She said earnestly, "You mean—you walk around, like that, in the jungle, and nothing can hurt you?"
"That's it."
Alice drove the point home. "Could you protect another person who was with you, too?"
"I guess I could."
Alice smiled radiantly. "Why, that's too good to be true! I was just telling Vernon, before we saw you down here, that I wished I could go into the jungle without the scooter, to see all the wild animals and things. Will you take me in for a little walk, Dai? Vernon can mind the scooters—you wouldn't mind, would you, Vernie?"
Maxwell started to reply, but the Beachcomber forestalled him. "I assure you, Miss Zwerling," he said slowly, "that it would be a waste of your time and mine."
Alice blushed again, this time not so prettily. "Just what do you mean?" she demanded.
Dai looked at her gravely. "I'm not quite such a wild man as I seem," he said. "I always wear trousers in mixed company." He repeated, with emphasis. "Always."
Alice's lips grew hard and thin, and the skin whitened around them. Her eyes glittered. She started to say something to the Beachcomber, but the words stuck in her throat. She turned to Maxwell. "I think we'd better go."