THE GOAT

"Oh, Miss Clare! Miss Clare!" shouted Roy, bursting into the school-room the first day after vacation, "come out and see Freddie's team, quick." Dropping everything, Miss Clare rushed to the door and such a dear little "turn out" as met her eyes.

First, there was the wagon—such a dear little wagon, painted yellow, with a foot mat, a whip socket, and a seat just big enough for two, if the two happened, as in this case, to be tiny boys.

Next, there was the harness - such a shiny leather harness, with buckles and straps, and rings and reins.

Then there was the driver - such a proud little driver in a bright red cap, who sat up so stiff and tall and held the reins. Beside him sat the passenger, a serious looking little passenger, who wore a red cap, also, and sat stiff and straight and held the whip.

By the side of the wagon stood brother Tom, keeping one eye on the driver and the other on the

horse, which, by the way, wasn't a horse at all, but the very cutest little "Billy-goat" it had ever been Miss Clare's lot to see.

The little people crowded around it admiringly, and the teacher said, "Look at the goat carefully, children, for I shall want you to tell me about him after school opens," while Fred explained that the team came on New Year's Day, a present from Uncle Fred, who lived in New York.

When the "quarter bell" rang, Tom said he must take Little Brother home and go to school himself, but that they would drive over again the next day.

Now it happened that Miss Clare had written in her note-book for January, "Animal Study-Goats," but she had no idea that she was to be aided in such a realistic way; so the children found several pictures of goats drawn on the blackboard when they went in, and they were soon comparing them with the "real one." Then they compared goats with sheep and found

Some resemblances:

Size.
Shape.

Number of legs.

Feet.

Hoofs.

Sounds made.

Some differences:

Covering.
Use.

They talked a little about the difference in habits, Miss Clare telling them that goats are good climbers, and can live in rocky places where their little sharp hoofs find their way into each little crack or crevice so that they do not fall.

She said, "They do not go about in flocks as sheep do, and they can run fast and jump high, so they are not driven as sheep are. They do not need shepherds to watch them, and they will come home at the right time if they know some good food will be ready for them."

The next morning everyone was on hand early to see the little team drive up, and as Little Brother stayed at home Fred gave different children short rides, one at a time. During this second visit they discovered Billy's beard of long hair hanging from

his chin, and John was very anxious to measure it. They noted several of his peculiarities; he did not trot off quietly like a pony, but walked in a jerky, uncertain way, stopping often, and was ready to investigate everything that attracted his attention.

He was a sort of gray in color, with a short head, forehead flat and wide, and a small nose. His horns were quite large, rather flat near the head and curving toward the back. They looked in his mouth, and Miss Clare told them that goats have thirty-two teeth, but as they do not have them all at once, any more than children do, people tell the age of goats by the number of their teeth until they are five years old. Fred was questioned as to the food Billy ate.

Papa says

He said, "He doesn't eat very much of any one thing. He likes lots of kinds; a little corn, a bite of potato, a piece of cabbage, and some oats. He eats hay, too, and any kind of green things. he eats tin cans, and nails, and old iron, but he is only in fun when he says that; but he truly does want to taste of everything he sees, for he ate some paint off the carriage one day, and another time we found him chewing an old harness. You have to look out for him and not leave things where he can