A Chinese Wonder Book | Page 5

No sooner arranged than done. The companions set out that very night
on their adventure. They crossed the river as the cat had suggested, and
Blackfoot really enjoyed the swim, for, as he said, it took him back to
his puppyhood, while the cat did not get a single drop of water on her
face. It was midnight when they reached the Chu house.
"Just wait till I return," purred Whitehead in Blackfoot's ear.
With a mighty spring she reached the top of the mud wall, and then
jumped down to the inside court. While she was resting in the shadow,
trying to decide just how to go about her work, a slight rustling
attracted her attention, and pop! one giant spring, one stretch-out of the
claws, and she had caught a rat that had just come out of his hole for a
drink and a midnight walk.
Now, Whitehead was so hungry that she would have made short work

of this tempting prey if the rat had not opened its mouth and, to her
amazement, begun to talk in good cat dialect.
"Pray, good puss, not so fast with your sharp teeth! Kindly be careful
with your claws! Don't you know it is the custom now to put prisoners
on their honour? I will promise not to run away."
"Pooh! what honour has a rat?"
"Most of us haven't much, I grant you, but my family was brought up
under the roof of Confucius, and there we picked up so many crumbs of
wisdom that we are exceptions to the rule. If you will spare me, I will
obey you for life, in fact, will be your humble slave." Then, with a
quick jerk, freeing itself, "See, I am loose now, but honour holds me as
if I were tied, and so I make no further attempt to get away."
"Much good it would do you," purred Whitehead, her fur crackling
noisily, and her mouth watering for a taste of rat steak. "However, I am
quite willing to put you to the test. First, answer a few polite questions
and I will see if you're a truthful fellow. What kind of food is your
master eating now, that you should be so round and plump when I am
thin and scrawny?"
"Oh, we have been in luck lately, I can tell you. Master and mistress
feed on the fat of the land, and of course we hangers-on get the
crumbs."
"But this is a poor tumble-down house. How can they afford such
eating?"
"That is a great secret, but as I am in honour bound to tell you, here
goes. My mistress has just obtained in some manner or other, a fairy's
charm----"
"She stole it from our place," hissed the cat, "I will claw her eyes out if
I get the chance. Why, we've been fairly starving for want of that beetle.
She stole it from us just after she had been an invited guest! What do
you think of that for honour, Sir Rat? Were your mistress's ancestors

followers of the sage?"
"Oh, oh, oh! Why, that explains everything!" wailed the rat. "I have
often wondered how they got the golden beetle, and yet of course I
dared not ask any questions."
"No, certainly not! But hark you, friend rat--you get that golden trinket
back for me, and I will set you free at once of all obligations. Do you
know where she hides it?"
"Yes, in a crevice where the wall is broken. I will bring it to you in a
jiffy, but how shall we exist when our charm is gone? There will be a
season of scanty food, I fear; beggars' fare for all of us."
"Live on the memory of your good deed," purred the cat. "It is splendid,
you know, to be an honest beggar. Now scoot! I trust you completely,
since your people lived in the home of Confucius. I will wait here for
your return. Ah!" laughed Whitehead to herself, "luck seems to be
coming our way again!"
Five minutes later the rat appeared, bearing the trinket in its mouth. It
passed the beetle over to the cat, and then with a whisk was off for ever.
Its honour was safe, but it was afraid of Whitehead. It had seen the
gleam of desire in her green eyes, and the cat might have broken her
word if she had not been so anxious to get back home where her
mistress could command the wonderful kettle once more to bring forth
food.
The two adventurers reached the river just as the sun was rising above
the eastern hills.
"Be careful," cautioned Blackfoot, as the cat leaped upon his back for
her ride across the stream, "be careful not to forget the treasure. In