<div><h1 id='ch12'>CHAPTER XII<br/> <span class='sub-head'>BILLY HAS THE WANDERING FOOT</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>If to yourself you would be true,</p>
<p class='line0'>Use all the talents given you.</p>
<p class='line0'>                  <span class='it'>Billy Mink.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>When</span> a person becomes uneasy
and cannot settle in one place for
any length of time but wants to
keep traveling, he is said to be
possessed of the wandering foot.
This means that he wants to wander
about in search of new scenes
and new adventures. To put it
very plainly, he becomes sort of
a tramp.</p>
<p class='pindent'>Billy Mink for some time had
felt a desire to go visiting. These
traps gave him a real excuse for
so doing. So Billy turned his back
on the Laughing Brook and started
for another brook some distance
away. He had not intended to go
farther than this brook. But when
he got there he found that the fishing
was not as good as he had
hoped it would be, so he decided
to keep on moving until he found a
place where food was plentiful and
he would be contented for a while.</p>
<p class='pindent'>Now while Billy Mink is a great
lover of the water and is almost as
much at home in it as Jerry Muskrat,
he is equally at home on land.
In fact, Billy often wanders long
distances from water. He likes
variety, and there are times when
he would rather hunt than fish.
He is a very good hunter, as many
a mouse and bird has found out
too late. So, leaving the brook
where the fishing was poor, Billy
started off across country for nowhere
in particular. He is one of
the most independent of all the
little people of the Green Forest
and the Green Meadows. He
never worries over where the next
meal is coming from. He feels
quite capable of taking care of
himself, wherever he may be. No
one understands the art of hiding
better than does Billy Mink. He
is quick as a flash and the way he
can disappear when apparently
there is nothing to hide under is
astonishing.</p>
<p class='pindent'>So Billy wandered about aimlessly,
just having a good time. He
traveled mostly at night, though occasionally
he became restless during
the day and continued his journey
then. In the Green Forest he
hunted Whitefoot and Mrs. Grouse.
In the open meadow land he hunted
Meadow Mice. When he came to
a brook he went fishing. So, at
last, his wanderings brought him
to a farmyard. There was a big
barn there. Also there was a henhouse
containing many hens. Between
the henhouse and the barn
was a big woodpile. At the sight
of that woodpile, Billy grinned.
That was just the sort of a place
he liked. You know he is so slim
that he can slip through very small
places, and he knew that in that
woodpile he would be quite safe.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“This place looks good to me,”
said Billy. “I think I’ll stay
awhile.”</p>
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