, Boland?"

Darius spoke courageously. "Your honour, he has many friends in Jamaica,
and they won't stand it. Besides, he won't stand it. And if he contests
your honour, the island will be with him."

"Is he popular here as all that?" asked the governor with a shrug of the
shoulders.

"They don't give their faith and confidence to order, your honour,"
answered Darius with a dry inflection.

The burr in the voice did not escape the other's attentive ear. He swung
a glance sharply at Darius. "What is the secret of his popularity--how
has it been made?" he asked morosely.

Darius' face took on a caustic look. "He's only been in the island a
short time, your honour, and I don't know that I'm a good judge, but
I'll say the people here have great respect for bravery and character."

"Character! Character!" sniffed the governor. "Where did he get that?"

"Well, I don't know his age, but it's as old as he is--his character.
Say, I'm afraid I'm talking too much, your honour. We speak our minds in
Virginia; we never count the cost."

The governor waved a deprecating hand. "You'll find the measure of your
speech in good time, Boland, I've no doubt. Meanwhile, you've got the
pleasure of hunting it. Character, you say. Well, that isn't what the
judge and jury said."

Darius took courage again. Couldn't Lord Mallow have any decency?

"Judge and jury be damned, your honour," he answered boldly. "It was an
Irish verdict. It had no sense. It was a bit of ballyhack. He did not
kill an unarmed man. It isn't his way. Why, he didn't kill you when he
had you at his mercy in Phoenix Park, now, did he, governor?"

A flush stole up the governor's face from his chin. Then he turned to
Boland and looked him straight in the eyes. "That's true. He had me at
his mercy, and he did not take my life."

"Then, why do you head the cabal against him? Why do you take joy in
commanding him to stay on his estate? Is that grateful, your honour?"

The governor winced, but he said: "It's what I am ordered to do, my man.
I'm a servant of the Crown, and the Crown has ordained it."

Again Darius grew stronger in speech. "But why do you have pleasure in
it? Is nothing left to your judgment? Do you say to me that if he keeps
the freedom such as he has enjoyed, you'd punish him? Must the governor
be as ruthless as his master? Look, your honour, I wouldn't impose that
command--not till I'd taken his advice about the Maroons anyway. There's
trouble brew