she could move he bore down up 311 her, 

 and by exerting all her strength she just 

 did manage to fight him off, shove the 

 cake in and close the door. The smell 

 of that savory compound, wafted to Bil 

 ly's sensitive nostrils miles away, had 

 brought him home in a hurry to claim 

 his share. 



The larger he grew the more liberties 

 he took and his playfulness or his willful 

 ness led to the breaking of many bowls 

 and pitchers and other crockery. He 

 had a strong will and what he wanted 

 he must have or there was war. He ac 

 quired the art of standing on his hind 

 legs to reach for anything that he wanted 

 and of pawing with his forefe'et till he 

 brought it down. Very often in this 

 process he dragged the cloth off table 

 or dresser or washstand, bringing down 

 with it whatever was on top. It was 

 funny to see him rest his forefeet on 

 the table, and, if he could not get what 

 he wanted from one side, walk around 

 the table supported in this way until 

 he could re'ach the desired article. A 

 great pastime of his, but one very an 

 noying to black Katherine, the wash 

 woman, was when the freshly washed 

 clothes were fluttering on the lines as 

 if in airy challenge to make sallies upon 

 them, reared upon his hind legs and 

 batting at them with his forefeet, leav 

 ing black prints which meant another 

 washing. 



He made a habit, too, of coming up 

 softly behind one he always moved 

 with swift, light daintiness and spring 

 and planting his forefeet on one's shoul 

 ders with a startling lunge, particularly 

 if he suspected that one had anything 

 good in one's hand. When one looked 

 around with a start of surprise one's 

 eyes encountered the grave orbs of Billy 

 fixed on one with a mild intentness. It 

 was useless to deny him them. That 

 wild strength of his made him danger 

 ous. He did not understand, of course, 

 that he was likely to hurt one but even 

 a playful blow from his foot might be 

 severe. To see him come up to one 

 as he had a trick of doing, and laying his 

 head upon one's arm, look up into one's 

 face with the divine, pathetic trustful 

 ness of his great, brown eyes, to see 



him put up his head to have it rubbed, 

 walking or standing beside one in his 

 strong yet slender grace one would 

 have imagined him to be the gentlest 

 of creatures, and so he was at heart, t but 

 there was in him also that wild strain, 

 born of the woods, which he could not 

 help. 



I was the only child in the family 

 and the only person who was foolish 

 enough to take liberties with Billy. One 

 day I pressed a wet rag on Billy's back, 

 bearing down very hafd upon it, "just 

 to see what he would do." He very 

 promptly showed me by rearing up and 

 knocking me down. What else he would 

 have done I do not know, for I was 

 quickly rescued. But I bore for many 

 months the crescent-shaped imprint of 

 his foot upon my forehead. The negroes 

 on the plantation were very prone to 

 take liberties with him, and made the 

 most of any opportunity to tease him 

 thus aggravating the wild nature that 

 was developing. He had his revenge 

 on them whenever he could, and some 

 times a rough one, though fortunately 

 never serious. But complaints were 

 murmured, and the problem of Billy as 

 he grew older and larger and stronger 

 began to be a serious one. That last 

 spring, the tender, sprouting green of 

 the young corn appealed strongly to Bil 

 ly's primitive tastes, and in spite of am 

 ple provisions at home, he made a de 

 licious repast of it, cropping it off close 

 before it had a fair chance to grow. The 

 young potato slips, set out with so much 

 care, went the same way. There had 

 never been any restrictions placed upon 

 him, and he evidently took these things 

 frankly as his natural right, but it be 

 came apparent that the crops were likely 

 to suffer severely from his innocent dep 

 redations. Matters came to a climax, 

 however, when a colored girl passing 

 through the yard unwisely stopped to 

 tease the deer, and he, resenting this or 

 not understanding it, tore her dress to 

 shreds and might possibly have killed 

 her, had not her screams brought help. 

 Then consultation was held upon the 

 case and Billy's fate was sealed. 



Poor Billy he must have known. 

 Contrary to custom, he failed to go for 



151 



