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Nobody said anything at all for a longtime, till the Head Chief
laughed; then the Stranger-man (who was at least a Tewara)
laughed; then Tegumai laughed till he fell down flat on the bank;
then all the Tribe laughed more and worse and louder. The only
people who did not laugh were Teshumai Tewindrow and all the
Neolithic ladies. They were very polite to all their husbands,
and said 'Idiot!' ever so often.

Then the Head Chief of the Tribe of Tegumai cried and said and sang,
'O Small-person-with-out-any-manners-who-ought-to-be-spanked,
you've hit upon a great invention!'

'I didn't intend to; I only wanted Daddy's black-handled spear,'
said Taffy.

'Never mind. It is a great invention, and some day men will call
it writing. At present it is only pictures, and, as we have seen
to-day, pictures are not always properly understood. But a time
will come, O Babe of Tegumai, when we shall make letters--all
twenty-six of 'em,--and when we shall be able to read as well as
to write, and then we shall always say exactly what we mean
without any mistakes. Let the Neolithic ladies wash the mud out
of the stranger's hair.'

'I shall be glad of that,' said Taffy, 'because, after all,
though you've brought every single other spear in the Tribe of
Tegumai, you've forgotten my Daddy's black-handled spear.'

Then the Head Chief cried and said and sang, 'Taffy dear, the
next time you write a picture-letter, you'd better send a man who
can talk our language with it, to explain what it means. I don't
mind it myself, because I am a Head Chief, but it's very bad for
the rest of the Tribe of Tegumai, and, as you can see, it
surprises the stranger.'

Then they adopted the Stranger-man (a genuine Tewara of Tewar)
into the Tribe of Tegumai, because he was a gentleman and did not
make a fuss about the mud that the Neolithic ladies had put into
his hair. But from that day to this (and I suppose it is all
Taffy's fault), very few little girls have ever liked learning to
read or write. Most of them prefer to draw pictures and play
about with their Daddies--just like Taffy.


THERE runs a road by Merrow Down--
A grassy track to-day it is
An hour out of Guildford town,
Above the river Wey it is.

Here, when they heard the horse-bells ring,
The ancient Britons dressed and rode
To watch the dark Phoenicians bring
Their goods along the Western Road.

And here, or hereabouts, they met
To hold their racial talks and such--
To barter beads for Whitby jet,
And tin for gay shell torques and such.

But long and long before that time
(When bison used to roam on it)
Did Taffy and her Daddy climb
That down, and had their home on it.

Then beavers built in Broadstone brook
And made a swamp where Bramley stands:
And hears from Shere would come and look
For Taffimai where Shamley stands.

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