On my way back to London we cross the channel in a Handley-Page Aeroplane. There is just time to prepare a conclusive answer to all questions about the harem; for no matter how eager we are to proceed, after six months’ study of the Angora movement, to more important impressions, every newspaper correspondent asks about the harem.
Just as for those who, in the States; held me personally responsible for our policy in Ireland, I stole from Life a witty answer, compressed into this dramatic “tabloid,” that “turned away American wrath”:
“Pat: Wouldn’t it be awful if England now gave us all we wanted?”
“Mike: Sure, and ’twould be like her to play us the dirty trick.”
In like manner, I prepared two shots to kill “harem” inquiries:—
One: “Why has the Turk only one wife, to-day?
“When four wives meant four tillers of the ground, there was ‘sense’ in polygamy. It is ‘folly’ now they buy their dresses in Paris.”
Two: “Why are you always so early at the Mosque?” a pious man was asked.
“As I have two wives, I leave home as soon as possible.”
The result was as I expected.