Frances Trego Montgomery

“ I seem to be the only one that was hurt or at whom the dog really took a nip. But I don’t regret coming in the least, for I never saw Billy Whiskers before. I had heard so much about him that I wanted to see for myself if he was as wonderful as all the cows, horses, sheep, pigs and goats said he was. And he certainly is. My, but he looked handsome as he stood up on that straw stack addressing the crowd below, with his long white beard blowing in the wind and the sunshine making his silky white hair glisten like silver! Well, here we are back at our pasture. ”

“ Now if there is one thing a goat fears more than all else, it is a wolf.
The Twins let out a wild baa and began to run like mad toward the party, where they knew they would gain safety. As they ran they could feel the hot breath of the wolf and they were about to drop in sheer fright and exhaustion from running and crying when just before them they saw their grandfather, father and mother. With one bound Billy was beside them, ready to kill the grey wolf he saw close behind them. But when he looked a second time, instead of a wolf, he saw a neighbor’s big grey dog. ”

“ The minute Shep entered the woods, he saw some bushes were slightly moving, so he went directly to them and as he approached the scent of a cow grew stronger and stronger. Peering through the bushes, he spied Sal Scrugs standing stock still, staring back at him, her eyes distended with fear. For by this time Sal [30] Scrugs knew she had found her master and was frightened to death.
“Here you, Sal, come out of those bushes and march straight back to the pasture, or I’ll nip your ankles until they bleed!” barked Shep. ”

“ Well, when we came back from our ride in the little rowboat, a man on the dock was calling out, ‘Right this way for the glass-bottomed steamer that takes you to the Seal Rocks! You see the seals at home and the way they live. All the way there you can gaze through the glass bottom and see the wonderful Sea Garden. At a point where it is most beautiful a man in a diver’s suit will enter the water and bring to you any flower or shell you may wish. ”

“ Being a good jumper, Billy had leaped over a wall and landed in a beautiful garden where a hammock was swung between two trees. A lovely young lady lay in it, reading a book and eating fruit. On seeing a big, white goat leap over the fence and come straight towards her, she tried to get out of the hammock. But you know what a hammock is when you try to get out of one in a hurry? ”

“ Watson, “and we hope you are going to stay with us and not run off right away. My dear, you take Stubby and Button to the house and give them a big breakfast while I do the same for Billy here at the barn. My sakes alive, whom do we see coming on the run from behind the barn but the whole Billy Whiskers family! The procession is headed by Nannie, Billy’s dear little wife. From the surprise so plainly shown in all their faces they could not have known he was going to arrive.”
“Look, William, look! From the way they are greeting one another one would think they were humans instead of animals!” ”

“ Shep running into the barnyard to drive out the stray cows.
“Well, I declare!” exclaimed Mr. Watson. “Instead of strange cattle these belong to Mr. Jones. They must have broken out of their pasture. Come, Shep, we will drive them back. Not so fierce there, Shep! There is no need to snap at them and hang on their tails, for you see they are going peacefully enough. And you must never snap or bite at an animal when it is going along quietly minding its own business.”
“Good-by, Billy! Good-by! Anyway, we saw you before we were driven back, and we are glad we broke down the fence and came.” ”

“ Watson the big turkey gobbler, dead. Yes, the one that had been up in the tree and had run to the barn to hide. He had flown into the mow to hide and Hiram had seen a long turkey feather fluttering on the hay of the loft as if it had just been dropped. Climbing up the ladder, he saw Mr. Turkey trying to hide himself in the hay. After a long chase and many a fall for both man and turkey, as hay is difficult to run on, Hiram succeeded in catching him. He was going toward the ladder to descend to the barn floor and in the dim light of the mow he did not see the hay chute. ”

“ Then he knew Billy had suffered a shock of electricity. The men jumped off the wagon and with the help they gave, Mr. Watson and Hiram soon had Billy all right once more.
“Mr. Watson, you need not worry. He is not killed for the current in these machines is not strong enough to hurt anyone, much less kill them,” said one of the men.
That very evening when Billy, his family, Stubby and Button and a few friends were resting by the straw stack, they wished to hear from Billy’s own lips how a shock of electricity felt. He told them: “You haven’t any idea what a peculiar sensation it is. ”

“ Goodrich and had satisfied himself no bones were broken, Billy was out of sight and there was no telling in which direction he had gone. So he went around to the kitchen to see how Augusta was getting along. He found her all right physically but mentally she was mad as a wet cat. For had not Olie, her best beau, seen her in a very undignified position, sitting in the watering trough with legs hanging over and struggling to get out? And worse yet, he had laughed when he tried to help her out. He could not control himself [116] for she looked too funny stuck fast in the trough. ”

“ The moment Billy Junior saw the butcher land in the hay, he gave the dog Stubby and Button were fighting a butt that sent him sky high, landing him on the roof of an outshed where he stood for a while too dazed to know what happened to him. Then Billy Junior hurried to help his father, but Billy Whiskers and the Twins had disappeared, so he knew they were already on the road toward home. Maybe you think those kids did not run fast when once they found themselves free! ”

“ Very sedately all the cows walked down the road to the pasture and after the man had shut them in, they lingered around the gate until he disappeared from sight over the brow of the hill. Then with a merry Ha! Ha! bellow in her throat, Sal Scrugs said, “Follow me along the fence until we come to the weak place in it. There are two loose posts that with a good hard push will fall right over into the road and then we can all pass through the opening and be free. Free! Oh, it is glorious to feel free!” ”

“ It struck him as funny that Billy, who had done nearly everything, to be sure, had also been in the movies. “But when I think of it, I don’t know why he should not be a success in the movies, for he was a first-class actor in the circus for two or three years,” he said.
“Mr. Watson, if you could only see the pleasure he gives to little children when he is acting in the movies, I am sure you would let me have him. The films he is in are shown at orphan asylums, reform schools, charity fairs and so on.”
“Oh, is that so? Well, I certainly like to give pleasure to poor little orphans. ”

“ The boy had slammed the door in Billy’s face and was running through the house when Billy butted a big hole straight through the screen door. This brought the goat up behind a big, fat cook who had her hands in bread dough. Before she knew what had happened, she felt herself falling backward. To save herself, she grabbed at the bread pan. Of course it slid off the table and she fell on the floor. The bread pan turned upside down over Billy’s horns, and the sticky mass of dough went trickling down over one eye and on down over his nose. ”

“ The crowd of animals below cried, “Tell us something more! Tell us something more!”
Why did the king look so different? This was not the Neptune they had expected to see.
Seeing Mr. Robinson dangling there, Billy gave him a mighty butt that shoved him all the way through. ”

“ They were in such a hurry to get out before any more wagons came along to stop them that two or three of the cows fell down in their mad haste to be on the way to see Billy, Stubby and Button. One cow hurt herself badly as she rushed over the fallen rails and she had to walk with a limp all the way to the Watson farm. ”

“ But the animal came after them, followed by the dog. When they were out in the light of day, Mr. Smith saw it was only a calf, but a very queer calf. By this time the calf was standing on the kitchen table right in the midst of the luncheon dishes. She had been so terrified by the dog that she had jumped on a chair and from there to the table. The dog was barking furiously and trying to get up on the table too.
“Get out of here! You have made enough trouble for one day!” and the farmer grabbed his dog by the collar and dragged him out. Indeed, he literally had to drag him away from the calf. ”

“ And they are all alone! I shall go crazy if they are not brought back,” wailed Daisy to Nannie after Stubby, Billy and Billy Junior had departed.
“I know, my dear, just how you feel,” answered Nannie, “but let us trust in God and wait. I feel sure Billy and their father will reach the Twins in time to rescue them. Probably while the butcher is eating his supper they will butt down the stable door and save them. Let us hope so, at any rate.”
While Daisy and Nannie were trying to cheer one another, the two goats and Stubby were running like mad down the road towards Milwaukee. ”

“ As for the Twins, they are their father and mother over again, Punch being black and Judy white.”
“Now Billy is back, we can expect exciting things to happen,” remarked Mrs. Watson, “for wherever he is, there is always something [10] going on. See, William, what is next to welcome them! How those pigeons and doves cluster around them, some even alighting on their backs! As they are the mail carriers for the animals, before night every farm for miles around will hear the glad tidings that Billy Whiskers, Stubby and Button are back home. ”

“ But you will find there are dogs—and dogs. Shep belongs to the kind that never give up.”
“I don’t care. Tee hee! Keep your eyes open for I am off!”
Five minutes later there was a sharp bark from Shep and when the cows stopped eating to look up to see what caused it, all they saw [28] was a thick cloud of dust, with Sal Scrugs running like mad and a bundle of yellow hair following in leaps and bounds.
“Oh, dear!” said Sal Scrugs to herself. “That dog is gaining on me! I thought that with my long legs I could out-run any dog, but this one is coming like the wind and is surely gaining on me. ”

“ Watson’s little four-year-old granddaughter who had come to the farm for a visit with her mother, the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Watson.
Billy trotted along the road almost as fast as a pony would go, for the cart and Ruthie were a light burden for such a big, strong goat, and it was no time until they were in town. Of course Mr. Watson drove a little way behind them so he could be ready to take a hand should any accident occur in case they met a drove of cattle, for he did not know what Billy might do in such an emergency. ”

“ By that time the foremost cow had reached the stack and each one was mooing to express the joy it gave her to see Billy back again and finding him as well and as strong as when he had left.
“A speech! A speech!” they called. [22] Billy stood up on the straw stack where all could see and hear him. “Very dear and old tried-and-true friends, I cannot tell you with what joy I see you all again, and the welcome home you are giving me touches my heart most deeply.” ”

“ You see Mrs. Watson thought it cruel to make children wait when in all probability they were hungrier than the grown-ups as children always have healthy appetites while some adults suffer with dyspepsia. There were several servants to wait on the table, as Mrs. Watson had seen to that. She did not like to jump up and down when she acted as hostess. And neither did she have the dinner served in courses, with the exception of the soup and dessert.
The tables were most tastily decorated with strings of cranberries and the dishes were garnished with all sorts of flowers cut from vegetables. ”