smoke was so thick he could see nothing, and it made his eyes
smart beside choking him dreadfully, so he decided to go out
again. He turned to find the head of the stairs he had come up,
but instead of discovering them he ran into the wall and the more
he tried to find his way out, the more confused he became. He
fell over something and when he regained his feet, after having
nearly gone head over heels into a box, as he thought, but which
was a baby's cradle, he felt something heavy hanging to his
horns. At the same time he heard a baby cry.
"Poor little thing," thought Billy, "everyone has gone out of the
house and left the baby asleep and now it is going to be burned
to death. Wish I knew where it was; it sounds near but I can't
see for this smoke." Just then a little bare foot slipped down
over Billy's eyes and then he knew the heavy thing hanging to his
horns was the baby.
As soon as he found this out, he tried harder than ever to find
the stairs and presently he found them, and with the baby's
clothes still twisted around his horns he ran down and out into
the street, just in time to meet the baby's nurse coming from the
drugstore around the corner. She was wild with joy when she saw
the baby and rushed up to Billy to unfasten the baby's clothes
from his horns. The child was unhurt, and a crowd soon gathered
around Billy to pet and praise him for saving the baby's life.
[Illustration]
Billy stayed there until the fire was put out and watched the
hose being rolled up, while the firemen that were doing it talked
to him all the time.
When the hose was all on the cart and the firemen stepped up on
the little step that is at the back to ride home, Billy walked
over and stepped up also but he had to stand on his hind legs
with his fore feet on the coil of hose in front of him.
One fireman thought this a very clever thing for a goat to do, so
he put his arm around his neck and said, "All right, old fellow,
you shall ride home with me, but take care for we are going to
start and the road is rough and you may fall off." And in this
way Billy rode back to the fire station, causing many smiles from
the people they passed.
As they drove into the station one of the policemen who was
standing outside their station called out, "Where did you get
that goat?" Billy's friend called back: "I don't know where he
came from; all I know is that he followed us to the fire, where
he made himself useful by saving a life."
"Well, we have his brother in our back yard. If not his brother,
then one that looks precisely like him."
"Oh, I guess not," answered Billy's friend, "for there are not
two such fine looking goats in town."
"Well, I'll show you, come over and see for yourself."
So the two men went into the police station yard with Billy
lagging at their heels, laughing to himself to think how fooled
the policeman was going to be at not finding any goat there.
When they got to the yard the policeman looked everywhere, but
could find no sign of a goat, so went into the station to ask the
other policemen where the goat had gone, but none had seen him
and all thought he was still in the yard.
"Well that must be my goat, then," said the policeman.
"Not much!" answered the fireman. "You will have to bring better
proof than that before I give him up."
"Well, I don't want him anyway," said the policeman, "and you
will be glad to get rid of him yourself in a day or two for he is
the most troublesome goat you ever heard of. You should hear of
the mischief he got into at the flat we took him from."
"Very well," said the fireman, "I'll stand all the trouble he
will cause."
And with that he led Billy out of the yard into their back yard
and gave him a nice place to sleep, a big dinner and a bucket of
water, all of which Billy was thankful for as he was both hungry
and thirsty after his trip to the fire.
After his first ride on the hose-cart, Billy liked it so much
that every time the cart went out Billy went too and rode, as he
had before, with his hind legs on the step and his fore feet on
the coil of hose in front of him and the fireman always steadied
him with his arm. And soon this fire company was known as the
White Goat Company, with Billy as its mascot.
Billy had been with the firemen about a month, when one day he
heard them talking about a procession they were going to be in,
that all the fire-engines, hose-carts and hook-and-ladder
companies were to be in the parade and that the horses were to
have their hoofs gilded and wear collars of roses, and that he,
Billy, was to have his horns and hoofs gilded also, and wear a
rose collar and be led by a chain made of roses, by one of the
firemen who was to wear a red shirt, black trousers and high
patent leather boots and his fireman's hat with a visor.
When Billy heard this he said, "I won't march in their old
procession, and make a circus of myself. I'll run away first."
But he did not get a chance.
When the morning of the day of the procession came, Billy watched
the firemen polish the brass of the engine and trim it with
garlands of flowers tied with bright colored ribbons; but when
they commenced to gild the horses' hoofs one of them said to him:
"It will be your turn next Billy; we are going to give you a
scrubbing in the tub until your hair is as soft and shiny as
silk, and then we are going to gild your long horns and tie blue
ribbons on them, and put the handsomest wreath of pink roses we
can find round your neck. My! but you will look fine, Billy. And
we expect you to behave and walk in a dignified manner, for the
Fire Marshal is going to give you a gold medal to wear round your
neck for saving the baby's life."
"It is very nice of them to give me a medal," thought Billy, "and
they have been good to me; but I don't like being scrubbed and
dressed up like a clown, beside I am getting tired of town life
and I long for the country and Nanny. I might as well run away
one time as another, so I will watch my chance, and when they are
all busy and not looking, I will walk out of the station quietly,
as if I were only going for my usual walk up the street, and when
I get to the corner, I will turn it and once out of sight I will
run until I get so far away they can't find me."
But for once Master Billy's plans were foiled for just as he was
walking out of the station one of the firemen saw him and said:
"Here, here, Billy, not so fast! We are ready for you now and if
you go for a walk there is no knowing when you will come back."
And he took Billy by the horns and led him into the back yard
where another fireman had a big tub of soapy water ready to put
him in.
Billy stood in the tub and submitted to the scrubbing until the
soapy water ran into his eyes and then he got mad and butted the
fireman, who was holding his horns, clear over, and kicked the
other man, who was scrubbing him, in the stomach; and then around
and around the yard he ran bleating and shaking his head, wild
with the smart of the soap that was in his eyes.
"Here, Jack, this will never do," said one fireman to the other,
"he is not half clean. Let us get the hose and turn it on him
while he is running around."
"All right," said the other, "that will be great sport."
And they got the hose and soon they were squirting it over Billy
as he ran, first on one side and then on the other, and no matter
where he went the stream of water followed him and played all
over him, and if he stopped running and hugged the fence it was
worse than ever for then the water flowed in a perfect stream
and doused him from head to foot, sending a spray over the fence.
[Illustration: THIS CALLED FORTH A SHOUT OF GLEE FROM THE
POLICEMEN WHO WERE LOOKING OVER THE FENCE.]
All the firemen had come out to see the fun and when the
policemen in the next yard heard a great deal of laughing and
racket in the fireman's back yard, they too hurried to the fence
and watched the fun.
Of course, this only added to Billy's rage, to see his hated
enemies, the policemen, laughing at him, and he vowed he would
get even with them some day, and with the firemen right away, for
he knew his strength. With a bound and a quick run he made for
the group of firemen that were tormenting him and butted and
hooked them in all directions, and sent the fireman who was
playing the hose on him sprawling into the tub of soapy water
that but a few minutes before he had Billy in.
This called forth a shout of glee from the policemen who were
looking over the fence, and with another angry bound Billy went
for them and butted the fence down that they were leaning
against, and they made their escape into the police station just
in time, for Billy came through the fence and after them, right
up to the door they had run through.
He gave it one butt and then turned and walked back into his own
yard where he lay down on a pile of straw to cool off after his
exertion. He had been there about half an hour when his pet
fireman came out with a large plate in his hand heaped full of
good things to eat and as he walked toward Billy, the goat could
smell the cabbage, turnips, apples and carrots. He bleated a
friendly greeting to let the fireman know that he would not hook
him if he came nearer and the man came up and set the plate down
under Billy's nose and Billy gave him a goat smile showing that
all was forgiven and began to eat.
While he was eating this same fireman went in and brought out a
kettle with a brush in it and began to gild Billy's horns and
hoofs. Then he tied a wreath of roses round his neck and went to
get the rope wound with roses to lead him by. But while he was
gone Billy ate up the front of the wreath and as much more of it
as he could reach.
When the fireman came back dressed for the parade with the rose
chain in his hand that he was to lead Billy with, he spied the
eaten wreath, and said:
"Why, Billy, you beat any bad boy I ever heard of for mischief!
Now you will have to come into the station and have another
wreath tied round your neck, and I bet you won't chew this one
for I will tie it so close to your neck you can't reach it with
your mouth."
As they went in the station Billy heard a band playing and the
rat-ta-tah-tah of the drums, and when they heard the music the
engine horses, all decked in rose collars and bridles, with
plumes on their heads, started to prance and pull the beautifully
draped and polished engine out of the station to join the
procession.
And before Billy knew what was up, he was led out and made to
march in the procession between the engine and hose-cart. After
they had started he rather enjoyed it for from all sides he heard
the people say:
"There, look! There goes the goat that saved the baby's life."
"Isn't he a beauty?"
"See what nice, white, silky hair he has!"
"Yes," Billy thought, "if they could have seen the firemen
scrubbing me, I expect they would have laughed like the policemen
did." But it all tickled his vanity for Billy was as conceited a
goat as you could well find.
They had been marching for some time and Billy was getting tired
of the slow gait and being made to stay between the engine and
hose-cart instead of riding on the hose-cart as he had been in
the habit of doing, when he heard the plaintive bleat of a goat
and the sound of a whip.
"My!" thought Billy, "how that voice reminds me of Nanny."
Just then a little cart, with a can of milk in it, drawn by a
goat came in sight around the corner, and who should be pulling
it but Nanny, with the big, clumsy Mike Rooney cracking the whip
at her and every once in a while giving her a stinging cut which
had caused Nanny to cry out as Billy had heard.
Mike had just given Nanny another and an extra hard cut with the
whip, when Billy recognized Nanny and with a bound he was at her
side leaving the fireman behind him and upsetting Mike in his mad
haste to get to Nanny.
When Mike regained his feet he came at Billy with the butt of his
whip raised to strike him, but before he did so, he recognized
Billy as his long-lost goat, and was going to make up with him
and hitch him to the cart to help Nanny draw it, when Billy made
a plunge at him and sent him sprawling into the street. Then he
butted the cart over and spilled the milk and told Nanny to turn
around and run toward home and he would keep Mike off.
Nanny did as she was told and soon the harness broke and let her
loose from the overturned cart. By this time Mike was on his feet
again, furious and mad enough at Billy to kill him had he caught
him, but with a kick of his heels in the air Billy and Nanny had
left him and were running away as fast as they could while the
firemen and the crowd stood still and watched.
Mike ran until he was all out of breath and in turning a corner
sharply he ran into another boy coming in the opposite direction.
This made the boy mad and he struck at Mike hitting him in the
jaw. That was too much for Mike who was already angry at being
outwitted by the goats, so he pitched into the boy and they
fought until both had black eyes and bloody noses and a policeman
coming up at that time arrested them both for disorderly conduct.
While all this was happening the goats had made good their
escape.
[Illustration]
_Billy and Nanny Get into Mischief_
When next we see Billy, he and Nanny are lying peacefully in the
moonlight fast asleep. After running away from Mike, Nanny showed
Billy the way into the country, for she knew the road well, as
she had had to draw a can of milk to town every morning.
When they were once out of town Billy said:
"Now, Nanny, we must find a nice meadow somewhere in which we can
get some grass to eat and water to drink and then you must tell
me all that has happened since last I saw you. But first we must
get as far away from the road Mike will have to take to get home
as we can, or he will find us."
So they turned off at the first cross-road they came to and
hurried on until they found the fine, green pasture where we now
see them.
The next day they were in this same pasture enjoying themselves
when they saw some boys coming toward them. At first they thought
the boys were looking for them; but soon discovered from their
conversation that the boys were going swimming in a little lake
at the end of the meadow near the woods. They passed close by the
goats without paying any attention to them.
One boy had a bag of pop-corn he was eating and Billy smelling it
commenced to long for some. The firemen had bought salted and
buttered pop-corn for him every day, and the smell of this made
him hungry and he determined to get the bag from the boy.
"But how can you, Billy?" asked Nanny, when he told her he was
going to get the pop-corn.
"I'll tell you; when they leave their clothes on the bank and go
in swimming I will steal up and eat what is left in the bag, and
anything else I find in their pockets."
"How are you going to get anything out of their pockets without
hands?"
"Why, I will eat pocket and all if I smell anything in there I
like," answered Billy.
"Billy Whiskers, you are the most determined goat I ever heard
of," said Nanny. "If you want anything you are going to have it,
no matter how you have to get it."
"I guess you are right, Nan. But if you had ever tasted salted
and buttered pop-corn you, too, would have it if you had to hook
all five of those boys into the lake to get it. Come along, and
we will go over near the lake so when they go into the water we
can go through their clothes and I will give you your first taste
of a town delicacy in the shape of pop-corn."
Billy and Nanny soon arrived at the bank of the lake where the
boys had gone in swimming, and behind a clump of bushes they
found the boys' clothes.
Billy lost no time in smelling out the bag of pop-corn but alas!
when found, it was empty. Billy's disappointment knew no bounds
and he began to vent his spleen on the clothes that were lying
around by hooking and stamping on them. When throwing a coat up
in the air on his horns two nice red apples rolled out of one of
the pockets. After eating one of these and allowing Nanny to eat
the other, he felt a little less angry and commenced to smell
around for something else equally as good.
All this time they could hear the boys shouting and splashing in
the water, oblivious of the mischief that was being done to their
clothes, for they could not see the goats through the bushes.
"Oh, Billy, come here!" called Nanny, "and see what I have found.
It smells awfully good but I don't know what it can be."
Billy went and after smelling the coat pronounced the good smell
to come from a piece of gingerbread in one of the pockets.
"How do you know?" asked Nanny.
"Well, I guess if you had eaten as many pieces of gingerbread as
I have you would not forget the name. When I lived at Mr.
Wagner's, his boys used to give it to me often."
But the trouble was to get it out of the pocket now that it was
found. Billy threw the coat up in the air, shook it in his mouth
and did everything else he could think of, but the gingerbread
would not fall out, so when the coat turned wrong side out and
the pocket lay exposed he ate pocket and all, forgetting to save
any for Nanny.
"Oh, Nanny, forgive me, I forgot to give you some and you found
it, but don't care for it did not taste very good and I felt
something hard go down my throat and I think I must have
swallowed a jack-knife also.
"Here is something good, Nanny. A white shirt with starched
cuffs. You take one sleeve and I will take the other and I know
you will like the starchy taste."
The goats were standing there each chewing on a cuff when they
heard the boys coming and it happened that they both heard the
noise at the same time, but turned to run in opposite directions
which tore the shirt from top to bottom and when the boys first
saw the goats they were scampering off with a piece of shirt
waving from their mouths.
[Illustration]
The boys started after them but the rough ground the goats were
running over hurt the boys' feet so they had to give up and
content themselves with throwing stones at the two runaways.
When the boys went to see what damage had been done they found
one boy minus a pair of trousers, another a shirt and all the
rest had lost their collars and cuffs to say nothing of the
pockets that were missing.
But the boy whose trousers were gone was in the worst fix, as the
others could go home without any collars and the boy minus a
shirt could button his coat up tight to his neck and no one would
know he had no shirt on. But alas for the trouserless boy! What
was he to do? At last they hit on a plan. He was to take one of
the boys' coats and stick his legs in the sleeves and button the
coat tightly in front and tie it on round his waist with a
string. This he did, but when he had to walk he could only take
the very shortest of steps. This, with the comical picture he
made, sent the boys into peals of laughter, and they rolled on
the ground and held their sides for pain from laughing when he
stubbed his toe and fell head over heels, or when he tried to
climb a fence.
[Illustration]
_Billy and Nanny Are Married_
After leaving the boys the two goats trotted on and soon came out
on the other side of the wood and saw before them a beautiful
valley. Grazing peacefully beside a little brook that ran through
it, they saw a herd of goats. And at the upper end of the valley
beyond them they saw a large old-fashioned farmhouse with its
stables and outhouses.
"Nan, let us go down and introduce ourselves to the head goat of
the flock and see if they won't let us stay with them for awhile.
There are so many of them that the farmer won't notice us among
them when he drives them into the stable to-night, and it will be
a good place for us to stay until Mike stops hunting for us, for
I know he won't give us up in a hurry and is probably looking for
us now, and I don't propose to live with such a common family as
Mike belongs to, for until now I have only lived with first-class
families."
Nanny agreed to join the goats so the two trotted down the hill
bleating as they ran to attract the attention of the other goats.
The goats soon heard them, stopped eating and looked up, and when
Billy and Nanny were within speaking distance the leader of the
goats, a large black fellow, walked out to meet them.
Billy introduced himself and then Nanny to the old goat who in
return told them his name was Satan and that he would be glad to
have them join his flock, adding that he was always glad to get
ahead of boys, as he had received some rough usage at their hands
when younger.
"If we see Mike coming after you, we will all form in a circle
around you and Miss Nanny so he can't see you."
All that day Billy and Nanny stayed with the other goats who
never tired of hearing the new-comers tell of the adventures they
had had, some of which seemed impossible to those country goats
who had never been off their own farm.
That evening when the farmer drove the goats home he did not
notice Billy and Nan until he had got them into the little
enclosure where he always drove them to be fed; but when he
stood by the fence with his arm on the upper rail counting them,
his eye detected Billy immediately as he was so much taller than
any of the other goats, even old Satan, the leader.
"Ho, Ho!" he thought to himself, "where did this fine goat come
from, I wonder," and when he went to drive Billy apart to get a
good look at him he spied Nanny who was trying to hide behind
Billy.
"So my fine goat, you have brought your mate with you?" And Billy
who was not afraid of any man or thing, bleated back that he had,
though I doubt whether the man understood him or not.
The man walked round and round Billy taking in all his fine points
and talking to himself all the time, but when he saw the gilt
shining on Billy's horns he stopped and stared in astonishment.
Then he slapped his knee with his hand and said: "Well, I swan! I
bet that goat has run away from the circus that is in town for I
don't know how else he got his horns gilded."
Everything went smooth as silk for three nights but on the
fourth, had you been looking you would have seen an unusual
commotion among the goats when they were turned loose after
milking time to graze in the meadow during the night, as they
were allowed to do when the weather was fine; and to-night was an
ideal night with a low hungry moon that lit up everything as
bright as day.
I know you are anxious to hear what the commotion was all about,
so will tell you. Billy and Nanny were to be married by the old
parson goat of the flock, and then they were all going to break
through the neighbor's fence into his turnip patch and eat up all
his turnips.
It is needless to say that this scheme originated in Billy's
head, though from Satan's name you would have imagined it more
likely to have come from him; but in reality that goat was as
meek as a lamb and Satan should have been Billy's name by rights
for in his heart he was as mischievous as Satan.
The wedding went off beautifully and the groom, minister and all
the others kissed the bride and you never saw a sweeter one than
poor little meek Nanny with her gentle ways; and to think she was
going to marry a goat twice her size and as fiery tempered as she
was mild! But people frequently marry their opposites, and why
should not goats?
After the wedding they all ran skipping and jumping over to the
turnip patch and when they got there Billy, Satan and two other
old goats threw their weight against the fence and with a crash
it caved in and the whole flock of goats climbed over the broken
rails into the field where they feasted until daylight.
The farmer who owned the field happened to look out of his window
next morning while dressing and saw the goats. He hurried into
his boots, and hatless and coatless, started out of the house
calling to his dogs to follow him.
And the first thing the flock knew, several dogs were barking and
biting at their heels. Billy kept close to Nan and when a dog
came up to them he hooked him howling up into the air. Soon the
goats were all on their side of the fence again and the neighbor
was fixing up his fence as best he could, scolding all the time
he did so, saying:
"I'll sue Farmer Windlass for the damage his pesky goats have
done, so I will, for the hateful things have eaten up all my
turnips, tops and all!"
Several days after this when the goats were all in the meadow,
and Nanny was lying down under a tree for a nap, Billy, who was
tired of the monotony of going day after day to the same place,
stole off and went up to the house to see what amusement he could
find.
When nearly there he came to a white-washed rail fence that
separated the pasture from the lane that led to the house. This
he went over easily by taking it at a running jump. Then he
followed the lane until he came to the house, the yard of which
was separated from the lane by a picket fence; but as good luck
would have it the gate was open, so Billy walked in and went
around to the kitchen door for he heard voices in the parlor,
which is an unusual thing in the country as they generally
entertain their company in the sitting room. Immediately Billy
knew they must have company for dinner.