on the thursday week following, when my wounds were all getting well, the whole body of convicts was duly paraded at half-past eleven in front of the governor's house.

the governor came out, holding an official-looking paper in his right hand. "no. 1430," he said in a loud voice, "stand forward." and i stood forward.

"no. 1430, i have the pleasant duty of informing you, in face of all your fellow-prisoners, that your heroism and self-devotion in saving the life of warder james woollacott, when he was attacked and almost overpowered on the twentieth of this month by a gang of rebellious convicts, has been reported to her majesty's secretary of state for the home department; and that on his recommendation her majesty has been graciously pleased to grant you a free pardon for the remainder of the time during which you were sentenced to penal servitude."

for a moment i felt quite stunned and speechless. i reeled on my feet so much that two of the warders jumped forward to support me. it was a great thing to have at least one's freedom. but in another minute the real meaning of the thing came clearer upon me, and i recoiled from the bare sound of those horrid words, a free pardon. i didn't want to be pardoned like a convicted felon: i wanted to have my innocence proved before the eyes of all[pg 100] england. for my own sake, and still more for emily's sake, rehabilitation was all i cared for.

"sir," i said, touching my cap respectfully, and saluting the governor according to our wonted prison discipline, "i am very greatly obliged to you for your kindness in having made this representation to the home secretary; but i feel compelled to say i cannot accept a free pardon. i am wholly guiltless of the crime of which i have been convicted; and i wish that instead of pardoning me the home secretary would give instructions to the detective police to make a thorough investigation of the case, with the object of proving my complete innocence. till that is done, i prefer to remain an inmate of portland prison. what i wish is not pardon, but to be restored as an honest man to the society of my equals."

the governor paused for a moment, and consulted quietly in an undertone with one or two of his subordinates. then he turned to me with great kindness, and said in a loud voice, "no. 1430, i have no power any longer to detain you in this prison, even if i wished to do so, after you have once obtained her majesty's free pardon. my duty is to dismiss you at once, in accordance with the terms of this document. however, i will communicate the substance of your request to the home secretary, with whom such a petition, so made, will doubtless have the full weight that may rightly attach to it. you must now go with these warders, who will restore you your own clothes, and then formally set you at liberty. but if there is anything further you would wish to speak to me about, you can do so afterward in your private capacity as a free man at two o'clock in my own office."

i thanked him quietly and then withdrew. at two o'clock i duly presented myself in ordinary clothes at the governor's office.

we had a long and confidential interview, in the course of which i was able to narrate to the governor at full[pg 101] length all the facts of my strange story exactly as i have here detailed them. he listened to me with the greatest interest, checking and confirming my statements at length by reference to the file of papers brought to him by a clerk. when i had finished my whole story, he said to me quite simply, "mr. tait, it may be imprudent of me in my position and under such peculiar circumstances to say so, but i fully and unreservedly believe your statement. if anything that i can say or do can be of any assistance to you in proving your innocence, i shall be very happy indeed to exert all my influence in your favour."

i thanked him warmly with tears in my eyes.

"and there is one point in your story," he went on, "to which i, who have seen a good deal of such doubtful cases, attach the very highest importance. you say that gold clippings, pronounced to be similar in character to the gold wulfric, were found shortly after by a cleaner at the museum on the cocoa-nut matting of the floor where the coin was examined by you?"

i nodded, blushing crimson. "that," i said, "seems to me the strangest and most damning circumstance against me in the whole story."

"precisely," the governor answered quietly. "and if what you say is the truth (as i believe it to be), it is also the circumstance which best gives us a clue to use against the real culprit. the person who stole the coin was too clever by half, or else not quite clever enough for his own protection. in manufacturing that last fatal piece of evidence against you he was also giving you a certain clue to his own identity."

"how so?" i asked, breathless.

"why, don't you see? the thief must in all probability have been somebody connected with the museum. he must have seen you comparing the wulfric with your own coin. he must have picked it up and carried it off[pg 102] secretly at the moment you dropped it. he must have clipped the coin to manufacture further hostile evidence. and he must have dropped the clippings afterwards on the cocoa-nut matting in the same gallery on purpose in order to heighten the suspicion against you."

"you are right," i cried, brightening up at the luminous suggestion—"you are right, obviously. and there is only one man who could have seen and heard enough to carry out this abominable plot—mactavish!"

"well, find him out and prove the case against him, mr. tait," the governor said warmly, "and if you send him here to us i can promise you that he will be well taken care of."

i bowed and thanked him, and was about to withdraw, but he held out his hand to me with perfect frankness.

"mr. tait," he said, "i can't let you go away so. let me have your hand in token that you bear us no grudge for the way we have treated you during your unfortunate imprisonment, and that i, for my part, am absolutely satisfied of the truth of your statement."