"Am I to carry these?"
She nodded.
His thoughts swung back to the oval that lay in his handbag at the hotel.
"Is it customary to have the name engraved—like this?"—with a gesture.
After the words left his mouth he realized he had made an indiscreet move. She looked at him suspiciously, then answered:
"Customary, yes—among those who possess such beads."
He did not fail to grasp the insinuation that her speech bore. He glanced down at the beads in his hand, casually enough; toyed with them; slipped them into his pocket. His heart had not resumed its normal beat, but the tension had eased. He fastened his eyes upon the relaxed figure of Kerth and—
"It will be permissible, I presume," he began, as though the sight of the turbaned head suggested the question, "to take my bearer along?"
Did a smile flicker across her eyes, he wondered, or was it only his fancy? The answer came decisively.
"It is scarcely practicable."