- After his first raccoon, Billy goes a bit "coon crazy" (10.1). He's out hunting every night, and catches coon after coon after coon.
- Fortunately, his Grandfather's prediction about coon hides jumping in price is true. Billy is raking in the money, but he turns over every penny to his dad. All he cares about is the hunting.
- He sells the furs at his grandpa's shop, and listens to the other coon hunters telling stories and tales.
- Even though Billy brings in more furs than anyone else, the other hunters tease Billy about his small dogs. Because they're so mature and all.
- Some fun facts about the dogs: yes, they're small. But Little Ann is smart as a whip, and a sweet little thing (unless she's after a coon, we guess).
- Old Dan, on the other hand, is tough and stubborn. He's friendly, sort of, but refuses to hunt with any dog other than Little Ann. In fact, he won't even hunt by himself.
- Since Little Ann is constantly saving him from his own bad decisions, that seems like a good call on his part. Time for some anecdotes about this poor, dumb dog:
- Like this one night, they're hunting a coon and chase it into the river. Little Ann comes out the other side, but Old Dan is nowhere to be found.
Billy is freaking out, but Little Ann just keeps pawing and pawing at the ground about 10 feet from the river. - See, she's found an air hole for a muskrat den and is frantically digging at it.
- Finally, Billy figures it out. Old Dan has somehow ended up in there, and Little Ann is trying to get him out.
- Billy grabs a shovel from home and gets digging. He finally pulls Old Dan out, covered in mud from nose to tail.
- Oh, and this other time? Old Dan climbed up so high after a raccoon that Billy had to climb up after him so he didn't fall and break his neck.
- Yeah, even for a dog that's kind of dim.