day, as might have been expected,
Madge's shoes had shrunk up so uncomfortably after their wetting that
she could not get them on without a great deal of rough handling. And
then, to make matters worse, Nurse had declared that they were still
damp, and made her take them off again to be put in front of the fire
and thoroughly dried. Of course Betty was downstairs and half through
a basin of bread-and-milk before Madge appeared, with a very gloomy
countenance.

However, Captain West could not abide melancholy faces around the
table, and he began to make such outrageous suggestions about a fitting
punishment for the goats who had disturbed his night's rest, that at
last even Madge was compelled to relax into a smile.

"Oh, don't pretend you will shave them, Papa! I don't believe anybody
could make them stand still enough to be shaved," she said. "And as
for harnessing them to the brougham, you know they are so small they
would slip through the horses' great collars. But it would be very
nice to have a tiny cart that they really could draw," she added
wistfully.

"I think the first thing is to accustom your steeds to come when they
are called," replied Captain West. "It will be very awkward if,
whenever you want to go for a drive, you have to chase them up hill and
down dale for an hour before you can catch them."

Acting on this suggestion, the children spent all their spare moments
during the next day or two in trying to make friends with the goats.
They were so successful, that at last Jack would consent to be led
about by a bit of string tied to one of his horns, almost as quietly as
a little dog. Jill remained shy to the last, and in spite of being
perpetually offered the most tempting bits of carrot, could never
summon up sufficient courage to eat anything out of the children's
hands.

"Now that Jack is so tame he shall join in all our games," said Madge.
So the children led him about everywhere with them in the garden and
fields. But they never dared let go the string, or he would be off,
running and leaping into the most extraordinary places before they
could come up with him again.

Poor Barton was much perplexed where to shut up the two goats at night.
The cow-house was a perfect failure; Jack and Jill stayed in it just as
long as they liked, and not a moment longer. Unless all the doors and
windows were shut, which was very stuffy in hot weather, there was no
keeping them in an instant after the