Come and see; the way is free;
Hear my signal: one! two! three!”
“The confectioner thanked him warmly.”
And he scratched three times on the floor. Almost immediately the head of a rat popped up through the hole. He was a huge rat, quite as large as a cat; but his size was no help to him, for as soon as he appeared, Hokey Pokey dealt him such a blow with his mallet that he fell down dead without even a squeak. Then Hokey Pokey called the confectioner, who came out from behind the screen and thanked him warmly; he also bade him choose anything he liked in the shop, in payment for his services.
“Can you match this?” asked Hokey Pokey, showing his round ball of bread.
“That can I!” said the confectioner; and he brought out a most beautiful ball, twice as large as the loaf, composed of the finest sweetmeats in the world, red and yellow and white. Hokey Pokey took it with many thanks, and then went on his way.
The next day he came to a third village, in the streets of which the people were all running to and fro in the wildest confusion.
“What is the matter?” asked Hokey Pokey, as one man ran directly into his arms.
“Alas!” replied the man. “A wild bull has got into the principal china-shop, and is breaking all the beautiful dishes.”