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legs are longer than mine, and you won't fall into the
beaver-swamp, and ask for Daddy's other spear--the one with the
black handle that hangs over our fireplace.'

The Stranger-man (and he was a Tewara) thought, 'This is a very,
very wonderful child. She waves her arms and she shouts at me,
but I don't understand a word of what she says. But if I don't do
what she wants, I greatly fear that that haughty Chief,
Man-who-turns-his-back-on-callers, will be angry.' He got up and
twisted a big flat piece of bark off a birch-tree and gave it to
Taffy. He did this, Best Beloved, to show that his heart was as
white as the birch-bark and that he meant no harm; but Taffy
didn't quite understand.

'Oh!' said she. 'Now I see! You want my Mummy's living-address?
Of course I can't write, but I can draw pictures if I've anything
sharp to scratch with. Please lend me the shark's tooth off your
necklace.'

The Stranger-man (and he was a Tewara) didn't say anything, So
Taffy put up her little hand and pulled at the beautiful bead and
seed and shark-tooth necklace round his neck.

The Stranger-man (and he was a Tewara) thought, 'This is a very,
very, very wonderful child. The shark's tooth on my necklace is a
magic shark's tooth, and I was always told that if anybody
touched it without my leave they would immediately swell up or
burst, but this child doesn't swell up or burst, and that
important Chief, Man-who-attends-strictly-to-his-business, who
has not yet taken any notice of me at all, doesn't seem to be
afraid that she will swell up or burst. I had better be more
polite.'

So he gave Taffy the shark's tooth, and she lay down flat on her
tummy with her legs in the air, like some people on the
drawing-room floor when they want to draw pictures, and she said,
'Now I'll draw you some beautiful pictures! You can look over my
shoulder, but you mustn't joggle. First I'll draw Daddy fishing.
It isn't very like him; but Mummy will know, because I've drawn
his spear all broken. Well, now I'll draw the other spear that he
wants, the black-handled spear. It looks as if it was sticking in
Daddy's back, but that's because the shark's tooth slipped and
this piece of bark isn't big enough. That's the spear I want you
to fetch; so I'll draw a picture of me myself 'splaining to
you. My hair doesn't stand up like I've drawn, but it's easier to
draw that way. Now I'll draw you. I think you're very nice
really, but I can't make you pretty in the picture, so you
mustn't be 'fended. Are you 'fended?'

The Stranger-man (and he was a Tewara) smiled. He thought, 'There
must be a big battle going to be fought somewhere, and this
extraordinary child, who takes my magic shark's tooth but who
does not swell up or burst, is telling me to call all the great
Chief's tribe to help him. He is a great Chief, or he would have

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