The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-11-08
A Trick of the B0bollnk BOYS.

the masculine gender, turned him loose
In Burdock's garden, nailed up the gate
and then went home and fattened their
eleven little noses against the back
window to await for coming events.
Before his goatship had spent three
minutes in the garden, he had managed
Il make himself perfectly at home,
pulled down the clOthes-line and de-
voured two lace collars, a pair of under
sleeves and a striped stocking belong
ing to Mrs. B. and was busily engaged
sampling one of Burdock's shirts when
the servant girl anne rushing ont with
a basket of clothes to hang up.
''The saints preserve us!" she ex-
claimed, coming to a full halt and gaz-
ing ~open-mouthed at the goat, who was
calmly munching away at the shirt.
"Shew, shew, there" screamed the
girl, setting down the basket, taking
her skirts in her hand and shaking
them violently toward the intruder.
Then the goat, who evidently con-
sidered her movements in the light of a
challenge, suddenly dropped his wicked
old head and darted at her with the
force of a locomotive, and just one
minute later by the clock, that girl had
tumbled a back somersault over the
clothes-basket and was crawling away
on her hands and knees in search of a
place to die, accompanied by the goat,
who was beating or the hustle ground
every third second.
1t is probable he would have kept on
butting her for the next two weeks if
Mrs. Burdock, who had been witness
Of the unfortunate affair, had not armed
herself with the family poker and hur-
ried to the rescue.
"Merciful goodness, Annie, do get up
on your feet?" she exclaimed, aiming
a murderous blow at the beasts head,
and missing it by a few of the shortest
kind of inches. 1t was not repeated,
owing to the goat suddenly rising up
on his hind feet, waltzing toward her
and striking her in the small of the
back, hard enough to loosen her finger
nails, and destroy her faith in a glori-
Gus immortality.
When Mrs. B. returned to conscious
ness, she crawled out from behind the
%grindstone where she had been tossed,
and made for the house, stopping only
once, when the goat came after and
butted her head first into the grape
arbor.
Once inside the house the door was
locked and the unfortunates sought the
solitude of their own rooms, and such
comfort as they could extract from rub
bling and growing, while the goat wan
dered around the garden like Satan in
the Book Of Job, seeking what he could
devour, and the eleven little Bobolink
boys fairly Rugged themselves with
pleasure over the pei formance.
By the time Burdock returned home
that evening and learned all the par
t~iculars from his arnica-soaked wife,
the goat had eaten nearly all the weeks
washing, half the grapevine, and one
side of the close-basket.
"Why in the thunder didn't you put
him out, and not leave him there to de-
stroy everythingE" he demanded
angrily.
"Because he wouldn't go, and | was
not going to stay there and be killed,
that's why" answered his wife eX-
citedly.
"Wouldn't fiddlesticks he ex-
claimed, making for the garden, fol-
lowed by the entire family,
sect out of here, you thief" he ex-
claimed, as he came into the garden and
caught sight of the shaggy and highly
perfumed visitor.
The goat bit off another mouthful of
the basket and regarded him with a
mischlevous twinkle of his eyes.
"You won't go, heyP" exclaimed
Burdcck, trying to kick a hole in the
enemy's ribs. 'I'll show you wheth-"
The sentence was left unfinished, as
the goat just then dropped his head on
Burdock's shirt bosom, and before he
could recover his equilibrium he had
been butted seven times in seven fresh
spots and was down on his knees and
crawling around in a very undignified
manner, to the horror ofthe family al d
the indefinite glee of the eleven young
Bobolinks next door.
"Look out he don't hurt you!"
screamed Mrs. B. as the goat sent him
a flying into the sand pile.
When Burdock had got his bald head
out of the sand he was mud all over his
clothes, and he tried to catch the brute
by the horns, but desisted after he had
lost two front teeth and been rolled In
the mud.
Don't make a living show of your
self before the neighbors," advised his
wife.
"Come in pa, aud let him be, begged
his daughter.
"Golly, dad, look out he's comm
agin," shouted his son, enthusiastically.
Mr.. Burdock waxed profane, and
swore three-story oaths in such a rapid
succession that his family held their
breaths, and a pious old lady, who lived
In a house in the rear, shut up her
windows and sent out the cook to hunt
up a policeman or a missionary.
"Run for II dad" advised his son n
moment later when the goats attention
seemed to be turned away.
Burdock sprang to his feet and fol-
lowed his nffsnrinR's suggestion. lie