The calm certainty of my tone seemed to comfort him; he relaxed his
seemingly strained muscles, and sank back into his chair. He passed his
long, thin fingers wearily across his closed eyes several times, then, as
he opened them, he asked, sharply: "Can you obey orders?"
"Yes," I answered, "I've been obeying orders all my life long."
"Well," he said, "can you keep quiet--that's the thing. Can you keep
quiet about this part?"