“Yes,” said the doctor. “I did notice it, and was going to speak about it. He was quite a dandy this morning, with his black ostrich feather and his brass wire band round his forehead. He looked quite smart. He must be the chief.”
“But I say, doctor, is that brass wire?”
“Of course; the same as his bangles and the rings about his ankles. What else could it be? One thing’s very plain. There are ostriches up here somewhere, and these people set store by their feathers. Now do you see what it means?”
“Yes,” said Mark, “that the chief wears one and that none of the others do.”
“I didn’t mean that,” said the doctor. “I meant that they evidently traded with dealers who come up the country here and use coils of brass wire as their current coin to exchange with the natives.”
“Coils of brass wire which they cut in lengths, I suppose, to deal with these little blacks.”
“That’s quite right, my boy; but what are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking,” said Mark, “that if these traders came right up here and dealt with the pigmies we should have heard about it.”
“Might or might not,” said the doctor.
“Yes,” said Mark, who seemed very thoughtful, “and I might or might not be right if I said that I believe it isn’t brass but gold.”