ied Billy.

"Begorry, Tim, what is that? A big white dog or what, down by the
straw-stack?" asked Mrs. Rooney.

Tim looked and said: "No, mother, it is a goat. Let's drive him
out; he is the one that has done all the mischief," and as he
spoke he picked up a stone to throw at Billy.

"Put down that stone and what are ye about, Tim Rooney? Don't ye
know a fine Billy goat is a nice thing to have in the family? And
it is luck he will bring us by coming to us himself. Put him in
the shed, and to-morrow you can hitch him to your cart and make
him haul the cabbages to market."

Tim pulled up a bunch of nice, fresh carrots and approached
Billy. With these he induced Billy to follow him to the shed
where he locked him in for the night.

After fastening Billy in, Tim went off and left Billy to take
care of himself the best he could, and he soon found a heap of
straw which he curled himself upon and was in dreamland in no
time.

He had been asleep for several hours when he was awakened by a
dog barking at the moon, and he was about going off in another
nap when he thought he heard the bleating of a goat in the shed
adjoining his.

He pricked up his ears to listen and sure enough he heard it
again very distinctly, and at the same time he saw a large knot
hole in the board partition that divided his shed from the
adjoining one, so he got up and went to look through it to see if
he could not see the goat he heard bleating.

Into the next shed the moonlight was streaming, and lying on a
pile of straw in the light he saw a beautiful white Nanny goat,
that made his old heart palpitate with delight, he was so glad to
see one of his own tribe again.

Nanny lay there unconscious of his presence; apparently bleating
in her sleep, she lay so still. As she did not move Billy
concluded to awaken her so he bleated "Good evening" to her. He
had only gotten half through his salutation when she jumped up
quickly as if she had been touched with an electric wire, and
looking around with a frightened stare, said:

"Good gracious, how you frightened me! Who are you, and where are
you, for I see no one?"

"You can't see me, but I am here all the same, at the other side
of the shed, looking at you through the knot hole. My name is
Billy Whiskers and I come from nowhere in particular and I am
bound for the same place. Now, tell me your name and the name of
the people you are living with."

"My name is Nanny O'Hara and I live with a fa