Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the ElephantHolt, Mathew Joseph
History
Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant
Holt, Mathew Joseph
Kentucky -- Fiction; Kentucky -- History
“Well I had nothing to do with naming you. Sergeant, bring me the files
and the commitment of the prisoner.” (The Captain examines the papers)
“I do not care who you are, the commitment does not disclose your name;
and my instructions are simply to—‘deliver this prisoner with the letter
attached to this commitment to the commandant of the fortress of
Barcelona’—and this I am going to do. The letter may mention your name
but I have no authority to open it. If a mistake has been made I am not
to blame. I must follow my instructions. It is not my business to
inquire who you are and why you are held. As we are out of sight of land
you will be permitted on the lower deck during the day but at night you
will be locked up. That is all.”
————
Wilkinson on his first river venture, at Governor Miro’s suggestion, had
engaged Daniel Clark, Sr., to dispose of that portion of his cargo not
purchased by the Spanish Government; and Clark, at the Governor’s
suggestion, had advanced three thousand dollars on the consignment.
Before Wilkinson had left for the Virginia coast he had made
arrangements with Clark to represent him in disposing of other
consignments; and later through Major Isaac Dunn as intermediary, the
agency had ripened into a partnership.
Wilkinson, remaining in Kentucky, was to buy the produce and ship it to
New Orleans; there Clark was to sell it; invest the proceeds in such
merchandise as the Kentucky trade demanded, which was to be shipped to
Wilkinson and sold by him. So long as they were associated, about two
years, the business prospered.
————
When Daniel Clark, Jr., learned that David had been carried away on the
Spanish frigate he was forced to tell his father the whole transaction.
His father went immediately to the Governor and demanded to know why the
son of his first cousin had been made a prisoner, taken aboard ship and
transported to Spain.
The Governor was not only greatly surprised but exercised to learn that
the prisoner was not the man Wilkinson had requested him to hold. He
asked Mr. Clark to excuse him for a moment and going to the captain of
the palace guard, sent him at once to apprehend John Campbell.
Returning to the room where he had left Mr. Clark, he made profuse
apology and expressed sincere regret for the mistake; promising to
rectify it by commanding the immediate return of his kinsman; which he
was sorry to say would take several months, due to the time consumed in
the voyage and the uncertainty of sailings. He however made up his mind
to keep Clark a prisoner when he was returned.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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