"But for her sake, Fred, you surely will try and clear yourself of theexaggerated charges brought against you, even if the charge of mutinyitself be true. If there were to be a court-martial, and you could findyour witnesses, you might, at any rate, show how your disobedience toauthority was because that authority was unworthily exercised."
Mr. Hale roused himself up to listen to his son"s answer.
"In the first place, Margaret, who is to hunt up my witnesses? All ofthem are sailors, drafted off to other ships, except those whose evidencewould go for very little, as they took part, or sympathised in the affair.
In the next place, allow me to tell you, you don"t know what a court-martial is, and consider it as an assembly where justice is administered,instead of what it really is--a court where authority weighs nine-tenthsin the balance, and evidence forms only the other tenth. In such cases,evidence itself can hardly escape being influenced by the prestige ofauthority."
"But is it not worth trying, to see how much evidence might bediscovered and arrayed on your behalf? At present, all those who knewyou formerly, believe you guilty without any shadow of excuse. Youhave never tried to justify yourself, and we have never known where toseek for proofs of your justification. Now, for Miss Barbour"s sake,make your conduct as clear as you can in the eye of the world. She maynot care for it; she has, I am sure, that trust in you that we all have; butyou ought not to let her ally herself to one under such a serious charge,without showing the world exactly how it is you stand. You disobeyedauthority--that was bad; but to have stood by, without word or act,while the authority was brutally used, would have been infinitely worse.
People know what you did; but not the motives that elevate it out of acrime into an heroic protection of the weak. For Dolores" sake, theyought to know."
"But how must I make them know? I am not sufficiently sure of thepurity and justice of those who would be my judges, to give myself upto a court-martial, even if I could bring a whole array of truth-speakingwitnesses. I can"t send a bellman about, to cry aloud and proclaim in thestreets what you are pleased to call my heroism. No one would read apamphlet of self-justification so long after the deed, even if I put oneout."
"Will you consult a lawyer as to your chances of exculpation?" askedMargaret, looking up, and turning very red.
"I must first catch my lawyer, and have a look at him, and see how I likehim, before I make him into my confidant. Many a briefless barristermight twist his conscience into thinking, that he could earn a hundredpounds very easily by doing a good action--in giving me, a criminal, upto justice."
"Nonsense, Frederick!--because I know a lawyer on whose honour I canrely; of whose cleverness in his profession people speak very highly;and who would, I think, take a good deal of trouble for any of--of AuntShaw"s relations Mr. Henry Lennox, papa."
"I think it is a good idea," said Mr. Hale. "But don"t propose anythingwhich will detain Frederick in England. Don"t, for your mother"s sake."
"You could go to London to-morrow evening by a night-train,"
continued Margaret, warming up into her plan. "He must go to-morrow,I"m afraid, papa," said she, tenderly; "we fixed that, because of Mr. Bell,and Dixon"s disagreeable acquaintance."
"Yes; I must go to-morrow," said Frederick decidedly.
Mr. Hale groaned. "I can"t bear to part with you, and yet I am miserablewith anxiety as long as you stop here."
"Well then," said Margaret, "listen to my plan. He gets to London onFriday morning. I will--you might--no! it would be better for me to givehim a note to Mr. Lennox. You will find him at his chambers in theTemple."
"I will write down a list of all the names I can remember on board theOrion. I could leave it with him to ferret them out. He is Edith"shusband"s brother, isn"t he? I remember your naming him in your letters.
I have money in Barbour"s hands. I can pay a pretty long bill, if there isany chance of success Money, dear father, that I had meant for adifferent purpose; so I shall only consider it as borrowed from you andMargaret."
"Don"t do that," said Margaret. "You won"t risk it if you do. And it will bea risk only it is worth trying. You can sail from London as well as fromLiverpool?"
"To be sure, little goose. Wherever I feel water heaving under a plank,there I feel at home. I"ll pick up some craft or other to take me off, neverfear. I won"t stay twenty-four hours in London, away from you on theone hand, and from somebody else on the other."
It was rather a comfort to Margaret that Frederick took it into his headto look over her shoulder as she wrote to Mr. Lennox. If she had notbeen thus compelled to write steadily and concisely on, she might havehesitated over many a word, and been puzzled to choose between manyan expression, in the awkwardness of being the first to resume theintercourse of which the concluding event had been so unpleasant toboth sides. However, the note was taken from her before she had evenhad time to look it over, and treasured up in a pocket-book, out ofwhich fell a long lock of black hair, the sight of which causedFrederick"s eyes to glow with pleasure.
"Now you would like to see that, wouldn"t you?" said he. "No! you mustwait till you see her herself She is too perfect to be known byfragments. No mean brick shall be a specimen of the building of mypalace."