A Chinese Wonder Book | Page 4

not stealing it, for the Wangs have always been
good friends to us, and then, too, we have just dined with them."
So skilfully did this crafty woman carry out her plans that within an
hour she was back in her own house, gleefully showing the priest's
charm to her husband. Not a soul had seen her enter the Wang house.
The dog had made no noise, and the cat had only blinked her surprise at
seeing a stranger and had gone to sleep again on the floor.
Great was the clamour and weeping when, on returning from the fair in
expectation of a hot supper, the widow found her treasure missing. It
was long before she could grasp the truth. She went back to the little
box in the cupboard ten times before she could believe it was empty,
and the room looked as if a cyclone had struck it, so long and carefully
did the two unfortunates hunt for the lost beetle.
Then came days of hunger which were all the harder to bear since the
recent period of good food and plenty. Oh, if they had only not got used
to such dainties! How hard it was to go back to scraps and scrapings!
But if the widow and her son were sad over the loss of the good meals,
the two pets were even more so. They were reduced to beggary and had
to go forth daily upon the streets in search of stray bones and refuse
that decent dogs and cats turned up their noses at.
One day, after this period of starvation had been going on for some
time, Whitehead began suddenly to frisk about in great excitement.
"Whatever is the matter with you?" growled Blackfoot. "Are you mad

from hunger, or have you caught another flea?"
"I was just thinking over our affairs, and now I know the cause of all
our trouble."
"Do you indeed?" sneered Blackfoot.
"Yes, I do indeed, and you'd better think twice before you mock me, for
I hold your future in my paw, as you will very soon see."
"Well, you needn't get angry about nothing. What wonderful discovery
have you made--that every rat has one tail?"
"First of all, are you willing to help me bring good fortune back to our
family?"
"Of course I am. Don't be silly," barked the dog, wagging his tail
joyfully at the thought of another good dinner. "Surely! surely! I will
do anything you like if it will bring Dame Fortune back again."
"All right. Here is the plan. There has been a thief in the house who has
stolen our mistress's golden beetle. You remember all our big dinners
that came from the pot? Well, every day I saw our mistress take a little
golden beetle out of the black box and put it into the pot. One day she
held it up before me, saying, 'Look, puss, there is the cause of all our
happiness. Don't you wish it was yours?' Then she laughed and put it
back into the box that stays in the cupboard."
"Is that true?" questioned Blackfoot. "Why didn't you say something
about it before?"
"You remember the day Mr. and Mrs. Chu were here, and how Mrs.
Chu returned in the afternoon after master and mistress had gone to the
fair? I saw her, out of the tail of my eye, go to that very black box and
take out the golden beetle. I thought it curious, but never dreamed she
was a thief. Alas! I was wrong! She took the beetle, and if I am not
mistaken, she and her husband are now enjoying the feasts that belong
to us."

"Let's claw them," growled Blackfoot, gnashing his teeth.
"That would do no good," counselled the other, "for they would be sure
to come out best in the end. We want the beetle back--that's the main
thing. We'll leave revenge to human beings; it is none of our business."
"What do you suggest?" said Blackfoot. "I am with you through thick
and thin."
"Let's go to the Chu house and make off with the beetle."
"Alas, that I am not a cat!" moaned Blackfoot. "If we go there I couldn't
get inside, for robbers always keep their gates well locked. If I were
like you I could scale the wall. It is the first time in all my life I ever
envied a cat."
"We will go together," continued Whitehead. "I will ride on your back
when we are fording the river, and you can protect me from strange
animals. When we get to the Chu house, I will climb over the wall and
manage the rest of the business myself. Only you must wait outside to
help me to get home with the prize."