
middle of that little opening, and
it has been covered with wet, dead
leaves. Now I know something
about traps. I’ve seen a lot of
them in my day. If any one
should step on those wet leaves,
two steel jaws would snap up and
grab him by the leg. But those
steel jaws always snap <span class='it'>up</span>. They
can’t snap the other way. If your
paw is <span class='it'>underneath</span> the trap, there
is no danger. By doing this you
can lift that trap up so that it will
no longer be covered with those
dead leaves, and whoever comes
along will see it. It isn’t safe to
try to pull the leaves off of it, because
you might get caught doing
it. If you will do that to the trap
on this side, I will do the same
thing to the trap on the other side
of the Laughing Brook. If you’re
afraid, just say so, and I’ll take
care of both traps.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Now Bobby Coon <span class='it'>was</span> afraid, because,
you see, he had never had
anything to do with traps. But
he wasn’t willing to own up that
he was afraid. He knew that if
he showed that he was afraid he
never would hear the end of it, for
Billy Mink would be sure to tell
everybody he knew. He thought
the matter over for a few minutes
and then he grunted, “I guess if
you can do it, I can.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>“All right. Let’s get busy,”
cried Billy Mink, jumping up. “I
don’t want to spend the rest of
the night sitting around here.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>So Billy Mink swam across the
Laughing Brook and Bobby Coon
slowly shuffled along on his side
down towards the little fence where
the trap was set.</p>
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