Billy Whiskers | Page 7

in no time.
He had been asleep for several hours when he was awakened by a dog
barking at the moon, and he was about going off in another nap when
he thought he heard the bleating of a goat in the shed adjoining his.
He pricked up his ears to listen and sure enough he heard it again very
distinctly, and at the same time he saw a large knot hole in the board
partition that divided his shed from the adjoining one, so he got up and
went to look through it to see if he could not see the goat he heard
bleating.
Into the next shed the moonlight was streaming, and lying on a pile of
straw in the light he saw a beautiful white Nanny goat, that made his

old heart palpitate with delight, he was so glad to see one of his own
tribe again.
Nanny lay there unconscious of his presence; apparently bleating in her
sleep, she lay so still. As she did not move Billy concluded to awaken
her so he bleated "Good evening" to her. He had only gotten half
through his salutation when she jumped up quickly as if she had been
touched with an electric wire, and looking around with a frightened
stare, said:
"Good gracious, how you frightened me! Who are you, and where are
you, for I see no one?"
"You can't see me, but I am here all the same, at the other side of the
shed, looking at you through the knot hole. My name is Billy Whiskers
and I come from nowhere in particular and I am bound for the same
place. Now, tell me your name and the name of the people you are
living with."
"My name is Nanny O'Hara and I live with a family of the same name
but I belong to their eldest son, Mike."
"And does he treat you good, my fair friend?" asked Billy.
"Oh, yes," answered Nanny, "as well as boys generally do, but he often
makes me pull heavy loads and forgets to feed and water me
sometimes."
"Oh, the brute," said Billy, "to make anyone as handsome as you pull
heavy loads. How I wish I could help you, for I am strong and used to
pulling large loads. The next time he makes you do it just run into a
tree and upset his cart, or better still, run away altogether and find
someone else to live with."
"Oh, Mr. Billy, I would not dare do either, I am so timid."
"Hark, here comes some one and we must not let them hear us talking,"
said Billy, "So ta-ta, I'll see you to-morrow."

Sure enough they had heard some one talking. It was Tim Rooney and
his chum, Mike O'Hara, whom he was bringing to show his goat. As
they unfastened the door, Billy heard Mike say:
"I tell you, Tim, what I will do if he turns out as fine a goat as you say
he is. I'll give you a dollar and a half for him."
"So ye'll give me a dollar and a half, will ye? Well I like that--a dollar
and a half for the finest goat ye ever laid your two eyes on! Not
much--what do ye take me for, an idjet? I don't want er sell but if ye'll
offer injucements enough I may think about it, for we have no cart or
harness fine enough for so handsome a goat as this one."
"Well, open the door and let's see him," said Mike.
Tim opened the door and there stood Billy Whiskers in all his glory
with his most dignified expression mixed with a little disgust, for had
he not heard himself valued at a dollar and a half,--he that had brought
twenty dollars in his day!
Tim tied a rope around Billy's neck and led him out of the shed and
then the bargaining began again.
"Well, since I have seen him," says Mike, "and find he is pretty large,
I'll raise my bid to two dollars cash."
"Not on your life will I sell him for that," said Tim.
"Then how does three strike you, or you keep your goat for I won't pay
another cent. It costs too much to keep a big goat like that; they eat up
everything on the place."
This Tim well knew and as he was short of money and a circus was
coming to town the next week, he decided to let him go. But not
without one last effort to get a little more out of Mike. Now Mike had a
hunting knife Tim had long coveted, though it had a rusty blade and a
wobbly handle, so he said:

"I'll tell you what I'll do, Mike. I'll let