Billy Whiskers' Travels Read online

  Produced by Al Haines.

  Cover art]

  BILLY WHISKERS' TRAVELS

  BY

  F. G. WHEELER

  ILLUSTRATIONS BY CARLL B. WILLIAMS

  THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY CHICAGO -- AKRON, OHIO -- NEW YORK

  MADE IN U. S. A.

  Copyright 1907 by The Saalfield Publishing Co.

  *CONTENTS*

  CHAPTER

  I. Billy Runs Away from Home II. He Loses his Mother III. Billy Sees his Mother Again IV. The Burgomaster is Bumped V. The Wooden Goat VI. A Celebration with Fireworks VII. Billy Finds his Mother VIII. An Encounter with the Tiger IX. Alone in an Ocean Storm X. The Goats Become a Fiery Dragon XI. Billy Joins a Happy Family XII. Billy Earns his Name XIII. A Happy Reunion

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  A Boat was lowered to rescue Billy. (missing from source book)

  "Grab him, Caspar! Hold him!"

  Billy saw him coming, and splashed around to the far side of thefountain.

  Billy felt his courage coming back.

  "Well, old fellow, if broken bones are all, we can fix those."

  "Shake hands," said Bobby.

  *CHAPTER I*

  *BILLY RUNS AWAY FROM HOME*

  The other kids of the big flock on the pretty Swiss farm thought thatthey were having a very nice time, but Billy did not like it very well.He could run faster, jump higher and butt harder than any of the otherkids of his age, and he wanted more room. Nearly every day he stoppedfor a while beside the high fence and looked out through it at the greenslopes that ran up to the mountains. The leaves looked so much fresherand more tender there, and the sun so much brighter; besides, there wererocky places--he could see them--which would make such fine playgroundsand jumping places. His wise old mother shook her head when he told herabout these things.

  "You are too little yet, Billy," she always said. "You are not yetstrong enough to be out in the world alone, even if you could get awayfrom here."

  "Just wait till I get big," Billy would say, shaking his head, and thenhe would scamper away to slyly nip the whiskers of some sober old goat,or to romp or play fight with one of the other youngsters.

  He was the most mischievous kid in the flock, and because of that hismother named him Billy Mischief. Farmer Klausen, who owned him, wasnearly as proud of him as Billy's own mother could be.

  "That's the smartest and strongest young goat I've got," he used to bragto his neighbor, fat Hans Zug, but for all that he kept a sharp eye onBilly and would not allow him to break away from the flock and escape,as he sometimes tried to do when they were being driven across the roadfrom one pasture to another.

  One day, when Billy was almost a full-grown goat, his chance came atlast. Farmer Klausen was standing in the middle of the road to see thatnone got away, while his boys were driving the flock over to the lowermeadows. Billy, who came up with the others, looking as innocent as agoat can look, suddenly wheeled, and with a hard jump landed his broadhead and horns square in the stomach of his master. Farmer Klausen gavea yell, threw up both his hands and went heels over head into the dust,while Billy, scampering over him, ran as hard as he could for the hills.

  Coming down the road toward him was fat Hans Zug with a yoke across hisshoulders from which hung two great pails of goat's milk which he wastaking down to the chocolate factory in the valley. Slow-witted Hans,when he saw neighbor Klausen's goat getting away, never thought ofsetting down his pails, but spread out his arms and stood square in themiddle of the road, waving his hands and shouting: "Shoo! Shoo!" Itwas a big mistake to think that he could scare this scamp goat by saying"Shoo!" or by keeping his fat body in the road, for Billy came straighton with his head down, and just as Hans thought that maybe he had betterstep to one side, Billy gave a mighty leap and doubled Hans up just likehe had Farmer Klausen.

  "A thousand lightnings yet again!" yelled Hans as he went over. The twopails came down with a thud and a swish, and goat's milk ran all overthe road and down the gulleys at the side. Hans Zug's dog, which hadbeen sniffing at the roadside to see if he could find the trail of arabbit, now jumped out and came at Billy. With one jerk of his stronglittle neck the runaway goat picked the dog up on his horns and tossedhim clear over his head, where he landed plump on top of fat Hans andknocked the breath out of him for a second time, just as Hans wasgetting up. Then Billy, feeling fine from this nice bit of exercise,kicked up his heels and galloped on.

  The two pails came down with a thud and a swish]

  Just as he reached the woods he turned around and looked back. FarmerKlausen was on his feet again but had no time to chase Billy, for he wascracking his long whip and running from one side of the road to theother to keep the rest of the goats from breaking away. Billy could hearhis loud voice from where he stood. Hans had also rolled to his feetand was holding his pudgy hands across his stomach, where he had beenhit, while he looked dumbly at the rich, yellow milk which was inpuddles everywhere. Thick-headed Hans was just making up his mind thatthe milk had really been spilled when another goat dashed by him, asfast as its feet could patter. As it drew nearer Billy saw with joythat it was his mother, and he waited for her. When she came closeBilly called to her:

  "Hurry up! We are never going back any more."

  He kicked up his heels again in pure delight and was about to plungeinto the woods when his mother called on him to wait, and he did so,though he did not like to do it, for the last of the flock was nowsafely in the other pasture, the gate was being closed on them and Billyknew that in a moment more Farmer Klausen and his boys and neighbor Hanswould be coming after them.

  When Billy's mother came up even with him she was panting so hard thatshe could not speak, but she did not stop. She kept right on running,and he followed, curious to see what she meant to do. As soon as theywere out of sight of the men, she turned from the road into the woods,and by-and-by reached a little hollow which was all overgrown withbushes. Into this she raced, and Billy, now seeing what she was up to,scampered lightly along behind, thinking it to be great fun. The hollowgrew deeper and wider and shadier as they went on, and at last sheturned and scrambled up the dim, pebbly bank, where she plunged into adry little cave. Here she lay down upon the ground to get her breath,while Billy climbed in beside her and listened. Soon he could hear theheavy pat, pat, of the feet of Farmer Klausen and his boys on the road,which was now high above them.

  "They'll never find us here," he said.

  "Don't 'baah' so loud or they will hear us," panted his mother. "My!I'm getting too fat to run any more, but if you were bound to go out inthe world, I was bound to come with you. You're not old enough even yetto be trusted alone. But you are right about one thing; unless theycatch us, we're never going back."

  Suddenly they both became very still. The noise of the footsteps haddied away, but there was a slow rustling of the leaves in the hollow.Something was coming toward them!

  Nearer and nearer to where Billy and his mother lay hidden came thenoise, and soon they saw a dim, dark-gray shape among the underbrushturn straight up toward them. It was a large wild boar, one of thefiercest animals that rove the forests of Europe. It had a great,shaggy head and cruel-looking curved tusks nearly a foot long. The twogoats were in one of his hiding-places, and they knew that he would notstop to say "Beg your pardon" when he
came up; whatever he had to saywould be said with those sharp tusks. The space was too narrow for themto run out past him. Billy's mother was scared, but not Billy.

  "The only thing for us to do is to fight," said he, and, jumping to hisfeet, he stood at the mouth of the little cave and gave a loud "baah!"which was to warn the boar that it had better go about its business.

  The boar stopped and looked up at Billy with little wicked eyes, then hegave a loud snort, and, lowering his head, started to run straight upthe hill toward them. Billy waited until the boar was close upon him,then he gave a sudden jump and landed square upon the fierce animal'sback. The beast squealed and whirled around to rip Billy with histusks, but before he could do so Billy himself had whirled and hadhooked the big animal in the side. There was another squeal and Billyjumped out of the way. The animal turned and dashed after him, but inturning, his side was for an instant toward the mouth of the cave. Itwas just that instant for which Billy's mother was watching, and withall her might she jumped, butting him in the side with such force thathe went rolling over and over, squealing and grunting, into the hollow.Billy was for jumping down after him but his mother knew better thanthat. She knew that it would be only an accident if they could whip thiswicked animal, as the boar was so much the stronger, and that it wasbetter to run than fight.

  "Come quickly!" she cried, springing up the hill.

  Billy stood for a moment, hardly knowing whether to follow her or not,but just then the boar scrambled to his feet and started after them,snorting and with fire-red eyes.

  "Billy! Billy!" screamed his mother. "Do as I tell you!"

  Even then, Billy, who never had known what it was to be afraid, wantedto stay and fight it out, but the sight of his mother scampering up thehill decided him. He was more afraid that he might lose her than he wasthat he could not whip the boar, so he took after her. The boar wasalso a good runner, but he was not nearly so nimble a climber as thegoats and they soon out-distanced him, gaining the road, where they ranon as fast as they could go.

  The road soon came to a narrow place where the trees stopped and therocks rose straight up on either side. They were half way through thisnarrow stretch when Billy's mother stopped.

  "Goodness!" she exclaimed. "I forgot about Farmer Klausen and his boys.They will be coming back past this way pretty soon, and if they meet usin here there will be trouble. We can't turn back on account of theboar and they will surely catch us."

  "Well, then," said Billy, once more showing his bravery, "if we can't goback on account of the boar, we might just as well go on ahead and meetwhatever comes, as to stand here wasting time. Maybe if we hurry we canget out before they get to us."

  "I'm proud of you, Billy," said his mother.

  They started to run on again, but had no more than done so when, sureenough, they saw a man coming toward them. It was fat Hans Zug, and theminute they saw who it was Billy laughed.

  "Just watch me roll him over," he said, and started, as hard as he couldgo, toward the big round farmer.

  When Hans saw Billy coming toward him this time he did not wave his armsand cry, "Shoo!" In place of that he put his hands on his stomach andturned around to run away from this little, white cannon-ball of a goat.It was comical to see the fat fellow waddling along, holding his handsin front of him, but he was making such slow progress that Billy feltsorry for him and thought that he ought to help him a little. It onlytook a few jumps to catch up with Hans and then--biff!--he struck himfrom behind so hard that Hans almost bounced when he hit the ground.

  "A thousand lightnings, yet again!" yelled poor Hans.

  He was just grunting his way to his hands and feet again when Billy'smother came along behind and--whack!--she gave him another tumble. Thistime he did not stop to look in either direction, but rolled over to theside of the road and, getting to his feet, tried to claw his way up thesteep rocks, feeling almost sure that a whole regiment of goats of allcolors and sizes was after him.

  "Ten thousand, a hundred thousand lightnings!" wailed Hans. Billy,nearly laughing himself sick, waited for his mother, and when she cameup they both pranced on. They had nearly reached the end of the narrowpass when they saw coming toward them Farmer Klausen and his two boys.The boys were running on ahead, quite a little distance in front oftheir father, and Billy said quickly:

  "You take Chris and I will take Jacob!"

  So when they came up to the boys they just dived between their legs.Billy upset Jacob easily enough, but Chris was lighter, and when thefatter goat tried to escape between his legs he simply fell over on topof her. Without stopping to think what he was doing, he grabbed hisarms about her middle and hung tight, while she raced on for dear life.By this time they were up to the farmer. Billy easily dodged him, butit was not so easy for his mother. With Chris hanging on her back,Farmer Klausen was able to grab her by the horns and hold her tight.

  He grabbed his arms about her middle and hung tight.]

  "Billy, Billy! Help!" squealed his mother, and Billy whirled around tocome back at once. He flew through the air as if he had been shot outof a gun, and when he landed against the stooping Farmer Klausen, thatsurprised man turned a somersault clear over Chris and the old goat,then Billy's mother easily shook Chris loose and away they went again.

  As soon as they got through the narrow pass they turned once more intothe woods, which here sloped upward. They had now passed the last ofthe farms, and beyond them lay nothing but wooded hills and themountains. Up and up they scrambled until at last, near nightfall, theycame to a little, grass-grown tableland, watered by a tiny stream thattumbled down from the mountains, and here, after taking a long drink,they rested. After a while they made a good meal from the tender younggrass that grew at the side of the stream, and lay down again. Soonthey were fast asleep, side by side.

  It was nearly midnight and the moon was shining brightly overhead, whenthey were both awakened by a terrific scream, and at the same moment asoft, heavy body landed upon Billy's back! Sharp claws struck his hideand sharp teeth sank into the back of his neck!

  "GRAB HIM, CASPAR! HOLD HIM!"]