Dad was waiting for Mother and the children when they came home. He was almost as excited about the cart as the children were.
"Yes, this is just as I remember it," said Dad, looking first at the cart and then at the harness. "This is the very same cart I had for my goat when I was a boy."
That same night Dad helped the children hitch Whiskers to the cart. He talked to the children and to Whiskers all the time he worked. "It will take Whiskers a little time to get used to the harness and the cart," he said. "Until I say so you may not hitch her up by yourselves. I do not want anyone to get hurt."
Dad worked a little more, then he was talking again. "This cart is not very big, and not very strong," he said. "But it will hold one boy or one girl. Whiskers will pull the cart and you, too, if you are nice to her. I do not want to see anyone hitting her with a stick. The goat may run a little if she wants to, but most of the time she will walk."
At last Whiskers was hitched to the cart. It was almost funny, the way she looked back at the cart. It looks as if she wanted to say, "Now tell me, just what is that thing?"
Dad took the neck rope in his hand. "Come, Whiskers," he said.
Whiskers took one step, then she stopped. She took another step and stopped again.
Dad did not hurry the goat. "Good girl! Good girl!," he said again and again. He stopped to pet Whiskers, then he asked her to pull the cart again.
Before long Whiskers was walking along as if there was nothing to it. The children ran along the side of the cart. They were very, very excited.