hen
the swinging door of the saloon was banged open and Tim Fagan rushed in.
He was mad. He was very mad, but he was a great deal wetter than mad. He
looked as if he had been soaked in water over night, and not wrung out
in the morning.

"Mike!" he whispered hoarsely, grasping the little alderman by the arm.
"I want ye! I want ye down at th' park."

A chill of fear passed over Alderman Toole. He turned his face to Fagan
and laid his hand on his shoulder.

"Tim," he demanded, "has annything happened t' th' dongolas?"

"Is annything happened t' th' dongolas!" exclaimed Fagan sarcastically.
"Is annything wrong with thim water goats? Oh, no, Toole! Nawthin'
has gone wrong with thim! Only they won't go into th' wather, Mike! Is
annything gone wrong with thim, did ye say? Nawthin'! They be in good
health, but they are not crazy t' be swimmin'. Th' way they do not
hanker t' dash into th' water is marvellous, Mike. No water for thim!"

"Hist!" said Toole uneasily, glancing around to see that no one but
Casey was in hearing. "Mebby ye have not started thim right, Tim."

"Mebby not," said Fagan angrily. "Mebby I do not know how t' start th'
water goat, Toole! Mebby there is one way unbeknownst t' me. If so, I
have not tried it. But th' forty-sivin other ways I have tried, an' th'
goats will not swim. I have started thim backwards an' I have started
thim frontwards, an' I have took thim in by th' horns an' give thim
lessons t' swim, an' they will not swim! I have done me duty by thim,
Mike, an' I have wrastled with thim, an' rolled in th' lake with thim.
Was it t' be swimmin' teacher t' water goats ye got me this job for?"

"Hist!" said Toole again. "Not so loud, Tim! Ye haven't told Dugan have
ye?"

"I have not!" said Tim, with anger. "I have not told annybody annything
excipt thim goats an' what I told thim is not dacint hearin'. I have
conversed with thim in strong language, an' it done no good. No swimmin'
for thim! Come on down an' have a chat with thim yersilf, Toole. Come
on down an' argue with thim, an persuade thim with th' soft sound of yer
voice t' swim. Come on down an' git thim water goats used t' th' water."

"Ye don't understand th' water goat, Tim," said Toole in gentle reproof.
"I will show ye how t' handle him," and he went out, followed by the wet
Keeper of the Water Goats.

The two water goats stood at the side of the lake, wet and mournful,
tied to two strong stakes. They looked weary and meek, for