The distance to Foundation House, where the head master resided, was short—thirty seconds in the darkness; and almost before they knew it the three were at the door. There, under the muffled lamp, they stopped, with spontaneous accord, and looked at one another.
"I say," said Hickey, "hadn't we better agree on what we'll say to the old man? We want to be firm, you know."
"That's a good idea," Opdyke assented, and Wash added, "We'll take a turn down the road."
"Now, what's your idea?" said Simmons to Hickey, when they had put a safe distance between them and the residence of the Doctor.
"We'd better keep away from discussion," replied Hickey. "The Doctor'll beat us out there, and I don't think we'd better be too radical either, because we want to be firm."
"What do you call radical?" said Opdyke, with a little defiance.
"Well, now, we don't want to be too aggressive; we don't want to go in with a chip on our shoulder."
"Hickey, you're beginning to hedge!"
Hickey indignantly denied the accusation, and a little quarrel arose between them, terminated by Wash, who broke in: