nt negroes with hounds
was barbarous and cowardly; but criminals were hunted with bloodhounds
in all civilized countries; and as for cowardice, the man who had sent
for these hounds was as brave as any old crusader! No, Dyck Calhoun
could not be charged with cowardice, and his policy of the hounds might
save the island and the administration in the end. They had arrived in
the very hour of Jamaica's and Lord Mallow's greatest peril. They had
gone on to the man who had been sane enough to send for them.

"Tell me about the landing of the hounds," said Lord Mallow.

"It was last night about dusk that word came from the pilot's station
at Port Royal that the vessel Vincent was making for port, and that she.
came from Cuba. Presently Michael Clones, the servant of Dyck Calhoun,
came also to say that the Vincent was the ship bringing Calhoun's
hounds from Cuba, and asking permit for delivery. This he did because
he thought you were opposed to the landing. In the light of our position
here, we granted the delivery.

"When the vessel came to anchor, the hounds with their drivers were
landed. The landing was the signal for a great display on the part of
the people and the militia--yes, the militia shared in the applause,
your honour! They had had a taste of war with the Maroons and the
slaves, and they were well inclined to let the hounds have their chance.
Resolutions were then passed to approach your honour and ask that full
powers be given to Calhoun to pursue the war without thought of military
precedent or of Calhoun's position. He has no official place in the
public life here, but he is powerful with the masses. It is rumoured you
have an order to confine him to his plantation; but to apply it would
bring revolution in Jamaica. There are great numbers of people who love
his courage, what he did for the King's navy, and for his commercial
success here, and they would resent harsh treatment of him. They are
aware, your honour, that he and you knew each other in Ireland, and they
think you are hard on him. People judge not from all the facts, but from
what they see and hear."

During the Custos' narrative, Lord Mallow was perturbed. He had the
common sense to know that Dyck Calhoun, ex-convict and mutineer as he
was, had personal power in the island, which he as governor had not been
able to get, and Dyck had not abused that power. He realized that Dyck's
premonition of an outbreak and sending for the hounds was a stroke