Now he looked wan and spiritless, and the traces
of tears were still about his eyelids; but the words:
"to be shot," did not seem to affect him much.
When they were uttered, the pupils of his eyes
dilated, but that was all.
"Take him back to his cell," the Governor said.
when all the formalities were over; and the sergeant,
who was evidently near to breaking down,
touched the motionless figure on the shoulder.
The Gadfly looked round him with a little start.
"Ah, yes!" he said. "I forgot."
There was something almost like pity in the
Governor's face. He was not a cruel man by
nature, and was secretly a little ashamed of the
part he had been playing during the last month.
Now that his main point was gained he was willing
to make every little concession in his power.
"You needn't put the irons on again," he said,
glancing at the bruised and swollen wrists. "And
he can stay in his own cell. The condemned cell
is wretchedly dark and gloomy," he added, turning
to his nephew; "and really the thing's a mere
formality.
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