“Gee whiz!” he thought a moment later, “but this water is cold that they are pumping upon me, and won’t I get even with them all when I get loose!”
“Ouch!” cried one of the men, for Billy suddenly tossed his head giving him a bump on the nose. Then two of the men began to use brushes, one on each side, while a third kept the pump going; so, squirm and wriggle as he might, Billy got a generous supply of water and was drenched and shivering in spite of his efforts to free himself.
At last the firemen thought he was clean enough and they stopped scrubbing, while one of them said, “Well, Billy Jr., how do you find yourself?” Billy glared at him and shook his head in answer, but there was murder in his eye.
Next the men drew cuts to decide who should untie him and, strangely enough, it fell to the lot of the fireman who was always cracking his whip at Billy and tormenting old One-horn. When this man found that he was to untie Billy, he said, “Very well, boys, you all get inside of the engine-house and shut the big door, leaving the little one open for me to run through, but be sure to shut it quickly behind me or Billy will be inside as quickly as I am.”
“All right,” they answered, and away they went to do as bidden. Then the fireman who was to do the untying, approached cautiously and first untied Billy’s legs, leaving his head still tied to the pump; then with a sharp knife he cut the last cord with one swift slash and ran for the engine-house. Quick as he was, our Billy was not far behind, for with one bound he covered half the distance that lay between them while with another he went bang against the little door through which the fireman had but just disappeared.
The door was slammed shut in double-quick time, and had Billy’s head not been a hard one it must surely have split in two when it struck the door. However, it was made to withstand hard knocks and so, undismayed, he backed off to gather impetus for another rush; and then with a last plunge he split the door from top to bottom and landed in a confused heap right in the midst of the astonished firemen, who scrambled in all directions with more haste than grace, thinking only of getting out of reach of Billy’s avenging horns. One man climbed up on the high seat of the fire-engine, another ran down cellar, while the third, the particular one Billy was after, bounded up the stairs that led to the firemen’s bedroom, in which was an open hole with a greased pole coming up through the middle for the firemen to slide down when an alarm of fire was sent in. Billy was up the stairs and into the room almost as soon as the man himself, who in mad haste made a grab for the greased pole and down he went, leaving Billy rather doubtful as to what course to pursue; but quickly seeing the impossibility of a goat’s trying to slide down either a greased or any other kind of a pole, he bounded down the stairs again. The firemen had to all appearances disappeared, but Billy sniffed the air suspiciously and, glancing keenly first in one direction and then in another, he soon discovered his pet enemy seated on the hook-and-ladder wagon. This elevated position he wisely forebore attempting to reach and, instead, took up a position where no one could enter or leave the engine-house without passing him, and then he calmly laid himself down and waited.
But the fates were against Billy Jr. and he was obliged to give up his position or get run over. Just as he got comfortably settled, the fire alarm rang out and each well-trained horse rushed to his allotted place on engine, hose-cart, or ladder-wagon. As Billy saw the engine speed away with his enemy holding on behind and trying to get into his rubber coat, he said, “I have been cheated of my revenge to-day, but look out for to-morrow, you red-faced lubber,” and with this parting threat he trotted off to find his friend, old One-horn.
Just as Billy was coming out of the engine-house he came upon an old German couple leading a dainty little Nanny-goat by a string. Now, it had been a long time since Billy had met a pretty Nanny and his heart fairly thumped with joy as he pranced up to make friends with her, but here is where he made a mistake. In his joy at seeing her pretty face he had forgotten that he must needs be introduced before approaching a strange Nanny, and this young thing proved to be unusually timid, so when she saw a big strange Billy-goat running toward her as if he had known her since she was a baby kid, she promptly dodged behind her mistress. Billy, nothing daunted, followed after her. As his head appeared at one side of the old fat woman, Nanny’s appeared at the other, and the faster she ran the faster he followed. This they kept up until the poor woman was wound round and round by the cord, so that she could not move and, being equally as timid as her little charge, she at last fainted and fell forward on the walk, knocking Billy off of his feet and throwing Nanny down upon her knees. When Billy saw the mischief he had been the cause of, and also saw the old woman’s husband coming after him with a thick club, he wisely disappeared round the first corner, pondering in his mind over the foolishness of young kids in general and of this one in particular.
