"Fire ahead!"
"You can tell me or not, just as you please, but I've been wondering since last night whether, right down at the bottom of your heart, you'd rather be with your friends on the yacht or with us on the island."
"That's an easy one, Jim," replied Percy. "And the best answer I can make is the fact I'm on the boat with you this minute. I had an invitation to go with them, and I declined it. Things look different to me from what they did two months ago."
At Matinicus Percy found a letter from his father, answering his epistle of a few weeks before.
Dear Percy [it ran],—Glad to hear you're on the job. Keep it up.
Percy countered that night as follows:
Dear Dad,—I'm still sticking.