The Washington bee., 1911-02-25
A Pardon
By HARRY Won AMBERC

on the Mississippi to a pale faced boy
lying In his bunk. 1t was at night,
and the weather was stormy.
81 can't; I'm sick
"You hain't goin' TO work yer pas
| sage on this yere boat sojerr there.
Git up. say. and carry your load"
The boy made a feeble attempt to
rise, but failed. The mate seized g
stick OF wood and held it over the in
valid.
You git up or I'll brain you!'
Fear gave the boy additional
strength. and be managed to pull him
self out and stagger over the gang
plank to q wood pile which the deck
hands were transferring to the boat.
He worked as best he could till the
task was finished. then crawIed back
to lis bunk and fell fainting in 1t.
This boy, Robert Stewart, was so
poor that in order TO get from New
Orleans to St Louis he was obliged
to work his passage on a steamboat
The mate was q powerful man, and
the boy, who was i'll with a fever, was
! completely at his mercy. What made
the act still more brutal was that
there were plenty OF deck hands to do
the work without calling out a sick
boy. There was something fiendish in
| the mates nature that led him to this
act of cruelty.
Years passed meanwhile That sick
boy was moving in one direction.
while the mate who had tyrannized
over him and had nearly cost him his
life was moving In another. The one
was rising. the other sinking Schooled
in adversely, Robert Stewart possessed
that within him which enabled him to
triumph over obstacles, the hardships
he had endured furnishing a spur to
send him onward and upward Sue
cessfuI In his own affairs, the people
intrusted him with theirs. In time his
name became known to every one in
Missouri. He rose TO be governor.
One day a man was brought to the
governor from the penitentisry as an
applicant for pardon. He was a large,
powerful fellow, and the moment the
|
Then be scTutinized the criminal long
and closely. Without speaking be
turneG TO his desk. picked up the pa.
per on which the mans pardon had
been made out and wrote his name al
the bottom OF it. Before handing it to
the prisoner he said to him:
II fear it will be useless, perhaps
wrong, for me to grant you this par
don"
The man stood stolidly waiting tC
know the governors reason.
You will commit soma other crime
and be sent to the penitentiary again
Nc, governor; l promise you that
will not"
The governor looked doubtful. He
was apparently turning something Ovel
in his mind. Finally be said:
You viii go back on TO the river-al
maze on a steamer, l suppose"
Yes, governor; I'll go back to wOrI
at any position can get"
We'll" the governor continued, ''be
] fore pardon you l wish you to MAKE
me a promise
The man looked interested and wait
ed. The chief magistrate was in NJ
hurry. The mass Of business awaiting
his attention was forgotten in thin par
don case. There must be something il
it to move him 50 strangely. For 1
few minutes there was faraway loOl
in his eyes. He seemed to be pictur
ing something. That it was painful
scene was evident from his expression
Then he turned to the criminal anC
said tmpressively:
81 wish you to pledge your word tina
when you go back to the river as matt
: on a steamboat you will never drive
q sick boy from his bunk to load you
boat on a stormy night"
The criminal looked at the governo
/ in a vain attempt to understand VIII!
he imposed upon him such singula
/ condition. Then he made the requireG
promise, asking at the same time 10
an explanation Finally the governO
gave IT:
zone night many years ago you wer'
| mate OF a steamboat running betweeI
] New OTiSdub anu Ots ACu4S' Ou NAd
boat was a boy sick with fever. On'
| night when the wind blew cold and
the rain came down in torrents yOJ
drove that boy out Of his bunk and
forced him to carry wood.
Now, there are two reasons why
, don't wish you to do that again. This
first IS that ! desire any boy yOT
might so treat to escape your cruelty
Another time it might cost him his
life. The second is that he might be
l come governor OF his state and yOr
might commit another crime and come
!, before him with an application FOL
pardon"
The man stood looking at the gov
ernor, a faint glimmer Of memory
struggling in his brain. But with q
life Of so many brutal acts behind hin
IL was hard for him TO remember one
, which at the time he had considered
Of so little Importance.
The governor handed him his pardon.
.T was that boy" he said. That
document is my revenge. But another
time the governors revenge might be
Of a different kind The pardoning
power is lodged In the chief magis
trate alone. and another governor