It represented a ragged man partly supporting himself on a spade and bending his lean body over a hole in the earth , with one hand extended to grasp something that he had found . But close behind him , with a fiendish laugh on his features , appeared a figure with horns , a tufted tail and a cloven hoof . `` Avaunt , Satan ! '' cried Peter . `` The man shall have his gold . '' Uplifting his axe , he hit the horned gentleman such a blow on the head as not only demolished him , but the treasure-seeker also , and caused the whole scene to vanish like magic . Moreover , his axe broke quite through the plaster and laths and discovered a cavity . `` Mercy on us , Mr. Peter ! Are you quarrelling with the Old Scratch ? '' said Tabitha , who was seeking some fuel to put under the dinner-pot . Without answering the old woman , Peter broke down a further space of the wall , and laid open a small closet or cupboard on one side of the fireplace , about breast-high from the ground . It contained nothing but a brass lamp covered with verdigris , and a dusty piece of parchment . While Peter inspected the latter , Tabitha seized the lamp and began to rub it with her apron . `` There is no use in rubbing it , Tabitha , '' said Peter . `` It is not Aladdin 's lamp , though I take it to be a token of as much luck . Look here , Tabby ! '' Tabitha took the parchment and held it close to her nose , which was saddled with a pair of iron-bound spectacles . But no sooner had she begun to puzzle over it than she burst into a chuckling laugh , holding both her hands against her sides . `` You ca n't make a fool of the old woman , '' cried she . `` This is your own handwriting , Mr. Peter , the same as in the letter you sent me from Mexico . ''
`` There is certainly a considerable resemblance , '' said XXXXX , again examining the parchment .
Aladdin Mexico Peter Scratch Tabby Tabitha dinner-pot laths treasure-seeker verdigris