He turned to me.
"It seems then, Master Ormerod, that we must proclaim a truce for the time being."
"It is your necessity," I told him flatly.
"And yours," he returned urbanely. "What guarantees shall we exchange?"
I thought.
"Why, we can neither afford to risk the denunciation of the other," I said at last. "You, because you know that the Provincial Government would seize any excuse to incommode you. I, because I know that the Provincial Government would find it difficult to protect me against your charge, even though it exploited mine."
"The advantage would seem to be on my side," he remarked tentatively.
I leaned across the table so that his eyes met mine fully.
"Not so much as you might think," I asserted. "Have I the look of one who would fail in a desperate venture?"
"No, no," he answered smilingly. "So be it, then. But the truce holds good only for the period of our voyage together?"