<div><h1 id='ch28'>CHAPTER XXVIII<br/> <span class='sub-head'>THE FARMER GUESSES THE TRUTH</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>Who heeds a warning proves he’s wise,</p>
<p class='line0'>And guards himself against surprise.</p>
<p class='line0'>                      <span class='it'>Billy Mink.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>If</span> Billy Mink had known that
he had been discovered by the
farmer, under whose woodpile he
was living, it is probable that he
would have moved on in search of
new adventures just as soon as the
Black Shadows had crept out
across the barnyard that night.
But Billy didn’t know. He had
been living there so comfortably
that he had grown a little careless,
otherwise he never would have
ventured out in broad daylight.</p>
<p class='pindent'>That night he decided he would
have another chicken for dinner, so
he ran over to the henhouse, intending
to slip through the hole in
the dark corner, just as he had
done the night before. But the
minute Billy had poked his nose
through that hole, he knew something
was wrong. There was a
queer smell. Billy tested it very
carefully with his nose. It was the
man smell. That was enough to
make Billy suspicious. In less
time than it takes to tell it, he had
found a trap in that henhouse, so
placed that he couldn’t possibly
get in through that hole without
stepping in it. Right away Billy
decided that he didn’t care for a
chicken dinner that night. He
would go back to the big barn and
try to catch a mouse.</p>
<p class='pindent'>Now, when the farmer had first
discovered Billy Mink, his one
thought had been to catch Billy.
He knew that Billy’s brown coat
could be sold for enough to pay
several times over for the hen Billy
had killed. So he had set a trap
in the henhouse. That night the
Rats in the house were noisier than
ever. For a while he forgot Billy
Mink, trying to think of some way
to get rid of those Rats. Then his
thoughts came back to Billy Mink,
and all in a flash he understood
why those Rats had deserted the big
barn and come over to the house.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“It was that Mink!” he exclaimed,
right out loud.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“What are you talking about?”
demanded his wife.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“That Mink I saw to-day going
under the woodpile, the one who
killed the chicken last night,” replied
the farmer. “That fellow
must have been living around here
for some time, and he chased those
Rats out of the barn. There isn’t
a doubt about it. He hunted those
Rats in the barn until he frightened
them so they moved over here.
You see, he could follow them
everywhere, and there was no
getting away from him. The
pesky robbers simply decided they
had got to move and our house
was the best place to move to.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“It’s all as plain as the nose on
my face. If the rats had remained
in the barn, I don’t believe that
Mink would have bothered the
chickens. Probably he doesn’t
dare come over here to the house,
or else he doesn’t know where the
Rats went to. If he would just
come over here for a while, we
would soon be rid of those pests,
and I would forgive him for killing
that hen.”</p>
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