“Naughty bird!” came back her own voice to her from the top of the hill. Merrimeg was astonished. She had never heard an echo before. She thought she would try it again, so she called out: “Oh, you naughty bird, come down here!” Her own voice came back to her from the same place up the hill, but it didn’t quite repeat her words; it said: “Come on down!” The echo must have made a mistake. Merrimeg was more than ever astonished. She waited a minute, and then the same voice came down to her from the top of the hill, and it said: “Down here!” The echo had got it right this time. Evidently it must have been a very young echo indeed. Merrimeg forgot all about the blue bird, and she began to climb the hill to find out who it was that was mocking her. She didn’t know it, but there was an Echo Dwarf who lived in a cave near the top of the hill, and there lived with him his little boy, a very little boy, who was just learning how to make echoes. Big Hark was the father’s name. Little Hark was the little boy’s name. Big Hark had a great deal of trouble in teaching Little Hark to make echoes, for Little Hark often forgot, and instead of calling back the same words he had heard, he would often call back words of his own. Besides, if the words he had to call back were big words, he always got them mixed up. His father never knew when he was going to make a mess of everything. And when he did that, it made Big Hark so angry he could hardly speak. Merrimeg went on up the hill, and pretty soon she called out again: “Why couldn’t I catch the bird with my salt?” “Too slow!” came back the voice from the top of the hill. Merrimeg couldn’t understand this at all. She listened for a minute, and then she heard another voice up above her: [Illustration: “OXTRAGOB BORGS, GOOBLIK!”] “My salt! Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” This was Little Hark’s father, and when he said “Oxtragob borgs, gooblik!” he meant, in the private language of the Echo Dwarfs, “Wrong again, stupid!” Big Hark and Little Hark were standing in front of their cave, and Big Hark was letting Little Hark practice at making echoes, as Merrimeg came up the hill. Not many people came that way, and Big Hark was glad of the chance to give his little boy a lesson. Merrimeg came on further and further up the hill, and after a while she stopped and called out again: “Are you still there?” “Still there!” came back the voice. This made her quite angry. She did not like to be mocked every time she opened her mouth. She cried out: “Stop mocking me!” “Mocking me!” came back the voice. This made her very angry indeed. Without saying anything more she clambered on up the hill and stopped all out of breath on a little ledge before the mouth of a cave. There a little further on along the path was standing Little Hark himself, with his hands up to his mouth, all ready to shout back an echo. His father had gone inside the cave.