<div><h1 id='ch10'>CHAPTER X<br/> <span class='sub-head'>BILLY AND BOBBY WARN THEIR FRIENDS</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>To feel as happy as you would</p>
<p class='line0'>Try working for the general good.</p>
<p class='line0'>                  <span class='it'>Billy Mink.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>Bobby Coon</span> had been so frightened
when he had sprung that trap
by the Laughing Brook that probably
he would have run clear back
to his home in the Green Forest
had he not found Billy Mink waiting
for him at the old log where
they had met earlier in the evening.
Billy was grinning.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“What are you running for?”
he demanded. “I thought you
were not afraid.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Bobby Coon stopped. “It—it
tried to catch me,” he panted. “It
jumped right at me.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Billy Mink chuckled. “But I
see it didn’t catch you,” said he.
“Didn’t I tell you it wouldn’t
hurt you if you put your paw under
it? That kind of a trap is
perfectly harmless as long as you
do not step in it. I’m glad you
sprung it. I sprung the one on
the other side of the Laughing
Brook the same way. Now, both
of those traps are harmless. They
will be until the trapper sets them
again. We can go up and down
the Laughing Brook through the
openings in those little fences with
nothing to fear as long as those
traps are in plain sight. That
trapper will probably come around
to-morrow, but for the remainder
of to-night there is nothing for us
to worry about. Let’s go down
the Laughing Brook to the Smiling
Pool.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>The idea of going down to the
Smiling Pool was too much for
Bobby Coon to resist. So he followed
Billy Mink down the bank
of the Laughing Brook. When
they reached the trap which Bobby
had sprung, Billy Mink kicked it
aside as he passed. It was plain
to see that Billy had known what
he had been talking about when
he had said that now that trap was
perfectly harmless. Then, without
hesitating, Billy slipped through the
little opening in that fence the trapper
had built. That proved there
was nothing to fear there now, so
Bobby followed. He had to make
the opening big enough to get
through, but he did this by pulling
up a couple of the sticks.</p>
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<p class='caption'><span class='sc'>Jerry Muskrat was swimming over towards his house.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'>When they reached the Smiling
Pool, they saw Little Joe Otter
sitting on the Big Rock. Jerry
Muskrat was swimming over towards
his house.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Hi, you fellows!” called Billy
Mink. “Come over here. We’ve
something to tell you.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Little Joe Otter and Jerry Muskrat
had a race over to the place
where Billy Mink and Bobby Coon
were waiting.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“What is it you have to tell
us?” demanded Little Joe. “I
don’t believe it’s anything important.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>“That depends on how you
look at it,” retorted Billy Mink.
“Somebody has been setting traps
along the Laughing Brook. I’ve
found three of them, and Bobby
Coon and I have sprung two of
them. We thought we’d just come
down here and give you fellows
warning.” Then Bobby and Billy
told Little Joe and Jerry all about
those traps.</p>
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