t is it?"

"You surely understand that," said Lord Alfred, "without my telling you.
You've attempted to play off an outrageous hoax on the Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland. At least that's my view of it."

"Quite a mistaken one!"

"The Lord-Lieutenant himself hopes that there may be some other
explanation. That is why he sent me down here. He wants to give you the
chance of clearing yourselves if you can. I may say frankly that if he'd
asked my opinion I should----"

"You'd have put us in prison at once," said Dr. O'Grady, "and kept us
there till we died. You'd have been perfectly right. We'd have deserved
it richly if we really had----"

"Then you are prepared to offer an explanation?"

"I'll explain anything you like," said Dr. O'Grady, "if you'll only tell
me what your difficulty is. Oh, hang it! Excuse me one moment. Here's
that ass Doyle coming at us again."

Doyle had brought the bouquet out of the hotel and given it to Mrs.
Gregg. He had warned Constable Moriarty not to allow the people to press
against the statue. He was crossing the square in the direction of the
police barrack when Dr. O'Grady saw him and went to meet him.

"Doctor," said Doyle, "will you keep in mind what I was saying to you
this minute about the pier? Get a promise of it out of the gentleman."

"It's utterly impossible for me," said Dr. O'Grady, "to do anything if
you keep interrupting me every minute. I'm in the middle of an extremely
difficult negotiation, and unless I'm allowed a free hand there'll
certainly be no pier."

"If there's no pier," said Doyle angrily, "it'll be the worse for you.
Don't you forget, doctor, that you owe me a matter of L60, and if I'm at
the loss of more money over this statue----"

Constable Moriarty's voice rang out across the square. He was speaking
in very strident tones.

"Will you stand back out of that?" he said. "What business have you
there at all? Didn't I tell you a minute ago that you weren't to go near
the statue?"

Dr. O'Grady and Doyle turned round to see what was happening. A man from
the crowd, a well-dressed man, had slipped past Constable Moriarty and
reached the statue. He had raised the bottom of the sheet which covered
it and was peering at the inscription on the pedestal.

"Doyle," said Dr. O'Grady, "that's the American again. That's Billing."

"Bedamn!" said Doyle excitedly. "You're right. It's him sure enough."

"Go and seize him. Take him into the hotel. Drag his subscriptio