Frances Trego Montgomery

“ Even old Browny at the Farm shall never know, and I tell him most everything I do or think.”
“Reputation is a great thing in this world, but self-esteem is better,” he philosophized. “I shall always know that away down deep in the very bottom of my heart I am a coward, and that is what hurts. I am half tempted this minute to return and give battle even if—but hello, there he is and the opportunity to redeem myself is here!”
With that Billy was off like a rocket, and made his onslaught without a moment to consider what the result might be. ”

“ You are Sherman, too, so then for why do you laugh?”
“There’s just one time that I wish I had been made a boy instead of a goat. Ordinarily, goats have much better times than boys, but when I laugh so hard my fat sides ache, I wish for a pair of hands that I might hold them the way the Treat boys do when they’re mightily tickled. I’m sure I could laugh both harder and longer and enjoy it much more with such a convenience as hands about me,” thought Billy, as he watched this by-play, a broad grin spreading over his face. ”

“ Billy is one of the best watchers. He is trembling in every limb, for well he knows the stress of the day for the animals in the harness, well he knows how earnestly each of the racers yearns to win, and how much they are disappointed when they come in any place but first.
Around and around they fly, jockeys using their whips, urging on and ever on with words uttered scarcely above a whisper, yet heard and obeyed by the alert steeds. Feet patter on the earth, dust rises and still on they fly, but oh, why the sudden silence? ”

“ And there stood our Billy, rigid as a statue, never wiggling so much as one whisker while the youngster bestrode his back and clutched at his horns.
Round and round and round the merrymakers circled, as dizzy as they were happy. The piano played, the children laughed, and the grown-ups, though scarcely so boisterous, enjoyed the trip fully as much as the little folks whom they accompanied—for of course they had to go along. Wouldn’t it be too dreadful if the boys and girls should tumble off their steeds? ”

“ His joints worked beautifully, Billy thought, for he collapsed in a heap on Billy’s broad back, and his long arms flew out for some support, and his longer legs first dangled on the ground and then flailed the air, conforming to every motion of the beast beneath him.
“Ouch! Ouch!” groaned Billy, after having made several uneven leaps and bounds, the better to show his rider the advantage of a goat over all other steeds.
“Ouch! Ouch! He’s holding on by my coat! He’s pulling my hair out by its very roots. He has no humanity—not a bit!” wailed Billy. ”

“ Billy sees, recognizes the danger, and with a leap is down and over the fence, into the middle of the course, and lowering those magnificent horns, hooks the clothes of the baby, and, never stopping to turn to retreat, dashes on across, just in time to escape the onrush of the racers as they round the bend.
What shouts! What hurrahs! The crowd goes wild in its frenzied admiration. ”

“ Three pairs of eager hands reached through the narrow little window of the board partition which served to divide the post-office [11] from the general store, but agile Tom secured the coveted prize and was away, out of the store and off up the dusty road like a flash.
“Father, father, look here!” breathlessly shouted the trio, as they turned into the yard and drew up at the front porch steps.
Father and Mother Treat hurried to the veranda to learn the cause of all this wild commotion, and their faces wreathed in smiles at the welcome news that the auto was on its way. ”

“ Around the walls of the room were exhibits of everything that the good ground yields so bounteously—potatoes, squashes, corn, and grains. One progressive farmer had brought an entire pumpkin vine, to show its enormous length and its great burden of golden fruit.
But the center of interest appeared to be half way down the hall, for there gathered the largest group of wondering people, who pushed and crowded their way to the front, each eager to secure a glimpse of that which caused so many admiring oh’s and ah’s. And Billy, of course, was not slow in reaching this spot. ”

“ Billy repeated his bleating, and wilder grew the commotion.
“It is dark as a dungeon in here, or else I would certainly face about and make for outdoors in double quick time. But as it is, I must go on. If I collided with anyone, it might prove the undoing of both of us, and I for one am not yet ready to end my career. I’ve just enough ginger left in me to want to see what lies at the end of all this.”
[89] “Come to think of it, this must be the ‘unusual experience’ foretold by the Magic Pen,” and Billy’s legs began to shake and his chin whiskers to tremble at fear of the unknown. ”

“ Billy was by this time well inside the building, but no flutter of wings or delighted cackle from Toppy greeted him. Not a chicken was busily scratching in the deep straw that covered the rough flooring. Instead there were little, square boxes—piles and piles of them—set neatly in rows one upon the other, each with a wire screen front, and each containing a chicken. Poor things! cooped up in tiny houses that were scarcely large enough to permit them to turn around without stepping in the dish holding their portion of water for the entire day. ”

“ Just then a raindrop hit Billy spitefully on the tip of the nose, and others pelted him on the back.
“Ah, ha! So this is the trouble, is it? I’ve been so deep in thought that I’ve not cast a glance at the sky, but the outlook is that we will have a little rain storm. Clouds like that great black bank there in the west mean something to me. Ho, ho! And some Fourth of July effects thrown in!” chuckled the goat as a vivid flash of lightning was quickly followed by a reverberating roll of thunder.
“The greatest fun I know is watching a crowd caught in a storm. ”

“ Losing all fear of such an animal, Billy is grasped by three sturdy men, baby is lifted safely up and tenderly placed in the outstretched arms of the mother, and then Billy is [150] borne high on the shoulders of the men, a conquering hero. Of course he struggles—what goat wouldn’t?—and yet finds himself powerless, for his feet are held by men who grip him with hands of iron and with an immense following, they carry him around to the grandstand and then over to the platform where the judges sit. ”

“ Billy had studied human nature enough to know that one does not willingly tell a story in which he does not play a creditable part.
“I’ll not dare to show myself in this vicinity to-night, though,” he meditated. “That means that I shall have to seek new lodgings. I wonder who will be so kind—but let me think! Toppy also came to be exhibited. It’s no more than her plain duty to entertain me one night. I’ll hunt her up!” ”

“ If ever you have attended a county fair, you know that it is [76] very easy to locate the cattle exhibits, for they are invariably in stalls or sheds at one end of the grounds, and what with the cackling of the chickens, squealing of the pigs, and all of the many peculiar and distinctive calls of the farm animals, there is not much chance of losing your way. Billy, of course, walked straight to the stalls, for animals seem to know instinctively how to find one another. ”

“ More concerned about the safety of his ducks than with the intrusion of the goat, the fakir bustled about restoring them to their tub, and Billy made off, much to the amusement of the ring throwers.
Perhaps you have known people that were so engrossed with their own small troubles that they had no thought for the countless beautiful things in the world about them—never saw the blooming [48] flowers, never heard the warble of the feathered songster, never enjoyed any of the countless wondrous things God has put into His world for His children’s pleasure? ”

“ In fact, there is nothing more infectious than the good spirits of a fair-day crowd. Nothing is sufficient to upset their equanimity, and although in nine seasons out of ten there is a shower or a steady, cold drizzle which plays havoc with new fall millinery, suits and footwear, each year sees everyone bravely arrayed in their best bibs and tuckers as if tempting the weather man to do and send his worst. ”

“ The townspeople, on the other hand, depended on the numerous lunch booths and tents scattered over the grounds, and now as Billy followed in the wake of the crowds, the odor of coffee coming to him [62] in delightful, fragrant whiffs, proclaimed that noon was fast approaching.
“If lunch-time is here, I must be on the lookout for something to eat. Nothing keeps one in better humor or in finer condition to meet the trials of the day than a good meal. ”

“ If ever you wish to see all sorts and kinds, the Circus is the place for you. Why, I remember one day—but there, to the business in hand,” and he commenced to pace slowly down one aisle.
[53] “Isn’t she the dearest thing?” ejaculated one woman immediately in front of Billy, pausing so suddenly to fondle a baby all done up in blue ribbons and lace that Billy, now on his good behavior, had much ado to save her from an uncomfortable and unpleasant encounter with his horns. ”

“ This policy put into effect had brought both adventure and many good berths to him, and so now it had become almost second nature to Billy to bind to him as close friends and allies all those he could not conquer.
“Anyway, even if he proves as overbearing as he looks, it will be a great relief to talk to someone who can understand what I say. I am not accustomed to being without companions, especially since my Circus experience, and it’s lonesome without a companion to share my pleasures.” ”

“ If I should leave it here to be tramped under foot, I’d not be able to rest easy for ever and ever so long. My conscience would prick me for not heeding my dear mother’s teaching, and that is about the worst punishment that can come to goat or man,” pondered Billy, as sandwiches, [70] pickles, doughnuts, olives, and other goodies disappeared as if by magic.
“Now for a drink, and I’m ready for the afternoon. Of course, there’ll be many more people here in the afternoon, just as the evening crowds at the circus were always so much greater than those at the matinee performance. ”

“ Why, this morning you saw our farmyard beauty, the Duke of Windham, along with Dick’s Plymouth Rock, Toppy, as they started for the exhibit. They’ll be prize winners, or I miss my guess. The Treat farm is always well represented. By the way, Billy, are you going? Lots of fun—such fun as you’ve never seen. Better come along,” cordially.
“Oh, I’ll be there. But be sure you are among those present, that is all,” retorted the goat, with a knowing wink.
“Going to walk, same as you did to get to the Circus?” prodded droll Browny. ”

“ Passing along the counter in this undecided state, he chanced to peep underneath, and there, luck of all lucks! was a great pail heaping full of pop-corn, with a generous coating of molasses, all waiting to be packed into the small cartons that later in the day every boy and every girl would be holding and declaring with each generous mouthful that “Chew ’em” was by all odds quite the best pop-corn confection ever made and sold over the counter.
Billy had never lost his youthful liking for corn, and now wasted not another minute debating where he should begin—he knew. ”

“ She found a secure foothold, while Billy, now ready to do anything to rid himself of the stick-tights in his whiskers, patiently stood near by.
Toppy proceeded to tidy the goat, picking off the corn with a right good will, and enjoying it as she did so, for it furnished a toothsome meal for her.
“This is really the first time I’ve dared to peck him,” she mused, “and now that I have so good an opportunity, I shall repay him for a few things he’s done to my kith and kin. He mustn’t think he can go scot-free for all his naughtiness. ”

“ All these, young and old, the rich and the poor, the honored and the humble, made up the throng now so eagerly seeking shelter from the driving storm, but Billy was far too much engrossed in his pursuit to have eyes for anything or anyone but the excited, blustering old woman he was tagging so persistently. ”

“ Ambling up closer, he reached up and whispered confidentially:
“I’m going in the automobile, with the rest of the family. A goat of my experience and breeding goes with the best,” and with that Billy stalked off, head held high, well satisfied at having filled Browny as full of uncomfortable forebodings as he himself had been a short time before. ”

“ As you may happen to know, goats are not as fastidious as might be wished about their food, and what appeared the height of luxury to Billy had been scorned by the mistress of the Treat household as unfit to grace their table. The marks of Billy’s depredations were all too plain to be mistaken, and fully half the lunch had been discarded because Billy had poked his inquisitive nose into it.
“My mother taught her kids that extravagance is a sin, and to waste good food like this must be very wicked indeed. ”