Twelve-year-old Billy Colman is obsessed with coon dogs and coon hunting, but good dogs cost money that his family can't afford. However, he sees several good dogs belonging to others, including a man named Mr. Kyle. One day Billy's father mentions that there's a Bluetick Coonhound pup for sale at his grandpa's store. Billy runs to see it, only to have the Pritchard boys talk their father into buying it just to spite Billy. Billy's grandpa tells him that if he wants dogs he has to earn them. He begins working multiple jobs and finally earns the fifty dollars two puppies will cost. By that time, the price has dropped by ten dollars each. Billy orders the dogs, but they arrive in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, 30 miles away, because the mail stage won't carry live animals. Billy sneaks out of the house in the night and travels to Tahlequah. He uses his leftover ten dollars to buy presents for his family; overalls for Papa, dress cloth for Mama and candy for his younger sisters. Billy picks up the pups at the depot and carries them home in a gunny sack. He has to stop overnight and encounters a cougar which snarls at him until he makes a fire to scare it off.