Chapter 12 Summary

Billy is now a "famous" coon hunter in the area, thanks in part to Grandpa's bragging (and even a bit of exaggerating). That fame causes a great problem, however. One day Billy has to take a sack of corn to Grandpa's store to have it ground into meal for his mother. As he waits, the mean, low-life Pritchard boys come in to buy some chewing tobacco. They taunt Billy and insist on betting that his hounds cannot tree the "ghost coon" from their area. During the conversation, Rainie Pritchard says that Grandpa is "crooked" because he is a store owner. Billy and Grandpa both bridle at this, and Grandpa grows so furious that he takes two dollars from his wallet and calls the bet, warning the Pritchards not to play a dirty trick and jump Billy when he arrives for the hunt. Billy...