His head was halfway through the side of the
tree-tent nearest Jan and the goat was chewing some of the green
leaves. It was Nicknack's whiskers that had, tickled Jan on the back
of her neck.
"Whoa there, Nicknack!" called Ted, as the goat from the outside
pushed his way farther into the tent. "Whoa, there! You'll upset this
place in a minute!"
And so it seemed Nicknack would do, for he was hungrily eating the
leaves of the branches from which Jan and Ted had made their
playhouse.
"How'd he get loose?" asked Jan.
"I don't know," Ted answered. "I tied him good and tight by his rope.
I wonder if--" Just then a voice called:
"Wait for me, Nicknack! Wait for me!"
"It's Trouble!" cried Jan and Ted together.
Ted looked out through the hole the goat had eaten in the side of the
bower, and saw Baby William toddling toward him.
"Did you let Nicknack loose?" demanded Ted.
"Ess, I did," answered Trouble. "I cutted his wope with a knife, I
did. I wants a wide. Wait for me, Nicknack!"
The goat was in no hurry to get away, for he liked to eat the green
leaves, and Ted, coming out of the bower, which was almost ready to
fall down now that the goat was half-way inside it, saw where the
rope, fast around his pet's horns, had been cut.
"You mustn't do that, Trouble," Ted said to his little brother. "You
mustn't cut Nicknack's rope.
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