“Why, you awful little thing, I’m not!” cried Merrimeg. “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:
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?”