PORT SAID 



"As to that," he replied regretfully, " I do not 

 know. I know of coral only that is the hard cal- 

 careous skeleton of the marine coelenterate polyps; 

 and that this red coral iss called of a sclerobasic 

 group; and other facts of the kind; but I do not know 

 if it iss supposed to resist impact and heat. Pos- 

 sibly," he ended shrewdly, "it is the common imita- 

 tion which does not resist impact and heat. At any 

 rate they are pretty. How much.'*" he demanded 

 of the vendor, a bright-eyed Egyptian waiting pa- 

 tiently until our conference should cease. 



"Twenty shillings," he replied promptly. 



The Professor shook with one of his cavernous 

 chuckles. 



"Too much," he observed, and handed the neck- 

 lace back through the window. 



The Egyptian would by no means receive it. 



"Keep! keep!" he implored, thrusting the mass 

 of red upon the Professor with both hands. "How 

 much you give.^" 



"One shilling," announced the Professor firmly. 



The coral necklace lay on the edge of the table 

 throughout most of our leisurely meal. The vendor 

 argued, pleaded, gave it up, disappeared in the 

 crowd, returned dramatically after an interval. 

 The Professor ate calmly, chuckled much, and from 

 time to time repeated firmly the words, "One 



21 



