Billy Whiskers at the Circus

THE BEARS BEGAN TO PUSH APPLES, CAKES AND PEANUTS THROUGH THE BARS OF THE CAGE TO BILLY.
BY F. G. WHEELER
Drawings by ARTHUR DeBEBIAN
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY NEW YORK AKRON, OHIO CHICAGO 1913 MADE IN U. S. A.
Copyright 1908 by The Saalfield Publishing Co.
Billy Whiskers at the Circus
WHEN Billy Whiskers settled in Farmersville he fully expected to end his days in that quiet little community where he had a good home, plenty to eat, many friends and enjoyed the reputation of being the wisest of the animals at Cloverleaf Farm.
Those of you who do not know his earlier adventures had better read them in the other Billy Whiskers books. There is no time to tell them now for so much happened at the Circus we shall have to hurry in order to get through telling about it by the time this book comes to an end.
Even Billy himself, in after years, when he amused his great grandchildren with stories of his earlier life, used to say that the day at the Circus and those that followed were the most exciting and interesting of all his life; and although he was asked to repeat the story very often he generally refused, keeping it for special occasions like birthdays, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving or Christmas. He said if told too often, it would become an old story and all the kids in time would begin to regard their grandfather an old bore, just as they did the Mexican parrot who was forever telling the same thing over and over again. Billy Whiskers, you see, was very wise. He knew that good stories are just like good clothes or anything else choice, that in order to keep them good, they must not be brought out every day.
Billy Whiskers, many of you remember, was a very remarkable goat, larger and stronger than others, with a beautiful white coat that when cleaned and well combed was the color of ivory and shone like silk. His horns, too, always attracted attention, they were so long and shiny. He could run faster, jump higher and butt harder than any goat he ever met in all his travels, so that wherever Billy went he very soon became a leader, though he often had to fight before the other goats found out that they had far better mind than take the consequences of disobedience.