Such virtue is there in a pure attachment.
Meanwhile the extent of his operations alarmed old Penfold; but he soon
reasoned that worthy down with overpowering conclusions and superior
smiles.
He had been three years the ruling spirit of Wardlaw & Son, when some
curious events took place in another hemisphere; and in these events,
which we are now to relate, Arthur Wardlaw was more nearly interested
than may appear at first sight.
Robert Penfold, in due course, applied to Lieutenant-General Rolleston
for a ticket of leave. That functionary thought the application
premature, the crime being so grave. He complained that the system had
become too lax, and for his part he seldom gave a ticket-of-leave until
some suitable occupation was provided for the applicant. "Will anybody
take you as a clerk? If so, I'll see about it."
Robert Penfold could find nobody to take him into a post of confidence
all at once, and wrote the general an eloquent letter, begging hard to be
allowed to labor with his hands.
Fortunately, General Rolleston's gardener had just turned him off; so he
offered the post to his eloquent correspondent, remarking that he did not
much mind employing a ticket-of-leave man himself, though he was resolved
to protect his neighbors from their relapses.
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