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76 but the smile which accompanied them showed that the woman spoke in fun. Nobokumar saw that she was very pert, and why should he not answer a pert woman's question? So he said, "I have seen women, but I have never seen so beautiful a woman."

The woman asked with some pride, "Not a single one?" Kopal-Kundala's beauty was awake in Nobokumar's heart, so he too replied with some pride, "I cannot go so far as to say not a single one."

The blow of iron fell on the stone. The speaker said, "Good; is she your wife?"

Nob. Why? Why do you think it is my wife?

The Woman. Bengalees always think their wives are more beautiful than anybody else.

Nob. I am a Bengali. You too speak like a Bengali; of what country are you?" [sic]

The young woman looked at her clothes and said, "This unfortunate one is not a Bengali; she is an up-country Mussulman." Nobokumar scanned her, and saw that in truth her dress was like that of an