<div><h1 id='ch33'>CHAPTER XXXIII<br/> <span class='sub-head'>THE FARMER SEES A STRANGE SIGHT</span></h1></div>
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<p class='line0'>The really clever folks are those</p>
<p class='line0'>  Who get their friends for them to do</p>
<p class='line0'>The things they cannot do themselves.</p>
<p class='line0'>  Where’er you go you’ll find this true.</p>
<p class='line0'>                      <span class='it'>Billy Mink.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'><span class='sc'>The</span> farmer had watched Billy
Mink disappear through the hole
beneath the shed of the farmhouse.
He had chuckled as he saw the tip
of Billy’s tail disappear. You see,
it was to get Billy over to the
house that he had made friends
with Billy.</p>
<p class='pindent'>For days the farmer had placed
food for Billy close to the woodpile
under which Billy was living. On
this particular morning he had tied
a big piece of fish to a string and
then had dragged it from the place
where he usually left Billy’s meals
over to the hole under the shed.
As you know it hadn’t taken Billy
long to find that piece of fish.</p>
<p class='pindent'>The farmer hoped that if he
could get Billy over to the house,
he would follow those Rats and
drive them out, just as he had
driven them out of the barn. That
is why the farmer chuckled when
he saw Billy Mink disappear
through that hole under the floor
of the shed.</p>
<p class='pindent'>For a long time the farmer kept
watch, but he was disappointed.
Nothing happened. You see, Billy
Mink, having eaten a hearty breakfast,
had curled up for a nap under
the floor of the shed. The farmer
didn’t know this and so at last he
concluded that somehow Billy Mink
had slipped out unseen.</p>
<p class='pindent'>“I did hope that little brown
rascal would drive those Rats out,”
muttered the farmer, as he went
about his work.</p>
<p class='pindent'>It was some time later in the
day that the farmer went to the
barn door and glanced over towards
the house. Then it was that he
saw a strange sight, a very strange
sight indeed. Out from that hole
through which Billy Mink had entered
came a crowd of Rats. There
were big Rats, little Rats, and
middle-sized Rats. There were
gray old grandfather Rats and
sleek young Rats. Never had the
farmer seen so many Rats at one
time.</p>
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<p class='caption'><span class='sc'>I was plain to see that those rats were in a terrible fright.</span></p>
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<p class='pindent'>And it was plain to see that
those Rats were in a terrible fright.
They were squeaking and squealing
with fear, and every one of them
was running as fast as he could.
They scattered in all directions.
Some made for the big barn, some
made for the woodpile, some made
for the henhouse, and others started
off straight toward the next farm, in
spite of the snow on the ground.
The farmer shouted aloud for joy.
He knew there wouldn’t be one
Rat left in that house by the time
Billy Mink came out.</p>
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