about midnight
Then he rammed his wicked old nose into the dish again , and pushed it all round the room , trying to sop up more liquor , which was n't there , and trod on Denison 's canvas-slippered foot , and knocked over the little tin kerosene oil lamp which was standing on the floor , and when Hayes , with loud and blasphemous remarks grabbed at the ironing-blanket of the laundry-table to extinguish the flames , he pulled the table down on the top of Denison and himself and the goat and everything , for the blanket was nailed on at the four corners , and when he was down on his hands and knees , the goat being exceedingly alarmed and half-drunk , and smelling his own hair burning , put his head down and charged at the universe in general , or anything else he could hit , and he hit Hayes fair on the temple with a noise like a ship 's mainmast going by the board ; then the people outside burst in the door , and the creature , with a bull-like bellow , charged out among them , and landed his bony head into the stomach of Mataiasi , who was carrying the bucket of milk , and was afraid to put it down when he saw him coming ; then in some way the handle of the iron bucket got on Billy MacLaggan 's horns , which simply made him thirst for gore , for he thought he was being made fun of because he was in liquor . With the bucket swinging and clattering and banging around , he made a dash up on the verandah , among the pretty muslin-clad ladies and white-duck suited men , creating havoc and destruction , and smelling of kerosene and burnt hair and ancient goat , and uttering horrible , blood-curdling _ bah-h-h-s _ , till he got into the card-table corner , and mistaking the wide glass window for an open door , he promptly jumped through it , and fell with a shower of glass outside on to the verandah again , where Thady O'Brien and the fat German with the spectacles fell on him , and tried to hold him down , and the spectacles were ground into dust and otherwise damaged , and some of the ladies endeavouring to escape out of the hideous _ mélée _ fell with him , and then the goat struggled to his feet with the bucket squashed flat against his forehead , and his horns covered with lace , and tulle , and bits of kid gloves , and planted one of his cloven forefeet into the shirt-front of a German officer , and smashed his watch . Then with another roar of defiance he burst through and disappeared into the wilderness at the back of Mrs. MacLaggan 's garden , where he was followed by Leger , the drunken carpenter , and his wife , and nineteen Samoans , all armed with rifles . The army fired at him for two hours , and about midnight returned and reported him riddled with bullets , whereupon Mrs. Molly , who was a little hysterical at the awful mess and wreckage caused by the brute , thanked them and gave them ten dollars . Now it so happened that Billy MacLaggan was not killed at all , for about two o'clock in the morning , as Bully Hayes and Tom Denison were sitting on the verandah of the former 's house at Matautu Point , drinking brandy and soda , and dabbing arnica bandages on their various contusions , Pilot Hamilton hailed them from the front gate . He had just left the dance with his wife , and was quite sober -- for Samoa . He asked them to come on with him to his place , as Billy MacLaggan , he said , was lying down in Mrs. Hamilton 's kitchen , and seemed poorly , and that he hoped Hayes would forgive the poor thing , which was only a dumb animal .