"Bil-lee's dot chick-_ees_! Bil-lee's dot pitty dishes. Bil-lee make
dishes go 'ippity!"

Before he could make the two jars go 'ippity, The Hopper leaped across
the room and seized the basket. He tore off the towel with which he had
carefully covered the stolen pottery and disclosed the contents for
inspection.

"'Scuse me, gents; no crowdin'," he warned as the connoisseurs sprang
toward him. He placed the porcelains carefully on the floor under the
Christmas tree. "Now ye kin listen t' me, gents. I reckon I'm goin' t'
have somethin' t' say about this here crockery. I stole 'em--I stole 'em
fer th' lady there, she thinkin' ef ye didn't have 'em no more ye'd stop
rowin' about 'em. Ye kin call th' bulls an' turn me over ef ye likes; but
I ain't goin' t' have ye fussin' an' causin' th' lady trouble no more. I
ain't goin' to stand fer ut!"

"Robber!" shouted Talbot. "You entered my house at the instance of this
man; it was you--"

"I never saw the gent before," declared The Hopper hotly. "I ain't never
had no thin' to do with neither o' ye."

"He's telling the truth!" protested Muriel, laughing hysterically. "I did
it--I got him to take them!"

The two collectors were not interested in explanations; they were hungrily
eyeing their property. Wilton attempted to pass The Hopper and reach the
Christmas tree under whose protecting boughs the two vases were looking