Billy Whiskers' Travels

by Frances Trego Montgomery

oor Billy, forced back into his crate and nailed up again, began to think he did not like traveling very well. So far he had been in two cities and so far he had seen neither one of them by daylight, while everywhere he went he got hurt. All that night and all the next day, he moped in his crate with a sore head. On the following night he was bundled into an express car, and giving up in despair, lay down and went to sleep.

When he awoke it was daylight and he was being taken off the train in Havre where the Browns were to take the boat for Cherbourg and then for America. This was the first time that Frank had seen Billy since they left Bern and when he and Mr. Brown walked up to the crate after it had been taken off the train, Frank's heart was filled with pity. There were raw places on Billy's head, his fine shiny coat had the black marks of fire on it, and altogether he was as woe-begone and miserable a looking goat as ever was seen. Of course the Browns did not know anything of the adventures that Billy had been through, but Frank was a boy who did not like to see animals suffer and he was very angry.

"Just see, papa," he cried, "how they have abused my poor goat, shut up in that tight crate all this time! I'm sure he's not so bad a goat as you thought. He has been imposed upon. Please let me take him out of that crate and lead him by a rope. I know that he will come along nicely."

Billy "baahed" gratefully at this, and with some reluctance Mr. Brown allowed the goat to be taken out of the crate, let Frank secure a rope and tie him on behind the carriage which was to take them to their steamer.

It was not Billy's fault that the knot was an ordinary single bow hitch, and Billy did not know, when he nipped at the little end which stuck out, that he would loosen the whole knot and let himself free, but that is exactly what happened. For a time he trotted along nicely behind the carriage, but, as they reached the wharves, Billy saw a sight that filled him with eager interest. Near a big cattle boat was an enormous pen filled with goats which were soon to be loaded on the boat, and Billy at once ran down to this pen, which was about a block away. His heart beat high with hope as he neared it, and when he came close up to the bars he began to "baah" as loud as he could.

From inside the pen came an answering bleat. Billy's mother was there and she had recognized his voice! She crowded close up to the bars and soon she and Billy were affectionately rubbing noses through the little spaces between the boards and telling each other all that had happened to them since they had become separated. How Billy did wish that he could get inside the pen and go to America with her! He trotted around and around the high fence trying to find a weak place where he could break in, but the pen was built strong enough to make all such trials useless, so after every round Billy would have to come back to where his mother stood waiting and tell her of his failure. After he had made a third trial and came back up to her the wise old goat struck a happy idea.

"Just stand where you are, Billy," she said, "and by-and-by maybe one of the drivers will come this way and think that you belong in here with us. Then he will let you in and we will go on board together."

She had scarcely more than finished speaking when the lash of a sharp whip that had whizzed through the air hit Billy on the flank. Looking up, he saw a young man opening a gate for him to be driven through. The young man had no whip, however, so Billy turned in the other direction to see where the stinging blow had come from. Standing only a few feet away from him was a short, wide man with a whip in his hand, and Billy started for him with a snort.