The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1906-02-09

lnally OF the Governor and members OF
his cabinet, but whose acts were really
decided by the wishes of the Executive
alone, was in council They sat around
the long table in the executive Office,
the Governor at the head, while from
the walls the portraits of his predeces-
sors looked solemnly down upon the
conclave. The present incumbent had
not held Office long, and he had all the
proverbial ardor of the new broom for
sweeping clean. With painstaking zeal
he had attacked the cobwebs and the
dust of former administrations, deter
mined to leave no evidence of lax house
keeping on his own part. Pardons had
been the rule in the past-granted with
out warrant or discrimination, many
people held-and this was an error the
Governor was resolved to avoid. Little
wonder, then, that a petition for the
pardon of one Jasper Rollins, convicted
of manslaughter, and serving term of
ten years in the phosphate mines of his
State therefor, should be refused.
We've got to draw line somewhere
gentlemen, said the Governor, virtuous-
ly. THE law is very little respected in
some of our back districts, as it is, and
this habit of wholesale pardoning only
leads to more crime. People clamor for
in the face of the most glaring offenses,
entirely overlooking the fact that there
is need for the exercise of justice also.
Too much mercy has been shown to
criminals. During my administration
shall endeavor to see that justice be
done to all, without fear or favor!"
And, feeling a secret conviction that he
had gotten off a particularly choice bit
of eloquence, the Governor waited for
the approval of the Board. These gen.
tlemen were unanimous in cordially in
dorsing their chiefs resolve, and, ad-
journing for dinner, straightway forgot
all about the matter.
His Private Secretary was to dine
with the Governor. AS the two men
huge, -draped live-oaks, they dis
cussed, with the ardor of old sports
men, a vacation trip they were to take
down on San Pedro's Bay, where the
fishing was fine, and wild turkeys, ducks
and squirrels abounded, and where even
such big game as deer and black bear
was not uncommon. Besides, it was
such an out-of-the-way place that it
was practically unknown, therefore
paradise for a true sportsman.
This trip had been postponed from
time to time, for the cares of state
were many, and the Governors scrupu-
lous shoulders refused to shift the
burden. With painstaking fidelity he
had labored, and now he felt that the
time had come when he might take a
holiday without any qualns Of con-
sciense for neglected duties. Every
thing was ready. The two were to
start the next day, taking with them
as little impediments as possible, for a
trip to the Bay meant a thirty-mile
drive through the fiat woods after leav-
ing the nearest railroad station. They
would be royalty entertained-and their
horse scantily-by old Dan Luke's, a
veteran fisherman and mighty hunter,
whose corn patch bore but meager crops |
of nubbins, but whose larder was al |
ways supplied with the choicest game |
of the hammocks, and the latest FISH |
in the Bay; and who was guide, phil |
osopher and friend" to all sportsmen
seeking that favored region.
AS they approached the Governors
residence a troop of merry children |
came running TO meet them, shouting at
the top of their lungs: Here's daddy |
Hello, dad what have you brought us?'
The youngest, curly-headed baby Of
two years, shouted as Justify as the |
rest, but her short legs were uncertain;
she tripped over a gnarled root and fell |
weeping in the dust, while her brothers
and sisters were embracing the Gov.
ernor and rifiing his pockets with filial
freedom, sure Of finding peanuts or APP |
pies in their capacious depths The |
walls of the disappointed one rising to
his ears above the jubilant cries of the |
fortunate, he FASTENED to her aid, and, |
wiping away the dusty tears, soon had |
the small maid on his shoulder, Growing |
in gleeful triumph while she nbbed the |
reddest apple of the lot.
The paternal instinct was strongly de- |
veloped in the Governor; children took |
to him" on first acquaintance, and we're
his familiar friends; to the little brood1
at home he was an ideal father, |
charming playmate, wise and tender
counsellor, and, when occasion demand |
ed, a most patient and devoted nurse. |
And, because he possessed these quail
ties, this story is written.
1t is easy to get lost in the flat-woOds
the countrKa entirely monotonous, and
there are dmarks by which one
can recogt lOcality; when a road
gets too he41 with sand, the traveller
Is in the habit of making another
through the straw-covered aisles OF
pines. These numerous roads are very |
confusing, sometimes leading into the
main one, and sometimes wandering of
TO some lonely cabin in a clearing. The