“How much will you have? Shall I throw it all out?”
Now the cook lay in the next room, and hearing a noise, she raised
herself in her bed and listened. But the thieves had been thrown into a
fright and had run away. By and by they plucked up courage, and said:--
“That little fellow is only trying to make fools of us.” So they came
back and spoke low to him, saying: “Now let us have no more of your
jokes, but throw out some of the money.” Then Tom called out again as
loud as he could:--
“Very well! Hold your hands; here it comes.”
The cook heard this plainly; she sprang out of bed, and ran to open the
door. The thieves were off as if a wolf were after them, and the cook
could see nothing in the dark. So she went back for a light, and while
she was gone, Tom slipped off into the barn.
The cook looked about and searched every hole and corner, but found
nobody; she went back to bed, and thought she must have been dreaming
with her eyes open. Tom crawled about in the hayloft, and at last found
a good place to rest in. He meant to sleep till daylight, and then find
his way home to his father and mother.