they needed so
much,--war-steeds for battle, fiery chargers for review.

The vote was finally taken, and plan number two was adopted by a
considerable majority.

Obstacles are never insurmountable to boys and Bonapartes! Our _coup
d'etat_ succeeded quite as well as that of the 2d of December, and
before a week elapsed the chief officers were all splendidly mounted and
fully equipped.

At this stage of the war against the "bearded races," the cavalry
question was propounded by one of the privates in Company A. For his
part, he declared candidly that he was tired of marching and
countermarching afoot, and that he saw no good reason why an invasion of
the enemy's country should not at once be undertaken, to secure animals
enough to mount the whole regiment.

Another council was held, and the resolve unanimously adopted, to cross
the border in full force, on the next Saturday afternoon.

In the meantime, the clouds of war began to thicken in another quarter.
Colonel Averitt had been informed of the _coup d'etat_ related above,
and determined to prevent any further depredations on his flock by a
stroke of masterly generalship, worthy of his prowess in the late war
with Great Britain.

And now it becomes proper to introduce upon the scene the most important
personage in this history, and the hero of the whole story. I allude, of
course, to the bold, calm, dignified, undaunted and imperturbable
natural guardian of the Colonel's fold--Billy Goat!

He boasted of a beard longer, whiter, and more venerable than a
high-priest in Masonry; his mane emulated that of the king of beasts;
his horns were as crooked, and almost as long, as the Cashie River, on
whose banks he was born; his tail might have been selected by some
Spanish hidalgo, as a coat of arms, emblematic of the pride and hauteur
of his family; whilst his _tout ensemble_ presented that dignity of
demeanor, majesty of carriage, consciousness of superior fortune, and
defiance of all danger, which we may imagine characterized the elder
Napoleon previous to the battle of Waterloo. But our hero possessed
moral qualities quite equal to his personal traits. He was brave to a
fault, combative to a miracle, and as invincible in battle as he was
belligerent in mood. The sight of a coat-tail invariably excited his
anger, and a red handkerchief nearly distracted him with rage. Indeed,
he had recently grown so irascible that Colonel Averitt was compelled to
keep him shut up in