While the others—all but Belle Ada—looked on in amusement, Teddy braved the storm of cyclonic, oriental language and entered the cook house.
“All right, Sing Lung,� they heard him say. “Mouse gone. You can come down now.� Then, in an aside to the others: “Golly, he’s crawled onto a shelf and curled up!�
Reverting to English for a moment, the cook screamed:
“All lite! All lite! You say all lite when little lat he inside my fi’il? I no clazy! All lite! Ha! Maybe you puttee little lat in fi’il, hey?�
“It wasn’t a rat, it was a mouse, Sing Lung, and it’s gone now. So come on down.�
“You say so—yes?â€�
“Yes, I say so. Come on down.�
The cook descended cautiously to the floor and looked about him. Finding that the mouse was not in sight, he blew on his finger tips and, with a grin on his face, went to the door.
“She’s gone, I guess,� he said calmly. “Me no like ’um. Poison! Now, you, li’l Belle, you hand me fi’il; yes?�
“He knows if you give it to him, there won’t be any mice in it,� Mr. Manley laughed. “Go ahead, Belle Ada, give it to him.�