when the mariner named Captain Bonnet. At the end he
nodded. "You shall have the pardon as ruled by the Crown," he said. "But
there is another side to this affair. You say you slept at the Red
Hawk. Was there no talk there of a boy stolen from the wharves late in
the evening?" Job replied that he had gone to bed early and had
breakfasted and left without hearing any gossip.

"From what you say," went on the Governor, "I should be ready to swear
that the Captain Thomas, who proclaimed himself by that name in a tavern
last night and later made off with the son of Clark Curtis, was the same
man as your Stede Bonnet." Job hastened to relate the incident of the
buccaneer's crazed speech from the brig's deck. He asked how the
kidnapper had been described. The features tallied almost exactly with
those of Stede Bonnet. In addition, the schooner, as half a dozen men
would swear, had been painted black.

Thus satisfied that Bob Curtis was aboard the _Royal James_, the
Governor wrote a formal pardon, stating that "Job Howland, late a
pirate, having duly sworn his allegiance to his Majesty the King, and
repented of all unlawful acts committed by him aforetime," was
henceforward granted full release from the penalty of his crimes and was
to be held an honest man during his good behavior. Then he took the
seaman with him and passed quickly down to one of the larger warehouses
by the dockside.

Standing in the doorway were the red-faced gentleman whom Job had seen
that morning and a large man in sea boots, easily recognized as a ship's
officer. To the rather cool greeting of the former the Governor returned
a cheerful nod as they came up. "Look here now, Curtis," he said, "I
can't spare those cannon, and that's flat, but to show that I mean well
by you, I've brought a man whom you may find of some use. Tell him
your story, Howland."

The tale was repeated, to the intense interest of its two new hearers.
"By Gad," cried Mr. Curtis, slapping his thigh, as the seaman finished,
"that's a clue worth having! We know who the scoundrel is, at least,
and, of course, he'll be sure to head for Carolina. Bonnet couldn't keep
away from that coast for more than six months if his life depended upon
it. Howland, if you care to ship again, I'll make you gun-pointer aboard
the _Indian Queen_ here. You say you want nothing better than to get a
crack at the pirate. We'll make what preparations we can and get off at
once. This young friend of yours--