Old Yeller

by

Fred Gipson

Travis Coates Character Analysis

Travis Coates is the 14-year-old protagonist of Old Yeller. At the start of the novel, Travis’s Papa heads off on a lengthy cattle drive from their family’s Texas Hill Country home to Kansas. Travis is excited about having the chance to prove himself as the new man of the house—but the arrival of a thieving yellow mutt who pilfers meat from the family’s storehouse throws a wrench in Travis’s plans. When Travis’s younger brother Little Arliss insists on adopting the dog into the family, Travis is resentful of the mutt’s presence—but soon enough, “Old Yeller” proves himself to be an important member of the family. Old Yeller becomes indispensable in Travis’s daily routine as he hunts, tags hogs, protects the family’s vegetable patch from varmints, and defends the ranch from fighting bulls. Travis becomes confident in his burgeoning manhood as he’s able to take on more responsibilities and provides for Mama and Little Arliss. But when Travis and Old Yeller are mauled by wild hogs, Travis is forced to take a step back and heal while a neighbor girl, Lisbeth, helps around the Coateses’ house. Later, when there’s an outbreak of hydrophobia (rabies) throughout the countryside, the headstrong and determined Travis tries to ignore it. He can no longer ignore the truth, however, when more and more animals around the ranch come down with rabies—and Travis’s relationship with Old Yeller reaches a devastating climax when Yeller himself is infected and Travis must shoot his own dog to protect his family from the disease. Throughout the novel, Travis is obsessed with proving that he’s manly, brave, and unemotional enough to do what needs to be done for his family—yet over the course of the story, Travis realizes that there’s more to growing up, being responsible, and becoming a man than grit and glory. Through his relationship with Old Yeller, Travis learns to respect, fear, and appreciate the animal world and the nature all around him—and, most importantly of all, to let himself feel the full range of emotions that accompany the process of coming of age.

Travis Coates Quotes in Old Yeller

The Old Yeller quotes below are all either spoken by Travis Coates or refer to Travis Coates. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
People and Animals Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

We called him Old Yeller. The name had a sort of double meaning. One part meant that his short hair was a dingy yellow, a color that we called "yeller" in those days. The other meant that when he opened his head, the sound he let out came closer to being a yell than a bark.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller
Page Number: 1
Explanation and Analysis:

"What you're needing worse than a horse is a good dog."

"Yessir," I said, "but a horse is what I'm wanting the worst."

"All right," he said. "You act a man's part while I'm gone, and I'll see that you get a man's horse to ride when I sell the cattle. I think we can shake on that deal."

He reached out his hand, and we shook. It was the first time I'd ever shaken hands like a man. It made me feel big and solemn and important in a way I'd never felt before. I knew then that I could handle whatever needed to be done while Papa was gone.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Papa (speaker)
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:

A big diamond-back rattler struck at Papa and Papa chopped his head off with one quick lick of his scythe. The head dropped to the ground three or four feet away from the writhing body. It lay there, with the ugly mouth opening and shutting, still trying to bite something.

As smart as Bell was, you'd have thought he'd have better sense than to go up and nuzzle that rattler's head. But he didn't, and a second later, he was falling back, howling and slinging his own head till his ears popped. But it was too late then. […] He died that night, and I cried for a week.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Papa, Bell
Related Symbols: The Rattlesnake Head
Page Number: 5
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

I'd hit her but hadn't made a killing shot.

I didn't like that. I never minded killing for meat. Like Papa had told me, every creature has to kill to live. But to wound an animal was something else. Especially one as pretty and harmless as a deer. It made me sick to think of the doe's escaping, maybe to hurt for days before she finally died.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Papa
Page Number: 20
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4 Quotes

We sat and ate and listened to [the bulls]. We could tell by their rumblings and bawlings that they were gradually working their way down through the brush toward each other and getting madder by the minute.

I always liked to see a fight between bulls or bears or wild boars or almost any wild animals. Now, I got so excited that I jumped up from the table and went to the door and stood listening. I'd made up my mind that if the bulls met and started a fight, I was going to see it.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Little Arliss, Mama, Chongo and Roany
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:

But I was too excited about the fight. I didn't see the danger in time. I was still aside the top rail when the struggling bulls crashed through the fence, splintering the posts and rails, and toppling me to the ground almost under them. […] The roaring of the bulls was right in my ears. The hot, reeking scent of their blood was in my nose. The bone-crashing weight of their hoofs was stomping all around and over me, churning up such a fog of dust that I couldn't see a thing.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Chongo and Roany
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5 Quotes

Every night before Mama let him go to bed, she'd make Arliss empty his pockets of whatever he'd captured during the day. Generally, it would be a tangled-up mess of grasshoppers and worms and praying bugs and little rusty tree lizards. […] Sometimes it was stuff like a young bird that had fallen out of its nest before it could fly, or a green-speckled spring frog or a striped water snake. And once he turned out of his pocket a wadded-up baby copperhead that nearly threw Mama into spasms.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Little Arliss, Mama
Page Number: 35
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 6 Quotes

That day when I saw [Little Arliss] in the spring, so helpless against the angry she bear, I learned different. I knew then that I loved him as much as I did Mama and Papa, maybe in some ways even a little bit more.

So it was only natural for me to come to love the dog that saved him.

After that, I couldn't do enough for Old Yeller. What if he was a big ugly meat-stealing rascal? […] None of that made a lick of difference now. He’d pitched in and saved Little Arliss when I couldn’t possibly have done it, and that was enough for me.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Little Arliss, Mama, Papa
Page Number: 43-44
Explanation and Analysis:

This sure looked like a case of hydrophobia to [Bud] Searcy, as anybody knew that no fox in his right mind was going to jump on a hunter.

Which reminded him of an uncle of his that got mad-dog bit down in the piney woods of East Texas. This was way back when Searcy was a little boy. As soon as the dog bit him, the man knew he was bound to die; so he went and got a big log chain and tied one end around the bottom of a tree and the other one to one of his legs. And right there he stayed till the sickness got him and he lost his mind.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Mama, Bud Searcy
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 50
Explanation and Analysis:

It made me mad. "You thievin' rascal," I said. "I ought to get a club and break your back—in fourteen different places."

But I didn't really mean it, and I didn't say it loud and ugly. I knew that if I did, he'd fall over and start yelling like he was dying. And there I'd be-in a fight with Little Arliss again.

"When they shoot you, I'm going to laugh," I told him.

But I knew that I wouldn't.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Lisbeth Searcy, Bud Searcy
Page Number: 53
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 8 Quotes

I didn't wait to hear any more. I ran off. I was so full of relief that I was about to pop. I knew that if I didn't get out of sight in a hurry, this Burn Sanderson was going to catch me crying.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Little Arliss, Papa, Burn Sanderson
Page Number: 68
Explanation and Analysis:

"You're not scared, are you, boy? I'm only telling you because I know your papa left you in charge of things. I know you can handle whatever comes up. I'm just telling you to watch close and not let anything—anything—get to you or your folks with hydrophobia. Think you can do that?"

I swallowed. "I can do it," I told him. "I'm not scared."

The sternness left Burn Sanderson's face. He put a hand on my shoulder, just as Papa had the day he left.

"Good boy," he said. "That's the way a man talks."

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Burn Sanderson (speaker)
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 70
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9 Quotes

A boy, before he really grows up, is pretty much like a wild animal.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller
Page Number: 71
Explanation and Analysis:

Papa had told me right from the start that fear was a right and natural feeling for anybody, and nothing to be ashamed of.

"It's a thing of your mind," he said, "and you can train your mind to handle it just like you can train your arm to throw a rock."

Put that way, it made sense to be afraid; so I hadn't bothered about that.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Papa
Page Number: 78
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 10 Quotes

A big lump came up into my throat. Tears stung my eyes, blinding me. Here he was, trying to lick my wound, when he was bleeding from a dozen worse ones.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller
Page Number: 85
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

For the next couple of weeks, Old Yeller and I had a rough time of it. I lay on the bed inside the cabin and Yeller lay on the cowhide in the dog run, and we both hurt so bad that we were wallowing and groaning and whimpering all the time. Sometimes I hurt so bad that I didn't quite know what was happening. I'd hear grunts and groans and couldn't tell if they were mine or Yeller's.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 99
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

In a way, it sort of hurt my pride for a little old girl like Lisbeth to come in and take over my jobs. Papa had left me to look after things. But now I was laid up, and here was a girl handling my work about as good as I could. Still, she couldn't get out and mark hogs or kill meat or swing a chopping axe. . .

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Little Arliss, Mama, Papa, Lisbeth Searcy
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:

Now, I knew that Spot wouldn't get well, and this bull wouldn't, either. I knew they were both deathly sick with hydrophobia. Old Yeller had scented that sickness in this bull and somehow sensed how fearfully dangerous it was.

I thought of Lisbeth and Little Arliss down past the spring. I came up out of my chair, calling for Mama. "Mama!" I said. "Bring me my gun, Mama!"

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Little Arliss, Lisbeth Searcy, Spot, Chongo and Roany
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

We couldn't leave the dead bull to lie there that close to the cabin. In a few days, the scent of rotting flesh would drive us out. Also, the carcass lay too close to the spring. Mama was afraid it would foul up our drinking water.

"We'll have to try to drag it further from the cabin and burn it," she said.

"Burn it?" I said in surprise. "Why can't we just leave it for the buzzards and varmints to clean up?"

"Because that might spread the sickness," Mama said. "If the varmints eat it, they might get the sickness, too."

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Mama (speaker), Papa, Chongo and Roany
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 114
Explanation and Analysis:

I went off to the spring after a bucket of fresh water and wondered when Papa would come back. Mama had said a couple of days ago that it was about that time, and I hoped so. […] This hydrophobia plague had me scared. I'd handled things pretty well until that came along. Of course, I'd gotten a pretty bad hog cut, but that could have happened to anybody, even a grown man. And I was about to get well of that. But if the sickness got more of our cattle, I wouldn't know what to do.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Mama, Papa, Lisbeth Searcy, Spot
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 119
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

"But Mama," I said. "We don't know for certain. We could wait and see. We could tie him or shut him up in the corncrib or some place till we know for sure!"

Mama broke down and went to crying then. She put her head on my shoulder and held me so tight that she nearly choked off my breath.

"We can't take a chance, Son,” she sobbed. "It would be you or me or Little Arliss or Lisbeth next. I'll shoot him if you can't, but either way, we've got to do it. We just can't take the chance!"

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Mama (speaker), Old Yeller, Little Arliss, Lisbeth Searcy
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 126
Explanation and Analysis:

It was going to kill something inside me to do it, but I knew then that I had to shoot my big yeller dog.

Once I knew for sure I had it to do, I don't think I really felt anything. I was just numb all over, like a dead man walking.

Quickly, I left Mama and went to stand in the light of the burning bear grass. I reloaded my gun and called Old Yeller back from the house. I stuck the muzzle of the gun against his head and pulled the trigger.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Mama, Papa
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 127
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

Days went by, and I couldn’t seem to get over it. I couldn’t eat. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't cry. I was all empty inside, but hurting. Hurting worse than I'd ever hurt in my life.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Old Yeller, Papa
Related Symbols: Hydrophobia (Rabies)
Page Number: 129
Explanation and Analysis:

"Now the thing to do," he went on, "is to try to forget it and go on being a man."

"How?” I asked. "How can you forget a thing like that?"

He studied me for a moment, then shook his head. "I guess I don't quite mean that," he said. "It's not a thing you can forget. “

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Papa (speaker), Old Yeller
Page Number: 131
Explanation and Analysis:

I started to holler at them. I started to say: "Arliss! You get that nasty pup out of our drinking water."

Then I didn't. Instead, I went to laughing. I sat there and laughed till I cried. When all the time I knew that I ought to go beat them to a frazzle for messing up our drinking water.

Related Characters: Travis Coates (speaker), Little Arliss, Papa
Page Number: 132
Explanation and Analysis:
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Travis Coates Character Timeline in Old Yeller

The timeline below shows where the character Travis Coates appears in Old Yeller. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
People and Animals Theme Icon
Travis Coates looks back on when he took care of a dog, whom he called Old... (full context)
Masculinity and Emotion Theme Icon
Coming of Age and Responsibility Theme Icon
...flashes back to the late 1860s in the Texas Hill Country community of Salt Licks. Travis is 14 years old, and his father, whom he calls Papa, is heading out on... (full context)
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After Papa says goodbye to Mama and Little Arliss, Travis walks him to his horse. Papa tells Travis that he expects him to act like... (full context)
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As Travis walks back up to the cabin alone, he begins to wish that he had a... (full context)
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As Travis reaches home, he spies Little Arliss playing naked in the family’s watering hole, where they... (full context)
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That day, after the lunch, Travis hurries out to finish planting corn. He hooks the family’s mule, Jumper, to the plow... (full context)
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That night, as Travis crawls into bed, he is tired but satisfied with his hard work. He’s taught Little... (full context)
Chapter 2
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The next morning, when Travis goes out to the dog run to cut a side of meat for breakfast, he’s... (full context)
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...soon as Arliss spies the dog, he runs to him and hugs him. Arliss tells Travis that he’ll hit him if Travis continues being mean to “his” dog. Mama laughs and... (full context)
Chapter 3
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After milking the cows, Travis grabs his rifle and saddles Jumper up with some ropes to carry back any doe... (full context)
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As Travis crouches in wait in some underbrush for a doe to come by, he enjoys watching... (full context)
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Travis watches as the injured doe runs through the trees. Then, the doe does something that... (full context)
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On the ride home, Travis feels proud and accomplished on. He decides that he’ll be kind and generous with Little... (full context)
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Travis knows better than to start throwing rocks directly at his five-year-old brother. Instead, he heads... (full context)
Chapter 4
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A couple of days later, Travis, Mama, and Little Arliss are eating lunch when they hear something outside. Almost immediately, Travis... (full context)
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Travis watches the two bulls enter the clearing just below the ridge on which the Coateses’... (full context)
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Travis then runs outside to sit on the split-rail fence and watch the bulls. Mama and... (full context)
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As Chongo and Roany charge at each other, Travis begins whooping and cheering. The bulls collide and charge at each other again and again.... (full context)
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As Travis looks at Mama and Little Arliss, he sees terror on their faces. Travis decides that... (full context)
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When Travis gets outside again and sees the bulls locked in battle, he realizes that there’s no... (full context)
Chapter 5
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One day, Travis watches as Old Yeller catches a fish out of the creek and brings it to... (full context)
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A couple of days later, Travis is down at the creek splitting rails to fix up the yard fence that the... (full context)
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When Travis arrives at the spring where Arliss likes to play, he finds Arliss holding onto a... (full context)
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Travis runs over to Little Arliss and forces him away from the cub. He picks his... (full context)
Chapter 6
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After the incident at the spring, Travis feels his attitude toward Little Arliss change. Whereas for years he simply tolerated Little Arliss,... (full context)
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To show his appreciation for both Old Yeller and Little Arliss, Travis takes the two of them on a squirrel hunt. Travis finds Arliss to be annoying... (full context)
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...neighbor of the Coateses’—drops by with his 11-year-old granddaughter Lisbeth, a tomboyish and sweet-natured blonde. Travis likes Lisbeth—but when she looks at him, he gets nervous because he feels she can... (full context)
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Bud, Mama, Travis, and Lisbeth sit and talk. Bud checks in on how Mama has been holding up... (full context)
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Outside, near the spring, Lisbeth tells Travis that Old Yeller is the strange varmint—she’s seen him steal from her and her grandfather’s... (full context)
Chapter 7
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After thinking a lot about what to do, Travis decides to tell Mama what Lisbeth told him about Old Yeller stealing from their neighbors.... (full context)
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...patch on a nightly basis. Knowing that he has to protect the precious corn harvest, Travis takes Old Yeller outside to sleep with him in the corn patch each night. The... (full context)
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Travis realizes just how badly he needs Old Yeller when Mama declares that it’s time for... (full context)
Chapter 8
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...has gotten away. Mama immediately knows that Burn is talking about Old Yeller—she calls for Travis to bring Old Yeller in from playing with Little Arliss. Travis immediately reacts with sadness... (full context)
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...let the family keep Old Yeller if they can cook him up some delicious food. Travis is so relieved that he begins to cry. He runs away so that Burn won’t... (full context)
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...talks a little while, then announces it’s time for him to head out. He asks Travis to come with him to the watering hole. As Burn lets his horse take a... (full context)
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Burn senses Travis’s mounting fear. He urges Travis not to be afraid—after all, Travis’s Papa left him in... (full context)
Chapter 9
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By the next day, Travis has already forgotten all about Burn’s terrifying warning. Boys, the older Travis notes in retrospect,... (full context)
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Travis and Old Yeller set out and soon encounter their first group of hogs. Old Yeller... (full context)
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...of blood fills the air, the older hogs on the ground grow wild and angry. Travis knows that if he falls out of the tree, the hogs below will slash him... (full context)
Chapter 10
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It is hard and uncertain work for Travis to keep track of how many hogs he’s tagged and to be sure that he’s... (full context)
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As Travis and Old Yeller set out into the Hill Country, Travis takes in the sights and... (full context)
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The tagging goes well enough until, suddenly, the dirt bank breaks beneath Travis’s weight, sending him crashing down in a wave of sand directly on top of the... (full context)
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When Travis finds Old Yeller, the hogs have left the dog alone—but Old Yeller is in bad... (full context)
Chapter 11
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By the time Travis gets home, his leg is acting up. The cut muscle jerks and twitches, frightening Mama.... (full context)
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As the Coateses approach the bat caves, Travis can see some buzzards flying in a circle—he knows they must smell Old Yeller’s blood.... (full context)
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...twice for water when Old Yeller begins whimpering. Against all odds, they make it home. Travis’s leg is swollen, stiff, and painful, but he doesn’t care—he’s brought Old Yeller home. (full context)
Chapter 12
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Both Travis and Old Yeller spend the next several weeks recovering from their injuries. As Travis swims... (full context)
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...the puppies from the litter that Old Yeller sired with Lisbeth’s hound. Lisbeth excitedly presents Travis with the pup, telling Travis that this dog is the best of the litter. Travis,... (full context)
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As Travis lies in bed, beating himself up for being dismissive toward Lisbeth, he overhears Bud Searcy... (full context)
Chapter 13
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In the days that follow, Travis is pleasantly surprised and even impressed by what a big help Lisbeth is. Just like... (full context)
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One evening, however, a problem not even Lisbeth can handle arises out of nowhere. Travis is still laid up in bed—the swelling in his leg has gone down, but he’s... (full context)
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...staggering, reeling, and moaning. When Old Yeller smells the bull, growls. Watching Old Yeller’s reaction, Travis feels his hair stand on end. He realizes now, without a doubt, that both Roany... (full context)
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Knowing what he must do, Travis asks for Mama to bring him his gun. He can see from the window that... (full context)
Chapter 14
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...that they burn it. Mama and Lisbeth go out to gather some firewood, and then Travis helps them start a huge fire. When the flames die down, however, the carcass isn’t... (full context)
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Once Roany’s corpse is gone, Mama tells Travis it’s time to do the same thing with Spot—Spot has to be killed and burnt.... (full context)
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Travis falls asleep. When he wakes up, it is sundown, and Little Arliss is in the... (full context)
Chapter 15
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After dark, Mama and Lisbeth still aren’t home, which makes Travis deeply worried and uneasy. He knows that they have Jumper and Old Yeller with them—still,... (full context)
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Travis quickly lights a fire outside and stands there with his gun. He sees Old Yeller... (full context)
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Mama comes over to Travis and tells him about how they encountered the wolf at the creek on the edge... (full context)
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Travis begs Mama to let Old Yeller live—he claims that there’s no way to know for... (full context)
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Travis knows that, although it will kill him inside, he must shoot Old Yeller. He feels... (full context)
Chapter 16
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As the days go by, Travis is unable to get over Old Yeller’s death. He feels simultaneously pained and empty—he can’t... (full context)
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That evening, before supper, Papa and Travis take a walk down to the spring. Papa tells Travis he heard about what happened... (full context)
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About a week later, as Travis feeds Jumper some lunch, he hears Mama yelling at Little Arliss’s speckled pup—the one fathered... (full context)
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Travis takes his horse out for a ride. That evening, when he returns, he spots Little... (full context)