This was duly turned into Bongo idiom by Nassar, on which the chief, whose gratification was both evident and complete, replied—
"Are they not? You have never seen anything like them, have you?"
"Never!" said Delange, as if he were lost in admiration. "And what, may I ask, is the age of this charming woman?" pointing to the fattest of the three.
"Seventeen."
"And a very promising girl she is."
In the meantime the women had been scanning Miss Poles very narrowly, and that lady's attention being attracted to the notice which was being taken of her, she asked Nassar to find out what their ideas were.
"They are very much exercised by your style of dress," replied the guide, "and they want to know why you wear it."
"Why I dress in this style? Because it is customary amongst civilized people. Do they expect English ladies to imitate them, I should like to know?"
"These ladies," continued Nassar, "know quite well that white people are in the habit of covering their bodies with superfluous and useless clothing, but they are astonished that you do not wear a costume like your friends."
The bare idea of being mistaken for one of the other sex was too much for Miss Poles, who grew almost livid with rage, and, turning on her heel, exclaimed, indignantly—