r rolled
down his cheek; but he shook it off in a hurry for the next
minute the thought came to him, what if Nanny had given him up as
lost and married another? The thought made him mad; and for three
or four miles he ran like a steam-engine, snorting with rage as
he went, and vowing to himself that if it were so, he would split
her new husband open with his long horns, as he had the dogs he
had met by the way.

In the meantime, while Billy had been away, poor, lonely, little
Nanny had never forgotten her old Billy, though all the young
Billy Goats in the herd tried to make her do so, and each and all
had wanted her to marry them, but she said "no" and remained
faithful to her Billy.

She had one thing to comfort her however, and that was two
beautiful little Kids that had been born to her some time after
the circus-man had taken Billy away. With these she spent all her
time, and they repaid it by being very fond of her; and it was a
beautiful sight to see the three playing together in the green
meadow down by the stream.

So Billy thought the next day, when, after traveling all night,
he at last came to the farm and looking through the fence saw
Nanny lying in the grass with the two little kids jumping over
her and kissing her nose.

"Two very fine looking kids," thought Billy. "I wonder whose they
are."

Then his old heart stood still for his next thought was: "She has
forgotten me, is married again and these are her children."

This thought made him feel sick and faint, and his knees shook
under him, so he dropped on the grass with his nose through the
rails of the fence, and there he lay for a long while, but he
never took his eyes off the three in the pasture.

"I will lie here and see if it is so," thought Billy, "and if it
is, I will go away and never let her know that I came back."

As he looked, old Satan, the minister that had married them, came
up to speak to Nanny, and Billy felt his blood beginning to boil
for he thought:

"If she is married to that old widower, and I am afraid she is,
for one of those kids is as black as Satan himself, I can't stand
it! I shall stay to make myself known just long enough to kill
him."

Soon, however, Satan walked off, as it was getting dark, and the
goats began to find cozy places for themselves for the night. But
Billy lay still and watched, though he was very thirsty and
hungry, not having eaten anything all day, as he had been too
anxious to get back to