In school the children were learning about maple sap with Mr Hammer. They had boiled some sap outside in the playground and turned it into syrup. Now they were having pancakes and maple syrup. The three cat-sized men smelled the frying pancakes and maple syrup and wandered over from the grain elevator. Elsa, Freda and Katie had learned how to make splatter pancakes at home. They took the left over drops of batter and splattered them on the hot griddle while Mr Hammer was eating his pile of pancakes. After the tiny pancakes were browned on both sides the girls placed them on a wood chip and laid it on the ground behind a pine tree in the play ground. There were three more drops of maple syrup in the baby-food jar. Getting the drops out of the jar took a long time and the three girls were a little sticky and a little late returning to class. They never did find out that it was Stanley, Morris and Frank who had made the splatter pancakes disappear so quickly.