“Where did you lose it?”
“Yah, yah!” chattered the other again.
“Where did you lose it?” persisted Merry.
“Me no lemembal,” said the one who spoke pidgin-English. “Me lostee it. Glivee tlo me!”
“Not unless you can satisfy me that it belongs to you,” asserted Frank obstinately, for he had conceived a desire to retain possession of that curious stick. “If I knew it belonged to you, I’d give it up in a minute.”
Again the Chinaman nodded as if his neck worked on hinges.
“B’longee tlo me,” he asserted. “Glivee klick! Melican mlan gitee into double if no glivee klick.”
“Yah, yah, yah!” parroted the other, still dancing.
Frank put the stick into his pocket.
“I think I’ll keep it a while longer,” he said. “I am stopping here at this hotel. If you wish to find me to-morrow, come round early and show this card.”