So Oswald answered--

'It was "Good hunting"--it's out of the Jungle Book!' 'That's very
pleasant to hear,' the lady said; 'I am very pleased to meet people who
know their Jungle Book. And where are you off to--the Zoological
Gardens to look for Bagheera?'

We were pleased, too, to meet some one who knew the Jungle Book.

So Oswald said--

'We are going to restore the fallen fortunes of the House of Bastable--
and we have all thought of different ways--and we're going to try them
all. Noel's way is poetry. I suppose great poets get paid?'

The lady laughed--she was awfully jolly--and said she was a sort of
poet, too, and the long strips of paper were the proofs of her new book
of stories. Because before a book is made into a real book with pages
and a cover, they sometimes print it all on strips of paper, and the
writer make marks on it with a pencil to show the printers what idiots
they are not to understand what a writer means to have printed.

We told her all about digging for treasure, and what we meant to do.
Then she asked to see Noel's poetry--and he said he didn't like--so she
said, 'Look here--if you'll show me yours I'll show you some of mine.'
So he agreed.

The jolly lady read Noel's poetry, and she said she liked it very much.
And she thought a great deal of the picture of the Malabar. And then