AN EXCITING EVENING
The first dog called upon to lecture was an Eskimo dog with bright,
snappy eyes, short, sharply pointed ears, strong legs and a bushy tail
that gave him the appearance of a wolf, especially as his coat was
just the color of that animal. And what more natural, as the Eskimo
dog is the direct descendant of the timber wolf of the North? And
though they may appear docile at times, still they always retain that
half wild, ferocious look and manner.
He was a handsome, alert dog and spoke in quick, short sentences and
to the point. He began by saying:
"I expect that none of you are familiar with the far North, where it
is day six months of the year and night the other six. But though the
sun does not shine, don't think for a moment that we live in pitch
darkness, for the stars and the Northern Lights make our nights most
beautiful. In fact, they are more beautiful and varied than our days.
Instead of the blazing rays of the sun that blind one, we have the
ever varied, many colored rays of the Aurora Borealis, shooting stars
and electrical displays of all kinds that far surpass even your most
elaborate Fourth of July celebrations.
"One moment the sky will be a sea-shell pink, with bars of vivid
green, lavender and purple playing across it, while in the center will
be a misty golden ball as if the sun was trying to shine through. The
next instant all may be pitch darkness until this too is chased away
by another electrical outburst. These go on constantly for the whole
six months until they become so common an occurrence that the
inhabitants pay no more attention to those magnificent displays than
you do to your sun on a summer day.
"Picture to yourself this wonderful sky, against which huge icebergs
are seen, taller than your tallest church steeple, and more beautiful
to look upon with their lacelike frostwork than your most elaborately
carved white marble cathedral. All of this is reflected in detail in
the clear, cold, deep green waters of the Arctic Ocean, where the big
walruses, whales and seals live, to say nothing of the clumsy white
polar bears that sit idly on a cake of ice waiting for an unwary fish
to swim by so he may catch it and make a breakfast on it.
"In round-topped, oven-like mounds made of ice and snow live our
masters, the Eskimos. They live on whale oil, blubber, fish and the
meat of the musk ox, bear and other animals that inhabit the far
North. You dogs and cats who live so far from us in a country where
there are noisy cities cannot imagine the silence of a cityless
country or a land where the only sounds are the crunching of one
iceberg against another or the roar and thunder of a glacier as it
falls to pieces when melted by the sun. This world of ours seems like
a dead world when compared to yours, but underneath this eternal
covering of snow, down deep in the green water of the ocean are
myriads of living, moving creatures as lively as any in your more
sultry climate.
"But I see I am taking up too much time, so will stop and extend an
invitation to one and all of you to come and visit my Land of the
Midnight Sun, and see for yourselves how things look and how we live.
I thank you for your courtesy in listening to my stupid speech," and
bowing low his head he left the platform.
[Illustration]
His speech was followed by loud barks and meows and a great scratching
of claws upon the bare floor.
At last it was Billy's turn to go on the platform. He had just been
introduced to the large audience and had started to speak in the
old-fashioned way by saying, "Friends and fellow countrymen!" when
there was a terrific explosion and the window panes were blown in or
shattered, while through the open windows could be seen vivid red and
yellow lights and columns of black smoke. Every heart in that large
assembly stood still for a moment, then one and all started for the
exit.
"Some one is trying to blow up the docks. We better get out of here
before this building goes up in smoke," said Billy. "All stick
together, though. If we do become separated, come to our back yard."
Bing! Bang! Bang! and the walls of the building they were in began to
tumble around them and the floor crashed in, falling on those that
were in the cellar. As it happened, our friends had not been near the
exit, so were not among the first to get out. This probably saved
their lives as it kept them from being among those in the cellar when
the floor fell.
"I say we take our chance and jump from one of the windows," said
Billy, "before the whole building falls in on us or it blows up."
It was a long way to the ground, but the cats and dogs jumped down on
the heads of the crowd that had gathered, and this broke their fall.
Being very large, Billy could not do this so he ran to another window
and leaped down on a high pile of baled stuff which was nice and soft
on which to alight.
When they were all safely on the ground they made for the back yard of
the chop-house as fast as their legs would carry them. But somehow
they became separated from the bulldog and Tiger, so lost their way
and never again were they able to find the old uncle of the sailor.
They wandered around for the rest of the night looking for a place to
sleep, but they were careful to keep close together so they would not
lose each other.
[Illustration]
About daylight they found themselves on the bank of the Hudson River
opposite a dock where lay a big pleasure boat. No one was astir on it,
so they cautiously crept on board, thinking to get a free ride up the
river. This would give them a lift on their journey north. All three
found good places to hide in different parts of the boat, and they lay
down and fell asleep for they were both tired and sleepy after all the
excitement they had been through.
Billy was awakened by the scrubbing of the decks over his head.
"I can't see why the captains of boats always insist on scrubbing
decks so early in the morning. I guess it is just because they are
afraid the sailors will get fat unless they keep them working from
sun-up to sun-down. I smell bacon cooking, and I just love it, though
I am a goat. I can't get to sleep now that I have once been wakened,
so I think I will go and see if I cannot get some of it to eat."
Billy crept to the head of the stairs that led down into that part of
the boat where the kitchen was located, but just as he was about to
venture down, he saw a sailor coming up. He dodged out on deck, and
ran toward the prow of the boat. Here he spied another flight of
stairs going down into the boat he knew not where. But what cared he?
He would go down and see. They led down into the dining saloon and at
the further end he could see a swinging door through which came the
smell of frying bacon.
"I know the kitchen must be behind those doors. I'll just stick my
nose against one of them and peek in."
Billy was just about to push one of the doors open when bang! came one
of them against his head with such force that it knocked him over. It
also rebounded with such force that it knocked over a sailor who was
carrying a tray of glass tumblers to set on the table. Over went the
man, rolling over and over amidst the broken glass and rattling tin
tray.
[Illustration]
Of course all this racket brought the cook and all the other deck
hands who heard it. The cook still carried the frying pan in his hand,
being too much surprised to set it down when he heard the noise. The
man with mop and pail who had been scrubbing the deck came and also
two or three other deck hands. There they all stood, staring with open
mouths and bulging eyes at Billy, who had risen to his forefeet and
stood surveying the wreck he had made. He still felt a little dazed
but came to his senses in a hurry when he saw the man with the pail
and mop raise the mop to come after him. Before the fellow had taken
two steps, Billy had risen to his hind feet, gave a spring and butted
him straight into his pail, where he stuck fast and could not get up
without the pail sticking to him. Then Billy whirled and hooked the
pan of bacon out of the cook's hands, which sent it flying out the
open window onto the deck. Then he turned and started for the other
two men who were standing there, but they had seen enough and
disappeared while there was yet time. Seeing the coast was clear,
Billy wheeled around and ran out on deck, where he saw Stubby and
Button eating up the bacon that had spilled out of the frying pan as
it went through the window.
"Leave me a slice of that bacon and then run, for we shall have to get
off this boat in double quick time if we expect to save _our_ bacon,"
said Billy, thinking the slang expression very fitting indeed.
"Why, what is up?" asked Stubby.
"Didn't you hear a racket going on in there?"
"No. We just came down from the upper deck."
"Well, take my word for it and vanish before you are hit with a club
or thrown overboard. I'll be with you as soon as I lick up this
grease. Since you have eaten all the bacon I had so much trouble to
get, I am not going to lose this grease anyway."
Splash bang! came water, bucket and all down on Billy's head. Quick as
lightning, Billy jumped through the window through which it had come,
and found himself standing face to face with the cook, who had the
most astonished expression on his face you ever saw when he beheld
Billy coming through the high, small window.
Billy stood on his hind legs and knocked the jaunty little white
cook's cap off the man's head with one of his fore legs before the
cook could defend himself or turn to run. They were in very close
quarters as a ship's kitchen is not the largest room in the world. At
last the cook got up enough courage to strike out at Billy. He
intended to hit the goat in the stomach as he stood towering before
him, but alas! his knuckles hardly touched Billy's stomach when he
found himself flying backwards across the long, narrow room, out
through the opposite door and hit the railing of the boat so hard it
broke and let him fall splash into the water.
[Illustration]
On perceiving this, Billy turned and ran off the boat, and soon found
Stubby and Button, who were waiting for him. When they had gotten far
enough away for safety, they stopped under a large shade tree and had
a good laugh at Billy's recital of how he butted the cook overboard.
"It will do him good," said Button. "I bet it will be the first bath
he has had in weeks."
"Bet so too," agreed Stubby.
"Well, what are we going to do now?" asked Billy. "That bacon has made
me more hungry than ever. The salt in it has just whetted my
appetite."
"Mine too," said Stubby. "I feel as if I could drink the river dry, I
am so thirsty."
"Say we trot along this drive that runs by the river until we come to
some house that has a yard around it, where we can hide until we have
a chance to sneak into the house or stable to see what we can find to
eat," proposed Button.
They had to travel several miles to find such a place for they were
still in the suburbs of New York City and not far enough out for the
summer homes with their beautiful grounds. Once they passed a
roadhouse where they got a drink out of a watering trough for animals
and stole a few mouthfuls of food from some baskets a greengrocer had
left outside the kitchen door. Button and Stubby stole only meat and
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. They were just rounding a bend of the road when they heard an
excited Frenchman calling to them. Turning to look, they saw the
French cook wildly waving his arms at them and calling to them to
bring back his things. But they only kicked up their heels at him and
disappeared from his view around the bend in the road.
"Gee!" exclaimed Stubby, "this steak is the best thing I have had to
eat in a fat goose's age."
"Yum! Yum!" replied Button. "It can't beat this chop for tenderness
and juiciness."
"Nor my head lettuce. It is as sweet as sugar and as cold as ice. I
just dote on cold, crisp lettuce. The colder and more crisp, the
better. But I am afraid that cook will have an apoplectic fit if he
isn't careful, the way he was waving his arms and carrying on.
Excitement such as that is very bad for a fat old cook of forty."
"Hark! I hear an auto coming from the roadhouse. We better get back
farther in the bushes and hide until it passes. They might be after
us," said Stubby.
But they were not pursuers, but only two young fellows chatting and
laughing over the dismay of the cook, for he had called to them that
if they saw a big goat, small dog and black cat to run over them and
kill them dead, dead, dead!