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[Illustration: They went running off, Button with a big lamb chop
between his teeth and Stubby with a huge steak, while Billy
contented himself with a head of lettuce.
(Page 39)]
BILLY WHISKERS' ADVENTURES
BY
FRANCES TREGO MONTGOMERY
AUTHOR OF "BILLY WHISKERS," "BILLY WHISKERS' KIDS," "BILLY
WHISKERS IN AN AEROPLANE," "BILLY WHISKERS IN CAMP,"
"THE WONDERFUL ELECTRIC ELEPHANT," ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY PAUL HAWTHORNE
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
CHICAGO AKRON, OHIO NEW YORK
Copyright, 1920
by
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING CO.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE CHUMS RETURN TO THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE 7
II. THE NEW YORK DOG AND CAT CLUB 19
III. AN EXCITING EVENING 29
IV. AN UNEXPECTED SHOWER BATH 41
V. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE FOURTH OF JULY 49
VI. BILLY WHISKERS MAKES TROUBLE AT SCHOOL 65
VII. BUTTON'S DAY WITH BELLA 73
VIII. STUBBY TELLS WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM 81
IX. THE CHUMS RUN AWAY 93
X. UP IN A DIRIGIBLE 103
XI. THE OLD CROW CARRIES A MESSAGE TO NANNIE 113
XII. BILLY WHISKERS' FAMILY START FOR CHICAGO 119
XIII. BILLY WHISKERS' FAMILY ARRIVE AT LINCOLN PARK 127
XIV. THE TWINS ARE LOST 133
XV. THE ELEPHANTS ARE ENRAGED AT THE GOATS 143
XVI. A PANTHER ESCAPES FROM THE CAGE 155
ILLUSTRATIONS
They went running off, Button with a big lamb chop between his
teeth and Stubby with a huge steak, while Billy contented
himself with a head of lettuce.
Billy saw the man raise the mop to come after him.
Billy overtook her and gave her a gentle butt that landed her in
the middle of the bed.
It was Stubby's and Button's frantic efforts to escape that had
caused all the fun and laughter.
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to take the baby's bottle away
from it!" reproved Nannie.
"Oh, oh! Where did you come from?" wailed one little girl when
the kids jumped out of the shrubbery and grabbed her bag of
popcorn.
_Billy Whiskers' Adventures_
CHAPTER I
THE CHUMS RETURN TO THE LAND OF THE FREE AND THE BRAVE
Billy Whiskers, Stubby and Button sailed by the Goddess of Liberty and
entered New York harbor after being in France ever since our troops
entered the War. They had gone over on one of the troop ships and it
just so happened that they returned on the same ship and with the same
Captain and crew.
They were returning home covered with scars and wounds received while
performing acts of bravery, but what cared they for scars and wounds
so long as they had not lost an eye, ear or leg, and were feeling
perfectly well and strong? To be sure, Billy had lost the tip of his
tail when he was blown up by a bomb, but that did not matter.
You never saw three such happy animals as these were to be able once
again to lay eyes on their beloved country,--the United States of
America, that glorious country of the free and the brave.
"Gee, I feel so happy I could jump out of my skin!" exclaimed Billy
with glowing eyes as the three stood on deck watching the familiar
shores slip by them and the skyscraper buildings grow taller and
taller and taller as they approached them.
"See!" said Billy. "We are about to dock. Now the next thing to settle
is where we are going when we first land."
But the question was settled for them in a most unexpected way. For
before Billy's remark could be answered, all three of them felt ropes
being slipped around their necks, and heard the loud guffaws of three
sturdy sailors as they pulled the ropes tighter, saying, "This is the
time we caught you fellows off your guard!"
"We surely caught you slick as a whistle," remarked one of the
sailors. "And now we have you, we are going to carry out the Captain's
orders and look after you until he hears from France whether we are to
take you back to your regiments when we return with more troops or
keep you here."
"Return to France?" whined Stubby. "Just when we reach home safe and
sound after braving all the terrors of submarines, sunken mines and
dropping bombs? To be captured and sent back is really too much! I
don't feel as if I would survive the disappointment, do you, Billy?"
"Not on your life will I go back!" replied Billy. "Not unless they
take me over dead. For I shall fight to the last drop of my blood
before I submit to being shipped back."
"And so will I," said Button. "I'll scratch their eyes out first. And
from this day forward I shall begin to let my claws grow long and
sharp for that very purpose. I'll see whether or not they take _me_
back!"
"But they haven't started back yet, and 'There's many a slip twixt the
cup and the lip.' We'll have two or three weeks to make a getaway
before they sail as they have to coal the ship before even thinking of
sailing. And if in that time we three can't put our heads together and
think of some way to slip through their fingers, we are pretty stupid
and deserve to be shipped back. Don't pull back or make any fuss,"
counseled Billy, "but just go along with the sailors and watch for a
chance to escape. It may come any minute. And remember if any one of
us sees a chance, he is to take it and not wait for the others. Just
get free and then wait around until the rest of us get loose."
"Seems to me you have a good deal of baaing to do this morning, Mr.
Billy," said the sailor who was holding the rope around Billy's neck
as he stood watching the ship tie up at the dock.
"Guess he must be giving orders to his Chums," replied a second sailor
who had Stubby in charge.
"Seems like it," said the one who held Button. "I expected them to
fight like the very dickens, didn't you?"
[Illustration]
"I surely did," answered the one who had spoken first. "But it is not
too late for them to show fight yet, and I bet all that talking His
Royal Highness, King Billy, has been doing has been orders to his
Chums to fight later on. You just wait and see."
Just then the Captain appeared on deck and ordered the sailors to take
the goat, dog and cat ashore and tie them in the warehouse on the
dock until he could find some place to board them until he heard from
France what to do with them.
"They are too valuable to leave just on the dock. They might get loose
or be stolen. Feed and water them and when I go up to the city I will
look for some trustworthy person to take care of them. By the way,
don't one of you know some one ashore who could house and feed them
until we hear?"
"Aye, aye, sir!" replied one of the sailors. "I have an uncle who
lives close to the docks. He keeps a small, cheap boarding-house for
sailors. He is a very kind-hearted man and fond of pets. I could take
them there and I am sure he would give them the best of care for very
little recompense."
"Just the thing! Just the place for them!" exclaimed the Captain. "You
may take them over there as soon as the gangplank is out. And you two
boys go with him. He might have trouble trying to manage all three
alone. Here is money to pay for the animals and to buy your own
dinners. Tell your Uncle I'll foot the bill before we sail and throw
in an extra dollar or two if he turns them over to me in good shape
when we call for them."
"Aye, aye, sir!" replied the sailor.
"Well, this beats all the good luck I ever heard of," said Billy, "for
we can get away from that boarding-house as easily as a cat laps
cream."
"You are right, we can, and have plenty of time too to lay our plans
as to what we will do when we escape," agreed Button.
"It looks as if we would sleep on feathers and eat fowl," said Stubby.
The three sailors took the three Chums over to the chop-house, where
they were given a hearty welcome by the sailor's uncle. He was so glad
to have his nephew back from the War unhurt that he gladly took in the
animals to please him. And I really think that had his nephew asked
him to let the Chums sleep in his beds instead of in a shed in the
back yard, he would have consented. As it was, Stubby and Button came
near having fits from the amount of meat they ate as the Uncle had
given them the scrapings from the plates, making a pile of beef and
chop bones a foot high. He also gave Billy so many vegetables and so
much juicy fruit that he had cramps all night.
In the morning there was still plenty of food left for their
breakfast, but the Uncle insisted on giving them a fresh supply of
food and water.
"He is a mighty fine old man," said Billy, "and I feel like a villain
planning to run away from him, but we must or run the risk of being
sent back to our regiments in France, and I for one am sick to death
of war."
About ten o'clock in the morning the Uncle and the three sailors came
into the yard to see how the animals were faring, and the sailors
seemed pleased with the way they looked.
"Now we can tell the Captain when we return to the ship that we saw
the animals just before we went to the boat and that they were safe
and sound and in a good home where they will be well cared for until
he hears what to do with them."
"I guess I'll leave the door of the shed open," said the Uncle. "It
will make it more cheerful for them. And I think we had better take
those ropes off their necks as they can't get out of the yard without
going through the house or jumping the fence, and it is much too high
for them to do that."
Little did those sailors and the old man know of the jumping powers of
these three animals or he would never have had them untied. When the
sailors and the old man had disappeared in the house, the three Chums
walked around the yard looking for a loop-hole to crawl through, or
for a weak board Billy might butt down. As for Button, all he had to
do was to run up the fence and jump down on the other side. And did
they but know it, Stubby could do the same stunt as he had watched the
police dogs in Paris run up the side of an eight-foot fence, balance
themselves on the top and leap down on the other side. As for Billy,
when he was ready to go he could jump on top of an old packing box
that stood beside the shed, and from that leap to the roof of the
shed. From there he could spring into the alley. But what bothered
them now was where they should go when they escaped. The city was very
large and it stretched itself out along the banks of the Hudson River
for miles and miles. They wanted to go in that direction, as 'way up
north lived Nannie, Billy's little wife whom he was crazy to see after
his long absence abroad. She was away up in Wisconsin on the dear old
farm and it would take weeks and weeks to reach there if they traveled
by foot all the way. But they expected to steal some rides as they
always did when traveling. Stubby and Button had not a relative in the
world they knew of, but they loved Nannie and all of Billy's family as
if they were their very own blood relations. They had known them for
years and years and had always been very kind to them, especially
Nannie and Daisy, Billy's son's wife, while the Kids, Billy's twin
grandchildren, were their delight.
[Illustration]
The three Chums were lying perfectly still, each engrossed in his own
thoughts and plans as how best to get out of the city when they were
aroused by a loud meow over their heads. Looking up, they saw a big,
striped cat sitting on the fence.
"Good-morning, friends and distinguished travelers!" said the cat. "I
hope I am not disturbing you, but the cats and the dogs of the
neighborhood--and there is a goodly number of them--appointed me the
head of a committee to call upon you and welcome you to our shores."
As the cat had been talking, other cats had been appearing on top of
the fence and now a line of them, all sizes, colors and descriptions,
sat on the top of the fence winking down at the Chums, while through
holes under the fence appeared dogs' heads, as evidently they were too
large of body to crawl through the small holes.
"The canary you see in the cage hanging out of that upper window, and
the parrot in the window of the next house sang and called out to us
this morning that celebrated travelers from the War had just arrived
from overseas and were shut in Grandpa Stubbs' back yard. Every one
around here calls Mr. Stubbs grandpa because he is so kind to little
children and to all animals. We are always glad to hear some things of
the outside world, and when we heard that you were fresh from the war
zone, we determined to make your acquaintance and invite you to speak
and tell us of some of your adventures on the other side. I am
president of the Dog and Cat Information Bureau, and we are holding a
meeting to-night in a big, empty warehouse that has just been finished
for the storage of ammunition. We have a very large membership--five
hundred dogs and cats belonging. Having no newspaper, we meet to
exchange the news of the day. If we did not, we would not know what
was going on in the world outside our city. As it is, we are well
posted for dogs and cats journey here from all over the world to speak
at our meetings and to tell us what is happening in the countries from
which they come. Now I hope all of you will favor us by speaking at
our meeting to-night. It begins at twelve o'clock, and I will come and
escort you to our place of meeting. We start rather late as it is
easier for us to steal away from our homes unmolested at that hour
than at any other. Many of our members are children's pets and can't
get away until they are tucked in bed as they keep such close track of
them."
Billy stood up and bowing to the line of cats on the fence and to the
heads of the dogs under the fence, he began:
"Friends and countrymen, we thank you for your courtesy and kind
invitation to speak before your club this evening. This we will be
pleased to do provided we can escape our host and are not locked in
the shed. But I think I can promise you we will be there for if we
should be shut in the shed, my good strong head can butt down and make
short work of a board or two that would give us access to the alley.
Should we be tied, we can easily chew the rope in two. Consequently I
think you may expect us at the appointed hour if some one will kindly
show us the way to where your meeting is to be held."
Just then Mr. Stubbs opened the back door, and stepped into the yard.
"Bless my soul! I never saw so many dogs and cats in my life. I must
be seeing things, for surely there can't be that many cats and dogs in
this neighborhood." He rubbed his eyes to make sure he had seen a line
of cats sitting on top of the fence and a line of dogs peeping under
the fence. But when he looked again, there was not a single cat or dog
to be seen. The only ones he could discover were Stubby and Button,
both apparently asleep outside the shed door.
"Well, I declare that is the most peculiar thing that ever happened to
me in my life! I distinctly saw dozens of cats and dogs and now I
can't see one. Heigho! My old eyes must be playing tricks with me."
And that was all he thought about it. He had come out to shut the
Chums in the shed, but seeing them all three fast asleep, he decided
to let them sleep on and not shut them in the shed that night.
[Illustration: Billy saw the man raise the mop to come after him
(Page 35)]