“Go around to the back and you will see a big hole under the house. Crawl in that and you will see another hole in the floor that comes out at the foot of a pair of stairs that leads to where we are.”
They hurried along but when they got there Billy was too big. He could not crawl through the hole though they dug it deeper. And even if they had succeeded in making it larger, the one in the floor could not be made big enough for him to get his horns through.
“Never mind, Stubby; you go up to them. I’ll find some good place to hide,” which he did. He saw one of the low loads of hay and he and Nannie jumped up on it and lay down on one of the soft quilts. Both were soon fast asleep for they were tired from chasing the bull.
How long they slept they did not know, but they were awakened by laughing, chattering voices beside the hay load and one girl was coaxing another to climb up the ladder first onto the load.
“So they are coming up here, are they? Well, we will just duck our heads under this quilt and if they see our fur they will think it a white fur rug.”
That is just what they did think. But it proved disastrous to Billy and Nannie, for a big fat girl weighing nearly two hundred pounds dropped down on them, half on Billy and half on Nannie, and nearly broke their backs. Billy let out a groan and raised his head. When he did that, it frightened her so that in rolling off him she rolled clear off the load and came down kerplunk on the opposite side of the wagon. At this moment another girl appeared at the top of the ladder, but on seeing the goats she screamed and fell over backwards, carrying the ladder with her.
All this commotion brought their beaux to the scene and when they saw two billy goats standing on the hay load, they all laughed and made fun of the girls for being so afraid. One of the men jumped up on the load to drive them off, but he made the mistake of taking a club with him. Had he let them alone the goats would have jumped off the wagon and not hurt anyone. But the young fellow wanted to show off before the girls, so he hit Billy a crack with the club and the next thing he knew he was flying through the air over the girls’ heads and when he came down he landed in the pig pen, astride a big fat pig. He was not hurt in the least, only surprised, but his pride had had a bad fall and the girls all laughed at him, making it ten times worse.
Billy and Nannie now jumped off the wagon and, kicking up their heels, they ran under the wagons and around the autos that were standing in the yard so fast that none of the men could catch them, and soon they disappeared behind the barn. From there they hid between three or four strawstacks where they could easily dodge anyone that should follow them. But no one did. Now the wedding guests had started to go home, it took but a little while to clear the barnyard of all the wagons, buggies and automobiles crowded in there.
Soon everything was as still as if there had been no wedding or any other excitement. When it was nearly dark, the cats and dogs came out of the carriage house loft and found Billy and Nannie behind the strawstacks where they all spent the night. Early the next morning before anyone was astir in the farmhouse, our Chums bade the spotted cat and Saint Bernard puppy good-by and continued their pleasure journey.