"Less of your lip, now!" snarled the old man. "And don't keep on saying that. Just take it from me again, both of you, that you'd better not be so slow again in telling me—"
"You didn't give me time," Mr. Jobling protested.
Slyne opened the door. "Come on," he urged. "You've got to get your kit packed, Jobling. We'll be leaving before very long now."
"Have you made up your mind to come with us, Dove?"
Captain Dove nodded, most emphatically. "I'll send word to Brasse and Da Costa at once," he remarked, "and then I'll be ready to start whenever you are."
He left the room after Mr. Jobling, and Slyne, in the doorway, looked back at Sallie, the reassuring smile on his lips belied by his cold, calculating eyes.
"And how about you, Sallie?" he asked. "Have you made up your mind? Are you satisfied—so far? Or—would you rather go back to the Olive Branch?
"If you would—I'll let you off your promise, even now! And don't forget that this will be your last chance to recall it."
"You know I can't go back to the Olive Branch, Jasper," she answered slowly. "But—"
He did not give her time to say more. "That's settled for good, then," he asserted. "Your promise stands, and I know you'll keep it when the time comes—after I've done my part.