d pushing down the tree was God answering his prayer. Billy goes hunting almost every night and his dogs get smarter and smarter. His grandfather tells him that coonskin prices are up because there is a fad for coonskin coats in the New England states. Billy starts hunting even more and then sells the skins to his grandfather’s store and gives the money to his papa who is doing Billy’s chores for him while he hunts. Sometimes the coons would try to trick the dogs and Old Dan would end up in trouble. Once he was in a muskrat hole and Billy had to get him out and another time he got stuck in a tree trunk. Little Ann got into her own trouble too. One night after the first snow of the year had arrived Little Ann fell through ice. Billy sees her barely hanging on to the side of some ice and thinks it is hopeless and sits down and prays for a miracle. His lantern falls and makes a noise and that is when he realizes that he can bend the handle and fish her out of the water. When he got home he thought about how the lantern fell just as he was praying and got his attention. He asked his mother if all prayers are answered and she thought it was sweet that he asked such a question. One day while Billy was at his grandfather’s store the Pritchard boys came up. Ruben and Rainie Pritchard are the meanest boys in the area. They tell Billy that his hounds are not tough and that his grandfather is crooked. Billy’s mother always tells him not to mind the boys because they are abused and can not help being mean. This time though it was different because they insulted his dogs and his grandfather. They dare Billy to a bet; he is apprehensive but has to accept. Billy has to meet the boys at their land and try to catch the legendary “ghost coon”. The chase is not going well when all of sudden the wind picks up and Little Ann catches a scent and discovers the coon in a nearby hollow fence post. When the coon is finally tre...
