"Sit down, Johnny. Old Sam wants to talk to you."
Johnny Nine dropped his hand from the switch and turned. "Oh? Oh, Sam.... Where did you come from?"
"I seen you coming down, so I followed you. I wanted to talk to you alone. And when I seen you comin' down here, I said, 'Now, Sam, here's your chance to talk to Johnny.'"
"Yes, Sam?"
"Go ahead, Johnny, sit down."
Johnny Nine crossed to a crate that still contained parts for the atomic motor and sat down. "All right, Sam. Go ahead."
Sam shuffled his feet. "I don't know how to start, hardly. Look, Johnny. Tell me something. True. You will, won't you?"
"Yes, Sam, I will. You know that."
"Sure, I know you will. Why, don't I remember when you was just a little tyke, how you used to come down to the gardens and watch old Sam? And I said, then, that if ever there's a boy that gives you a straight answer, that's Johnny Nine.
"I remember you sayin', once, 'Sam,' you said, 'you've to one blue eye and one brown.'" Sam smiled. "Right out you said it. An' you know, that's right. I have. Nobody else would have told me so, because they were afraid of hurting my feelings. But why should I mind that I've got one blue eye and one brown one? Funny, how other folks think you mind, when really you don't....