The chalk mark again.
“Nor the white pebbles?” looking at them shrewdly.
“We care for no pebbles at all, white or black,” asserted Bry, beginning to grow uneasy.
The king made another mark, and then slowly counted them.
“Seven lies!” he announced, shaking his head gravely. “My brother is not honest with me. Otherwise there would be no lies.”
Nux put the wrong end of the cigar in his mouth, and begun to splutter and make faces. Bryonia looked at the king, stern and indignant.
“Do you judge us by the whites?” he cried.
“No; I have found that the whites are quick to acknowledge their love of gold.”
“If you were in my country,” said Bry, proudly, “I would not insult my brother king.”
“What would you do if I lied to you?” asked Nalig-Nad, quickly.