After numerous hardships and accidents of all kinds, the BillyWhiskers family arrived in Lincoln Park. The first thing they did wasto go straight to the bathing beach to wash the stains of travel offtheir coats before visiting the animals.
They reached the Park three days before Billy could possibly havegotten there, and they were proposing to pass the time until hisarrival by sightseeing and talking to the animals in the cages, butthey came near being captured and shut up the very first day they werethere. It happened in this way.
When they reached the beach there were only a few people in the waterand lying on the sand, as it was too early in the day for the crowd,though those who were there made up in noise and fun for those whowere not.
The lifeguards were lazily lounging in their boat away from shore whenthey heard an angry scream from some woman in the water. They thoughtsome one must be annoying her, but on looking up they saw her swimmingfor shore as fast as she could go, while on the sand stood threeblack goats and two white ones beside a two-year-old baby lying on ashawl, kicking and screaming. Over it stood a small goat with thebaby's bottle dangling from its mouth as it chewed the rubber tubing,while the other young goat was eating some sweet cakes it had found ina bag, and one of the old goats was licking the baby's forehead. Thatwas Daisy, the Twins' mother. She meant no harm as this was her way ofkissing the sweet little baby. Daisy loved babies and she thought thiswould quiet this little child. Billy Junior tried to get the bottleaway from the Twin to give back to the baby so it would not cry.
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to take the baby's bottle away fromit!" reproved Nannie.
"But I was thirsty and wanted a drink of milk!"
"Never mind if you did. You should not take it away from a tiny baby."
"He isn't _very_ tiny! Just hear how he yells!"
By this time the baby's mother had reached the spot and was throwingstones and sand at the goats while she tried to pacify the baby.
As the goats saw the lifeboat head for the shore, they thought theybetter disappear, knowing that the minute the men beached the boatthey would be after them. So they raced into the Park and hidthemselves behind some lilac bushes. Daisy said:
"I really don't see why you children don't behave. You have donenothing but get into mischief and cause us trouble ever since we lefthome. I wish we had not brought you! Any one would think you never hadany bringing up. And now to try to take a sweet little baby's dinneraway from it! I am ashamed of you! Besides, now none of us can take abath on that nice sandy beach. We shall have to find another place,which won't be very easy since the lifeguards have seen us."
"I know where there is a nice little lake, mamma," piped up one Twin."I saw it as we came along--right over there where you see that highbridge."
"Very well. We will all go over there for I feel very dirty and tired.It will both clean us and rest us to have a nice cool bath."
So the goats all trotted over to one of the lagoons in the Park whichthe Twins had called a lake, and they plunged into the water. They hada fine time and enjoyed themselves, much to the discomfort of somestately swans that were greatly upset to have strange goats comedashing into their private place. They began to hiss, which set allthe ducks to quacking and the sea lions to barking. This commotionsoon brought a park guard to the spot to see what was the matter. Whenhe discovered a lot of goats in the water he walked down to the edgeof the pond and began to wave his club and shout at them.
"Hear the old goose!" said one of the Twins. "He is shooing at us! Iguess he thinks we are a kind of duck!"
"Let's baa at him, and tell him what an old goose he is," said theother.
When the goats did not leave the water or pay any attention to him,the guard began throwing stones at them. At last one hit Billy Junioron the head. This was too much for him. The guard might throw stonesall he wished, but hitting Billy Junior with them was quite anotherthing. He wheeled and swam for shore, going straight for the guard,who stood still, not knowing Billy Junior was bent on butting him.
Oh, oh! Where did you come from? wailed one little girl when the kids jumped out of the shrubbery and grabbed her bag of popcorn (Page 141)]
Indeed Billy Junior did butt the guard so hard he sent him flying overthe high iron fence that surrounded the sea lions' pool and rock cavewhere they lived. He fell kersplash into the water, astride a papa sealion as he went swimming round and round his rock home. When the lionfelt something alight on his back, he dove to the bottom of the poolin a flash, taking the guard with him. But no human being could stickon the back of a slippery sea lion, and the guard soon came up to thesurface of the water blowing and spouting like a porpoise.
The goats did not wait to see what became of the guard but ran and hidthemselves under the approach of one of the Park bridges.