It is hard to tell whether it was surprise at his failure or the man's face that frightened Barker—perhaps it was both. Certainly the face was enough to frighten any well-brought-up dog.
He was made entirely of stone; even his constant smile showed the chisel marks; but his head was the oddest part of him—just one straight line from the tip of his nose to the top of his head.
"Hello! where did you come from?" asked Billy.
"From the quarry," said the man. "I'm an Aztec Fragment. Can't you tell that from my well-chiseled features? He-he-he! That's a good, silly joke, isn't it? You see: stone—my well-chiseled features—stone chiseled. He-he-he!"
"Who is that back of you?"
"That's my sister, Her Terics. I'm His Terics. Does your dog bite?" said the Fragment, and he and his sister burst into gales of laughter.
The Aztec Fragments: His Terics and Her Terics.
"Sometimes, when he's hungry," said Billy, knowing that they were making fun of him; "but he's not very fond of stone legs."
"He-he! that's funny. He ought to eat stone; it would give him grit."