Jenks tried the fibers of trees, the sinews of birds--every possible expedient he could hit upon--and perhaps, after experiments covering some weeks, he might have succeeded.

But modern dress stuffs, weakened by aniline dyes and stiffened with Chinese clay, permit of no such exhaustive research.

It must be remembered that the lady passengers on board the _Sirdar_ were dressed to suit the tropics, and the hard usage given by Iris to her scanty stock was never contemplated by the Manchester or Bradford looms responsible for the durability of the material.
As the days passed the position became irksome.

It even threatened complete callapse during some critical moment, and the two often silently surveyed the large number of merely male garments in their possession.

Of course, in the matter of coats and waistcoats there was no difficulty whatever.