"
"Is this the one?" Stephen took the handkerchief and its contents from
his pocket, and Nevill examined the large, round lumps of gleaming
amber, which were somewhat irregular in shape. Captain Sabine looked on
with interest.
"I can't be sure," Nevill said reluctantly.
"Well, I can," Stephen answered with confidence. "She showed it to me,
in your garden. I remember a fly in the biggest bead, which was clear,
with a brown spot, and a clouded bead on either side of it. I had the
necklace in my hand. Besides, even if I weren't as certain as I am, who
would throw a string of amber beads at my feet, if it weren't some one
trying to attract my attention, in the only way possible? It was as much
as to say, 'I know you've come looking for me. If you're told I'm not
here, it's false.' I was a good long way from the gates; but much nearer
to a lot of white roofs grouped behind the high wall of the Zaouia, than
I would have been in riding on, closer to the gates. Unfortunately there
are high parapets to screen any one standing on the roofs. And anyhow,
by the time the beads were thrown, I was too low down in the hollow to
see even a waved hand or handkerchief. Still, with that necklace in my
pocket, I knew pretty well what I was about, in talking with the
marabout."
"You thought you did," said Nevill. "But you'd have known a lot more if
only you could have made Captain Sabine's acquaintance before you
started.
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