those poor people, I must speak to the present Governor before his departure, and if I went now to Ngawie, that would be impossible. . . . Tine!”
“Dear Max!”
“You have courage, have you not?”
“Max! you know I have courage when I am with you.”
“Good!”
He went and wrote the following, in his own opinion an example of eloquence:—
“To the Governor-General of the Dutch Indies.
“I have had the honour to receive the official letter of your Excellency of the 23d inst., No, 54. In reply to that document, I feel constrained to beg your Excellency to grant me an honourable discharge from the service of the Government.
It needed not so long a time at Buitenzorg to grant the asked-for discharge, as was needed to decide how Havelaar’s accusation could be turned away. For the latter a month was required, and the news of the discharge arrived in a few days at Lebak.
and without the knowledge of the author. We give this note with the authorization of the author.
