AFTER his friends from Cloverleaf Farm left him, Billy Whiskers lay down to rest and think matters over. The monkeys, who had been keeping a sharp eye on him all the time, formed in a ring around him. They had no idea of letting the friend who had opened the door of their cage, and whom they had chosen their leader on the spot get away from them now.
When it looked as though the Treat family might take him back to Cloverleaf Farm, they had quickly decided among themselves that if he went they would go too. This, of course, would have led to no end of trouble and confusion. Just imagine what would have happened if Billy had returned with such a drab following as that.
At first Billy Whiskers thought that he never could go to sleep with the monkeys all about him. He was not used to them yet and still thought that they were the ugliest looking creatures in the world. He didn’t want to hurt their feelings by asking them to go away and give him a little peace. It would never do to offend them now, he thought, so he just shut his eyes, and as he had a great deal to think over, soon forgot all about them.
“Well, this certainly has been a great day, so far,” said Billy to himself. It seemed a very long time since he had stolen away from home in the early morning, and he ran over quickly in his mind the events that finally culminated in his unexpectedly finding himself at the head of a troupe of amazing acrobatic performers, taking a leading part in the performance of one of the greatest shows on earth.
“And where am I now?” went on Billy, still talking to himself. “I hardly know yet. The manager evidently thinks because he gave Dick that pony and treated the rest of the family so handsomely that I am his property for the rest of the summer. May be I am and may be I am not. It all depends how I am served and whether or no I like the business on better acquaintance with it. I’ll try it for awhile at any rate. It looks to me now as though I might have a lot of fun out of it. I have been living pretty quietly at Cloverleaf for a long time, and I suspect that I am getting rusty and beginning to look more or less like a farmer. I’m too young for that yet awhile.
“This position will give me a chance to see no end of new places. I can get well acquainted with all the animals, and perhaps I can do something to make their lives pleasanter—I will if I can, but I must be careful never to go as close to any of their cages as I did to the monkeys’ this afternoon. What if it had been the lion’s cage instead, there would be no Billy Whiskers here now.”
The very thought of it made him tremble all over.
“And then there is the big elephant. I wonder what he thinks of me now. I hope he saw me in the ring and knows that I really do amount to something. If not, he must suppose I am a dunce for having thought his trunk a hitching strap,” and Billy giggled to himself again at the very remembrance of that mistake.
With pleasant thoughts and plans like these Billy Whiskers finally fell asleep.