“You remember that first time I came to school and the boys ducked me?” he asked. “Why did you take my part?”
The half-brother smiled bashfully.
“Because you knew?”
“Yes, that was why.”
“But I didn’t know,” Percival Ford said in the same dry fashion.
“Yes,” the other said.
Another silence fell. Servants were beginning to put out the lights on the lanai.
“You know . . . now,” the half-brother said simply.
Percival Ford frowned. Then he looked the other over with a considering eye.
“How much will you take to leave the Islands and never come back?” he demanded.