‘What hopes of him have you?’
‘He may be brought to confess.’
‘Would his unsupported confession suffice, Tom?’
‘Suffice for what?’
‘To obtain a full pardon.’
He looked at me gravely, then, with a slight smile, said: ‘We’ll think of the navigation of the brig for the present, and talk of full pardons by-and-by.’
CHAPTER XLIV
SHE WITNESSES NODDER’S CONFESSION
The islanders had brought some fresh meat on board; I fried a steak, also boiled some eggs, potatoes, and vegetables. Taking the Childe Harold first, and now this Old Stormy, we had been keeping the sea many weeks. Tom’s fare in the convict ship had been the prison’s, Will had fed upon forecastle food, Mr. Bates and I had done just a little better—he at the cabin table and I at the scrap basket. The island produce, then, must make us a delicious meal.