the dog, missed him, but gave
the cart a quick jerk, which spilled the boys and the berries out
in great shape, and then the scrimmage began. The boys went for
Jimmy Brown, and the goat for the dog, dragging the overturned
cart with him, and in two minutes, he had sent the dog flying
over the fence, with his sharp horns. He then proceeded to walk
quietly back to where the strawberries and lettuce were lying in
the road, and commenced eating them, as if nothing had happened
at all. All this time the boys were pulling each other's hair,
and rolling over in the dust, in a regular pitched battle. Billy
having eaten all he cared for, walked off and lay down in the
shade to rest, still dragging the cart after him. He was just
losing himself in sleep, when he was jerked to his feet in a
hurry; the cart was straightened; and before he knew what he was
about, he was being driven toward home as fast as his legs could
go, and from the conversation he learned that they had taken
their departure so hurriedly because they had seen Jimmy's big
brother coming down the road, and they did not care to stop and
fight him too. Arriving at home, with dirty, bloody faces;
clothes torn, and no letter of thanks from the people the berries
had been sent to, the boys were afraid to go in so they decided
that the best plan would be to cry and howl and limp, as if they
were nearly dead, to excite their mother's sympathy; so that she
would be too frightened to scold them. They made the small holes
larger in their clothes, rubbed a little more dirt on their
faces, and squeezed a little more blood out of their scratches;
and screaming at the top of their voices, they drove into the
lane. The ruse was a success, for first came Kate, the cook, to
see what was the matter; then John, the hired man; and last
mother and father, from out of the garden where they had been
examining the damages which Billy had done two nights before.

All mother said was, "That goat has to be sold, Silas Wagner, I
told you that trouble would come when you brought that long
whiskered animal home."

And the next day the goat was sold.

[Illustration]

_Billy Whiskers Makes Trouble_

The day after Billy Whiskers was sold to the Biggses he was shut
in a small yard to keep him out of mischief. Feeling lonesome, he
thought that he would jump the fence and look around a little. He
was getting cross-eyed looking through the palings of the fence
which were very close t