“again! do it again!” chanted the children. the old man shook his head in a slow sort of way and undid the plait he had made with his long white beard. he started riffling through the silvery strands with busy gnarled fingers, as if looking for something. he stopped all of a sudden. the children gasped and gathered closer together, staring intently. the old man peered at a point in his beard and with a bellowing, “tobey re beta!” which…
