"Let's have it by all means. We have reached a point at which we shall be glad to receive any suggestion--from you."
"You might give me a testimonial."
"Give you what?"
"You might give me a testimonial."
The governor looked at the prisoner, then at his friends.
"A testimonial! Might we indeed! What sort of testimonial do you allude to?"
"You might testify that I had regained my reputation, redeemed my character--that I had proved to your entire satisfaction that I was the magician I claimed to be."
The governor leaned back in his seat.
"Your suggestion has at least the force of novelty. I should like to search the registers of remarkable cases, to know if such an application has ever been made to the governor of an English jail before. What do you say, Hardinge?"
The Major shuffled in his chair.