“ Dandy danced his front feet up and down and rubbed his nose affectionately against the boy's neck, while a beautiful collie came rushing up and capered and danced around them both, giving little, short, sharp, playful barks.
"Steady now, King, steady," said the boy. "That's no way to make a noise when there are sick people around. Behave yourself," and patting the dog's silken coat with a hearty thump, he turned to see what he could do for Billy.
The dog reached the goat first and Billy shivered as he felt the dog's muzzle touch him. ”

“ His wise old mother shook her head when he told her about these things.
"You are too little yet, Billy," she always said. "You are not yet strong enough to be out in the world alone, even if you could get away from here."
"Just wait till I get big," Billy would say, shaking his head, and then he would scamper away to slyly nip the whiskers of some sober old goat, or to romp or play fight with one of the other youngsters. ”

“ A sharp yelp behind her heels made Tiny jump half out of her hide, and then King, laughing at the trick he had played on her, sprang from behind her and over her stall to inquire about Billy. It seemed strange to Billy to have a dog come near him without getting ready for a fight, and he could not get over the surprise of being in a place where everybody seemed to get along so nicely. He could not understand it at all until Bobby came in again, and then he reflected that all these animals were simply trained to the kindness and gentleness that was in their master. ”

“ He was dead, but Billy did not know it, for the brave little goat had sunk to the floor with the tiger and lay as motionless as his dead enemy. The animal men came running up first, the one with the revolver in front of the others. Holding his revolver pointed straight to where he knew it would reach the animal's heart, he approached as slowly and cautiously as a cat creeping up to a mouse hole, felt the tiger's side and pronounced him really dead. Two of the men dragged the tiger away and the others crowded around the poor goat. ”

“ He knew that he had to stand and fight. He felt that he could never run fast enough to get away from this powerful animal, and that before he could even turn and start to run the tiger would be upon him.
Slowly Billy backed away with his sharp horns lowered, and slowly the tiger came out on the deck, crouched down until his body almost touched the boards, his tail, full of hard muscles, waving slowly like a red and yellow snake. The men were panic-stricken and scattered in all directions, seeking places of safety wherever they could find them. Poor Hans Zug was the slowest of all. ”

“ Billy dashed around and around the deck with Hans and the sailors close after him, and at last, when they were almost upon him, he came to the open door of the hold. Seeing no other way to escape, he was about to dash down this and had already placed his forefeet on the topmost stair, when he saw two great greenish-yellow eyes close to him, staring up at him out of the dimness. One of the tigers had broken loose from his cage and had come slinking up the stairs, and Billy stood face to face with him! ”

“ Billy looked around at the big gray beast and saw by his twinkling eyes that it was only in fun, so, kicking up his heels, he trotted on with a friendly "baah!" The lions and tigers and the leopards snarled and howled at him as he went past, while the hyenas laughed—if the terrible noise they make can be called laughing.
One of the elephants reached out his long trunk. Down toward the middle of the ship was a steep stairway up to an open doorway that led out on the deck, and up this Billy climbed with ease. ”

“ Because I don't bring him the more as two hundred goats what I promise, he won't take even this one dumb-head," and he scowled at the poor goat at his heels as if it had been the cause of all of his woe.
"How much will you take for your goat?" suddenly broke in Bobby.
"Oh, Bobby boy, you don't want another goat?" objected his father. "You've got the place overrun now."
"Oh but, father, I want a team," said Bobby. "I've been wishing for one to put on the other side of Billy when I'm having them do stunts, besides hitching them up to a cart that I am making. They will make a fine team." ”

“ Now it is a deadly insult for one Billy goat to stand on his hind legs and wag his head at another one. Billy Mischief for one was not going to take such insults as that, even though the goat that gave it to him was much larger and older than himself, so he backed off into the middle of the street and gave a great run and jump. ”

“ It was a large wild boar, one of the fiercest animals that rove the forests of Europe. It had a great, shaggy head and cruel-looking curved tusks nearly a foot long. The two goats were in one of his hiding-places, and they knew that he would not stop to say "Beg your pardon" when he came up; whatever he had to say would be said with those sharp tusks. The space was too narrow for them to run out past him. Billy's mother was scared, but not Billy.
"The only thing for us to do is to fight," said he, and, jumping to his feet, he stood at the mouth of the little cave and gave a loud "baah!" ”

“ Here she lay down upon the ground to get her breath, while Billy climbed in beside her and listened. Soon he could hear the heavy pat, pat, of the feet of Farmer Klausen and his boys on the road, which was now high above them.
"They'll never find us here," he said.
"Don't 'baah' so loud or they will hear us," panted his mother. "My! I'm getting too fat to run any more, but if you were bound to go out in the world, I was bound to come with you. You're not old enough even yet to be trusted alone. But you are right about one thing; unless they catch us, we're never going back." ”

“ Dandy laughed heartily.
"He thinks he's a great mischief maker, but nobody gets angry at what he says. He doesn't mean a bit of harm by it."
Just then Bobby came in with a pail of warm mash for Billy. The goat hardly knew whether he liked it at the first taste, but as he ate more of it and felt it warming him up inside, he began to realize how good it was, and after he had eaten all that Bobby thought it wise for him to have just then, he lay very contented and lazy while Bobby rubbed Dandy's smooth coat with a cloth. ”

“ Billy followed up that aisle to the end where he turned into the crowd, just as the fat man went out on the street. Here he upset two ladies and a policeman who was just coming in, and then took after the man who looked like Hans. He was flying down the street as fast as he could go. After Billy came the manager of the store and two of his clerks, and all of the boys that had congregated on the sidewalk.
Pell-mell they went, a howling, yelling mob, with the fat man and Billy in the lead. The man by this time was puffing like a steam engine and the sweat was pouring from his face in streams. ”

“ The pony and the cow were both loose in the barnyard and they enjoyed the joke on Billy as much as the dogs or the chickens or pigeons. Billy was the only one in the barnyard who did not seem to see the fun. His next attempt to get rid of Tarwings was to run straight at the fence and butt it, but once more the crow was too quick, and Billy only got a hard bump for his pains, while the crow settled down on his head again.
"You're the best of all," laughed the crow. "You put so much more spirit and spunk into your work. ”

“ Everybody looked up, startled, when Hans came bursting through the door closely followed by an angry goat with a red-checked apron streaming from his horns. A great many of the men jumped up and scraped their chairs back, adding to the confusion, and a great many of the ladies screamed. Hans, not knowing what to do, started to run around and around the table with Billy close behind him and the fat cook close after Billy. Billy would easily have caught Hans except that every once in a while Hans would upset a chair in the goat's road and Billy would have to jump over the chair. ”

“ Introduce them, King, and amuse our friend Billy all you can." Bobby took Dandy from his stall to hitch him up and go into the village for some lumber, leaving Billy in good company. Such puppies as those were! They nipped at him, they pulled his tail, they clawed his beard, they hung on his horns, they sprawled all over him and came tumbling down on all sides, little, awkward, white and brown bunches of down. There was no chance for Billy to get blue or fretful, for those puppies kept him laughing all the time. Their awkward antics would have made anyone laugh. ”

“ This was the worst trip Billy ever made. The animals were never quiet for more than a minute at a time. There would be a lull when none of them would make any noise, and Billy would lie down, hoping for a moment of rest. All at once some animal would grunt, the next one would grumble, the next one would growl, the next one would snarl, and by that time they would all be at it; then suddenly the hyenas would begin. Then one of the fiercer animals would begin to roar and the old hubbub would begin all over again, winding up always with the lions' deep and terrifying "Hough! ”

“ BILLY FELT HIS COURAGE COMING BACK. Billy trotted along this hallway, liking the soft feel of the carpet underneath his feet. As he did so, all the lights about the building went out and everything was dark. The cables in the cellar had at last settled down so that they lay square across each other where Billy had chewed the covering off, thus making all the electric current which ran out of the machine on the one side come right back into it on the other, with the result of burning out the dynamo so that there could be no more lights from it that night. This did not worry Billy any. ”

“ It was a great lot of money, too much for a poor boy to refuse. Caspar drew a long sigh and began to slowly unhitch his goat. The driver of the carriage threw him a strap, and with this he tied Billy to the rear axle of the carriage.
Fleabite, as soon as Billy was safely tied, began to caper with joy and to snap at Billy's heels, but Caspar, when the man had paid him his money, grabbed Fleabite and hitched him to the cart. Then he ran up and patted Billy affectionately on the flanks, and the carriage drove away, with Billy following gladly behind in the dust. ”

“ Just as he reached up for it, however, Jimmy Tarwings swooped down on Billy's back to give him a scratch with his talons and a nip with his bill, and Billy, not expecting it, of course gave a jump and his head ran right through the neck of one of Mr. Sander's undershirts, where he stuck. Of course Billy struggled to get away and of course Jimmy Tarwings, seeing that Billy was fastened, jumped on his back again and began to claw him with his sharp nails.
Jimmy Tarwings swooped down on Billy's back. "Get up!" croaked Jimmy. "I'm ready for another ride now. Get up, goat!" ”

“ Herr Oberbipp was just getting out of the tub when the table got over to him, and he made a grab at it when Billy gave an extra strong jump. The table overturned, and all the breakfast things, with a mighty crash of dishes, slid on Herr Oberbipp and knocked him back in the suds again. By this time Billy had unfastened the grip of Fleabite from his nose and had butted that yelping dog into the bottom of the tall clock case; then Billy started for the door, but Herr Oberbipp was already yelling to Caspar not to let him out.
"Grab him, Caspar! Hold him!" yelled the man. "He is a nice young goat. ”

“ Of course her screams brought others out into the hall and everybody, even the men, began to run when they saw this jumping white ghost coming toward them, every once in a while letting out a loud "baah!" Many ladies were so frightened that when they came to their doors, instead of running into their rooms, they started down the hall ahead of Billy, shrieking and screaming at the top of their voices. ”

“ Out of the barn he ran, through the gate, down the drive, and cleared the road gate with a pretty jump. Then he wheeled to where the fat man, the money in his pocket, was saying good-bye to Bobby and his father. Billy had no time to say anything just then; he just ran with his head down. The fat man turned and saw Billy coming and started to run toward the village, going so fast that he fairly waddled sideways, but there was no use for him to run. Like two freight cars bumping together, Billy landed on fat Hans Zug just once. ”

“ They are the cutest little puppies I ever saw in my life."
"I shall be glad to," said Billy, "but just now I'm only thinking about one thing. I'm hungry."
"That's good," laughed Dandy, "you'll get something to eat all right. Nobody stays hungry around here. Bobby will be here with something to eat soon. He's the best boy in the world. As soon as you get well enough, he'll teach you to do tricks."
"Tricks?" said Billy in surprise. ”

“ All that night, all the next day and night, and all the following day, Billy was cooped up in that little basement room with no chance to get out, and with only Frank Brown and the porter to visit him twice a day. How he did fret. The porter kept him well fed and saw that he had good bedding and plenty of water, but he gave Billy no more chances to escape and see the city. He watched carefully as he opened and closed the door that the goat should not again scramble between his legs or butt him over. ”

“ We cabin passengers have some of the finest things in the world to eat. What you need now is a bunch of tender lettuce to finish off with, and I'll go get you some," and he hurried off, leaving his mother very proud of his rise in the world.
Billy trotted boldly through the cook's galley, and the cook, who knew all about Billy's fight, tossed him some carrot tops as he passed. Billy was not at all hungry, but he ate the carrot tops just out of politeness, then he went on into the store room and picked out a nice big head of lettuce for his mother. ”

“ Billy could have jerked away from Caspar, but he felt that the boy was now the best friend he had, and he did not want to hurt him, so he let Caspar pat him on his sleek sides and climb into the cart behind him.
"You'll have to walk, Fritz," said Caspar loftily. "It takes a good strong boy to manage this goat." ”