"'We are crazy,' said one. 'How can a thief steal this horse, even if he were to come in here? We are four to one. Two of us should sleep a while, and thus we can take turns in watching.' This was agreed to, and two of the guards stretched themselves on the straw and prepared to sleep. But just then they heard some one singing far down the street. It was a jolly song, and the sound of it came louder and louder. As the singer was going by, the light in the stable caught his eye, and he paused and looked in, but still kept up his singing. "'Friends,' he said when his song was done, 'what is the trouble?' "'We are watching a horse.' "'Is he sick? Perhaps I can aid you. I have doctored many a horse in my day.' "'He is not sick,' replied the watchers. 'He is well and taking his ease. We are watching to prevent a thief from stealing him.' "Then they told him the threat the thief had made. "'Come, that is too good,' cried the newcomer. 'This thief will be worth looking at when four such stout lads as you get through with him. When does he show himself?' "'That is what we are to find out,' replied the watchers. "'Very well,' the newcomer said; 'I'll stay, by your permission, and see you double him up.' "The watchers gave their consent gladly, for the newcomer had a lively manner and a rattling tongue. He sang songs and told stories for an hour or more, and then pulled a bottle from under his coat. "'A little wine,' he said, 'will clear the fog from our throats.' He passed the bottle around, and all drank except the guard who was watching in the stall. "Now the man who had come singing up the street was the thief himself, and the guard in the stall was his companion. The wine was drugged, and in a very few minutes three of the watchers were fast asleep. Then the thief and his companion took the horse from the stall. "'I shall have to remain here and pretend to be asleep,' said the companion. 'You will find a saddle around the corner.' He then told the thief about the man with the saddle. "'You are a fool, my friend,' said the thief. 'It is a trick--a trap.' "But when he had carried off the horse and hid it at the house of an acquaintance, the thought of the man with the saddle worried him so that he went back to satisfy himself. Tip-Top and his saddle were there, and Tip-Top had slept so soundly that his head had rolled from his pillow. The thief thought it would be a good stroke of business to take the saddle along, but when he tried to lift it, Tip-Top awoke and seized him, and cried 'Murder!' at the top of his voice. "The Mayor and his brother rushed from their place of concealment, and soon the thief was bound. "'Where is the horse?' cried the Mayor. "'What horse?' exclaimed the thief. 'Do you think I carry horses in my pocket?' "'What were you doing here, then?' "'This fellow's head had slipped from its pillow, and when I tried to put it back he seized me and yelled that I was murdering him! I saw no horse under the saddle.'