Where the Red Fern Grows: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Grandpa drives the buggy all day until sundown, then pulls over at a creek to rest for the night. He insists Billy make soft beds on the ground for the dogs and feed them some delicious corned-beef hash rather than their usual feed. Grandpa is astonished to see that Old Dan refuses to eat before Little Ann has had her share—he declares that he’s never seen dogs behave almost “as one” before. Grandpa says that he can’t put his finger on what’s special about these hounds—but he knows it’s something.

That night, as Billy lays down to go to sleep, he hears the sound of a hoot owl calling followed by the sound of a second owl—a screech owl—answering. Billy knows that hearing two owls is bad luck. Billy wakes Grandpa and he tells him what he’s heard. Grandpa tells Billy not to believe in superstition. He urges him to rest up for the big day tomorrow—if a man believed all the “jinx stuff” that is lore in the Ozarks, he tells Billy, “he’d go crazy.”

Late the next afternoon, the buggy arrives at the camp where the hunt is to be held. Billy is in awe—he has never seen so many people in one place. Grandpa and Papa, too, are overwhelmed by the number of tents spread out over an acre-and-a-half of land. After unpacking the buggy, Billy wastes no time in exploring camp. As he makes his rounds, he overhears people pointing him out as “the boy who owns the two little red hounds.” Billy is full of pride—but as he catches sight of all the different kinds of hounds gathered at the campsite, he grows nervous. As soon as he returns to his own tent, however, and catches sight of Ann and Dan again, he feels doubt release its hold on his heart. He believes they are sure to win.

The next day, Billy enters Little Ann in a contest to determine the best-looking hound at the hunt. Billy oils her coat with butter and brushes her out using Grandpa’s ivory comb. At the contest, Billy brings Little Ann before the judges and he watches in awe as more and more dogs are eliminated while Ann remains in competition. Ultimately, Ann takes the top prize, and Billy is near shock as the other hunters congratulate him and the judges award him with a small silver cup. Billy begins to cry as he carries Little Ann back to their tent.

Later that evening, the head judge gathers all the hunters around to give them instructions as to how the hunt will be carried out. Each night, five sets of hounds will go out to hunt. A judge will accompany each team and count their kills. The hounds that tree the most raccoons will go to a championship runoff. The judge tells the men to line up and to each draw a card which will tell them what night their team is to hunt. Billy waits in line with the other men; while he waits, the others treat and talk to him “like a man.” Billy draws a card indicating that his team will go out on the fourth night of the hunt. That evening, Billy sits with Papa, Grandpa, and some other hunters around a campfire, singing songs and laughing.

As the days go by, more and more groups are eliminated. Billy, Papa, and Grandpa patiently wait their turn. On the day of their hunt, however, Grandpa takes to “hopping around like a grasshopper.” He, Billy, and Papa are all full of energy. As Billy passes through camp that afternoon, a hunter stops him to ask if it’s true that his hounds once treed six raccoons in one night. Billy laughs, knowing that his Grandpa has been telling tall tales about Dan and Ann.