ed he rather enjoyed it for from all sides he heard
the people say:

"There, look! There goes the goat that saved the baby's life."

"Isn't he a beauty?"

"See what nice, white, silky hair he has!"

"Yes," Billy thought, "if they could have seen the firemen
scrubbing me, I expect they would have laughed like the policemen
did." But it all tickled his vanity for Billy was as conceited a
goat as you could well find.

They had been marching for some time and Billy was getting tired
of the slow gait and being made to stay between the engine and
hose-cart instead of riding on the hose-cart as he had been in
the habit of doing, when he heard the plaintive bleat of a goat
and the sound of a whip.

"My!" thought Billy, "how that voice reminds me of Nanny."

Just then a little cart, with a can of milk in it, drawn by a
goat came in sight around the corner, and who should be pulling
it but Nanny, with the big, clumsy Mike Rooney cracking the whip
at her and every once in a while giving her a stinging cut which
had caused Nanny to cry out as Billy had heard.

Mike had just given Nanny another and an extra hard cut with the
whip, when Billy recognized Nanny and with a bound he was at her
side leaving the fireman behind him and upsetting Mike in his mad
haste to get to Nanny.

When Mike regained his feet he came at Billy with the butt of his
whip raised to strike him, but before he did so, he recognized
Billy as his long-lost goat, and was going to make up with him
and hitch him to the cart to help Nanny draw it, when Billy made
a plunge at him and sent him sprawling into the street. Then he
butted the cart over and spilled the milk and told Nanny to turn
around and run toward home and he would keep Mike off.

Nanny did as she was told and soon the harness broke and let her
loose from the overturned cart. By this time Mike was on his feet
again, furious and mad enough at Billy to kill him had he caught
him, but with a kick of his heels in the air Billy and Nanny had
left him and were running away as fast as they could while the
firemen and the crowd stood still and watched.

Mike ran until he was all out of breath and in turning a corner
sharply he ran into another boy coming in the opposite direction.
This made the boy mad and he struck at Mike hitting him in the
jaw. That was too much for Mike who was already angry at being
outwitted by the goats, so he pitched into the boy and they
fought until both had black eyes