Little Willy is a 10-year old boy who lives with his grandfather on their “small potato farm in Wyoming” (6). Grandfather frequently plays pranks on Willy, and together, they often laugh, sing, and play. The farm takes a great deal of time and energy to care for, however, and Grandfather is usually up before the sun rises. It is routine for Grandfather to wake Willy every morning. Once, Willy overslept and Grandfather fed his breakfast to the chickens. One morning, when Grandfather doesn’t get out of bed, the little boy believes Grandfather is playing a prank on him.

Grandfather refuses to get out of bed, and Willy runs out of the house to fetch Doc Smith. Willy heads down the street with Searchlight, their old family dog. Searchlight was born when Willy was and has black fur with “a white spot on her forehead the size of a silver dollar” (6). Doc Smith initially thinks that Grandfather is playing another trick, but when she hears that he went to bed the night before without playing on his harmonica, she immediately readies to visit him. Little Willy hitches Doc Smith’s horse, Rex, up to the wagon, and they head back to the farm.