and washed
their laundry, without veil or upper garments. These mean were obviously
shameless, and probably had come to stare. From their dress, their faces
and their bearing, they were strangers. Possibly Senegalese, up from the
area near Dakar, products of the new schools and the new industries
mushrooming there. Strange things were told of the folk who gave up the
old ways, worked on the dams and the other new projects, sent their
little ones to the schools, and submitted to the needle pricks which
seemed to compose so much of the magic medicine being taught in the
medical schools by the Rouma witchmen.

One of them spoke now in Songhoi, the _lingua franca_ of the vicinity.
Shamelessly he spoke to them, although none were his women, nor even his
tribal kin. None looked at him.

"We seek a single woman, an unwed woman, who would work for pay and
learn the new ways."

They continued their laundry, not looking up, but their chatter dribbled
away.

"She must drop the veil," the man continued clearly, "and give up the
haik and wear the new clothes. But she will be well paid, and taught to
read and be kept in the best of comfort and health."

There was a low gasp from several of the younger women, but one of the
eldest looked up in distaste. "Wear the clothes of the Rouma!" she said
indignantly. "Shameless ones!"

The man's voice was testy. He himself was dressed in the clothing worn
always by the Rouma, when the Rouma had controlled the Niger bend. He
said, "These are not the clothes of the Rouma, but the clothes of
civilized people everywhere."

The women's attention went back to their washing. Two or three of them
giggled.

The elderly woman said, "There are none here who will go with you, for
whatever shameless purpose you have in your mind."

But Izubahil, the strange girl come out of the desert from the north,
spoke suddenly. "I will," she said.

There was a gasp, and all looked at her in wide-eyed alarm. She began
making her way to the shore, her unfinished washing still in hand.

The stranger said clearly, "And drop the veil, discard the haik for the
new clothing, and attend the schools?"

There was another gasp as Izubahil said definitely, "Yes, all these
things." She looked back at the women. "So that I may learn all these
new ways."

The more elderly sniffed and turned their backs in scorn, but the
younger stared after her in some amazement and until she disappeared
with the two strangers into