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'

'You needn't draw anything of him except just the opening of his
mouth and the feeler across. Then we'll know he's a carp-fish,
'cause the perches and trouts haven't got feelers. Look here,
Taffy.' And he drew this. (2.)

'Now I'll copy it.' said Taffy. 'Will you understand this when
you see it?'

'Perfectly,' said her Daddy.

And she drew this. (3.) 'And I'll be quite as s'prised when I see
it anywhere, as if you had jumped out from behind a tree and said
'"Ah!"'

'Now, make another noise,' said Taffy, very proud.

'Yah!' said her Daddy, very loud.

'H'm,' said Taffy. 'That's a mixy noise. The end part is
ah-carp-fish-mouth; but what can we do about the front part? Yer-
yer-yer and ah! Ya!'

'It's very like the carp-fish-mouth noise. Let's draw another
bit of the carp-fish and join 'em,' said her Daddy. He was quite
incited too.

'No. If they're joined, I'll forget. Draw it separate. Draw his
tail. If he's standing on his head the tail will come first.
'Sides, I think I can draw tails easiest,' said Taffy.

'A good notion,' said Tegumai. "Here's a carp-fish tail for the
yer-noise.' And he drew this. (4.)

'I'll try now,' said Taffy. ''Member I can't draw like you,
Daddy. Will it do if I just draw the split part of the tail, and
the sticky-down line for where it joins?' And she drew this. (5.)

Her Daddy nodded, and his eyes were shiny bright with 'citement.

'That's beautiful,' she said. 'Now make another noise, Daddy.'

'Oh!' said her Daddy, very loud.

'That's quite easy,' said Taffy. 'You make your mouth all around
like an egg or a stone. So an egg or a stone will do for that.'

'You can't always find eggs or stones. We'll have to scratch a
round something like one.' And he drew this. (6.)

'My gracious!' said Taffy, 'what a lot of noise-pictures we've
made,--carp-mouth, carp-tail, and egg! Now, make another noise,
Daddy.'

'Ssh!' said her Daddy, and frowned to himself, but Taffy was too
incited to notice.

'That's quite easy,' she said, scratching on the bark.

'Eh, what?' said her Daddy. 'I meant I was thinking, and didn't
want to be disturbed.'

'It's a noise just the same. It's the noise a snake makes,
Daddy, when it is thinking and doesn't want to be disturbed.
Let's make the ssh-noise a snake. Will this do?' And she drew
this. (7.)

'There,' she said. 'That's another s'prise-secret. When you draw
a hissy-snake by the door of your little back-cave where you mend
the spears, I'll know you're thinking hard; and I'll come in most
mousy-quiet. And if you draw it on a tree by the river when you
are fishing, I'll know you want me to walk most most mousy-quiet,
so as not to shake the banks.'

'Perfectly true,' said Tegumai. And there's more in this game
than you think. Taffy, dear, I've a notion that your Daddy's
daughter has hit upon the finest thing that there ever was since

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