Billy Whiskers' Adventures Part 12

"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to take the baby's bottle away from it!" reproved Nannie.

"But I was thirsty and wanted a drink of milk!"

"Never mind if you did. You should not take it away from a tiny baby."

"He isn't _very_ tiny! Just hear how he yells!"

By this time the baby's mother had reached the spot and was throwing stones and sand at the goats while she tried to pacify the baby.

As the goats saw the lifeboat head for the sh.o.r.e, they thought they better disappear, knowing that the minute the men beached the boat they would be after them. So they raced into the Park and hid themselves behind some lilac bushes. Daisy said:

"I really don't see why you children don't behave. You have done nothing but get into mischief and cause us trouble ever since we left home. I wish we had not brought you! Any one would think you never had any bringing up. And now to try to take a sweet little baby's dinner away from it! I am ashamed of you! Besides, now none of us can take a bath on that nice sandy beach. We shall have to find another place, which won't be very easy since the lifeguards have seen us."

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"I know where there is a nice little lake, mamma," piped up one Twin.

"I saw it as we came along--right over there where you see that high bridge."

"Very well. We will all go over there for I feel very dirty and tired.

It will both clean us and rest us to have a nice cool bath."

So the goats all trotted over to one of the lagoons in the Park which the Twins had called a lake, and they plunged into the water. They had a fine time and enjoyed themselves, much to the discomfort of some stately swans that were greatly upset to have strange goats come das.h.i.+ng into their private place. They began to hiss, which set all the ducks to quacking and the sea lions to barking. This commotion soon brought a park guard to the spot to see what was the matter. When he discovered a lot of goats in the water he walked down to the edge of the pond and began to wave his club and shout at them.

"Hear the old goose!" said one of the Twins. "He is shooing at us! I guess he thinks we are a kind of duck!"

"Let's baa at him, and tell him what an old goose he is," said the other.

When the goats did not leave the water or pay any attention to him, the guard began throwing stones at them. At last one hit Billy Junior on the head. This was too much for him. The guard might throw stones all he wished, but hitting Billy Junior with them was quite another thing. He wheeled and swam for sh.o.r.e, going straight for the guard, who stood still, not knowing Billy Junior was bent on b.u.t.ting him.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Oh, oh! Where did you come from? wailed one little girl when the kids jumped out of the shrubbery and grabbed her bag of popcorn (Page 141)]

Indeed Billy Junior did b.u.t.t the guard so hard he sent him flying over the high iron fence that surrounded the sea lions' pool and rock cave where they lived. He fell kersplash into the water, astride a papa sea lion as he went swimming round and round his rock home. When the lion felt something alight on his back, he dove to the bottom of the pool in a flash, taking the guard with him. But no human being could stick on the back of a slippery sea lion, and the guard soon came up to the surface of the water blowing and spouting like a porpoise.

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The goats did not wait to see what became of the guard but ran and hid themselves under the approach of one of the Park bridges.

CHAPTER XIV

THE TWINS ARE LOST

Early the next morning before the crowds of people began to come to the Park, the goats had a fine time visiting all the animals, going up one path and down another and in one animal house and out another until they came to the lions' cages. These roaring, ferocious beasts with their glaring yellow eyes, tawny manes, big red mouths and gleaming teeth frightened the Twins nearly into spasms and they ran away from the family so fast that their mother could not follow them.

They dodged under this bush and that, around curves in the paths and behind the animal cages so quickly that she gave up the chase and came back to get their father to help her.

"They have gone and we can't catch up to them now," said he. "Stay here and go with us a bit and when we have seen all the animals we wish to see, I'll look for them. They will be frightened after a while when they find they are alone, and begin to hunt us," said their father.

So Billy Junior, Daisy and Nannie walked leisurely from cage to cage, saying a word here and a word there to all the animals and birds they saw. And this is how it happened that the Twins found themselves alone in the Park.

"Gee! I hope those big beasts don't break out of their cage and come after us! We would only make one mouthful for them and I bet they like tender kid meat at that!" shuddered one Twin.

"Don't even mention it!" said the other. "I can feel my bones crunch in their big mouths and see them lick their chops after they have eaten us."

"Where shall we go now? We can do as we please all day if we just keep out of sight of the family."

"We'll keep our eyes open for them, never mind, and if we see them coming, we will hide. I wonder what is in that big cage over there? I see something flying from one side to the other but it doesn't look like a bird. Let's go see what it is."

So they trotted off and soon found themselves in front of the monkeys'

cage.

"Oh, look, look! Aren't they the funniest looking things you ever saw?

They have faces like a baby or an old man and tails like a cat!"

"See that big one away up in that perch holding a little teeny, tiny one in its arms just as a woman holds a baby!"

"One of them has its tail sticking out of the cage. Wait until I go pinch it with my teeth and see what it will do."

Cautiously the little mischief crept up to where the big monkey was sitting with his back to them, tail swinging outside the cage. But the Twin pinched it harder than he meant to, and the next thing he knew his head was being banged against the bars of the cage and the monkey was trying to pull him through the bars by his short horns.

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The only thing that really saved the Twin was that his horns were short and slippery and the monkey could not hold on to them. Seeing this, he let go to grab hold of the kid's ears, but he was not quick enough, for just as he let go one horn the kid gave a lurch and fell to the ground. It took but a second for him to regain his feet and baa for his brother. But what was his dismay to see his brother running down the path like mad, trying to shake off a tiny monkey that was sitting on his back!

While one Twin had been biting the big monkey's tail, the other had been watching a baby monkey squeeze itself between the bars of the cage and escape. But he never would have watched had he known what that little monkey intended doing when he got out. It was this: to get a ride on the kid's back, for it had no sooner slipped through the bars of the cage than it made a bound and landed on the kid's back. As its claws dug into his flesh, he kicked and b.u.t.ted to shake it off, but it only clung the tighter.

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"You'll stick to my back in spite of me, will you? Well, we'll _see_!"

and off the kid started for a duck pond near by. He was in the water and swimming for the opposite sh.o.r.e before the monkey realized what had happened. He could not jump off now as he did not know whether he could swim or not, this being the first time he had ever been near water. He did not know that all animals can swim by instinct.

He chattered and called in monkey language for the ducks and the geese to save him, but they were much too busy saving themselves from this stranger in their pond to give him any help, and they flew squawking in all directions. At last after the kid had dived two or three times and the monkey had come up with his eyes and mouth full of water, he decided to jump onto the back of one of the geese or swans when he got near enough one. Just then a stately swan that had refused to be frightened or even disturbed by the entrance of the kid in his particular pond sailed majestically by with his head up, neck curved and wings slightly raised to show them off to the very best advantage.

"That is a good safe place for me," thought the little monkey. "I'll jump and sit on that swan's back between his wings. They will shelter me and keep me from falling off."

As the swan approached the kid, it hissed a warning for him to get out of the pond. His second hiss died in his throat with surprise when the monkey landed on his back. At first the swan was too much taken back to do anything but sail on by the kid, but when he had collected his senses, he tipped himself upside down with head and half his body under water, and remained in this position so long that the monkey fell off and had to swim for sh.o.r.e.

When he came out of the water, he happened to come out beside the kid, who stood shaking himself. He stopped in a hurry when he saw the half drowned little monkey coming out of the pond looking more like a drowned rat than a monkey. He did not wait to give himself another shake, but dove into the water and swam for the place where he had first entered the pond, and there he found his Twin awaiting him, laughing as if his sides would split.

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"Come along! We must hurry away from here before we have hissing geese and quacking ducks bring the guards down on us. I smell sweet peas!

Let's go eat some. I just love the blossoms--they are sweet as honey."

People driving along the parkway thought it strange that the Park commissioners would allow goats to run loose through the flower beds and pull the sweet peas off their trellises. Had they driven by a few minutes later they would have enjoyed the fun of seeing a big fat guard as broad as he was long, a long handled rake in his hand, trying to drive two innocent looking kids out of those very same flower beds.