<div><h1 id='ch32'>CHAPTER XXXII<br/> <span class='sub-head'>BILLY MAKES A DISCOVERY</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>Keep at whate’er you once begin;</p>
<p class='line0'>It is the only way to win.</p>
<p class='line0'>                 <span class='it'>Billy Mink.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>When</span> Billy Mink slipped
through the hole under the floor
of the shed at the back of the
farmer’s house, his one thought
was to find a comfortable place for
a nap. He found it without any
trouble. You know Billy is not
fussy, and he can curl up and
sleep almost anywhere. He had
stuffed himself so with that fish he
had found just outside the hole
that he had felt too lazy to explore.
So he picked out the first
comfortable-looking place he came
to and curled up for a nap.</p>
<p class='pindent'>When Billy awoke, he couldn’t
at first remember where he was.
Then he recalled the fish and how
he had slipped in under the shed
floor.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Now I am here, I may as well
find out all about this place,”
thought Billy, and got to his feet.
He yawned and stretched and then
began to run around underneath
the floor of the shed, using his nose
as he always does. In no time at
all a familiar scent tickled his
nose.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“Ah, ha!” exclaimed Billy
Mink. “So this is where those
Rats came when they left the big
barn. I’m not hungry, but I certainly
would enjoy a good hunt.
I haven’t hunted anything bigger
than a mouse for ever so long.”</p>
<p class='pindent'>Away raced Billy, with his nose
to the ground, following the scent
of a Rat. It didn’t take him long
to find a nest under the shed floor.
But there was no one in that nest.
The Rat smell was very strong,
and Billy knew that Rats had been
there only a short time before.
The fact is, the Rats who owned
that nest had discovered Billy
Mink and had promptly moved
into the house. Billy eagerly followed
the trail. It led him to the
hole which led in between the walls
of the house. Without hesitating
a second, Billy popped through,
following that scent. It was a
queer place. He had never been
in such a place before. But Billy
knew that where a Rat could go he
could go, and so he followed,
climbing up between the walls of
the house until at last he reached
the attic.</p>
<p class='pindent'>He could hear the scampering of
many feet and he could hear
squeaks of fright, so he knew the
Rats knew that he was there.
Once in the attic, Billy found the
Rat scent everywhere. It was useless
to try to follow with his nose,
because the Rats had crossed and
recrossed each other’s paths so
often that the trail was all mixed
up.</p>
<p class='pindent'>But if Billy couldn’t trust to his
nose, he could trust to his ears.
The sound of scampering feet and
the frightened squeaks told him
where the Rats were. His eyes
blazed with the eager light of the
hunter, and without even a glance
at all the queer things in that attic,
things such as he had never seen
before, Billy kept on after those
Rats.</p>
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