a fire-engine
station, and that the racket he had heard was caused by the
horses taking their places at the engine ready to start to a
fire.

Through two large doors that opened into the yard Billy could see
what was going on inside. And when he saw the men jump to their
places on the engine and the driver whip up his horses, he became
so excited he could stand it no longer and he determined to go
with them to the fire. With a spring he was over the fence and
following after the engine at a stiff run.

It was a good thing Billy had a strong pair of lungs or he would
never have been able to keep up with the fast speed of the
fire-engine horses, but he did and arrived at the fire in good
shape.

The fire was found to be in a three-story frame house, and when
they got there the flames were already coming out of the upper
windows; but the strangest thing about the fire was that the
inhabitants of the house, if there were any, seemed to be in
utter oblivion that their house was on fire for not a person was
in sight about the place and all the doors and windows were
securely locked.

Two men ran up the steps with axes, while two followed dragging
the hose after them. The men with the axes had given one knock to
the door when Billy saw what they were up to, and as he had often
used his head as a battering-ram, he ran up the steps, and before
the men knew he was there, he gave the door a mighty butt with
his head which made it crash in and the men and goat fell through
the opening.

This tickled the crowd who had gathered to see the fire, and they
called out: "Bravo for the goat!"

Billy followed the firemen upstairs but when he got there the
smoke was so thick he could see nothing, and it made his eyes
smart beside choking him dreadfully, so he decided to go out
again. He turned to find the head of the stairs he had come up,
but instead of discovering them he ran into the wall and the more
he tried to find his way out, the more confused he became. He
fell over something and when he regained his feet, after having
nearly gone head over heels into a box, as he thought, but which
was a baby's cradle, he felt something heavy hanging to his
horns. At the same time he heard a baby cry.

"Poor little thing," thought Billy, "everyone has gone out of the
house and left the baby asleep and now it is going to be burned
to death. Wish I knew where it was; it sounds near but I can't
see for this smoke." Just then a little bare