BILLY WHISKERS' FAMILY ARRIVE AT LINCOLN PARK
After numerous hardships and accidents of all kinds, the Billy
Whiskers family arrived in Lincoln Park. The first thing they did was
to go straight to the bathing beach to wash the stains of travel off
their coats before visiting the animals.
They reached the Park three days before Billy could possibly have
gotten there, and they were proposing to pass the time until his
arrival by sightseeing and talking to the animals in the cages, but
they came near being captured and shut up the very first day they were
there. It happened in this way.
When they reached the beach there were only a few people in the water
and lying on the sand, as it was too early in the day for the crowd,
though those who were there made up in noise and fun for those who
were not.
The lifeguards were lazily lounging in their boat away from shore when
they heard an angry scream from some woman in the water. They thought
some one must be annoying her, but on looking up they saw her swimming
for shore as fast as she could go, while on the sand stood three
black goats and two white ones beside a two-year-old baby lying on a
shawl, kicking and screaming. Over it stood a small goat with the
baby's bottle dangling from its mouth as it chewed the rubber tubing,
while the other young goat was eating some sweet cakes it had found in
a bag, and one of the old goats was licking the baby's forehead. That
was Daisy, the Twins' mother. She meant no harm as this was her way of
kissing the sweet little baby. Daisy loved babies and she thought this
would quiet this little child. Billy Junior tried to get the bottle
away from the Twin to give back to the baby so it would not cry.
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to take the baby's bottle away from
it!" reproved Nannie.
"But I was thirsty and wanted a drink of milk!"
"Never mind if you did. You should not take it away from a tiny baby."
"He isn't _very_ tiny! Just hear how he yells!"
By this time the baby's mother had reached the spot and was throwing
stones and sand at the goats while she tried to pacify the baby.
As the goats saw the lifeboat head for the shore, they thought they
better disappear, knowing that the minute the men beached the boat
they would be after them. So they raced into the Park and hid
themselves behind some lilac bushes. Daisy said:
"I really don't see why you children don't behave. You have done
nothing but get into mischief and cause us trouble ever since we left
home. I wish we had not brought you! Any one would think you never had
any bringing up. And now to try to take a sweet little baby's dinner
away from it! I am ashamed of you! Besides, now none of us can take a
bath on that nice sandy beach. We shall have to find another place,
which won't be very easy since the lifeguards have seen us."
[Illustration]
"I know where there is a nice little lake, mamma," piped up one Twin.
"I saw it as we came along--right over there where you see that high
bridge."
"Very well. We will all go over there for I feel very dirty and tired.
It will both clean us and rest us to have a nice cool bath."
So the goats all trotted over to one of the lagoons in the Park which
the Twins had called a lake, and they plunged into the water. They had
a fine time and enjoyed themselves, much to the discomfort of some
stately swans that were greatly upset to have strange goats come
dashing into their private place. They began to hiss, which set all
the ducks to quacking and the sea lions to barking. This commotion
soon brought a park guard to the spot to see what was the matter. When
he discovered a lot of goats in the water he walked down to the edge
of the pond and began to wave his club and shout at them.
"Hear the old goose!" said one of the Twins. "He is shooing at us! I
guess he thinks we are a kind of duck!"
"Let's baa at him, and tell him what an old goose he is," said the
other.
When the goats did not leave the water or pay any attention to him,
the guard began throwing stones at them. At last one hit Billy Junior
on the head. This was too much for him. The guard might throw stones
all he wished, but hitting Billy Junior with them was quite another
thing. He wheeled and swam for shore, going straight for the guard,
who stood still, not knowing Billy Junior was bent on butting him.
[Illustration: 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
(Page 141)]
Indeed Billy Junior did butt the guard so hard he sent him flying over
the high iron fence that surrounded the sea lions' pool and rock cave
where they lived. He fell kersplash into the water, astride a papa sea
lion as he went swimming round and round his rock home. When the lion
felt something alight on his back, he dove to the bottom of the pool
in a flash, taking the guard with him. But no human being could stick
on the back of a slippery sea lion, and the guard soon came up to the
surface of the water blowing and spouting like a porpoise.
[Illustration]
The goats did not wait to see what became of the guard but ran and hid
themselves under the approach of one of the Park bridges.