I was so surprised at what Grandpa had said I couldn't utter a word. At first I was scared and then a wonderful feeling came over me. I felt the excitement of the big hunt as it burned its way into my body. I started breathing like I had been running for a hundred miles. After several attempts, I croaked, 'Can just any dog be in this hunt?'
Grandpa almost jumped as he answered, 'No, sir, not just any hound can be entered. They have to be the best, and they have to be registered, too.'
He started talking with his hands. Pointing to a chair, he said, 'Sit down and I'll tell you all about it.'
Grandpa calmed down a little and started talking i in a serious voice. 'Billy,' he said, 'it takes some doing to have a set of dogs entered in this hunt. I've been working on this for months. I've written letters on top of letters. I've even had several good friends in town helping me. You see, I've kept a record of all the coons your dogs have caught, and believe me, their catch is up there with the best of them. Now, I have lalready paid the entry fee and everything is fixed. All we have to do is go.'
'Entry fee? How much did it cost?' I asked.
'You let me worry about that,' he said. 'Now what do you say? Want to give it a whirl? I understand the winner receives a gold cup, and you never can tell, we might come home with it. We have as good a chance as anyone else.'
Grandpa had me so worked up by this time, I didn't think anyone else had any good hounds but me.
I reared back and blurted, 'It's all right with me, Grandpa. Just tell me what to do.'
Grandpa flew out of gear like a Model-T Ford. He slapped the counter with his hand. In a pent-up voice, he said, 'That's the boy! That's the way I like to hear a coon hunter talk.'
With a questioning look on his face, he asked, 'Didn't I see your dogs with you when you came up?'
'Yes, they followed me,' I said. 'They're outside.'
'Well, call them in,' he said. 'I've got something for them.'
I called to them. Little Ann came in the store, walking like she was scared. Old Dan came to the door and stopped. I tried to coax him in. It was no use. My dogs, never being allowed in the house, were scared to come in.
Grandpa walked over to a hoop of cheese and cut off two chunks about the size of my fist. He walked to the door, talking to Old Dan. 'What's the matter, boy?' he said. 'You scared to come in? Well, that shows you're a good dog.'
He handed him a piece of the cheese. I heard it rattle in his throat as he gulped it down.
Grandpa came back and set Little Ann up on the counter. He chuckled as he broke the cheese up in small pieces and fed her.
'Yes, sir,' he said, 'I think we have the best darn coon hounds in these Ozark Mountains, and just as sure as shootin', we're going to win that gold cup.'
Grandpa didn't have to say that. The way I was feeling, I already had the cup. All I had to do was go and get it.
Finished with his feeding of Little Ann, Grandpa said, 'Now, let's see. The hunt starts on the twenty-third. That's about-well, let's see-this is the seventeenth.' Counting on his fingers he finally figured it out. 'That's six days from now,' he said in a jubilant voice.
I nodded my head.
'We can leave here early on the morning of the twenty-second,' he said, 'and barring accidents, we should make the campground in plenty of time for the grand opening.'
I asked how we were going.
'We'll go in my buggy,' he said. 'I'll load the tent and everything the night before.'
I asked him what he wanted me to bring.
'Nothing,' he said, 'but these two little hounds, and you be here early; and I believe I'd let these dogs rest, 'cause we want them in tiptop shape when we get there.'
I saw the thinking wrinkles bunch up on Grandpa's forehead.
