` Do n't you remember how the Head Chief puffed out his cheeks , and how funny the nice Stranger-man looked with the mud in his hair ? ' ` Well do I , ' said Tegumai . ' I had to pay two deerskins -- soft ones with fringes -- to the Stranger-man for the things we did to him . ' ` We did n't do anything , ' said Taffy . ` It was Mummy and the other Neolithic ladies -- and the mud . ' ` We wo n't talk about that , ' said her Daddy , ` Let 's have lunch . ' Taffy took a marrow-bone and sat mousy-quiet for ten whole minutes , while her Daddy scratched on pieces of birch-bark with a shark 's tooth . Then she said , ` Daddy , I 've thinked of a secret surprise . You make a noise -- any sort of noise . ' ` Ah ! ' said Tegumai . ` Will that do to begin with ? ' ` Yes , ' said Taffy . ` You look just like a carp-fish with its mouth open . Say it again , please . ' ` Ah ! ah ! ah ! ' said her Daddy . ` Do n't be rude , my daughter . '
` I 'm not meaning rude , really and truly , ' said XXXXX .
Chief Mummy Neolithic Stranger-man Taffy Tegumai birch-bark fringes minutes shark