“The case of Hercules is quite different,” he said feebly.
“It’s not in the least different. It’s exactly the same. There was no such person as Hercules. Yet there are several statues of him. There was no such person as our General, but there may be lots of statues to him. There’s certainly one. There’s probably at least another. I should think the people of Bolivia are sure to have one. We’ll ask Billing when we see him.”
“Is he the priest who mistook me for the Lord-Lieutenant?”
“Oh, no. He’s the swindler whom Doyle caught. By the way, here’s Doyle coming out of the hotel again. Do you mind if I call him?”
Doyle crossed the square very slowly, because he stopped frequently to speak to the people whom he saw. He stopped when he came to Father McCormack and whispered something to him. He stopped when he came to Major Kent. He stopped for a moment beside Mrs. Gregg. He seemed to be full of some news and eager to tell it to everybody. When he saw Dr. O’Grady coming to meet him he hurried forward.
“I have it,” he said, “I have it safe.”
“The cheque?” said Dr. O’Grady.
“Better than that. Notes. Bank of Ireland notes.”
“Good,” said Dr. O’Grady. “Then it won’t make so much matter if we don’t get the pier. I’m having a hard job with Lord Alfred. It appears that the Lord-Lieutenant is in a pretty bad temper, and it may not be easy to get the pier. However, I’ll do my best. I wish you’d go and fetch the illuminated address. Is Thady Gallagher safe?”
“He’s making a speech this minute within, in the bar, and Mr. Billing’s listening to him.”