Chapter 11 Summary

A northern blizzard blows for five days, keeping Billy cooped up in the house. When it finally ends with a three-inch snowfall, he alerts his dogs that there will be good hunting that night. Papa warns him that the slippery, frozen surface beneath the snow can be treacherous, causing a twisted or broken ankle, and there will be fog, too. Even Grandpa has told him that, in these conditions, a coon can play fatal tricks on hunting dogs. Carefully Billy makes his way to the bottoms, and there his dogs pick up a trail. They chase the coon up into the mountains and right back down again, straight toward Billy. The coon runs right up to the Colman house, where Billy's sisters scream and his father whoops. Billy swells with pride to think that his whole family is out on the porch "listening...