Then somewhat to the astonishment of all except Dom Clemente, who smiled, the man at the head of the table made Desmond a little punctilious inclination.
"Señor," he said, "I think your word would go a long way. In the meanwhile we will hear what the priest has to tell us."
Ormsgill started a little when Father Tiebout was brought in a minute or two later. He sat down and nodded when Dom Clemente had spoken to him.
"Most of what I know is at your service," he said. He commenced with the death of the trader Lamartine, and told his tale quietly but with a certain dramatic force. When he came to the point where he and Nares had written to Ormsgill after Domingo's raid he stopped a moment, and the pause was impressive.
"You will understand, Señores, that we had faith when we wrote to this man," he said.
"You believed he would come back and undertake the task at his peril?"
"The thing," said Father Tiebout quietly, "was, to us at least, absolutely certain."
There was blank astonishment in two of the officers' faces, but the man at the head of the table made a sign of concurrence, and once more a little gleam crept into Dom Clemente's eyes. Then the priest went on, and when at last he stopped there was a full minute's silence. After that the man at the head of the table spoke to Ormsgill, and his voice had a curious note in it.
"How was it you did not ask us to send for this priest and hear him in your defense?" he said.
Ormsgill smiled dryly. "It is not as a rule advisable for a missionary to meddle with affairs of State."