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“No, forgive me, Drew. I know what awful burdens you have to bear.”

“Pshaw—I’m not whining. I have problems—but they must be faced. I can face them. What I’d like, would be to run away for a day or two and think things out by myself. How’d that be?”

“Well—” Nelson hesitated, “don’t go until after they’ve settled their minds about that scarab business. You don’t seem to realize, Drew, they really think you took a rare one and returned to Hutchins a much less valuable specimen.”

“Aren’t they coming to me with this tale? Aren’t they going to accuse me to my face?”

“Yes, I think they are. What shall you say?”

“What can I say, but the truth?”

“And that is?”

“What do you think?”

“I think you exchanged the scarabs.”

“Yes—I did.”