At The Same
Time I Explained To Him That In My Country Such Insolence Would Entail
Bloodshed, And That I Looked Upon Him As An Ignorant Ox Who Knew No
Better, And That This Excuse Alone Could Save Him.
My wife, naturally
indignant, had risen from her seat, and, maddened with the excitement of
the moment, she made him a little speech in Arabic (not a word of which
he understood), with a countenance almost as amiable as the head of
Medusa.
Altogether the Mise en Scene utterly astonished him; the woman
Bacheeta, although savage, had appropriated the insult to her mistress,
and she also fearlessly let fly at Kamrasi, translating as nearly as she
could the complimentary address that Medusa had just delivered.
Whether this little coup de theatre had so impressed Kamrasi with
British female independence that he wished to be off his bargain, I
cannot say, but with an air of complete astonishment, he said, "Don't be
angry! I had no intention of offending you by asking for your wife; I
will give you a wife, if you want one, and I thought you might have no
objection to give me yours; it is my custom to give my visitors pretty
wives, and I thought you might exchange. Don't make a fuss about it; if
you don't like it, there's an end of it; I will never mention it again."
This very practical apology I received very sternly, and merely insisted
upon starting. He seemed rather confused at having committed himself,
and to make amends he called his people and ordered them to carry our
loads.
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