"That reminds me," said Melton, with a quick glance at his wife. "Just send him in here for a minute, will you?"
She went into the kitchen and a moment later returned, followed by a Chinaman, who shuffled along in his heelless slippers.
The boys glanced at him indifferently for a moment. Then a startled recognition leaped into their eyes.
"Wah Lee," they cried in chorus, jumping to their feet.
"That same old yellow sinner," confirmed Melton complacently.
The Chinaman himself was shocked for a moment out of his Oriental stolidity. A delighted smile spread over his face and he broke into an excited jargon of "pidgin English," of which the refrain was:
"Velly glad slee. Wah Lee velly glad slee."
Then in a burst of grateful memory he threw himself to the floor and tried to put their feet upon his head, as a token that he was their slave for life. But they jerked him upright in a torrent of eager questioning.
"You old rascal."
"How did you ever get here?"