Billy Whiskers Part 3

"It is too bad," he thought, "that Nanny is such a scare-cat and slow runner for if she had only kept up with me she would be free now and we could have a good time here. There are lots of young shoots and juicy leaves for us to eat and plenty of water in the creek to drink.

"Now I must go back and see what has become of her. I expect I will be caught and pounded by the boys, but I told her I would take care of her and as I never break my word, I must go and see what I can do."

He climbed a high hill where he could get a good view of the road and there he saw Tim leading Nanny into Mike's yard, and a mile behind he saw Mike walking slowly along.

"Ho, ho!" said Billy, "they have caught Nan, so there is no use in my trying to get her away now. I will just wait until dark and then go back and b.u.t.t the shed down and get her out and then we can run away together before they can catch us."

Turning and looking in the opposite direction he saw lying in the valley beneath him a city, and he immediately made up his mind to visit it for it had been a long while since he had been in a large town.

Down the hill he started on a run, loosening stones and pebbles as he went, which rolled after him sending up a cloud of dust.

At the bottom he struck the main road that led to the town, and keeping up his fast gait he was soon within its suburbs.

The first thing he came to was a flower and fruit stand, the owner of which, a greasy, black-looking Italian, was talking to a fat blue-coated policeman. Both stood with their backs turned to the fruit stand.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ITALIAN WAS SO HORRIFIED AND DISMAYED TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED THAT HE FORGOT WHAT LITTLE ENGLISH HE KNEW.]

Now was Billy's chance. Luscious pears, peaches and grapes lay before him ready to be eaten, and without a moment's hesitation he began to sample each, while now and then he would eat a rose or two between, thus making his own salad. And he found he liked his fruit salad served on rose leaves just as well as on lettuce.

In reaching for an extra delicious-looking pear he had to stand on his hind legs with his fore feet on the lower shelf. But alas, for his greed! His weight on the board that formed the shelf was too much, and it flew up in the air sending the fruit in all directions and making such a racket that the fruit dealer heard it and turned around just in time to see the wreck of his stand.

The Italian was so horrified and dismayed to see what had happened that he forgot what little English he knew and chattered and swore in Italian until you would have thought a dozen parrots had been suddenly let loose.

The policeman tried to stop and catch Billy by spreading out his legs and waving his arms, but Billy only lowered his head and ran between the policeman's legs, upsetting him as he went through for Billy was fat and the policeman short-legged and there was not room to slide through without upsetting the man.

The policeman picked himself up and started in hot pursuit, swearing under his breath that if he ever caught that goat he would club its brains out.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Of course the policeman could not catch up to the fleet-footed Billy, so he called out--"Catch him!" But no one cared to attempt it, especially when Billy lowered his head with the long horns on it and ran at him.

But at last, after dodging in and out of the people on the sidewalk and the carts and wagons in the street, one man was brave enough to try to catch him. He was a big German butcher and he stood plum in Billy's way, and when Billy lowered his head at him, as he had at the others, the butcher caught hold of his horns and gave his neck a quick twist. This made Billy furious and he reared on his hind legs and struck at the butcher with his fore ones, and then the fight began; first one was on top, then the other, and they rolled over and over into the mud of the street, while a big crowd gathered, which cheered and called out:

"I bet on the goat!"

"Give it to him, Dutchie!" and all such expressions, until at last Billy got on his feet again, and with a parting hook he slit the butcher's coat up the back and left him lying in the mud, while he ran off as fast as his legs would carry him. And it is needless to say that none of that crowd tried to stop him.

He had gone through many streets and turned many corners, when he found himself opposite a beautiful, green, cool-looking park.

"This is the place for me," thought Billy, "it looks nice and quiet and as I am tired I will go in and lie down under one of the trees and eat a little gra.s.s."

After taking a nice rest and nap under the trees, he awoke, and feeling thirsty thought he would go and quench his thirst at a sparkling fountain he saw before him. He was quietly drinking and every once in a while swallowing a goldfish that swam too near his mouth, when someone from behind gave him a hard hit with a rake.

"It is a pity a goat can't take a drink without being pounded,"

thought Billy. "But as I have had enough I guess I will move on for I don't like the looks of this man's face, and I know he will give me no peace."

So he walked away slowly, just as if he were going away of his own accord, when the man gave him another hit with the rake. This was too much for Billy's pie-crust temper; he turned on the man, who was gardener of the park, and sent him sprawling over a hay-c.o.c.k before he knew what had struck him.

As Billy walked toward the high iron fence that encircled the park he saw a policeman coming in at the gate. Now if there was one thing Billy detested, it was a policeman, and he made for him running at full speed with head down, and before the policeman had even seen the goat he found himself hanging by the seat of his trousers to the sharp iron pickets of the fence. Billy left him there struggling, kicking, swearing and calling for help while he made off as fast as his legs would carry him.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Billy Has a Ride in the Police Patrol Wagon_

After Billy left the policeman hanging on the fence, he walked through street after street trying to find his way out of the town, so he could go back to Nanny, but the more he looked for the scattered houses of the suburbs, the more closely they seemed to be built, and he found himself on a street where there were nothing but stores and flats. It was beginning to get dark and he was getting hungry and tired.

"I'll turn down the next alley I come to and see if I can't find someone's back gate open where I can go in and rest," thought Billy. He soon found the back yard to a flat and as he stood in the open gate looking up, he could see by the gas light in the different apartments, the cooks getting supper, and could smell the sweet odor, to him, of boiled cabbage.

"Now is my chance," he thought, "to get supper and then come back and sleep in this coal shed I see in the corner."

As there were long flights of stairs that connected one flat with the other, he thought he would commence at the bottom flight and go to the top, stopping at each flat as he went and picking up anything he saw fit to eat. At the first landing, the cook had just been out to the ice-chest to get something for supper and had neglected to shut the door tightly, consequently it was an easy matter for Billy to push it open with his nose, and then help himself to the nice, crisp, fresh lettuce and radishes he saw lying on the shelf. These he ate in a twinkling; next he found a basket of eggs, these he did not care for, but he did want the bunch of large carrots back of the basket, so he stuck his head farther into the chest to reach the carrots and in doing so, his horns ran through the handle of the basket and when he brought his head out of the chest, the basket of eggs came too.

It slipped down until it hit his forehead and then it turned over, spilling the eggs on the floor and making a terrible mess.

As the eggs broke, each one made a noise like a small paper torpedo, and Billy knew the noise would bring the cook, so he scooted up the stairs to the next landing, where he kept very still in order to hear what the cook would say when she saw the broken eggs for he heard her coming out.

"Goodness, gracious, me! The grocery boy has dropped a package of eggs on his way up stairs. No he hasn't either, for my ice-box door is open and someone has been stealing my things!" he heard her say, and she hurried down stairs to look for the janitor to tell him that sneak thieves had been at her ice chest.

When Billy heard her go down the stairs for the janitor, he went to the upper flat, for fear the janitor would find him if he stayed where he was. Arriving at the upper flat, he saw a line of nicely-starched, fine linen things,--a baby's cap, two or three handkerchiefs and a lace tidy. These he chewed up and swallowed for he liked the taste of starch and they felt quite like chewing gum in his mouth as he ate them. Then he saw a pan of apples setting outside the door and he ate some of those. While eating he heard the electric bell in the kitchen ring, which scared the life out of him at first, but when he looked in the window and found out what it was, he got over his fright. When the girl left the kitchen to answer the bell, Billy thought he would go in and take a drink from a pan of milk he saw setting on the table. He had nearly finished the milk and his whiskers were all wet from being in the pan, when he heard a scream and, looking up, he saw the girl standing in the doorway, screaming: "Fire! police!

murder!"

"What a goose that girl is," thought Billy, "to make such a racket, she will have the patrol here and four or five policemen if she don't shut up. Guess I will run into her and b.u.t.t her through the hall and down the front stairs."

Suiting the action to the thought, he started for her but she fled down the hall and ran into a room closing the door after her. As she closed that door, the janitor opened the front door which was directly opposite and Billy getting there just at that time gave the janitor the b.u.t.t instead of the girl and sent him sprawling on the hall floor.

Before he could get up, Billy ran back through the hall to escape down the back stairs and as he ran he could hear the girl calling: "Fire! police! murder!" out of the window at the top of her voice.

Billy hurried down the outside stairs as fast as he could, but there were so many turns they made him dizzy and as he reached the last flight, he heard the janitor above him call to someone in the yard not to let that confounded goat escape through the back gate.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Billy laughed to himself, "I would like to see anyone stop me,"

when all unexpectedly, someone hit him on the head with a club as he made the last turn in the stairs and there before him were three policemen in a line stopping his way out. He b.u.t.ted and kicked and balked, but to no use; they clubbed him until he was almost senseless and then slipped a rope around his neck and dragged him to the patrol wagon that was waiting outside the gate, and with many boosts and pushes they at last succeeded in getting him into the wagon.

As they drove down the street at break-neck speed, Billy vowed to himself that if he ever got away from the police, that he would go back and b.u.t.t that girl into the middle of next week for screaming, "Fire! police! murder!" until she had brought the patrol wagon.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

_Billy Joins the Fire Patrol_

When they arrived at the police station Billy was made to jump out and was led through the station into the back yard, and here he was turned loose. He had been there about half an hour, when he heard a terrible stamping of horses' feet and many bells ringing in the building on the other side of the fence.