*CHAPTER XII*
*BILLY EARNS HIS NAME*
The first day Billy was allowed to walk around for only an hour. Thesecond day he was allowed out for two hours, and by the end of that weekhe was turned loose without a bandage of any sort on his leg, as well asever. And how he did enjoy his freedom! He had all the chickens to getacquainted with, including the two little black bantam roosters, Spunkand Saucebox, who would jump up on Bobby's finger and crow whenever theywere told to do so. A dozen pigeons he had to meet, and four dogs--apair of pointers, Ponto and Patty, and a pair of greyhounds, Hurricaneand Lightning,--none of which had been in the barn to see him while hewas sick.
It was while he was meeting all these new friends that he felt somethingsuddenly swoop on his head, just between his horns, while somethingsharp dug into his hair. The other animals to whom he had been talkingbegan to laugh and a hoarse voice from between his horns joined in themerriment. Then Billy knew that Tarwings was taking one of hissurprising ways of saying good morning.
"Of all the animals here you're the only one that hasn't given me aride," said Tarwings, "and now I think I'll take it. Get up!" Hegrabbed his beak into the hair on Billy's forehead and spread hisjet-black wings.
"Oho!" said Billy, "I'll give you a ride you won't like." So he startedforward, but all at once lay down and rolled over. Tarwings was tooquick for him, however, for as Billy went over he flew up in the air afoot or two, and as Billy came back on his feet there was the crowagain, holding tight with beak and talons, and laughing more than ever.The pony and the cow were both loose in the barnyard and they enjoyedthe joke on Billy as much as the dogs or the chickens or pigeons. Billywas the only one in the barnyard who did not seem to see the fun. Hisnext attempt to get rid of Tarwings was to run straight at the fence andbutt it, but once more the crow was too quick, and Billy only got a hardbump for his pains, while the crow settled down on his head again.
"You're the best of all," laughed the crow. "You put so much morespirit and spunk into your work. I believe I'll ride with you alwaysafter this."
"All right," said Billy, "this time I'll give you a good ride." SoBilly began to go in a circle around and around the barnyard. All thetime he had his eye on a thick clump of gooseberry bushes over in onecorner, and as he ran he gradually widened the circle until one trip wasright close up to those bushes. On the next circle, just as he came tothem, he suddenly wheeled and dived head first in among them, and thistime he caught Jimmy Tarwings. The sharp branches scraped the crow offof Billy's back and mussed up his feathers till he looked as if he hadbeen in a cyclone. The thorns scarcely bothered Billy's tough hide andhe quickly made his way out of the bushes, to join his particularfriends, Dandy and King. This time it was Billy's laugh.
"Caw, caw!" cried the crow presently, limping out from the bushes. Hewas a sorry looking sight, but the other animals did not have much pityon him, for he was such a mischief and it was fun to see him caught athis own game, so they simply capered around and laughed at him. Bobby,who had just come out in time to see Billy plunge into the gooseberrybushes, also stopped to laugh, but when the crow flew to him he quit atonce, and smoothing down the feathers, examined Tarwing carefully to seewhether he had any serious hurt.
"Serves you right, old fellow," said he, holding the bird close up tohis cheek. "If you will indulge in rough play, you may expect to gethurt now and then. Come here, Dandy!"
Dandy came running to him and Bobby quickly hitched him up. Bobby was abusy boy and a thrifty one. He had bought an acre of ground just behindthe barnyard on credit a long time ago, and had paid for it out of theproceeds of the garden truck which he had raised on it. He sold eggsand chickens in the village and raised squab which he sent to thenear-by city. Besides this he sometimes used Dandy and his wagon forlight hauling, turning an honest penny wherever he could. As Mr.Sanders ran the mill in the village and was doing very nicely in abusiness way, Bobby was free to keep all his money for himself and to dowith it as he pleased, for he had long ago proved that he could betrusted with money. To-day he had a little hauling to do and he droveDandy out to the road with a cheery good-bye to his happy barnyardfamily.
Bobby left the barnyard gate slightly ajar and he had no more than gonewhen Billy, as full of curiosity as ever, managed to swing the gate andpush it wide open, then he darted out followed by all the chickens,which immediately scattered to the flower beds and vegetable garden toscratch and eat the tender leaves.
Mrs. Sanders had just hung out her clothes. Nice white linen always hadstruck Billy as being a fine thing to chew on. He liked it almost aswell as boys and girls do chewing gum. Of course when he saw somehanging down for his especial benefit, it was no more than polite forhim to walk up and take a nibble.
Just as he reached up for it, however, Jimmy Tarwings swooped down onBilly's back to give him a scratch with his talons and a nip with hisbill, and Billy, not expecting it, of course gave a jump and his headran right through the neck of one of Mr. Sander's undershirts, where hestuck. Of course Billy struggled to get away and of course JimmyTarwings, seeing that Billy was fastened, jumped on his back again andbegan to claw him with his sharp nails.
Jimmy Tarwings swooped down on Billy's back.]
"Get up!" croaked Jimmy. "I'm ready for another ride now. Get up,goat!"
Billy ran backwards but the undershirt stuck on his horns and he couldnot get it off over his head. He ran forward and it stuck on hisshoulders. One of the clothes-props came down and the line sank stilllower, so that he had a better chance to struggle, which he did.Another clothes-prop came down and now a great many of the nice, whiteclothes lay dragging on the ground. Billy, goaded on by the crow, gaveanother terrific lunge, and this time the line came loose at both endsand the whole string of clothes dragged on the ground after thegalloping goat, while Jimmy Tarwings spread his wings and shrieked withjoy. He was having the ride of his life.
Around the house and past the kitchen Billy tore, scattering chickensright and left and followed by all the dogs, yelping and barking andthinking it the greatest fun that had happened in a long time. Aroundto the front of the house went the queer procession and straight throughMrs. Sanders' pet geranium bed, all scarlet with beautiful blossoms thatBilly's samples of wet clothing mashed down flat.
Mrs. Sanders was just opening the front door to scrub off her porch whenshe saw her clothes making such a queer trip. Of course she ran out,but just as she stooped to catch the line a flapping sheet whippedaround her foot and gave her a jerk that sent her rolling over in thegrass, while the rest of the string of clothes swept on over her, someof the wet garments dragging right across her face. She was not hurt abit and she even had to laugh at what a ridiculous figure she must havecut if anybody had been looking, but nevertheless she took after Billyand her clothes again. Billy, by this time, had made a circle whichwiped out a pansy bed and now, frantic to get away from this strangeharness and from his tormentor, the crow, he made a dash for the openfront door. The line of clothes caught on the front step, but now Billywas going so fast that the undershirt tore and let him kick himselffree. Moreover, as it passed on over his back it caught Jimmy Tarwings,and for the second time that morning swept him from Billy's back. Thistime he was in a worse fix than before, for the wet garment, inspringing back, rolled him up in a tight wad and thumped him back on thesteps.
Billy dashed straight on toward an open door across the room. He was soconfused that he did not see exactly where he was going and did notdodge the center table quite in time. He ran against one leg of it, andover the table went with a crash, throwing a big lamp over and spillingit on the sofa, drenching it with oil and breaking a lot of choice chinabric-a-brac that Mrs. Sanders had collected.
Out through the kitchen Billy hurried with the dogs, Mrs. Sanders rightafter him. The kitchen door was closed but the window was open, soBilly gave a jump through it, and here he made more trouble, for on alow, wide shelf, ju
st outside the kitchen window, Mrs. Sanders hadplaced some pies which she had just taken from the oven. Billy landedon this shelf and upset it, throwing all the pies upside down on theground, while the dogs came pouring out of the window in such haste thatsome of them turned somersaults when they reached the gravel. Even thecollie puppies had toddled behind on this chase, and now they could beheard yelping in the kitchen and wishing that they would hurry and growup so that they too could jump through windows. Billy began to think itwas time for him to get away from there, so he whirled again for thefront of the house, ran with all his might down to the gate and jumpedsquare over it into the road outside.
"Fine!" said a cheery voice that Billy recognized at once. "That was agreat jump. I guess I'll have to make a high jumper out of you."
Billy stopped, ashamed of himself. For a minute he had been wanting torun away from this kind friend of his, but all at once he made up hismind to stay right where he was and take a whipping if he had to haveit, and, as all the dogs piled out of the gate after him and set up ayelping and capering around Bobby and Dandy, Billy stood among them, hishead hanging down, feeling very cheap. Bobby, who had forgottensomething and come back for it, was a little puzzled, until he looked upto the house and saw his mother sitting on the front porch holding upher line of draggled, dirty clothes, while Tiny, the cow, was calmlyeating up her nasturtium bed, unnoticed. Then Bobby understood.
"You're a bad goat," he said to Billy, shaking his finger at him. "Ihave been puzzling what to name you, but now I know," and by somestrange accident he landed on the very name that Billy's mother hadgiven him long before. "I'm going," he said, "to call you BillyMischief."
Billy had to behave himself splendidly to make the Sanders family forgetthat morning's mischief, but at last Mrs. Sanders remembered that shehad seen Jimmy Tarwings on Billy's back when he was running with theclothes fast to his neck, and so they blamed it on the crow. They wereused to blaming mischief on that busy bird, so that a little more orless did not matter much to him.
And now Billy's education began. Every day, for an hour or so, Bobbytaught tricks to the pets. The first time Billy saw this he scarcelyknew his new friends, they were so different and so much in earnest.First of all, Bobby, who had been training his animals for a long time,placed a row of boxes in front of the barn.
"Dandy!" he cried, and the pony ran quickly to the big box in the centerand stood upon it. "King! Queen!" Bobby cried, and the two dogs jumpedupon the boxes, one each side of the pony. "Ponto! Patty!" and the nextbox on each side was filled. "Curly! Spot! Hurricane! Lightning!" andthe next four boxes, two on each side, were occupied.
This disposed of all the dogs except the six little collie puppies, andBobby next called the names of these, one at a time. Of course thepuppies did not know what to do, but as soon as Bobby had called thename of one of them he set that one up on its box so that it would soonlearn to know where it belonged.
"Jimmy!" called Bobby, and down from the barn fluttered Jimmy Tarwingsand sat on the pony's head. Then Bobby gave a peculiar low thrillingwhistle, and with a whirl and a rush the pigeons came circling andfluttering down, each one landing on a head of one of the dogs. "Spunk!Saucebox!" Bobby called, and the two bantams jumped up, one on each ofhis outstretched hands. Two of the pigeons settled down on each ofBobby's shoulders and one on top of his head. The two bantam roostersstarted to crow as loud as they could and that was the signal for thepony and all the dogs except the puppies to stand up on their hind feet,while the crow and the pigeons fluttered their wings. "Down!" saidBobby, and they all settled back upon their haunches. Bobby dropped hisarms and the bantam roosters fluttered to the ground.
Next Bobby brought out a barrel and called Dandy. The pony came runningand with a little jump landed right on top of the barrel, rolling itforwards and backwards, without Bobby helping him in any way or evencoming near him. Then Bobby took a mouth harp from his pocket and beganto play a lively little waltz tune, upon which Dandy jumped on top of alittle platform that Bobby had built and standing on his hind feet,began to waltz.
"On your head, now, Dandy," called Bobby, and the pony, after muchstruggling, managed to stand on his head for a moment. This was a newtrick that Bobby had been nearly a year in teaching him, but now he wasalmost able to do it without trouble although it was very, verydifficult. This was not all of the tricks that Dandy could do, for hecould spell his own name and Bobby's and some others by pawing printedcards around, and could pick out colors when told to do so, and couldanswer questions by nodding his head, and count up simple figures bypawing with his foot, but his master did not ask him to do all thesetricks this time. Bobby was as considerate of his animals as if theywere human friends.
Bobby next called King and Queen and they came with a rush, jumping uponthe platform and sitting with their fore legs up, happy and eager.Bobby put the empty barrel, which was open at both ends and scrapedsmooth inside, on the platform. Then King and Queen got one on eachside of it and rolled it backward and forward, then they both jumped ontop of it, one facing one way and the other the other, and rolled it,King walking backwards and Queen walking forwards. When it was at thevery edge of the platform King walked forwards and Queen walkedbackwards and rolled it the other way. Then, at Bobby's command, theystopped it in the middle of the platform where King stood toward one endof it, tilting the other end up while Queen pushed that end so that itstood upright. Then King and Queen jumped into it, both at once fromopposite directions, tilting the barrel over and coming out side byside, a very difficult trick and one that had taken Bobby a long whileto teach them. Then he threw them a light rubber ball, and King, takingit in his teeth, would toss it and Queen would catch it. Then she wouldtoss it back. They were ready to do still more tricks, but Bobby neverput them through all that they knew at one time, not wishing to tirethem.
"Ponto and Patty!" he called, and the two pointers took the places ofthe collies. They stood on rolling globes, turned somersaults andjumped straight up in the air to catch a piece of red leather that Bobbyhad hung from a light, horizontal bar which he kept putting higher andhigher for them. They did other tricks, and then the greyhounds didsome very wonderful high jumping. The terriers waltzed and turned backsprings and walked a tight rope. The pigeons, at Bobby's command,wheeled in the air, two by two, by four's, in single file, and in factwent through a regular drill just above Bobby's head.
It was a finer performance than those usually seen in traveling shows.Bobby had taught all these pets of his just for his own amusement andthey seemed to enjoy it just as much as he did, and after each one haddone his part, Bobby always had some little delicacy for him; a lump ofsugar for the pony, little pieces of meat for the dogs, some specialseed for the pigeons, and he had a pat on the head and a loving word forall of them.
"All over!" he cried at last, and the patient animals ran scamperingfrom their boxes. "Now, Billy Mischief," said Bobby, turning to ourfriend, the goat, "come on, and we'll learn a stunt or two ourselves."
Billy came willingly enough when his name was called and when Bobbypatted his hands on the boards, Billy jumped upon the platform.
"Shake hands," said Bobby.
Of course Billy did not know what this meant, but Bobby caught hold ofone of his fore feet and lifted it up, shaking it gently, then he set itdown and patted Billy on the flanks. "Shake hands," he said again, andthis time he tapped Billy on the leg. Still Billy did not know what todo, so Bobby once more picked up his foot and shook it, then patted himon the shoulder. A dozen times Bobby patiently did this, until at lastwhen he said, "Shake hands!", and tapped Billy gently on the leg, Billylifted up his hoof and laid it in Bobby's hand to be shaken.
"Good boy," said Bobby, patting him and, reaching in his pocket, he drewout some tender lettuce leaves which he had found Billy liked betterthan anything else. That was all for that morning.
The next morning Bobby only had to say, "Shake hands!" twice until Billylifted up his hoof, and before that
lesson was over he only needed thewords and did not even need to be tapped on the leg. For two or threedays longer that was all the lesson he got, because it does not do totry to teach animals too many tricks at once. It only confuses them,but Billy, once started, was very quick to learn. Soon he could do asmany tricks as the best of them, and had his box right alongside hisfriend Dandy's. Some of the tricks that he had learned were brand newones. They had never been seen in a show or anywhere else, and howBilly did like the work! How he did like Bobby and all his animalfriends, and how he did like this peaceful happy place!
Billy Whiskers' Travels Page 12