But Nicknack was like some horses. He went faster toward his stable than away from it. Besides, he was hungry. For though the children had given him bits of cake and bread, still he wanted hay and oats.
So Nicknack ran rather fast on his way home through the grassy lane, and some old sheep who saw him went:
“Baa-a-a-a-a! Baa-a-a-a-a!”
It was as if they, too, were calling:
“Whoa!”
But Nicknack did not stop. On and on he went faster and faster, and Ted pulled as hard as he could on the cord-reins, for he knew that was how grandpa stopped the farm horses when they ran too fast.
And then something happened. Two or three things happened, to tell you the truth.
Ted pulled so hard on one cord-rein that it broke. This yanked the goat’s head around sharply to the left and he almost ran into the fence. Then one of the front wheels came off and, before Jan or Ted could do anything to stop it, the goat wagon turned upside down, throwing them out.
Then the harness broke, and Nicknack pulled himself completely away from the cart, though he did not mean to. But when he found he was free, he looked at the upset wagon and then began to nibble the grass at the side of the lane.
Ted and Jan picked themselves up off the soft ground. They had not been in the least hurt, and both were ready to laugh. That is, they were after a first look at the upside-down wagon. But when they glanced around a second time and could not see Baby William anywhere, they did not feel so much like laughing. They were a little bit frightened.