Weasel Warfare - Recap

One morning before school, Timmy and Lassie arrive on Cully's farm to find the man chugging along on a piece of antiquated farm equipment. Cully tells Timmy he has rented the "contraption" in town and has a lot of work to do on the farm. Timmy and Lassie set off for school.

Later in the morning, Lassie naps on the porch of the schoolhouse. She senses something wrong however and trots away. At Cully's farm, she finds Cully slumped forward awkwardly on the creaking, chugging tractor. The vehicle crashes through a fence and comes to rest against a tree. Cully is unconscious. Lassie tries to revive Cully but without success. She hurries away.

At the schoolhouse window, she calls to Timmy. The schoolchildren laugh. Miss Hazlit excuses Timmy from further class work and he takes off with Lassie. Lassie leads him to Cully's farm. Timmy discovers the unconscious Cully aboard the wrecked tractor.

He runs to Cully's house and calls his mother on the telephone. Ruth tells Timmy to stay with Cully and she will bring the doctor. Timmy returns to Cully's side and bathes his forehead with a wet cloth.

Ruth and the doctor arrive. The doctor is unsure of the reasons for Cully's problem but hazards a guess that Cully may have had a heart attack. He determines that Cully must go to the hospital at once. The doctor gives Cully an injection while Ruth goes to the house to call an ambulance.

At the hospital later, the doctor meets the Martins in the parking lot and tells them that Cully has sustained some heart damage but is making good progress recovering. The doctor says Cully is impossible and wants to go home.But the doctor indicates the patient needs complete bed rest for a while and should be free of worries. He hopes the Martins will help.

In Cully's hospital room, Cully is conscious; he welcomes the Martins. Cully insists there's nothing wrong with him and he must return to his farm work. The Martins tell Cully he must stay in bed. Cully worries about his livestock, his chickens, and his melons. Timmy volunteers to take care of Cully's farm after school. Paul says he can relieve Timmy of his home chores for a bit. Cully gladdens; he accepts Timmy's offer and says his place couldn't be in better hands.

On Cully's farm later, Timmy works about the melon patch under Ruth's watchful eye. Crows attack the melon patch and Lassie chases them away. Ruth leaves after reminding Timmy to be home for supper.

While Timmy sprays an insecticide over the melon patch, he discovers gophers have done some serious damage. Timmy leaves Lassie on guard duty while he hurries home to consult his father about the gopher problem.

At the Martin place, Paul gives Timmy traps and cyanide pellets for the gophers destroying Cully's melon patch. Paul tells Timmy that he need not tell Cully about the gophers; Cully needs to rest without troublesome worries.

In the Martin parlor three days later, Timmy tells his parents the traps and poison have had no impact on the gophers. In a book about rodents Timmy discovers that the natural enemy of the gopher is the weasel. Timmy decides to fight the gophers with a weasel he plans to trap in the wilds.

At the hospital, Timmy sits at Cully's bedside and tells him of the gopher invasion and the success he's had with the weasel. Cully is thrilled. He looks forward to going home the next day.

At Cully's place, Timmy runs to the henhouse to gather eggs. He finds a dead hen and several broken eggs. Timmy determines the weasel has done the damage. After killing the gophers, the weasel has looked for something else to eat and has invaded the henhouse. Timmy sets a trap for the weasel and leaves Lassie at the henhouse to protect the chickens. Timmy tells Lassie not to kill the weasel because the creature helped them rid the melon patch of gophers. He wants Lassie to simply see that the weasel does no further damage.

That night the weasel sneaks into the henhouse. It avoids the trap and devastates the nests once again. Lassie barks fiercely but is unable to prevent the weasel from ravaging the henhouse.

Timmy arrives the next day and discovers the destruction wrought in the henhouse. The crows descend again to pillage the melon patch. Timmy is dismayed that so much chaos has occurred on the day Cully is due to return.

The doctor drives up with Cully. Timmy greets him. Cully is thrilled to be home and praises Timmy and Lassie for the work they've done. Timmy sits with Cully on the porch and tells his friend about the damage the weasel has done to the henhouse. Timmy is worried that the weasel will continue to return to the henhouse night after night and all the chickens will be killed. Timmy is dejected about having failed in his task.

The doctor tells Timmy that he kept Cully from worrying during his recovery and, in doing so, he saved Cully's life. Cully tells Timmy his hens can stay at the Martin farm for a few days and then the weasel will move out on his own accord. Cully thanks Timmy for all he's done and assures him that without his help he may have never returned home.

The crows descend on the melon patch. Lassie chases the birds away. Cully laughs.






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