Little Hark was very small indeed, and Merrimeg looked quite like a giant beside him. She ran to him and stood over him and shook her finger at him and said: “What do you mean by mocking me all the time?” “All the time?” said Little Hark, looking very much frightened. “Yes, all the time!” said Merrimeg. “What do you mean by it?” “Mean by it?” said the little Echo Dwarf. “Don’t you dare repeat everything I say to you!” cried Merrimeg. “You naughty thing, you’re mocking me!” “You’re mocking me!” said Little Hark, beginning to cry. “Why, you awful little thing, I’m not!” cried Merrimeg. “How dare you say such a thing? How dare you?” [Illustration: “HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH A THING? HOW DARE YOU?”] “How dare you?” said Little Hark, crying harder. This made Merrimeg very angry, so angry that she could not say another word. She seized hold of Little Hark’s arm and shook him. There she was shaking him, pretty hard too, and Little Hark was bawling out loud, when Big Hark, his father, came out of the cave and hurried towards them to see what was the matter. Big Hark was very strong, though he was not very big. He threw his arms around Merrimeg and dragged her away from Little Hark and hauled her along to the cave and pulled her into it. Before she knew it her arms were bound up tight with tough vines which Big Hark had snatched down from the wall. Big Hark made her sit down on the floor with her back against the wall, and he and Little Hark stood before her. Little Hark looked at his father and said: “Kormsdee lokspit calliper?” This meant, in the private language of the Echo Dwarfs, “What are you going to do with her?” “Lokspit meegs,” said Big Hark, “doomdog askbiddle beddagog diskorfunjax krissmuss.” This meant, “I am going to keep her here for seven Christmases, for you to practice your echo lessons on.” “Snexterbean?” asked Little Hark. This meant, “What then?” “Lokspit snexter,” said Big Hark, “flambilly noformikin beskeem.” This meant, as you may imagine, “I am then going to give her to the Fire Bubbles at the back of the cave.” Merrimeg tried to get her arms loose, and cried out: “I want to go home! I want to go home!” Big Hark nudged Little Hark, reminding him to practice his echo, and Little Hark said: “Go home!” “All right, then, I will!” cried Merrimeg, and she struggled to her feet and started to run towards the mouth of the cave. But Big Hark caught her and held her, and she cried out: “Let me go! Let me go!” “Go!” said Little Hark, echoing her words, and Merrimeg cried: “I can’t! He won’t let me!” [Illustration] Now Little Hark should have said “Let me!” But he forgot all about echoing her words, and he shouted out two words of his own.