At the lodgings in Spanish Town,
after Dyck Calhoun had left, her mother had briefly said that she had
told Dyck he could not expect the conditions of the Playmore friendship
should be renewed; that, in effect, she had warned him off. To this
Sheila had said that the killing of a man whose life was bad might be
punishable. In any case, that was in another land, under abnormal
conditions; and, with lack of logic, she saw no reason why he should be
socially punished in Jamaica for what he had been legally punished for
in Ireland. As for the mutiny, he had done what any honest man of spirit
would do; also, he had by great bravery and skill brought victory to the
king's fleet in West Indian waters.
Then it was she told her mother how she had always disobeyed her commands
where Dyck was concerned, that she had written to him while he was in
jail; that she had come to Jamaica more to see him than to reform Salem;
that she had the old Celtic spirit of brotherhood, and she would not be
driven from it. In a sudden burst of anger her mother had charged her
with deceit; but the girl said she had followed her conscience, and she
dismissed it all with a gesture as emphatic as her mother's anger.
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