AN INVITATION TO A “WELCOME HOME” PARTY
While Billy Whiskers and his family were eating their breakfast the
next morning, who should come fluttering down beside them but a
beautiful fan-tailed pigeon from Mr. Smith’s farm, bearing an urgent
invitation to Mr. and Mrs. Billy Whiskers, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Whiskers,
Jr., as well as Stubby and Button, to attend that very night, as soon
as the moon was up, a “welcome home” party Mr. and Mrs. Spotted Goat
were giving in honor of the home-coming of Billy Whiskers and his
Chums. The affair was to be held in the hollow between two high hills
down in the pasture by the side of the little brook. And all the other
animals on the Watson farm were likewise invited, as were those on the
Jones farm. Even the pigs had been bidden to the feast of welcome!
“Thank Mr. and Mrs. Spotted Goat for their kind invitation to myself
and family. Give them our regards and tell them we all accept,
including Stubby and Button, and that I personally consider it a great
honor for them to give such a party.”
“Oh, grandfather, can’t we go too?” asked Punch.
“Do say yes, grandfather!” pleaded Judy. “We want to go so much! We
love to play with the little goats and lambs on the Smith farm, and we
won’t be a bit of bother or get into mischief even once.”
“No, truly, we won’t!” chimed in Punch.
“I am sorry, but I could not take you out to an evening party. Besides,
no children are included; just grown-ups.”
“Well, but we won’t bother them. We can get some of the little kids
and lambs and go away off from the party to play. Oh, do let us go! We
never have been to a big party like that,” pleaded Judy.
“Children,” commanded their mother, “stop teasing. You cannot go and
that settles it. Besides, what did I tell you, Judy? If you do not
break yourself of this habit of teasing, I will punish you severely. It
is a most annoying habit for a kid to have. I simply won’t permit you
to do it. What is more, you need not go off pouting for that is as bad
as teasing.”
The Twins walked off behind the barn with gloomy faces, but they
had scarcely turned the corner when Judy’s face brightened, and she
exclaimed, “I tell you what let’s do, Punch! Let’s run away and go over
to Mr. Smith’s farm and watch them prepare for the party and play with
Mrs. Spots’ twins. We can have a fine time before the party begins.
Almost as much as if we went to it, for we won’t have the grown-ups
there to say, ‘Don’t do that!’ to us all the time.”
“Oh, Judy, you are a brick for thinking of that plan! It will be
lovely. I’ll go ask mother if we may go down in the pasture and play in
the brook,” replied Punch. “If we ask her, they won’t be looking for us
all the time and discover we are gone. You know our pasture adjoins Mr.
Smith’s where the party is to be held, and the same brook runs through
both. We can walk up the stream and crawl under the wire that stretches
across the stream to separate the two pastures. And if we should happen
to get on the other side of the wire when wading, no one could blame us
for not noticing _that_, could they?”
[Illustration]
“Of course not! Run along and ask her. I’ll wait for you here.”
“Mother, where are you?” called Punch.
“Over here by the watering trough,” she answered.
“Well, mother, may Judy and I go down in our meadow and play by the
brook? It is so nice and cool down there and we love to stand in the
water and watch the fish swim around.”
“Yes, if you will be careful and stay away from the holes, for you
could easily drown in one of them, the water is so deep. But you well
know where they are, don’t you? Each one has a long stick driven in it,
standing well out of the water, with a red flag on it. So you can’t
help knowing where they are. Good-by, and come home early for luncheon.”
“I won’t promise about that. We may be having too good a time to come
home and we can eat some nice green grass and peppermint down by the
stream, which will be a better luncheon than you will have. So don’t
look for us, mother.”
“Very well! Be good children, and be careful about the deep holes.”
“All right. We won’t go near the holes. Good-by!” and Punch was off
with a skip and a jump around the barn.
“Hurrah! Hurrah! We may go, Judy! Come along! I’ll race you down the
hill.”
“It is very nice of Mr. and Mrs. Spots to give a party for us and such
a big one, too, for there are dozens of animals on the farms round
about us, and they have invited them from every farm that adjoins
theirs,” said Billy.
“Yes, but you must remember, my dear, that not one-third of them will
be able to come, as they cannot get out of their stables and pastures
on account of the high fences and the locked doors of the stables.”
“Yes, I know that. But isn’t it a shame they cannot get away, for they
all have such quiet lives that it would do them good to have a little
excitement now and then.”
“Here come some of the sheep and goats to ask you not what they shall
wear, having only one dress to their names, but how in the world they
are to get the dirt off their wool and hair.”
“Good-morning, Mr. and Mrs. Billy Whiskers! Isn’t it lovely that the
Spots are going to give a party for you?” said Mrs. Wire Hair, one
of the goats. “But I am in despair. Just look at my hair! It is all
stained with yellow clay. And worse than that, with black muck, too. I
nearly stranded in the quagmire down by the pond yesterday and now I am
a sight!”
“None of us looks particularly well,” said another. “What say you we
have a swimming party and all go down to the brook and stand in the
water until the stain and dirt is washed off?” said Billy Whiskers.
“A splendid idea! We knew if we came to you, Mr. Whiskers, you would
think of some way we could look respectable at the party.”
In less than half an hour, had you stood on the brow of the hill in the
Watson barnyard and gazed down into the valley, you would have seen
cows, horses, pigs, goats and sheep all standing in the pond into which
the stream widened. Every animal had a happy face, for was not the
water washing off the grime in fine shape? Billy’s and Nannie’s long
white hair would soon look like spun silk. As for Button, he sat on a
flat rock on the bank and licked his fur until it shone as if made of
black satin.
All this time what do you suppose those mischievous Twins were doing
but helping the Spots family carry things to eat down to the pasture
where the party was to be? There was a shock of fresh green cornstalks
in the Spots barnyard and this delicacy Mr. and Mrs. Spots, their
children and several horses and cows were pulling out of the shock and
carrying in their mouths down by the stream where the party was to be
given. If the Twins had been asked to do this at home, they would have
carried one mouthful and then complained that their legs were weary
with climbing the hill. But to do it for other people was fun, and they
never complained once, nor stopped until Mrs. Spots said they would not
dare to carry away any more or it would be missed by Mr. Smith when he
came into the barnyard.
As it was, Mr. Smith did wonder why it was so many of his horses, cows
and pigs stayed in the barnyard that morning instead of going out into
the pasture to eat the nice fresh clover. But finally he passed it
by, thinking they just happened to remain as in all probability they
had come in from the pasture to get a drink of nice cool water at the
trough by the pump.
“I feel sick to my stomach, Punch. Let’s go home,” said Judy.
“Oh, no! You will feel better in a few minutes. You have been eating
too many of those luscious green cornstalks. They act on goats just as
too much candy acts on children. Go over and lie down on that nice soft
turf by the haystack. Keep in the warm sun for a while and then if you
do not feel better, I will take you home.”
“Come,” said one of the other goats, “let’s go over with Judy and tell
stories. My legs ache from going up and down that hill so many times
carrying those cornstalks that I can scarcely stand. Besides, it will
not be so lonesome for her and she will forget she feels ill.”
When they were all lying down in a wide circle around Judy, Jill, one
of Mrs. Spots’ twins, said, “Now Punch, you tell the first story for it
will be an interesting one, ’cause you can tell us one you have heard
from Grandfather Whiskers.”
“Oh, yes, do!” exclaimed Jack, the other twin.
“Oh, no,” replied Punch. “I am tired of hearing him tell the same ones
over and over again to the different animals that call. You two tell
stories instead.”
“But we do not know any interesting ones!” they objected.
“Go ahead, Punch, and tell them about the time Grandfather went up in
a hydroplane over the city of Rio de Janeiro in South America,” urged
Judy.
“Yes, do, do! That will be most exciting!” they all exclaimed.
So Punch began and their eyes were almost popping out of their heads
at the thrilling experiences he was relating when they were nearly
frightened out of their skins by a big cross dog running around the
barn and suddenly appearing before them. For a moment he was as much
surprised as they, for he had just come in with a farmer and was
exploring things, as he had never been on this farm before. But in a
minute he recovered himself and with a bark and a leap he landed in
their midst. Such a hurrying and a scurrying as there was! Judy forgot
she was ill and tried to climb up the haystack, steep as it was, but
fell over backward, landing on the dog, frightening one as much as
the other for a moment. On seeing the dog standing beside Judy, Punch
pitched on him, though he was afraid of big dogs. But he had been
taught he must always protect Judy, as she was a girl. Now Punch had
short baby horns, but they could hurt, and the first thing this great
dog knew, two sharp horns were running into his side. He turned with a
snarl, ready to bite whatever it was that was hurting him so, when lo!
at that second a red cow with long, sharp horns came around the corner
of the barn and seeing Punch about to be attacked by a strange dog, she
gave one jump forward and the next thing that dog knew, he was going up
in the air at the rate of thirty-five miles an hour. He thought he was
never coming down, but at last he did, though to his dismay he landed
on top of a shed.
[Illustration]
One of the little white calves that had been listening to Punch’s
story was so panic-stricken that she fled, but instead of keeping
her eyes open to see where she was going, she shut them tight. The
consequence was she fell headfirst into a tub of red dye and when she
stood up she was no longer a snow-white calf but a brilliant red one.
Another calf was so frightened that she ran straight into the farmhouse
kitchen and fell down the cellar stairs. The cook, who heard the
commotion, came to see who was stamping around on her freshly scrubbed
floor. But she saw no one, though she did hear a groan of pain down in
the cellar.
“Who is there?” she called.
No answer--just a groan came from below.
She peered down the stairs, but no one was visible in the pitch black
of the cellar. At last the cook gathered up courage enough to light a
candle and go down two or three steps.
On seeing the light, the calf was so frightened she forgot her pain
and went rushing around the cellar, stumbling over and upsetting
everything. All the cook saw was a big red monster with glaring eyes.
She dropped the candle in her fright and fled. Out the kitchen door
she went, loudly calling for help. In a jiffy Mr. Smith and the farmer
whose dog had made all this trouble came running to discover the cause
of the commotion.
“There is something awful in the cellar! All hair and eyes! And it is
running around upsetting everything!” she said.
“Wait until I get a pitchfork to drive it out, and I will see what it
is. Light a lantern for me,” Mr. Smith commanded.
With a pitchfork in one hand and a lantern in the other, Mr. Smith
started down the cellar stairs with the neighbor farmer close behind
him brandishing a long whip in one hand and holding his dog by the
collar with the other.
The dog quickly smelt the calf, gave a jerk and down the stairs he
bounded, knocking the lantern out of Mr. Smith’s hand, putting out the
light and smashing the chimney. Then the hubbub began. The dog chased
the calf around the cellar, giving her nips every once in a while
that made the poor frightened beast bellow. At last the calf made for
the stairs. Seeing a big red animal with blazing eyes come out of the
darkness, the two farmers turned and fled. But the animal came after
them, followed by the dog. When they were out in the light of day,
Mr. Smith saw it was only a calf, but a very queer calf. By this time
the calf was standing on the kitchen table right in the midst of the
luncheon dishes. She had been so terrified by the dog that she had
jumped on a chair and from there to the table. The dog was barking
furiously and trying to get up on the table too.
“Get out of here! You have made enough trouble for one day!” and the
farmer grabbed his dog by the collar and dragged him out. Indeed, he
literally had to drag him away from the calf. He whined and made a
terrific fuss as he was dragged along, and it was only by tying him to
the back of the wagon that his owner took him away.
The moment the Twins saw the dog disappear into the house they had
cut sticks for home, and never stopped running until they came to the
pond where their father and mother and all the rest of the Watson farm
animals were standing in the water.
“What are you all standing in the water for?” asked Punch.
“We are making ourselves clean for the party,” answered their father.
“But where have you been? You look as if you had been standing in a
lake too, you are so wet with perspiration.”
“Oh, we have been racing down the hill to see which could reach here
first,” easily replied Punch.
“Well, you better lie down in the shade and cool off. Don’t you dare
come into this cold pond until you are perfectly dry. If you do, both
of you may have chills.”
So off the Twins walked and lay down under a tree to watch the other
animals. “My, Punch, but that was an awful scare! He frightened me so I
am still trembling,” confessed Judy.