'I will lend you my skull-cap,' Ping Wang said.
'Thank you,' Charlie said. 'But how are we going to sew the pigtail to the cap?'
'I have a pin,' Fred replied. 'We must use that for a needle; and as for thread we must pull some out of our clothing. That can easily be managed.'
As he was speaking, he rummaged about the inside of his coat, and succeeded at last in pulling out about a yard of blue cotton. Then they sat down on portions of the ruin which had fallen in, and prepared to wait until it was dark enough to carry out their unpleasant but necessary task.
Three holes in the wall commanded a view of the surrounding country, and they were satisfied that there was no one near them at present. For nearly an hour they chatted quietly. But, when Charlie peeped out again, he started back with a little cry of surprise.
'Hallo!' he said, 'here comes the old woman who stole my pigtail.'
Fred and Ping Wang sprang to their feet, and saw the cart in which they had ridden coming slowly along the road.
'I say, I should like to recover my pigtail,' said Charlie. 'Let us run out and take it from her.'
'No, no,' Ping Wang protested. 'While we were struggling to get hold of it some one would be sure to see us. There's a man coming along now.'
The occupants of the cart began to speak to the man some moments before he met them. After a time the woman produced Charlie's pigtail, and handed it to the man to look at. For a few moments he examined it carefully, and apparently he came to the conclusion that he had as much right to it as the woman, for suddenly he rushed off with it. The cart-owner shouted to him to come back; his wife shuffled out of the cart and hobbled a yard or two after the thief, but soon realised that she would not be able to catch him. The Pages and Ping Wang thoroughly enjoyed the scene.