"Are you a poetess?"
"No."
"And scarcely a woman; for your answers are very short."
"Very likely."
"But I have something of importance to communicate——-"
"That is impossible."
"But listen to me——-"
"You are mistaken in your person."
"But surely you will not be so unreasonable as not to hear what I have to say?"
"I am a stranger in this country, and can have nothing of importance with one I do not know."