I want that, and you ought to give it to him."
"Why?"
Indignation filled her eyes. "You ask why. He has saved your
administration and the island from defeat and horrible loss. He has
prevented most of the slaves from revolting, and he conquered the
Maroons. The empire is his debtor. Will you do this for one who has
done so much for you?"
Lord Mallow was disconcerted, but he did not show it. "I can do no more
than I have done. I have not confined him to his plantation as the
Government commanded; I cannot go beyond that."
"You can put his case from the standpoint of a patriot."
For a moment the governor hesitated, then he said: "Because you ask me--"
"I want it done for his sake, not for mine," she returned with decision.
"You owe it to yourself to see that it is done. Gratitude is not dead in
you, is it?"
Lord Mallow flushed. "You press his case too hard. You forget what he
is--a mutineer and a murderer, and no one should remember that as you
should."
"He has atoned for both, and you know it well. Besides, he was not a
murderer. Even the courts did not say he was.
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