commandant

When the enemy had been driven without, the children besieged the latch of a door that gave way before their united efforts, and slipped out of the worn staple that held it; and finally they bolted into a kind of fruit-loft, where they very soon fell to munching the dried plums, to the amusement of the commandant, who watched this spectacle.

"Then you have some land of your own?" asked the commandant.

"Ivan," said Valentin, "please go and get the Commandant's sword from the library." Then, as the servant vanished, "Lord Galloway says he saw you leaving the garden just before he found the corpse.

The Commandant flung himself recklessly into a chair.

"Lady Margaret," he said, "we all feel, I am sure, both gratitude and admiration for your act in rising above your lower dignity and explaining the Commandant's conduct.

"Commandant," he said, "we trust you will always produce this weapon if it is wanted for police examination.

Commandant O'Brien followed the others towards the inquest, feeling decidedly sick.

"Good morning, Commandant O'Brien," said Valentin, with quiet cordiality.

The Commandant and the doctor were both staring at Father Brown, who had sprung stiffly to his feet, and was holding his temples tight like a man in sudden and violent pain.