"Gold, and lots of it," answered Sin Sum Tu.
So Sin Sum looked in the book and found that it took five raps to
produce gold, whereupon Sin Sum Tu rapped _his_ hand with _his_ fan
five times, and a big pile of gold poured into it and spilled over on
the floor of the cabin.
"Now, Sin Sum Wen," said Sin Sum, "it's your turn. What have you got?"
"Well," said Sin Sum Wen, "I hate to tell you but I got nothing but
pies and cakes. I broke into a baker's shop thinking to rob his cash
drawer, but I guess business was bad, for the drawer was empty, but
rather than come away without anything, I fanned all his pies and
cakes, although you may not think it worth while to produce them."
"Oh, yes," said Sin Sum, "they are better than nothing. We can eat them
for supper."
Then he took his book and found that pies and cakes required eleven
raps, and Sin Sum Wen rapped _his_ hand eleven times with _his_ fan and
in about twenty seconds there were enough refreshments in the cabin to
last a week.
"Ah," said the Second Story Brothers, picking up the dainties and
piling them on the table, "now we _will_ have a feast."
And with that they started in and ate, and ate, and ate; lemon pie,
apple pie, cocoanut pie, cherry pie, chocolate cake, cinnamon bun,
jelly cake; in fact every kind of pie and cake a baker makes, and in
about an hour each of them had about every kind of a stomach ache that
every kind of a pie and cake makes, and were rolling around howling
with pain.
Now Dong, while he had eaten some of the goodies had not eaten much,
for not being very happy he was not very hungry, so he was not made ill
like the others. And presently as he saw that they paid no attention to
him, he decided that here was his chance to run away. So he slipped
out of the cabin and over the side of the boat, and made off into the
city as fast as he could to the police station, for he knew when the
Viceroy woke up and found his family jewels gone, there would be an
awful row. And if he showed the police where to find them the Viceroy
could not punish him for being with Sin Sum when he stole them.
When he got to the police station, however, the officer at the door
told him that Ho Hum, the Chief of Police, was taking a nap and could
not be disturbed.
"But," cried Dong, "I can show you how to catch the Second Story
Brothers who have stolen the Viceroy's family jewels, if you will come
with me."
"What!" shouted the officer, "they stole the Viceroy's jewels?"
Then he ran off and wakened Ho Hum at once.
"Waugh!" yawned the Chief of Police, "what is this I hear? The Second
Story Brothers have stolen the Viceroy's jewels and you will show us
how to catch them?"
"Yes," said Dong, "but you'd better hurry up before they find out that
I have come to tell you about it."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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