“Look out, Lightfoot!” cried Mike. But the new goat was ready for Snipper. Rising on his own hind legs, Lightfoot butted the other goat so hard that he nearly fell over backward into the cart.
“Good! Well butted!” cried the kindly, short-horned goat. “That was fine!”
“You wouldn’t say so if you felt it,” bleated Snipper.
“Well, it was your own fault. You started the quarrel,” went on the friendly goat.
“I can butt better than he can, and I’ll show him too, next time,” grumbled Snipper, rubbing his head against a tree.
“Say!” cried the boy who had spoken roughly to Mike, “if your goat doesn’t leave mine alone I――I’ll do something to you!”
“Oh, no, you won’t,” said Mike. “I’m not afraid of the likes of you.”
“Here, boys, stop your quarreling,” said the man. “Get ready now, some children and their mothers are coming. Perhaps they may want rides.”
Along the path that led to the goat stand came a number of boys and girls. Seeing them, the boys in charge of the goats called:
“Here you are for a ride! This way for a ride! We’ve got the best goats in the park! Only five cents a ride!”
The children stopped. Some begged their fathers or mothers to let them have a ride. One man, with a boy and girl consented.
“Which wagon and goat do you want?” asked the father.
“Here, take mine! It’s the best!” cried the boy whose goat had been butted by Lightfoot. For a moment the children seemed about to get into that wagon, then the little girl cried:
“Oh, see what a pretty red carpet is in this wagon!” and she ran over to Mike’s. “I want to ride in this!”
“So do I,” said her brother, and they got in. Mike was pleased and happy, but the other boy, whose name was Henry, scowled.
“I’ll fix you for that,” he muttered to Mike, but Mike did not care. He started Lightfoot down the park road and the goat drew the delighted children swiftly and carefully.
Thus it was that Mike and Lightfoot began their work in the park. From then on, for several weeks, Mike would take his goat and cart to the stand every morning, and all day long he would drive parties of children up and down. Lightfoot was growing stronger and more used to harness and cart, and he could soon pull as well as the best goat in the park.
Every Saturday night Mike took home ten dollars to his mother, and this was the best of all. Of course Mike took in more than this from the children who paid him for their rides, but all over ten dollars went to Mr. Marshall. Out of the ten dollars Mike paid for hay and oats for Lightfoot, for now that he had work to do, the goat could not live on grass alone.