"Now, Governor," said Jack, "for the second time I am to bid you
farewell. Here are the keys. If you accept them you must give me your
word of honor that the boat will not be fired upon. If you do not
promise that, I'll drop the bunch into the sea, and on your gray head
be the consequences."
"I give you my word of honor that you shall not be fired upon."
"Very well, Governor. Here are the keys, and good-by."
In the flurry of excitement over the yacht's appearance, both Jack and
Drummond had temporarily forgotten the existence of the tramp steamer
the former had seen beating toward the rock.
Now Lamont suddenly recalled it.
"By the way, Governor," he said, "the relief boat you so thoughtfully
sent for is on her way here. She should reach the rock at almost any
minute now. In fact, I fancy we've little time to waste if we want to
avoid a brush. It would be a pity to be nabbed now at the eleventh
hour. Good-by, once more."
But the Governor had stepped between him and the boat.
"I-- I am an old man," he said, speaking with manifest embarrassment.
"I was sent to take charge of this prison as punishment for refusing
to join a Jew massacre plot. Governorship here means no more nor less
than a life imprisonment. My wife and children are on a little estate
of mine in Sweden. It is twelve years since I have seen them. I--"
"If this story is a ruse to detain us--"
"No! No!" protested the Governor, and there was no mistaking his
pathetic, eager sincerity.
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