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Solutions Manual to accompany an
Introduction to Modern Astrophysics 2nd
9780805304022
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Description:
An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics, Second Edition has been thoroughly
revised to reflect the dramatic changes and advancements in astrophysics that
have occurred over the past decade. The Second Edition of this market-leading
book has been updated to include the latest results from relevant fields of
astrophysics and advances in our theoretical understanding of astrophysical
phenomena. The Tools of Astronomy: The Celestial Sphere, Celestial Mechanics,
The Continuous Spectrum of Light, The Theory of Special Relativity, The
Interaction of Light and Matter, Telescopes; The Nature of Stars: Binary Systems
and Stellar Parameters, The Classification of Stellar Spectra, Stellar Atmospheres,
The Interiors of Stars, The Sun, The Process of Star Formation, Post-Main-
Sequence Stellar Evolution, Stellar Pulsation, Supernovae, The Degenerate
Remnants of Stars, Black Holes, Close Binary Star Systems; Planetary Systems:
Physical Processes in the Solar System, The Terrestrial Planets, The Jovian Worlds,
Minor Bodies of the Solar System, The Formation of Planetary Systems; Galaxies
and the Universe: The Milky Way Galaxy, The Nature of Galaxies, Galactic
Evolution, The Structure of the Universe, Active Galaxies, Cosmology, The Early
Universe; Astronomical and Physical Constants, Unit Conversions Between SI and
cgs, Solar System Data, The Constellations, The Brightest Stars, The Nearest Stars,
Stellar Data, The Messier Catalog, Constants, A Constants Module for Fortran 95
(Available as a C++ header file), Orbits, A Planetary Orbit Code (Available as
Fortran 95 and C++ command line versions, and Windows GUI), TwoStars, A
Binary Star Code (Generates synthetic light and radial velocity curves; available as
Fortran 95 and C++ command line versions, and Windows GUI), StatStar, A Stellar
Structure Code (Available as Fortran 95 and C++ command line versions, and
Windows GUI), StatStar, Stellar Models, Galaxy, A Tidal Interaction Code
(Available as Java), WMAP Data. For all readers interested in moden astrophysics.
• ISBN-10 : 0805304029
• ISBN-13 : 978-0805304022
Table contents:
Preface
I. The Tools of Astronomy
1. The Celestial Sphere
1.1. The Greek Tradition
1.2. The Copernican Revolution
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
1.4. Physics and Astronomy
2. Celestial Mechanics
2.1. Elliptical Orbits
2.2. Newtonian Mechanics
2.3. Kepler's Laws Derived
2.4. The Virial Theorem
3. The Continuous Spectrum of Light
3.1. Stellar Parallax
3.2. The Magnitude Scale
3.3. The Wave Nature of Light
3.4. Blackbody Radiation
3.5. The Quantization of Energy
3.6. The Color Index
4. The Theory of Special Relativity
4.1. The Failure of the Galilean Transformations
4.2. The Lorentz Transformations
4.3. Time and Space in Special Relativity
4.4. Relativistic Momentum and Energy
5. The Interaction of Light and Matter
5.1. Spectral Lines
5.2. Photons
5.3. The Bohr Model of the Atom
5.4. Quantum Mechanics and Wave-Particle Duality
6. Telescopes
6.1. Basic Optics
6.2. Optical Telescopes
6.3. Radio Telescopes
6.4. Infrared, Ultraviolet, X-ray, and Gamma-Ray Astronomy
6.5. All-Sky Surveys and Virtual Observatories
II. The Nature of Stars
7. Binary Systems and Stellar Parameters
7.1. The Classification of Binary Stars
7.2. Mass Determination Using Visual Binaries
7.3. Eclipsing, Spectroscopic Binaries
7.4. The Search for Extrasolar Planets
8. The Classification of Stellar Spectra
8.1. The Formation of Spectral Lines
8.2. The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
9. Stellar Atmospheres
9.1. The Description of the Radiation Field
9.2. Stellar Opacity
9.3. Radiative Transfer
9.4. The Transfer Equation
9.5. The Profiles of Spectral Lines
10. The Interiors of Stars
10.1. Hydrostatic Equilibrium
10.2. Pressure Equation of State
10.3. Stellar Energy Sources
10.4. Energy Transport and Thermodynamics
10.5. Stellar Model Building
10.6. The Main Sequence
11. The Sun
11.1. The Solar Interior
11.2. The Solar Atmosphere
11.3. The Solar Cycle
12. The Interstellar Medium and Star Formation
12.1. Interstellar Dust and Gas
12.2. The Formation of Protostars
12.3. Pre-Main-Sequence Evolution
13. Main Sequence and Post-Main-Sequence Stellar Evolution
13.1. Evolution on the Main Sequence
13.2. Late Stages of Stellar Evolution
13.3. Stellar Clusters
14. Stellar Pulsation
14.1. Observations of Pulsating Stars
14.2. The Physics of Stellar Pulsation
14.3. Modeling Stellar Pulsation
14.4. Nonradial Stellar Pulsation
14.5. Helioseismology and Asteroseismology
15. The Fate of Massive Stars
15.1. Post-Main-Sequence Evolution of Massive Stars
15.2. The Classification of Supernovae
15.3. Core-Collapse Supernovae
15.4. Gamma-Ray Bursts
15.5. Cosmic Rays
16. The Degenerate Remnants of Stars
16.1. The Discovery of Sirius B
16.2. White Dwarfs
16.3. The Physics of Degenerate Matter
16.4. The Chandrasekhar Limit
16.5. The Cooling of White Dwarfs
16.6. Neutron Stars
16.7. Pulsars
17. General Relativity and Black Holes
17.1. The General Theory of Relativity
17.2. Intervals and Geodesics
17.3. Black Holes
18. Close Binary Star Systems
18.1. Gravity in a Close Binary Star System
18.2. Accretion Disks
18.3. A Survey of Interacting Binary Systems
18.4. White Dwarfs in Semidetached Binaries
18.5. Type Ia Supernovae
18.6. Neutron Stars and Black Holes in Binaries
III. The Solar System
19. Physical Processes in the Solar System
19.1. A Brief Survey
19.2. Tidal Forces
19.3. The Physics of Atmospheres
20. The Terrestrial Planets
20.1. Mercury
20.2. Venus
20.3. Earth
20.4. The Moon
20.5. Mars
21. The Realms of the Giant Planets
21.1. The Giant Worlds
21.2. The Moons of the Giants
21.3. Planetary Ring Systems
22. Minor Bodies of the Solar System
22.1. Pluto and Charon
22.2. Comets and Kuiper Belt Objects
22.3. Asteroids
22.4. Meteorites
23. Formation of Planetary Systems
23.1. Characteristics of Extrasolar Planetary Systems
23.2. Planetary System Formation and Evolution
IV. Galaxies and the Universe
24. The Milky Way Galaxy
24.1. Counting the Stars in the Sky
24.2. The Morphology of the Galaxy
24.3. The Kinematics of the Milky Way
24.4. The Galactic Center
25. The Nature of Galaxies
25.1. The Hubble Sequence
25.2. Spiral and Irregular Galaxies
25.3. Spiral Structure
25.4. Elliptical Galaxies
26. Galactic Evolution
26.1. Interactions of Galaxies
26.2. The Formation of Galaxies
27. The Structure of the Universe
27.1. The Extragalactic Distance Scale
27.2. The Expansion of the Universe
27.3. Clusters of Galaxies
28. Active Galaxies
28.1. Observations of Active Galaxies
28.2. A Unified Model of Active Galactic Nuclei
28.3. Radio Lobes and Jets
28.4. Using Quasars to Probe the Universe
29. Cosmology
29.1. Newtonian Cosmology
29.2. The Cosmic Microwave Background
29.3. Relativistic Cosmology
29.4. Observational Cosmology
30. The Early Universe
30.1. The Very Early Universe and Inflation
30.2. The Origin of Structure
A. Astronomical and Physical Constants
B. Unit Conversions
C. Solar System Data
D. The Constellations
E. The Brightest Stars
F. The Nearest Stars
G. Stellar Data
H. The Messier Catalog
I. Constants, A Programming Module
J. Orbit, A Planetary Orbit Code
K. TwoStars, A Binary Star Code
L. StatStar, A Stellar Structure Code
M. Galaxy, A Tidal Interaction Code
N. WMAP Data
Suggested Reading
Index
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
hawk had caught one of his brothers who had not instantly heeded
his mother’s warning.
But most important of all, he had learned the value of that first
lesson in obedience, and to trust wholly to the wisdom of Mother
Grouse and never to question her commands.
A big handsome grouse had joined them now. It was old Thunderer,
and sometimes when he would throw back his head, spread his
beautiful tail until it was like a fan, raise the crest on his head and
the glossy ruff on his neck, and proudly strut ahead of them, Tommy
thought him the most beautiful sight in all the world and wondered if
ever he would grow to be half as handsome. While he did little work
in the care of the brood, Thunderer was of real help to Mother
Grouse in guarding the little family from ever-lurking dangers. There
was no eye or ear more keen than his, and none more skillful than
he in confusing and baffling a hungry enemy who had chanced to
discover the presence of the little family. Tommy watched him every
minute he could spare from the ever important business of filling his
crop, and stored up for future need the things he learned.
Once he ventured to ask Thunderer what was the greatest danger
for which a grouse must watch out, and he never forgot the answer.
“There is no greatest danger while you are young,” replied
Thunderer, shaking out his feathers. “Every danger is greatest while
it exists. Never forget that. Never treat any danger lightly. Skunks
and foxes and weasels and minks and coons and hawks and owls
are equally dangerous to youngsters like you, and one is as much to
be feared as another. It is only when you have become full-grown,
like me, and then only in the fall of the year, that you will know the
greatest danger.”
“And what is that?” asked Tommy timidly.
“A man with a gun,” replied Thunderer.
“And what is that?” asked Tommy again, eager for knowledge.
“A great creature who walks on two legs and points a stick which
spits fire and smoke, and makes a great noise, and kills while it is
yet a long distance off.”
“Oh!” gasped Tommy. “How is one ever to learn to avoid such a
dreadful danger as that?”
“I’ll teach you when the time comes,” replied Thunderer. “Now run
along and take your dust-bath. You must first learn to avoid other
dangers before you will be fitted to meet the greatest danger.”
All that long bright summer Tommy thought of that greatest danger,
and, by learning how to meet other dangers, tried to prepare himself
for it. Sometimes he wondered if there really could be any greater
danger than those about him every day. It seemed sometimes as if
all the world sought to kill him, who was so harmless himself. Not
only were there dangers from hungry animals, and robbers of the
air, but also from the very creatures that furnished him much of his
living—the tribe of insects. An ugly-looking insect, called a tick, with
wicked blood-sucking jaws, killed one of the brood while they were
yet small, and an equally ugly worm called a bot-worm caused the
death of another.
Shadow the Weasel surprised one foolish bird who insisted on
sleeping on the ground when he was big enough to know better, and
Reddy Fox dined on another whose curiosity led him to move when
he had been warned to lie perfectly still, and who paid for his
disobedience with his life. Tommy, not three feet away, saw it all and
profited by the lesson.
He was big enough now to act for himself and no longer depended
wholly for safety on the wisdom of Mother Grouse and Thunderer.
But while he trusted to his own senses and judgment, he was ever
heedful of their example and still ready to learn. Especially did he
take pains to keep near Thunderer and study him and his ways, for
he was wise and cunning with the cunning of experience and
knowledge. Tommy was filled with great admiration for him and tried
to copy him in everything.
Thus it was that he learned that there were two ways of flying, one
without noise and the other with the thunder of whirring wings. Also
he learned that there was a time for each. When he knew himself to
be alone and suddenly detected the approach of an enemy, he often
would launch himself into the air on silent wings before his presence
had been discovered. But when others of his family were near, he
would burst into the air with all the noise he could make as a
warning to others. Also, it sometimes startled and confused the
enemy.
Thunderer had taught him the trick one day when Reddy Fox had
stolen, unseen by Tommy, almost within jumping distance.
Thunderer had seen him, and purposely had waited until Reddy was
just gathering himself to spring on the unsuspecting Tommy. Then
with a splendid roar of his stout wings Thunderer had risen just to
one side of the fox, so startling him and distracting his attention that
Tommy had had ample time to whir up in his turn, to the
discomfiture of Reddy Fox.
So, when the fall came, Tommy was big from good living, and filled
with the knowledge that makes for long life among grouse. He knew
the best scratching-grounds, the choicest feeding-places according
to the month, every bramble-tangle and every brush-pile, the place
for the warmest sun-bath, and the trees which afforded the safest
and most comfortable roosting places at night.
He knew the ways and the favorite hunting-grounds of every fox,
and weasel, and skunk, and coon of the neighborhood, and how to
avoid them. He knew when it was safest to lie low and trust to the
protective coloring of his feathers, and when it was best to roar
away on thundering wings.
The days grew crisp and shorter. The maples turned red and yellow,
and soon the woods were filled with fluttering leaves and the trees
began to grow bare. It was then that old Thunderer warned Tommy
that the season of greatest danger was at hand. Somehow, in the
confidence of his strength and the joy of the splendid tide of life
surging through him, he didn’t fear this unknown danger as he had
when as a little fellow he had first heard of it. Then one day, quite
unexpectedly, he faced it.
He and Thunderer had been resting quietly in a bramble-tangle on
the very edge of the Green Forest, when suddenly there was the
rustle of padded feet in the leaves just outside the brambles.
Looking out, Tommy saw what at first he took to be a strange and
very large kind of fox, and he prepared to fly.
“Not yet! Not yet!” warned Thunderer. “That is a dog and he will not
harm us. But to fly now might be to go straight into that greatest
danger, of which I had told you. That is the mistake young grouse
often make, flying before they know just where the danger is. Watch
until you see the two-legged creature with the fire-stick, then follow
me and do just as I do.”
The dog was very near now. In fact, he had his nose in the brambles
and was standing as still as if turned to stone, one of his fore feet
lifted and pointing straight at them. No one moved. Presently
Tommy heard heavy steps, and, looking through the brambles, saw
the great two-legged creature of whom Thunderer had told him.
“Now!” cried Thunderer. “Do as I do!” With a great roar of wings he
burst out of the tangle on the opposite side from where the hunter
was, and flying low, so as to keep the brambles between himself and
the hunter, swerved sharply to the left to put a tree between them,
and then flew like a bullet straight into the Green Forest where the
trees were thickest, skillfully dodging the great trunks, and at last at
a safe distance sailing up over the tops to take to the ground on the
other side of a hill and there run swiftly for a way.
Tommy followed closely, doing exactly as Thunderer did. Even as he
swerved behind the first tree, he heard a terrible double roar behind
him and the sharp whistle of things which cut through the leaves
around him and struck the tree behind him. One even nipped a
brown feather from his back. He was terribly frightened, but he was
unhurt as he joined Thunderer behind the hill.
“Now you know what the greatest danger is,” said Thunderer. “Never
fly until you know just where the hunter is, and then fly back of a
bush or a tree, the bigger the better, or drop over the edge of a
bank if there is one. Make as much noise as you can when you get
up. It may startle the hunter so that he cannot point his fire-stick
straight. If he has no dog, it is sometimes best to lie still until he has
passed and then fly silently. If there is no tree or other cover near
enough when you first see the dog, run swiftly until you reach a
place where it will be safe to take wing.”
For the next few weeks it seemed as if from daylight to dark the
woods were filled with dogs and hunters, and Tommy knew no hour
of peace and security until the coming of night. Many a dreadful
tragedy did Tommy see when companions, less cunning than old
Thunderer, were stricken in mid-air and fell lifeless to the ground.
But he, learning quickly and doing as Thunderer did, escaped
unharmed.
At last the law, of which Tommy knew nothing, put an end to the
murder of the innocents, and for another year the greatest danger
was over. But now came a new danger. It was the month of
madness. Tommy and all his companions were seized with an
irresistible desire to fly aimlessly, blindly, sometimes in the darkness
of night, they knew not where. And in this mad flight some met
death, breaking their necks against buildings and against telegraph
wires. Where he went or what he did during this period of madness,
Tommy never knew; but when it left him as abruptly as it had come,
he found himself in the street of a village.
With swift strong wings he shot into the air and headed straight
back for the dear Green Forest, now no longer green save where the
hemlocks and pines grew. Once back there, he took up the old life
and was happy, for he felt himself a match for any foe. The days
grew shorter and the cold increased. There were still seeds and
acorns and some berries, but with the coming of the snow these
became more and more scarce and Tommy was obliged to resort to
catkins and buds on the trees. Between his toes there grew little
horny projections, which were his snowshoes and enabled him to get
about on the snow without sinking in. He learned to dive into the
deep soft snow for warmth and safety. Once he was nearly trapped
there. A hard crust formed in the night and, when morning came,
Tommy had hard work to break out.
So the long winter wore away and spring came with all its gladness.
Tommy was fully as big as old Thunderer now and just as
handsome, and he began to take pride in his appearance and to
strut. One day he came to an old log, and, jumping up on it, strutted
back and forth proudly with his fan-like tail spread its fullest and his
broad ruff raised. Then he heard the long rolling thunder of another
grouse drumming. Instantly he began to beat his wings against the
air, not as in flying, but with a more downward motion, and to his
great delight there rolled from under them that same thunder. Slowly
he beat at first and then faster and faster, until he was forced to
stop for breath. He was drumming! Then he listened for a reply.
Drum—drum—drum—drum—drum, drum, drum, dr-r-r-r-r-r-rum.
Tommy’s eyes flew open. He was sitting on the old wishing-stone on
the edge of the Green Meadows. For a minute he blinked in
confusion. Then, from over in the Green Forest, came that sound like
distant thunder, drum—drum—drum—drum—drum, drum, drum, dr-
r-r-r-r-r-rum.
“It’s ol’ Thunderer again on that beech log!” cried Tommy. “And now
I know how he does it. He just beats the air. I know, because I’ve
done it myself. Geewhilikens, I’m glad I’m not really a partridge! Bet
I’ll never hunt one after this, or let anybody else if I can help it. Isn’t
this old wishing-stone the dandy place to learn things, though! I
guess the only way of really knowing how birds and animals live and
feel is by being one of ’em. Somehow it makes things look all
different. Just listen to ol’ Thunderer drum! I know now just how
fine he feels. I’m going to get Father to put up a sign and stop all
shooting in our part of the Green Forest next fall, and then there
won’t be any greatest danger there.”
And Tommy, whistling merrily, started for home.
 CHAPTER THREE
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN TOMMY BECAME A MINK

I t was not often that Tommy caught so much as a glimpse of Billy

Mink; and every time he did, he had the feeling that he had been
smart, very smart indeed. The funny thing is that this feeling
annoyed Tommy. Yes, it did. It annoyed him because it seemed so
very foolish to think that there was anything smart in just seeing
Billy Mink. And yet every time he did see him, he had the feeling
that he had really done something out of the usual.
Little by little, he realized that it was because Billy Mink himself is so
smart, and manages to keep out of sight so much of the time, that
just seeing him once in a while gave him the feeling of being
smarter than Billy.
At the same time, he was never quite sure that Billy didn’t intend to
be seen. Somehow that little brown-coated scamp always seemed to
be playing with him. He would appear so suddenly that Tommy
never could tell just where he came from. And he would disappear
quite as quickly. Tommy never could tell where he went. He just
vanished, that was all. It was this that made Tommy feel that he had
been smart to see him at all.
Now Tommy had been acquainted with Billy Mink for a long time.
That is to say, he had known Billy by sight. More than that, he had
tried to trap Billy, and in trying to trap him he had learned some of
Billy’s ways. In fact, Tommy had spent a great deal of time trying to
catch Billy. You see, he wanted that little brown fur coat of Billy’s
because he could sell it. But it was very clear that Billy wanted that
little fur coat himself to wear, and also that he knew all about traps.
So Billy still wore his coat, and Tommy had taken up his traps and
put them away with a sigh for the money which he had hoped that
that coat would bring him, and with a determination that, when cold
weather should come again, he would get it. You see it was summer
now, and the little fur coat was of no value then save to Billy himself.
In truth, Tommy would have forgotten all about it until autumn came
again had not Billy suddenly popped out in front of him that very
morning, while Tommy was trying to catch a trout in a certain quiet
pool in the Laughing Brook deep in the Green Forest. Tommy had
been sitting perfectly still, like the good fisherman that he was, not
making the tiniest sound, when he just seemed to feel two eyes
fixed on him. Very, very slowly Tommy turned his head. He did it so
slowly that it almost seemed as if he didn’t move it at all. But careful
as he was, he had no more than a bare glimpse of a little brown
animal, who disappeared as by magic.
“It’s that mink,” thought Tommy, and continued to stare at the spot
where he had last seen Billy. The rustle of a leaf almost behind him
caused him to forget and to turn quickly. Again he had just a glimpse
of something brown. Then it was gone. Where, he hadn’t the least
idea. It was gone, that was all.
Tommy forgot all about trout. It was more fun to try to get a good
look at Billy Mink and to see what he was doing and where he was
going. Tommy remembered all that he had been taught or had read
about how to act when trying to watch his little wild neighbors and
he did the best he could, but all he got was a fleeting glimpse now
and then which was most tantalizing. At last he gave up and reeled
in his fish-line. Then he started for home. All the way he kept
thinking of Billy Mink. He couldn’t get Billy out of his head.
Little by little he realized how, when all was said and done, he didn’t
know anything about Billy. That is, he didn’t really know—he just
guessed at things.
“And here he is one of my neighbors,” thought Tommy. “I know a
great deal about Peter Rabbit, and Chatterer the Red Squirrel, and
Reddy Fox, and a lot of others, but I don’t know anything about Billy
Mink, and he’s too smart to let me find out. Huh! he needn’t be so
secret about everything. I’m not going to hurt him.”
Then into Tommy’s head crept a guilty remembrance of those traps.
A little flush crept into Tommy’s face. “Anyway, I’m not going to hurt
him now,” he added.
By this time he had reached the great gray stone on the edge of the
Green Meadows, the wishing-stone. Just as a matter of course he
sat down on the edge of it. He never could get by without sitting
down on it.
It was a very beautiful scene that stretched out before Tommy, but,
though he seemed to be gazing out at it, he didn’t see it at all. He
was looking through unseeing eyes. The fact is, he was too busy
thinking, and his thoughts were all of Billy Mink. It must be great fun
to be able to go and come any hour of the day or night, and to be
so nimble and smart.
“I wish I were a mink,” said Tommy, slowly and very earnestly.
Of course you know what happened then. The same thing happened
that had happened before on the old wishing-stone. Tommy was the
very thing he had wished to be. He was a mink. Yes, sir, Tommy was
a tiny furry little fellow, with brothers and sisters and the nicest little
home, in a hollow log hidden among bulrushes, close by the
Laughing Brook and with a big pile of brush near it. Indeed, one end
of the old log was under the brush-pile.
That made the very safest kind of a play-ground for the little minks.
It was there that Mother Mink gave them their first lessons in a
game called “Now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t.” They thought they
were just playing, but all the time they were learning something that
would be most important and useful to them when they were older.
Tommy was very quick to learn and just as quick in his movements,
so that it wasn’t long before he could out-run, out-dodge, and out-
hide any of his companions, and Mother Mink began to pay special
attention to his education. She was proud of him, and because she
was proud of him she intended to teach him all the mink lore which
she knew.
So Tommy was the first of the family to be taken fishing. Ever since
he and his brothers and sisters had been big enough to eat solid
food, they had had fish as a part of their bill of fare, and there was
nothing that Tommy liked better. Where they came from, he had
never bothered to ask. All he cared about was the eating of them.
But now he was actually going to catch some, and he felt very
important as he glided along behind his mother.
Presently they came to a dark, deep pool in the Laughing Brook.
Mrs. Mink peered into its depths. There was the glint of something
silvery down there in the brown water. In a flash Mrs. Mink had
disappeared in the pool, entering the water so smoothly as to hardly
make a splash. For a moment Tommy saw her dark form moving
swiftly, then he lost it. His little eyes blazed with eagerness and
excitement as he watched.
Ha! What was that? There was something moving under water on
the other side of the pool. Then out popped the brown head of Mrs.
Mink and in her teeth was a fat trout. Tommy’s mouth watered at
the sight. What a feast he would have!
 OUT POPPED THE BROWN HEAD OF MRS. MINK AND
IN HER TEETH WAS A FAT TROUT
But instead of bringing the fish to him, Mrs. Mink climbed out on the
opposite bank and disappeared in the brush there. Tommy
swallowed hard with disappointment. Could it be that he wasn’t to
have any of it after all? In a few minutes Mrs. Mink was back again,
but there was no sign of the fish. Then Tommy knew that she had
hidden it, and for just a minute a wicked thought popped into his
head. He would swim across and hunt for it. But Mother Mink didn’t
give him a chance. Though Tommy didn’t see it, there was a twinkle
in her eyes as she said,
“Now you have seen how easy it is to catch a fish, I shall expect you
to catch all you eat hereafter. Come along with me to the next pool
and show me how well you have learned your lesson.”
She led the way down the Laughing Brook, and presently they came
to another little brown pool. Eagerly Tommy peered into it. At first
he saw nothing. Then, almost under him, he discovered a fat trout
lazily watching for a good meal to come along. With a great splash
Tommy dived into the pool. For just a second he closed his eyes as
he struck the water. When he opened them, the trout was nowhere
to be seen. Tommy looked very crest-fallen and foolish as he crawled
up on the bank, where Mother Mink was laughing at him.
“How do you expect to catch fish when you splash like that?” she
asked. Tommy didn’t know, so he said nothing. “Now you come with
me and practise on little fish first,” she continued and led him to a
shallow pool in which a school of minnows were at play.
Now Tommy was particularly fond of trout, as all Mink are, and he
was inclined to turn up his nose at minnows. But he wisely held his
tongue and prepared to show that he had learned his lesson. This
time he slipped into the water quietly and then made a swift dash at
the nearest minnow. He missed it quite as Mother Mink had
expected he would. But now his dander was up. He would catch one
of those minnows if it took him all the rest of the day! Three times
he tried and missed, but the fourth time his sharp little teeth closed
on a finny victim and he proudly swam ashore with the fish.
“Things you catch yourself always taste best,” said Mother Mink.
“Now we’ll go over on the meadows and catch some mice.”
Tommy scowled. “I want to catch some more fish,” said he.
“Not the least bit of use for you to try,” retorted Mother Mink. “Don’t
you see that you have frightened those minnows so that they have
left the pool? Besides, it is time that you learned to hunt as well as
fish, and you’ll find it is just as much fun.”
Tommy doubted it, but he obediently trotted along at the heels of
Mother Mink out onto the Green Meadows. Presently they came to a
tiny little path through the meadow grasses. Mother Mink sniffed in it
and Tommy did the same. There was the odor of meadow-mouse,
and once more Tommy’s mouth watered. He quite forgot about the
fish. Mother Mink darted ahead and presently Tommy heard a faint
squeak. He hurried forward to find Mother Mink with a fat meadow-
mouse. Tommy smacked his lips, but she took no notice. Instead,
she calmly ate the meadow-mouse herself.
Tommy didn’t need to be told that if he wanted meadow-mouse he
would have to catch one for himself. With a little angry toss of his
head he trotted off along the little path. Presently he came to
another. His nose told him a meadow-mouse had been along that
way recently. With his nose to the ground he began to run.
Other little paths branched off from the one he was in. Tommy paid
no attention to them until suddenly he realized that he no longer
smelled meadow-mouse. He kept on a little farther, hoping that he
would find that entrancing smell again. But he didn’t, so he stopped
to consider. Then he turned and ran back, keeping his nose to the
ground. So he came to one of those little branch paths and there he
caught the smell of meadow-mouse again. He turned into the little
branch path and the smell grew stronger. He ran faster.
Then his quick ears caught the sound of scurrying feet ahead of him.
He darted along, and there, running for his life, was a fat meadow-
mouse. Half a dozen bounds brought Tommy up with him,
whereupon the mouse turned to fight. Now the mouse was big and
a veteran, and Tommy was only a youngster. It was his first fight.
For just a second he paused at the sight of the sharp little teeth
confronting him. Then he sprang into his first fight.
The fierce lust of battle filled him. His eyes blazed red. There was a
short sharp struggle and then the mouse went limp and lifeless. Very
proudly Tommy dragged it out to where Mother Mink was waiting.
She would have picked it up and carried it easily, but Tommy wasn’t
big enough for that.
After that Tommy went hunting or fishing every day. Sometimes the
whole family went, and such fun as they would have! One day they
would hunt frogs around the edge of the Smiling Pool. Again they
would visit a swamp and dig out worms and insects. But best of all
they liked to hunt the meadow-mice.
So the long summer wore away and the family kept together. But as
the cool weather of the fall came, Tommy grew more and more
restless. He wanted to see the Great World. Sometimes he would go
off and be gone two or three days at a time. Then one day he bade
the old home good-by forever, though he didn’t know it at the time.
He simply started off, following the Laughing Brook to the Great
River, in search of adventure. And in the joy of exploring new fields
he forgot all about home.
He was a fine big fellow by this time and very smart in the ways of
the Mink world. Life was just a grand holiday. He hunted or fished
when he was hungry, and when he was tired he curled up in the
nearest hiding-place and slept. Sometimes it was in a hollow log or
stump. Again it was in an old rock-pile or under a heap of brush.
When he had slept enough, he was off again on his travels, and it
made no difference to him whether it was night or day. He just ate
when he pleased, slept when he pleased, and wandered on where
and when he pleased.
He was afraid of no one. Once in a while a fox would try to catch
him or a fierce hawk would swoop at him, but Tommy would dodge
like a flash, and laugh as he ducked into some hole or other hiding-
place. He had learned that quickness of movement often is more
than a match for mere size and strength. So he was not afraid of
any of his neighbors, for those he was not strong enough to fight he
was clever enough to elude.
He could run swiftly, climb like a squirrel, and swim like a fish.
Because he was so slim, he could slip into all kinds of interesting
holes and dark corners, and explore stone and brush piles. In fact he
could go almost anywhere he pleased. His nose was as keen as that
of a dog. He was always testing the air or sniffing at the ground for
the odor of other little people who had passed that way. When he
was hungry and ran across the trail of some one he fancied, he
would follow it just as Bowser the Hound follows the trail of Reddy
Fox. Sometimes he would follow the trail of Reddy himself, just to
see what he was doing.
For the most part he kept near water. He dearly loved to explore a
brook, running along beside it, swimming the pools, investigating
every hole in the banks and the piles of drift stuff. When he was
feeling lazy and there were no fish handy, he would catch a frog or
two, or a couple of pollywogs, or a crayfish.
Occasionally he would leave the low land and the water for the high
land and hunt rabbits and grouse. Sometimes he surprised other
ground birds. Once he visited a farmyard and, slipping into the hen-
house at night, killed three fat hens. Of course he could not eat the
whole of even one.
Tommy asked no favors of any one. His was a happy, care-free life.
To be sure he had few friends save among his own kind, but he
didn’t mind this. He rather enjoyed the fact that all who were
smaller, and some who were larger, than he feared him. He was lithe
and strong and wonderfully quick.
Fighting was a joy. It was this as much as anything that led him into
a fight with a big muskrat, much bigger than himself. The muskrat
was stout, and his great teeth looked dangerous. But he was slow
and clumsy in his movements compared with Tommy, and, though
he was full of courage and fought hard, the battle was not long.
After that Tommy hunted muskrats whenever the notion seized him.
Winter came, but Tommy minded it not at all. His thick fur coat kept
him warm, and the air was like tonic in his veins. It was good to be
alive. He hunted rabbits in the snow. He caught fish at spring-holes
in the ice. He traveled long distances under the ice, running along
the edge of the water where it had fallen away from the frozen
crust, swimming when he had to, investigating muskrat holes, and
now and then surprising the tenant.
Unlike his small cousin, Shadow the Weasel, he seldom hunted and
killed just for the fun of killing. Sometimes, when fishing was
especially good and he caught more than he could use, he would
hide them away against a day of need. In killing, the mink is simply
obeying the law of Old Mother Nature, for she has given him flesh-
eating teeth, and without meat he could not live. In this respect he
is no worse than man, for man kills to live.
For the most of the time, Tommy was just a happy-go-lucky traveler,
who delighted in exploring new places and who saw more of the
Great World than most of his neighbors. The weather never
bothered him. He liked the sun, but he would just as soon travel in
the rain. When a fierce snow-storm raged, he traveled under the ice
along the bed of the nearest brook or river. It was just the life he
had dreamed of as a boy. He was an adventurer, a freebooter, and
all the world was his. He had no work. He had no fear, for as yet he
had not encountered man. Hooty the Owl by night and certain of the
big hawks by day were all he had to watch out for, and these he did
not really fear, for he felt himself too smart for them.
But at last he did learn fear. It came to him when he discovered
another Mink fast in a trap. He didn’t understand those strange jaws
which bit into the flesh and held and yet were not alive. He hid near-
by and watched, and he saw a great two-legged creature come and
take the mink away. Then, cautiously, Tommy investigated. He
caught the odor of the man scent, and a little chill of fear ran down
his backbone.
But in spite of all his care there came a fateful day. He was running
along a brook in shallow water when snap! from the bottom of the
brook itself the dreadful jaws sprang up and caught him by a leg.
There had been no smell of man to give him warning, for the
running water had carried it away. Tommy gave a little shriek as he
felt the dreadful thing, and then—he was just Tommy, sitting on the
wishing-stone.
He stared thoughtfully over at the Green Forest. Then he shuddered.
You see he remembered just how he had felt when that trap had
snapped on his leg. “I don’t want your fur coat, Billy Mink,” said he,
just as if Billy could hear him. “If it wasn’t for traps, you surely
would enjoy life. Just the same I wouldn’t trade places with you, not
even if I do have to hoe corn just when I want to go swimming!”
And with this, Tommy started for home and the hoe, and somehow
the task didn’t look so very dreadful after all.
 CHAPTER FOUR
TOMMY BECOMES A VERY HUMBLE PERSON

“H ello, old Mr. Sobersides! Where are you bound for?” As he

spoke, Tommy thrust a foot in front of old Mr. Toad and
laughed as Mr. Toad hopped up on it and then off, quite as if he
were accustomed to having big feet thrust in his way. Not that
Tommy had especially big feet. They simply were big in comparison
with Mr. Toad. “Never saw you in a hurry before,” continued Tommy.
“What’s it all about? You are going as if you were bound for
somewhere in particular, and as if you had something special on
your mind. What is it, anyway?”
Now of course old Mr. Toad didn’t make any reply. At least he didn’t
make any that Tommy heard. If he had, Tommy wouldn’t have
understood it. The fact is, it did look, for all the world, as if it was
just as Tommy had said. If ever any one had an important
engagement to keep and meant to keep it, Mr. Toad did, if looks
counted anything. Hoppity-hop-hop-hop, hoppity-hop-hop-hop, he
went straight down toward the Green Meadows, and he didn’t pay
any attention to anybody or anything.
Tommy was interested. He had known old Mr. Toad ever since he
could remember, and he couldn’t recall ever having seen him go
anywhere in particular. Whenever Tommy had noticed him, he had
seemed to be hopping about in the most aimless sort of way, and
never took more than a half dozen hops without sitting down to
think it over. So it was very surprising to see him traveling along in
this determined fashion, and, having nothing better to do, Tommy
decided to follow him and find out what he could.
So down the Lone Little Path traveled old Mr. Toad, hoppity-hop-hop-
hop, hoppity-hop-hop-hop, and behind him strolled Tommy. And
while old Mr. Toad seemed to be going very fast, and was, for him,
Tommy was having hard work to go slow enough to stay behind.
And this shows what a difference mere size may make.
When they reached the wishing-stone, Mr. Toad was tired from
having hurried so, and Tommy was equally tired from the effort of
going slow, so both were glad to sit down for a rest. Old Mr. Toad
crept in under the edge of the wishing-stone on the shady side, and
Tommy, still thinking of old Mr. Toad, sat down on the wishing-stone
itself.
“I wonder,” he chuckled, “if he has come down here to wish. Perhaps
he’ll wish himself into something beautiful, as they do in fairy
stories. I should think he’d want to. Goodness knows, he’s homely
enough! It’s bad enough to be freckled, but to be covered with warts
—ugh! There isn’t a single beautiful thing about him.”
As he said this, Tommy leaned over that he might better look at old
Mr. Toad, and Mr. Toad looked up at Tommy quite as if he
understood what Tommy had said, so that Tommy looked straight
into Mr. Toad’s eyes.
It was the first time in all his life that Tommy had ever looked into a
toad’s eyes. Whoever would think of looking at the eyes of a hop-
toad? Certainly not Tommy. Eyes were eyes, and a toad had two of
them. Wasn’t that enough to know? Why under the sun should a
fellow bother about the color of them, or anything like that? What
difference did it make? Well, it made just the difference between
knowing and not knowing; between knowledge and ignorance;
between justice and injustice.
Tommy suddenly realized this as he looked straight into the eyes of
old Mr. Toad, and it gave him a funny feeling inside. It was
something like that feeling you have when you speak to some one
you think is an old friend and find him to be a total stranger. “I—I
beg your pardon, Mr. Toad,” said he. “I take it all back. You have
something beautiful—the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen. If I had
eyes as beautiful as yours, I wouldn’t care how many freckles I had.
Why haven’t I ever seen them before?”
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