The Washington bee., 1911-03-11
A Pardon
By HARRY Won AMBERG

So called the mate Of a steamboat
on the Mississippi to a pale faced boy
lying In his bunk. 1t was at night,
and the weather was stormy.
Il can't: I'm sick"
You hain't goin' to work yer pas
sage on this yere boat sojern there.
Git up, / say, and carry your load"
The boy made a feeble attempt to
rise. but failed. The mate seized a
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 he managed to pull him
self out and stagger over the gang
plank to a wood pile which the deck
hands were transferring to the boat
He worked as best he could till the
task was finished, then crawled back
to his bunk and fell fainting in it.
This boy, Robert Stewart. was so
poor that in order to get from New
Orlesrs to st. Louis he was obliged
to work his passage on a steamboat
The mate was a powerful man. and
the boy, who was Ill with fever, was
completely at his mercy. What made
the act still more brutal was that
there were plenty Of deck hands to do
the wo < without calling out q sick
boy. There was something fendish 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 aim which enabled him to
triumph over obstacles, the hardships
he had endured furnishing g spur to
send him onward and upward Sue
cessful In his own AFFAIRS, the peopIs
intrusted him with theirs. In time his
name became known to every one in
Missouri. He rose to be governor.
One day q man was brought to the
governor from the penitentiary as an
applicant for pardon. He wss a large.
powerful fellow, and the moment the
governor looked at him be started
Then he scrutinized the criminal long
and closely. Without speaking he
turned to his desk. picked up the pa
per on which the mans pardon had
been made out and wrote his name at
the bottom Of 1t. Before handing 1t to
the prisoner he said to him:
81 fear 1t will be useless, perhaps
wrong, for me to grant you this par
don"
The man stood stolidly waiting to
know the governors reason
"You will commit some other crime
and be sent to the penitentiary again"
''No, governor; I promise you that I
will not"
The governor looked doubtful. He
was apparently turning something over
in his mind Finally be said:
You will go back on to the river-as
mate on a steamer, suppose"
Yes, governor; III so back to work
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 no
hurry. The mass Of business awaiting
his attention was forgotten in thin par
don case. There must be something in
it to move him 50 strangely. For
few minutes there was a faraway look
In his eyes He seemed to be pictur-
ing something. That it was a painful
scene was evident from his expression.
Then he turned to the criminal and
said impressiyely:
q wish you to pledge your word that
when you 90 back to the river as mate
on a steamboat you will never drive
& sick boy from his bunk to load your
boat on a stormy night"
The criminal looked at the governor
in a vain attempt to understand why
be imposed upon him such a singular
condition. Then he made the required
promise. asking at the same time for
an explanation. Finally the governor
gave it:
Zone night many years ago you were
mate Of Il steamboat running between
New Orleans and st. Louis. On that
boat was a boy sick with fever. One
night when the wind blew cold and
the rain came down in torrents you
drove that boy out Of his bunk and
forced him to carry wood
Now. there are two reasons why /
don't wish Won TO do that again The
first Is that l desire any boy you
might so treat to escape your cruelty.
Another time it might cost him his
life. Ehe second is that he might be
come governor OF his state and you
might commit another crime and come
before him with an application for
pardon"
The man stood looking at the gov
ernOr. a faint gIimmer Of memory
struggling in his brain. But with q
life Of so many brutal acts behind him
it was hard for him to remember one
which at the time he had considered
OF so little importance.
The governor handed him his pardon.
Il was that boy" be 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