"There are about thirty necklaces.

The Red Cross committee have already received nearly 4,000 pearls, and more are coming in every day." "Four thousand pearls!" "How perfectly lovely!" "How I should love to see them!" These feminine exclamations sounded from different parts of the table.
"I suppose the collection is a very fine and varied one ?" observed Sir Philip.
"Undoubtedly.

The committee have had the advice of the best experts in London, who have given much time to grading the pearls for the different necklaces.

In an ordinary way it takes a long while--sometimes years--to match the pearls for a faultless necklace, but in this case the experts have had such a variety brought to their hands that their task has been comparatively easy.

But in spite of the skilful manner in which the necklaces have been graded, it is even now a simple matter for the trained eye to identify a number of the individual pearls.