164 CONVERSATIONS ON 



you, so that you will understand me ; but I 

 will try. Suppose your under-lip was horn, 

 instead of being flesh ; and suppose it hung 

 straight down until it reached the bottom of 

 your chin, so as to cover the whole of it, and 

 that at the bottom there was a large three- 

 sided plate which was hollowed out, and fast- 

 ened by a joint or hinge to the bottom of your 

 long lip, so that it could turn up on the hinge 

 and cover your face as high up as your nose, 

 and hide your long lip and your mouth and 

 part of your cheeks : suppose, too, that at the 

 upper end of this long face-cover there were 

 two other pieces, so broad that they would 

 cover all your nose and your temples, and 

 could open sidewise like jaws, and show your 

 nose and mouth, so that when they were 

 opened they would appear like the blinders to a 

 horse's bridle ; and then suppose that these 

 jaws, upon their inner edges, were cut into a 

 great many sharp teeth, which fitted into each 

 other, and you will have some notion of this 

 curious mask. Do you think you understand 

 me?" 



" Why, pretty well, Uncle Philip, we think." 



" Well, boys, here are some pictures, and 



with their help I hope what I have been say- 



