“Tip-Top tried to say something, but the servant shut the door with a bang. Then Tip-Top did as he was bid. He went through the side gate, and found the cellar without any trouble, but instead of hanging the saddle on a peg, he placed it on the floor and sat on it.
“After waiting patiently a while, wondering when the Mayor would call him, Tip-Top heard voices on the other side of the wall. He listened closely, and soon found that the housemaid who had driven him away from the Mayor’s door was talking to her brother, who had just returned from a long journey.
“‘The Mayor has gold,’ said the brother. ‘You must tell me where he keeps it. I have a companion in my travels, and to-night we shall come and take the treasure.’
“For a long time the housemaid refused to tell where the Mayor kept his gold, but the brother threatened and coaxed, and finally she told him where the treasure lay.
“‘It is in a closet by the chimney in the first room to the right at the head of the stairs. The gold is in an iron box and it is very heavy.’
“‘My companion has long hair and a strong arm,’ said the brother. ‘He is cross-eyed and knock-kneed. It wouldn’t do for you to meet him in the hallway. Go to bed early and lock your door, and if you hear any outcry during the night cover your head with a pillow and go to sleep again.’
“Then the housemaid and her brother went away.
“‘Well,’ said Tip-Top, ‘this is no place for me.’
“He waited a while, and then went out of the cellar into the yard with his saddle on his head. The cook, seeing him there, told him to carry the saddle to the stable where the horses were kept. Tip-Top went to the stable, placed his saddle in an empty stall, and sat on it.
“After a while he heard two persons come in from the street. They went into a stall near by and began to talk. One was the coachman and the other was his nephew, who had just returned from a long journey.