"Tush! I don't care for the moment whether you are or are not. Neither do I care whether the law which condemned the prisoner to death, was or was not a crime. What I have to deal with is the present situation. You say you want me to order your arrest—is that it?"
"Yes, you said yourself the guilty man ought to be in prison."
"But heavens alive, man, can't you see the disgrace? Gell is a private person, while you are a Judge, the Judge who tried and condemned the prisoner. What is to happen to Justice in the island if a Judge is condemned and imprisoned?"
Stowell tried to speak, but again the Governor bore him down.
"Oh, I know what you'll say—you'll talk about your conscience. But what is your conscience to me against the honour of the public service and the welfare of the whole community?"
"The honour of the public service cannot rest on a lie, Sir," said Stowell. "It would be a living lie if I continued to be a Judge, and the only way to save the island is to tell it the truth, no matter what...."
"Don't talk damned nonsense."
Stowell drew himself up.
"Do you wish me, then, to issue that warrant against Alick Gell now that you know that I am myself the guilty man?"
The Governor flinched for a moment, then smote the top of his desk and said,