Alice had been kind enough to gather bones for me.

[ He doesn't think to explain who Alice is. ]

In recent [ meaning last couple hundred or so ] years they have often been made of broken bones lashed together, but I have always been partial to keeping the bones intact, if possible. That is how they did it in the old days, with the tusks of walruses.

[ Watching her attempt to- well, to do something and have it fail catches his eye, though. ]

Problem?