Catching my breath and looking at Papa, I said, 'We're going in his buggy and he wants you to go.'
I waited in silence for his reply. Papa sat there staring off into space, sipping his coffee and saying nothing. I knew he was thinking.
In the silence I was sure I could hear my heart thumping.
I said, 'Papa, please go. We'll have a lot of fun and besides the winner receives a big golden cup.'
He scratched his head and said, 'Billy, I'd sure like to go, but I don't see how I can with all this work around here.'
I was beginning to think that Papa wasn't going to go. Then Mama started talking.
'Work?' she said. 'Why, all the work is practically done. I don't know of one thing you couldn't put off for a few days. Why don't you go? You haven't been anywhere since I don't know when.'
'It's not only the work I'm thinking of,' Papa said. 'It's you and the girls.'
'Why, don't worry about the girls and me,' Mama said, 'We'll be all right. Besides, it'll be several months yet before I need any help.'
When Mama said this, it dawned on me. I had been so busy with my coon hunting I hadn't noticed anything unusual. Mama's tummy was all swelled up. She was going to have a baby. I felt guilty for not having noticed. I went over and put my arms around her and kissed her.
Papa spoke up. 'It's sure going to be a big hunt,' he said. 'I heard something about it up at the store one day.'
'Grandpa said there would be hunters there from everywhere,' I said, 'and some of the best coon hounds in the country.'
'Do you think you have a chance to win the cup?' Papa asked.
I started to answer him when the little one piped up. 'They can't beat Old Dan and Little Ann,' she said. 'I just bet they can't.'
Everyone laughed at her serious remark. I would have kissed her but she had candy, corn bread, and molasses all over her face.
I told Papa I didn't know how good those dogs were, but there was one thing I did know. If they beat mine, they would have to hunt harder than they ever had before.
After I had had my say about the dogs, a silence settled over the dining room. Everyone was looking at Papa and waiting for his answer.
I saw a pleased smile spread over his face. He stood up. 'All right, I'll go,' he said, 'and, by golly, we'll bring that gold cup back, too.'
My sisters started clapping their hands and squealing with delight. A satisfied smile spread over my mother's face.
At that moment I'm sure no boy in the world could have been happier than I. Tears of happiness rolled down my cheeks. Mama wiped them away with her apron.
In the midst of all the excitement, my little sister, saying not a word, climbed down from her chair. No one said anything. We just watched her.
Still clutching a spoon in her small hand, she came around the table and walked up to me. Looking down at the floor, in a bashful voice, she asked, 'Can I have the gold cup?'
Putting my finger under her sticky little chin, I tilted her head up. I smiled as I looked into her clear blue eyes. I said, 'Honey, if I win it, I'll give it to no one but you.'
I had to cross my heart and hope to die several times before she was satisfied.
Back in her chair she gloated over the others. 'You just wait and see,' she said. 'It'll be all mine, nobody's but mine, and I'll put my banty eggs in it.'
'Silly, you don't put banty eggs in a gold cup,' the oldest one said. 'They're just made to look at.'
