Billy’s mother makes him a coonskin cap from the raccoon he captured in the big sycamore tree. Following his first triumph, Billy and his hounds spend every night in the woods hunting raccoons. He credits his hound pups for his success. Old Dan and Little Ann use their combined hunting skills to track even the most cunning raccoons, and Billy proudly displays the hides on the wall of the smokehouse.

Billy’s grandfather speculated earlier that raccoon hides would increase in value as people begin to use them to make coats and other fashions. Billy profits from the rising prices as his grandfather predicted. As Billy amasses the coonskins, he sells them at his grandfather’s store. His grandfather does not give his earnings to him but to his father. Billy has no qualms with this arrangement; he was only interested in hunting.

Billy develops a habit of visiting his grandfather’s store only when necessary. Other hunters frequent his grandfather’s store, and their dogs often attacked Billy’s hounds, especially Old Dan. To prevent these affrays, Billy makes strenuous efforts to leave his dogs at home when he goes to his grandfather’s store to sell his hides. Unfortunately, his hounds watch him carefully and trail him to the store despite his efforts to elude them.

Most hunters frequent the store on Saturday, so Billy often takes his load of hides to the store on that day. He enjoys listening to the hunters’ tales of their adventures in the woods. However, now that he has hunting experience, he can share his own stories with the men at the store. He most enjoys boasting about Old Dan’s courage and Little Ann’s cleverness. Although the men enjoy his entertaining stories, they often tease him about the size of his hounds, especially Little Ann, who is much smaller than the average hound. Billy is offended by the insults and reminds the hunters that his hounds have had more success than any of the others. The hunters reluctantly acknowledge his point.

Billy is proud that his hounds work as a team. However, he is surprised to learn that Old Dan will not hunt without his partner, Little Ann. When Little Ann injures her paw, Billy treats the wound, bandages her foot, and locks her in the corncrib for safety. He decides to continue to hunt. He gathers his supplies and takes Old Dan into the woods in search of raccoons. Shortly after they arrive in the woods, Billy notices that Old Dan is nowhere in sight. He combs the area looking for his dog, but he cannot find him. Following a thorough search, Billy returns to his yard and finds Old Dan cuddled up beside the corncrib where Little Ann is confined. He realizes that the dog will not hunt alone.

Billy’s family, especially his mother and his sisters, enjoy petting Little Ann. Although Old Dan is not the family’s favorite, Billy admires his dogged determination in the hunt. In fact, Billy observes that Old Dan’s tenacity is quite remarkable. During one hunt, Old Dan follows a raccoon so closely that he enters a cavity in the ground and is nearly buried in the hole. Billy has to return home, find a shovel, and dig Old Dan out before he suffocates in the hole beneath the ground.

In another incident, Old Dan follows a raccoon into a hole in a tree. Pursuing the raccoon, he ascends the tree and exits onto a limb. He is more than fifteen feet off the ground, and Billy is certain he will break his legs if he jumps from the limb. To...