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diff --git a/28093-h/28093-h.htm b/28093-h/28093-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d1f7ae0 --- /dev/null +++ b/28093-h/28093-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12133 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Confessions of Arsène Lupin, by Maurice Leblanc. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 15%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + color: #BDBDBD; +} + +hr.hr2 { + width: 10%; + margin-top: 2.5em; + margin-bottom: 2.5em; + clear: both; + color: #BDBDBD; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 95%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: #C0C0C0; +} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.center2 {text-align: center; font-size: 95%; margin-bottom: -.5em;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center;} + +.caption {text-align: center; margin-top: 1px;} + +.image {text-align: center;} + +.block {margin: auto; text-align: center; width: 30%;} + +.poem { + margin: 1.5em; + text-align: left; + font-size: 96% +} + +.poem span.i0 {margin-left: 0em;} + +.poem span.i2 {margin-left: 1em;} + +h2.chapter {font-size: 145%; padding-bottom: 0.75em;} + +h2.chapter3 {font-size: 165%; padding-bottom: 1em; padding-top: 1em;} + +h3.chapter2 {font-size: 125%; font-variant: small-caps; padding-bottom: 1em;} + +.sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + +table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 1em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 83%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none; +} + +.minispace {margin-bottom: 1em;} + +.microspace {margin-bottom: .5em;} + +.nanospace {padding-bottom: .25em;} + +.stext {font-size: 92%;} + +.border { + border-style: dashed; + border-width: 2px; + padding: 2em; + background: #FFFFFF; + border-color: #000000; +} + +.border2 { + border-style: solid; + border-width: 2px; + background: #FFFFFF; + border-color: #000000; + margin: auto; +} + +.blockquote {margin-left: 3em; font-size: 95%; padding-top: .5em; padding-bottom: .5em;} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Confessions of Arsène Lupin, by Maurice Leblanc + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Confessions of Arsène Lupin + +Author: Maurice Leblanc + +Release Date: February 15, 2009 [EBook #28093] +[This file last updated on August 30, 2010] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONFESSIONS OF ARSÈNE LUPIN *** + + + + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Meredith Bach, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="image border2" style="width: 440px; height: 539px;"> +<img src="images/ifrontis.jpg" width="440" height="539" alt=""Suddenly he rushed at her and caught +her by the arm"" title="" /><br /> +<span class="caption"><i>"Suddenly he rushed at her and caught +her by the arm"</i></span> +</div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="image"><img src="images/ititle.jpg" width="437" height="680" alt="Title Page" title="" /></div> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="border2" style="width: 550px; height: 575px; padding: 2em;"> +<h2>THE INTERNATIONAL<br /> +ADVENTURE LIBRARY</h2> + +<h3>THREE OWLS EDITION</h3> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h1>THE CONFESSIONS<br /> +OF ARSÈNE LUPIN</h1> + +<h2>An Adventure Story</h2> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + +<h3>BY<br /> +<span style="font-size: 130%;">MAURICE LEBLANC</span><br /> +Author of "Arsène Lupin"</h3> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h2 style="font-size: 130%;">W. R. CALDWELL & CO.<br /> +NEW YORK</h2> +</div> + + + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<hr /> +<h4><i>Copyright, 1912, 1913, by</i><br /> +<span class="smcap">Maurice Leblanc</span></h4> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h4><i>All rights reserved, including that of<br /> +translation into foreign languages,<br /> +including the Scandinavian</i></h4> +<hr /> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="table of contents" width="50%"> +<tr><td align="right" class="stext">CHAPTER</td><td></td><td align="right" class="stext">PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">I.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">Two Hundred Thousand Francs Reward!</td><td align="right"><a href="#I">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">II.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">The Wedding-Ring</td><td align="right"><a href="#II">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">III.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">The Sign of the Shadow</td><td align="right"><a href="#III">66</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IV.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">The Infernal Trap</td><td align="right"><a href="#IV">101</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">V.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">The Red Silk Scarf</td><td align="right"><a href="#V">138</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VI.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">Shadowed by Death</td><td align="right"><a href="#VI">177</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VII.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">A Tragedy in the Forest of Morgues</td><td align="right"><a href="#VII">210</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">VIII.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">Lupin's Marriage</td><td align="right"><a href="#VIII">228</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">IX.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">The Invisible Prisoner</td><td align="right"><a href="#IX">266</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="right">X.</td> <td align="left" class="sc">Edith Swan-Neck</td><td align="right"><a href="#X">291</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter3">THE CONFESSIONS OF ARSÈNE LUPIN</h2> +<hr /> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + +<h2>THE CONFESSIONS<br /> +OF ARSÈNE LUPIN</h2> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + + +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND FRANCS REWARD!...</h3> + + +<p>"Lupin," I said, "tell me something about yourself."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, what would you have me tell you? Everybody +knows my life!" replied Lupin, who lay drowsing +on the sofa in my study.</p> + +<p>"Nobody knows it!" I protested. "People know +from your letters in the newspapers that you were +mixed up in this case, that you started that case. +But the part which you played in it all, the plain facts +of the story, the upshot of the mystery: these are +things of which they know nothing."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! A heap of uninteresting twaddle!"</p> + +<p>"What! Your present of fifty thousand francs +to Nicolas Dugrival's wife! Do you call that uninteresting? +And what about the way in which you +solved the puzzle of the three pictures?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<p>Lupin laughed:</p> + +<p>"Yes, that was a queer puzzle, certainly. I can +suggest a title for you if you like: what do you say +to <i>The Sign of the Shadow</i>?"</p> + +<p>"And your successes in society and with the fair +sex?" I continued. "The dashing Arsène's love-affairs!... +And the clue to your good actions? +Those chapters in your life to which you have so +often alluded under the names of <i>The Wedding-ring</i>, +<i>Shadowed by Death</i>, and so on!... Why +delay these confidences and confessions, my dear +Lupin?... Come, do what I ask you!..."</p> + +<p>It was at the time when Lupin, though already +famous, had not yet fought his biggest battles; the +time that preceded the great adventures of <i>The +Hollow Needle</i> and <i>813</i>. He had not yet dreamt +of annexing the accumulated treasures of the French +Royal House<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> nor of changing the map of Europe +under the Kaiser's nose<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a>: he contented himself with +milder surprises and humbler profits, making his +daily effort, doing evil from day to day and doing +a little good as well, naturally and for the love of +the thing, like a whimsical and compassionate Don +Quixote.</p> + +<p>He was silent; and I insisted:</p> + +<p>"Lupin, I wish you would!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> + +<p>To my astonishment, he replied:</p> + +<p>"Take a sheet of paper, old fellow, and a pencil."</p> + +<p>I obeyed with alacrity, delighted at the thought +that he at last meant to dictate to me some of those +pages which he knows how to clothe with such +vigour and fancy, pages which I, unfortunately, +am obliged to spoil with tedious explanations and +boring developments.</p> + +<p>"Are you ready?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Quite."</p> + +<p>"Write down, 20, 1, 11, 5, 14, 15."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Write it down, I tell you."</p> + +<p>He was now sitting up, with his eyes turned to +the open window and his fingers rolling a Turkish +cigarette. He continued:</p> + +<p>"Write down, 21, 14, 14, 5...."</p> + +<p>He stopped. Then he went on:</p> + +<p>"3, 5, 19, 19 ..."</p> + +<p>And, after a pause:</p> + +<p>"5, 18, 25 ..."</p> + +<p>Was he mad? I looked at him hard and, +presently, I saw that his eyes were no longer listless, +as they had been a little before, but keen and attentive +and that they seemed to be watching, somewhere, +in space, a sight that apparently captivated +them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> + +<p>Meanwhile, he dictated, with intervals between +each number:</p> + +<p>"18, 9, 19, 11, 19 ..."</p> + +<p>There was hardly anything to be seen through the +window but a patch of blue sky on the right and +the front of the building opposite, an old private +house, whose shutters were closed as usual. There +was nothing particular about all this, no detail that +struck me as new among those which I had had before +my eyes for years....</p> + +<p>"1, 2...."</p> + +<p>And suddenly I understood ... or rather I +thought I understood, for how could I admit that +Lupin, a man so essentially level-headed under his +mask of frivolity, could waste his time upon such +childish nonsense? What he was counting was the +intermittent flashes of a ray of sunlight playing +on the dingy front of the opposite house, at the height +of the second floor!</p> + +<p>"15, 22 ..." said Lupin.</p> + +<p>The flash disappeared for a few seconds and then +struck the house again, successively, at regular +intervals, and disappeared once more.</p> + +<p>I had instinctively counted the flashes and I +said, aloud:</p> + +<p>"5...."</p> + +<p>"Caught the idea? I congratulate you!" he +replied, sarcastically.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span></p> + +<p>He went to the window and leant out, as though +to discover the exact direction followed by the +ray of light. Then he came and lay on the sofa again, +saying:</p> + +<p>"It's your turn now. Count away!"</p> + +<p>The fellow seemed so positive that I did as he told +me. Besides, I could not help confessing that there +was something rather curious about the ordered frequency +of those gleams on the front of the house +opposite, those appearances and disappearances, +turn and turn about, like so many flash signals.</p> + +<p>They obviously came from a house on our side +of the street, for the sun was entering my windows +slantwise. It was as though some one were alternately +opening and shutting a casement, or, more +likely, amusing himself by making sunlight flashes +with a pocket-mirror.</p> + +<p>"It's a child having a game!" I cried, after a +moment or two, feeling a little irritated by the trivial +occupation that had been thrust upon me.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, go on!"</p> + +<p>And I counted away.... And I put down +rows of figures.... And the sun continued to +play in front of me, with mathematical precision.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Lupin, after a longer pause than +usual.</p> + +<p>"Why, it seems finished.... There has been +nothing for some minutes...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> + +<p>We waited and, as no more light flashed through +space, I said, jestingly:</p> + +<p>"My idea is that we have been wasting our time. +A few figures on paper: a poor result!"</p> + +<p>Lupin, without stirring from his sofa, rejoined:</p> + +<p>"Oblige me, old chap, by putting in the place +of each of those numbers the corresponding letter +of the alphabet. Count A as 1, B as 2 and so on. +Do you follow me?"</p> + +<p>"But it's idiotic!"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely idiotic, but we do such a lot of +idiotic things in this life.... One more or less, +you know!..."</p> + +<p>I sat down to this silly work and wrote out the +first letters:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"<i>Take no....</i>"</p></div> + +<p>I broke off in surprise:</p> + +<p>"Words!" I exclaimed. "Two English words +meaning...."</p> + +<p>"Go on, old chap."</p> + +<p>And I went on and the next letters formed two +more words, which I separated as they appeared. +And, to my great amazement, a complete English +sentence lay before my eyes.</p> + +<p>"Done?" asked Lupin, after a time.</p> + +<p>"Done!... By the way, there are mistakes +in the spelling...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Never mind those and read it out, please.... +Read slowly."</p> + +<p>Thereupon I read out the following unfinished +communication, which I will set down as it appeared +on the paper in front of me:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"<i>Take no unnecessery risks. Above all, avoid atacks, +approach ennemy with great prudance and....</i>"</p></div> + +<p>I began to laugh:</p> + +<p>"And there you are! <i>Fiat lux!</i> We're simply +dazed with light! But, after all, Lupin, confess +that this advice, dribbled out by a kitchen-maid, +doesn't help you much!"</p> + +<p>Lupin rose, without breaking his contemptuous +silence, and took the sheet of paper.</p> + +<p>I remembered soon after that, at this moment, +I happened to look at the clock. It was eighteen +minutes past five.</p> + +<p>Lupin was standing with the paper in his hand; +and I was able at my ease to watch, on his +youthful features, that extraordinary mobility of +expression which baffles all observers and constitutes +his great strength and his chief safeguard. +By what signs can one hope to identify a face which +changes at pleasure, even without the help of +make-up, and whose every transient expression +seems to be the final, definite expression?... +By what signs? There was one which I knew well,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span> +an invariable sign: Two little crossed wrinkles +that marked his forehead whenever he made a powerful +effort of concentration. And I saw it at that +moment, saw the tiny tell-tale cross, plainly +and deeply scored.</p> + +<p>He put down the sheet of paper and muttered:</p> + +<p>"Child's play!"</p> + +<p>The clock struck half-past five.</p> + +<p>"What!" I cried. "Have you succeeded?... +In twelve minutes?..."</p> + +<p>He took a few steps up and down the room, lit +a cigarette and said:</p> + +<p>"You might ring up Baron Repstein, if you don't +mind, and tell him I shall be with him at ten o'clock +this evening."</p> + +<p>"Baron Repstein?" I asked. "The husband of +the famous baroness?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Are you serious?"</p> + +<p>"Quite serious."</p> + +<p>Feeling absolutely at a loss, but incapable of +resisting him, I opened the telephone-directory +and unhooked the receiver. But, at that moment, +Lupin stopped me with a peremptory gesture and +said, with his eyes on the paper, which he had taken +up again:</p> + +<p>"No, don't say anything.... It's no use +letting him know.... There's something more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +urgent ... a queer thing that puzzles me.... Why +on earth wasn't the last sentence finished? +Why is the sentence...."</p> + +<p>He snatched up his hat and stick:</p> + +<p>"Let's be off. If I'm not mistaken, this is a business +that requires immediate solution; and I don't +believe I <i>am</i> mistaken."</p> + +<p>He put his arm through mine, as we went down +the stairs, and said:</p> + +<p>"I know what everybody knows. Baron Repstein, +the company-promoter and racing-man, +whose colt Etna won the Derby and the Grand +Prix this year, has been victimized by his wife. +The wife, who was well known for her fair hair, +her dress and her extravagance, ran away a fortnight +ago, taking with her a sum of three million francs, +stolen from her husband, and quite a collection of +diamonds, pearls and jewellery which the Princesse +de Berny had placed in her hands and which she +was supposed to buy. For two weeks the police +have been pursuing the baroness across France +and the continent: an easy job, as she scatters +gold and jewels wherever she goes. They think they +have her every moment. Two days ago, our champion +detective, the egregious Ganimard, arrested +a visitor at a big hotel in Belgium, a woman against +whom the most positive evidence seemed to be +heaped up. On enquiry, the lady turned out<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +to be a notorious chorus-girl called Nelly Darbal. +As for the baroness, she has vanished. The baron, +on his side, has offered a reward of two hundred +thousand francs to whosoever finds his wife. The +money is in the hands of a solicitor. Moreover, he +has sold his racing-stud, his house on the Boulevard +Haussmann and his country-seat of Roquencourt +in one lump, so that he may indemnify the Princesse +de Berny for her loss."</p> + +<p>"And the proceeds of the sale," I added, "are +to be paid over at once. The papers say that +the princess will have her money to-morrow. +Only, frankly, I fail to see the connection between +this story, which you have told very well, and the +puzzling sentence...."</p> + +<p>Lupin did not condescend to reply.</p> + +<p>We had been walking down the street in which I +live and had passed some four or five houses, when +he stepped off the pavement and began to examine +a block of flats, not of the latest construction, +which looked as if it contained a large number of +tenants:</p> + +<p>"According to my calculations," he said, "this +is where the signals came from, probably from that +open window."</p> + +<p>"On the third floor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>He went to the portress and asked her:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Does one of your tenants happen to be acquainted +with Baron Repstein?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course!" replied the woman. "We +have M. Lavernoux here, such a nice gentleman; +he is the baron's secretary and agent. I look after +his flat."</p> + +<p>"And can we see him?"</p> + +<p>"See him?... The poor gentleman is very ill."</p> + +<p>"Ill?"</p> + +<p>"He's been ill a fortnight ... ever since the +trouble with the baroness.... He came home +the next day with a temperature and took to his +bed."</p> + +<p>"But he gets up, surely?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, that I can't say!"</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, you can't say?"</p> + +<p>"No, his doctor won't let any one into his room. +He took my key from me."</p> + +<p>"Who did?"</p> + +<p>"The doctor. He comes and sees to his wants, +two or three times a day. He left the house only +twenty minutes ago ... an old gentleman with +a grey beard and spectacles.... Walks quite +bent.... But where are you going sir?"</p> + +<p>"I'm going up, show me the way," said Lupin, +with his foot on the stairs. "It's the third floor, +isn't it, on the left?"</p> + +<p>"But I mustn't!" moaned the portress, run<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span>ning +after him. "Besides, I haven't the key ... +the doctor...."</p> + +<p>They climbed the three flights, one behind the +other. On the landing, Lupin took a tool from his +pocket and, disregarding the woman's protests, +inserted it in the lock. The door yielded almost +immediately. We went in.</p> + +<p>At the back of a small dark room we saw a streak +of light filtering through a door that had been left +ajar. Lupin ran across the room and, on reaching +the threshold, gave a cry:</p> + +<p>"Too late! Oh, hang it all!"</p> + +<p>The portress fell on her knees, as though fainting.</p> + +<p>I entered the bedroom, in my turn, and saw a +man lying half-dressed on the carpet, with his legs +drawn up under him, his arms contorted and his +face quite white, an emaciated, fleshless face, with +the eyes still staring in terror and the mouth twisted +into a hideous grin.</p> + +<p>"He's dead," said Lupin, after a rapid examination.</p> + +<p>"But why?" I exclaimed. "There's not a trace +of blood!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, there is," replied Lupin, pointing to +two or three drops that showed on the chest, +through the open shirt. "Look, they must have +taken him by the throat with one hand and pricked +him to the heart with the other. I say, 'pricked,' +because really the wound can't be seen. It suggests +a hole made by a very long needle."</p> + +<div class="nanospace"> </div> +<div class="image border2" style="width: 430px; height: 533px;"> +<img src="images/i012.jpg" width="430" height="533" alt=""Lupin took a tool from his pocket ... and +inserted it in the lock"" title="" /> +<span class="caption"><i>"Lupin took a tool from his pocket ... and +inserted it in the lock"</i></span> +</div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> + +<p style="margin-top: 2em;">He looked on the floor, all round the corpse. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +was nothing to attract his attention, except a little +pocket-mirror, the little mirror with which M. +Lavernoux had amused himself by making the sunbeams +dance through space.</p> + +<p>But, suddenly, as the portress was breaking into +lamentations and calling for help, Lupin flung himself +on her and shook her:</p> + +<p>"Stop that!... Listen to me ... you +can call out later.... Listen to me and answer +me. It is most important. M. Lavernoux had a +friend living in this street, had he not? On the same +side, to the right? An intimate friend?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"A friend whom he used to meet at the café in +the evening and with whom he exchanged the illustrated +papers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Was the friend an Englishman?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What's his name?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hargrove."</p> + +<p>"Where does he live?"</p> + +<p>"At No. 92 in this street."</p> + +<p>"One word more: had that old doctor been attending +him long?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No. I did not know him. He came on the +evening when M. Lavernoux was taken ill."</p> + +<p>Without another word, Lupin dragged me away +once more, ran down the stairs and, once in the +street, turned to the right, which took us past my +flat again. Four doors further, he stopped at +No. 92, a small, low-storied house, of which the +ground-floor was occupied by the proprietor of a +dram-shop, who stood smoking in his doorway, +next to the entrance-passage. Lupin asked if Mr. +Hargrove was at home.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Hargrove went out about half-an-hour +ago," said the publican. "He seemed very much +excited and took a taxi-cab, a thing he doesn't +often do."</p> + +<p>"And you don't know...."</p> + +<p>"Where he was going? Well, there's no secret +about it He shouted it loud enough! 'Prefecture +of Police' is what he said to the driver...."</p> + +<p>Lupin was himself just hailing a taxi, when he +changed his mind; and I heard him mutter:</p> + +<p>"What's the good? He's got too much start of +us...."</p> + +<p>He asked if any one called after Mr. Hargrove had +gone.</p> + +<p>"Yes, an old gentleman with a grey beard and +spectacles. He went up to Mr. Hargrove's, rang the +bell, and went away again."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am much obliged," said Lupin, touching his +hat.</p> + +<p>He walked away slowly without speaking to me, +wearing a thoughtful air. There was no doubt that +the problem struck him as very difficult, and that +he saw none too clearly in the darkness through which +he seemed to be moving with such certainty.</p> + +<p>He himself, for that matter, confessed to me:</p> + +<p>"These are cases that require much more intuition +than reflection. But this one, I may tell you, is well +worth taking pains about."</p> + +<p>We had now reached the boulevards. Lupin +entered a public reading-room and spent a long +time consulting the last fortnight's newspapers. +Now and again, he mumbled:</p> + +<p>"Yes ... yes ... of course ... it's +only a guess, but it explains everything.... +Well, a guess that answers every question is not far +from being the truth...."</p> + +<p>It was now dark. We dined at a little restaurant +and I noticed that Lupin's face became gradually +more animated. His gestures were more decided. +He recovered his spirits, his liveliness. When we +left, during the walk which he made me take along +the Boulevard Haussmann, towards Baron Repstein's +house, he was the real Lupin of the great +occasions, the Lupin who had made up his mind to +go in and win.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>We slackened our pace just short of the Rue de +Courcelles. Baron Repstein lived on the left-hand +side, between this street and the Faubourg Saint-Honoré, +in a three-storied private house of which +we could see the front, decorated with columns and +caryatides.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" said Lupin, suddenly.</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"Another proof to confirm my supposition...."</p> + +<p>"What proof? I see nothing."</p> + +<p>"I do.... That's enough...."</p> + +<p>He turned up the collar of his coat, lowered the +brim of his soft hat and said:</p> + +<p>"By Jove, it'll be a stiff fight! Go to bed, my +friend. I'll tell you about my expedition to-morrow +... if it doesn't cost me my life."</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I know what I'm saying! I'm risking a +lot. First of all, getting arrested, which isn't much. +Next, getting killed, which is worse. But...." +He gripped my shoulder. "But there's a third +thing I'm risking, which is getting hold of two millions.... +And, once I possess a capital of +two millions, I'll show people what I can do! Good-night, +old chap, and, if you never see me again...." +He spouted Musset's lines:</p> + +<div class="block"> +<div class="poem"> +<span class="i0">"Plant a willow by my grave,</span><br /> +<span class="i2">The weeping willow that I love...."</span><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>I walked away. Three minutes later—I am<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span> +continuing the narrative as he told it to me next +day—three minutes later, Lupin rang at the door +of the Hôtel Repstein.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>"Is monsieur le baron at home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the butler, examining the intruder +with an air of surprise, "but monsieur le baron does +not see people as late as this."</p> + +<p>"Does monsieur le baron know of the murder of +M. Lavernoux, his land-agent?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"Well, please tell monsieur le baron that I have +come about the murder and that there is not a moment +to lose."</p> + +<p>A voice called from above:</p> + +<p>"Show the gentleman up, Antoine."</p> + +<p>In obedience to this peremptory order, the butler +led the way to the first floor. In an open doorway +stood a gentleman whom Lupin recognized +from his photograph in the papers as Baron Repstein, +husband of the famous baroness and owner of Etna, +the horse of the year.</p> + +<p>He was an exceedingly tall, square-shouldered +man. His clean-shaven face wore a pleasant, almost +smiling expression, which was not affected by the +sadness of his eyes. He was dressed in a well-cut +morning-coat, with a tan waistcoat and a dark<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +tie fastened with a pearl pin, the value of which struck +Lupin as considerable.</p> + +<p>He took Lupin into his study, a large, three-windowed +room, lined with book-cases, sets of pigeonholes, +an American desk and a safe. And he at once +asked, with ill-concealed eagerness:</p> + +<p>"Do you know anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur le baron."</p> + +<p>"About the murder of that poor Lavernoux?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, monsieur le baron, and about madame le +baronne also."</p> + +<p>"Do you really mean it? Quick, I entreat +you...."</p> + +<p>He pushed forward a chair. Lupin sat down and +began:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le baron, the circumstances are very +serious. I will be brief."</p> + +<p>"Yes, do, please."</p> + +<p>"Well, monsieur le baron, in a few words, it +amounts to this: five or six hours ago, Lavernoux, +who, for the last fortnight, had been kept in a sort +of enforced confinement by his doctor, Lavernoux—how +shall I put it?—telegraphed certain revelations +by means of signals which were partly taken +down by me and which put me on the track of this +case. He himself was surprised in the act of making +this communication and was murdered."</p> + +<p>"But by whom? By whom?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> + +<p>"By his doctor."</p> + +<p>"Who is this doctor?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. But one of M. Lavernoux's +friends, an Englishman called Hargrove, the friend, +in fact, with whom he was communicating, is +bound to know and is also bound to know the +exact and complete meaning of the communication, +because, without waiting for the end, he jumped +into a motor-cab and drove to the Prefecture of +Police."</p> + +<p>"Why? Why?... And what is the result +of that step?"</p> + +<p>"The result, monsieur le baron, is that your house +is surrounded. There are twelve detectives under +your windows. The moment the sun rises, they +will enter in the name of the law and arrest the +criminal."</p> + +<p>"Then is Lavernoux's murderer concealed in my +house? Who is he? One of the servants? But no, +for you were speaking of a doctor!..."</p> + +<p>"I would remark, monsieur le baron, that when +this Mr. Hargrove went to the police to tell them +of the revelations made by his friend Lavernoux, he +was not aware that his friend Lavernoux was going to +be murdered. The step taken by Mr Hargrove had +to do with something else...."</p> + +<p>"With what?"</p> + +<p>"With the disappearance of madame la baronne,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +of which he knew the secret, thanks to the communication +made by Lavernoux."</p> + +<p>"What! They know at last! They have found +the baroness! Where is she? And the jewels? And +the money she robbed me of?"</p> + +<p>Baron Repstein was talking in a great state of +excitement. He rose and, almost shouting at +Lupin, cried:</p> + +<p>"Finish your story, sir! I can't endure this +suspense!"</p> + +<p>Lupin continued, in a slow and hesitating voice:</p> + +<p>"The fact is ... you see ... it is rather +difficult to explain ... for you and I are looking +at the thing from a totally different point of view."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand."</p> + +<p>"And yet you ought to understand, monsieur le +baron.... We begin by saying—I am quoting +the newspapers—by saying, do we not, that Baroness +Repstein knew all the secrets of your business and +that she was able to open not only that safe over +there, but also the one at the Crédit Lyonnais in +which you kept your securities locked up?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well, one evening, a fortnight ago, while you +were at your club, Baroness Repstein, who, unknown +to yourself, had converted all those securities into +cash, left this house with a travelling-bag, containing +your money and all the Princesse de Berny's jewels?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And, since then, she has not been seen?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Well, there is an excellent reason why she has +not been seen."</p> + +<p>"What reason?"</p> + +<p>"This, that Baroness Repstein has been murdered...."</p> + +<p>"Murdered!... The baroness!... But +you're mad!"</p> + +<p>"Murdered ... and probably that same evening."</p> + +<p>"I tell you again, you are mad! How can the +baroness have been murdered, when the police are +following her tracks, so to speak, step by step?"</p> + +<p>"They are following the tracks of another +woman."</p> + +<p>"What woman?"</p> + +<p>"The murderer's accomplice."</p> + +<p>"And who is the murderer?"</p> + +<p>"The same man who, for the last fortnight, knowing +that Lavernoux, through the situation which +he occupied in this house, had discovered the truth, +kept him imprisoned, forced him to silence, threatened +him, terrorized him; the same man who, finding +Lavernoux in the act of communicating with a friend, +made away with him in cold blood by stabbing him +to the heart."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The doctor, therefore?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But who is this doctor? Who is this malevolent +genius, this infernal being who appears and +disappears, who slays in the dark and whom nobody +suspects?"</p> + +<p>"Can't you guess?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"And do you want to know?"</p> + +<p>"Do I want to know?... Why, speak, man, +speak!... You know where he is hiding?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"In this house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And it is he whom the police are after?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And I know him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Who is it?"</p> + +<p>"You!"</p> + +<p>"I!..."</p> + +<p>Lupin had not been more than ten minutes with +the baron; and the duel was commencing. The +accusation was hurled, definitely, violently, implacably.</p> + +<p>Lupin repeated:</p> + +<p>"You yourself, got up in a false beard and a +pair of spectacles, bent in two, like an old man.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +In short, you, Baron Repstein; and it is you for a +very good reason, of which nobody has thought, +which is that, if it was not you who contrived the +whole plot, the case becomes inexplicable. Whereas, +taking you as the criminal, you as murdering the +baroness in order to get rid of her and run through +those millions with another woman, you as murdering +Lavernoux, your agent, in order to suppress +an unimpeachable witness, oh, then the whole case +is explained! Well, is it pretty clear? And are not +you yourself convinced?"</p> + +<p>The baron, who, throughout this conversation, +had stood bending over his visitor, waiting for each +of his words with feverish avidity, now drew himself +up and looked at Lupin as though he undoubtedly +had to do with a madman. When Lupin had finished +speaking, the baron stepped back two or three +paces, seemed on the point of uttering words which +he ended by not saying, and then, without taking +his eyes from his strange visitor, went to the fireplace +and rang the bell.</p> + +<p>Lupin did not make a movement. He waited +smiling.</p> + +<p>The butler entered. His master said:</p> + +<p>"You can go to bed, Antoine. I will let this +gentleman out."</p> + +<p>"Shall I put out the lights, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Leave a light in the hall."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>Antoine left the room and the baron, after taking +a revolver from his desk, at once came back to +Lupin, put the weapon in his pocket and said, +very calmly:</p> + +<p>"You must excuse this little precaution, sir. +I am obliged to take it in case you should be mad, +though that does not seem likely. No, you are +not mad. But you have come here with an object +which I fail to grasp; and you have sprung upon +me an accusation of so astounding a character +that I am curious to know the reason. I have +experienced so much disappointment and undergone +so much suffering that an outrage of this kind leaves +me indifferent. Continue, please."</p> + +<p>His voice shook with emotion and his sad eyes +seemed moist with tears.</p> + +<p>Lupin shuddered. Had he made a mistake? +Was the surmise which his intuition had suggested +to him and which was based upon a frail groundwork +of slight facts, was this surmise wrong?</p> + +<p>His attention was caught by a detail: through +the opening in the baron's waistcoat he saw the +point of the pin fixed in the tie and was thus +able to realize the unusual length of the pin. Moreover, +the gold stem was triangular and formed a sort +of miniature dagger, very thin and very delicate, yet +formidable in an expert hand.</p> + +<p>And Lupin had no doubt but that the pin attached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +to that magnificent pearl was the weapon which had +pierced the heart of the unfortunate M. Lavernoux.</p> + +<p>He muttered:</p> + +<p>"You're jolly clever, monsieur le baron!"</p> + +<p>The other, maintaining a rather scornful gravity, +kept silence, as though he did not understand and +as though waiting for the explanation to which he +felt himself entitled. And, in spite of everything, +this impassive attitude worried Arsène Lupin. +Nevertheless, his conviction was so profound and, +besides, he had staked so much on the adventure that +he repeated:</p> + +<p>"Yes, jolly clever, for it is evident that the +baroness only obeyed your orders in realizing +your securities and also in borrowing the princess's +jewels on the pretence of buying them. And it +is evident that the person who walked out of your +house with a bag was not your wife, but an accomplice, +that chorus-girl probably, and that it is your +chorus-girl who is deliberately allowing herself +to be chased across the continent by our worthy +Ganimard. And I look upon the trick as marvellous. +What does the woman risk, seeing that +it is the baroness who is being looked for? And +how could they look for any other woman than +the baroness, seeing that you have promised a +reward of two hundred thousand francs to the +person who finds the baroness?... Oh, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +two hundred thousand francs lodged with a solicitor: +what a stroke of genius! It has dazzled the +police! It has thrown dust in the eyes of the most +clear-sighted! A gentleman who lodges two hundred +thousand francs with a solicitor is a gentleman +who speaks the truth.... So they go on +hunting the baroness! And they leave you quietly +to settle your affairs, to sell your stud and your +two houses to the highest bidder and to prepare your +flight! Heavens, what a joke!"</p> + +<p>The baron did not wince. He walked up to +Lupin and asked, without abandoning his imperturbable +coolness:</p> + +<p>"Who are you?"</p> + +<p>Lupin burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>"What can it matter who I am? Take it that +I am an emissary of fate, looming out of the darkness +for your destruction!"</p> + +<p>He sprang from his chair, seized the baron by the +shoulder and jerked out:</p> + +<p>"Yes, for your destruction, my bold baron! Listen +to me! Your wife's three millions, almost +all the princess's jewels, the money you received +to-day from the sale of your stud and your real +estate: it's all there, in your pocket, or in that +safe. Your flight is prepared. Look, I can see +the leather of your portmanteau behind that +hanging. The papers on your desk are in order.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +This very night, you would have done a guy. This +very night, disguised beyond recognition, after +taking all your precautions, you would have +joined your chorus-girl, the creature for whose +sake you have committed murder, that same Nelly +Darbal, no doubt, whom Ganimard arrested in +Belgium. But for one sudden, unforeseen obstacle: +the police, the twelve detectives who, thanks +to Lavernoux's revelations, have been posted +under your windows. They've cooked your +goose, old chap!... Well, I'll save you. +A word through the telephone; and, by three or +four o'clock in the morning, twenty of my friends +will have removed the obstacle, polished off the +twelve detectives, and you and I will slip away +quietly. My conditions? Almost nothing; a trifle +to you: we share the millions and the jewels. Is it +a bargain?"</p> + +<p>He was leaning over the baron, thundering at him +with irresistible energy. The baron whispered:</p> + +<p>"I'm beginning to understand. It's blackmail...."</p> + +<p>"Blackmail or not, call it what you please, my +boy, but you've got to go through with it and do +as I say. And don't imagine that I shall give +way at the last moment. Don't say to yourself, +'Here's a gentleman whom the fear of the police +will cause to think twice. If I run a big risk in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> +refusing, he also will be risking the handcuffs, +the cells and the rest of it, seeing that we are both +being hunted down like wild beasts.' That would +be a mistake, monsieur le baron. I can always +get out of it. It's a question of yourself, of yourself +alone.... Your money or your life, my lord! +Share and share alike ... if not, the scaffold! +Is it a bargain?"</p> + +<p>A quick movement. The baron released himself, +grasped his revolver and fired.</p> + +<p>But Lupin was prepared for the attack, the more +so as the baron's face had lost its assurance and +gradually, under the slow impulse of rage and +fear, acquired an expression of almost bestial ferocity +that heralded the rebellion so long kept under +control.</p> + +<p>He fired twice. Lupin first flung himself to one +side and then dived at the baron's knees, seized +him by both legs and brought him to the ground. +The baron freed himself with an effort. The two +enemies rolled over in each other's grip; and a stubborn, +crafty, brutal, savage struggle followed.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Lupin felt a pain at his chest:</p> + +<p>"You villain!" he yelled. "That's your Lavernoux +trick; the tie-pin!"</p> + +<p>Stiffening his muscles with a desperate effort, +he overpowered the baron and clutched him by the +throat victorious at last and omnipotent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You ass!" he cried. "If you hadn't shown +your cards, I might have thrown up the game! +You have such a look of the honest man about +you! But what a biceps, my lord!... I thought +for a moment.... But it's all over, now!... +Come, my friend, hand us the pin and look cheerful.... +No, that's what I call pulling a face.... +I'm holding you too tight, perhaps? My +lord's at his last gasp?... Come, be good!... +That's it, just a wee bit of string round the +wrists; do you allow me?... Why, you and I +are agreeing like two brothers! It's touching!... +At heart, you know, I'm rather fond of you.... +And now, my bonnie lad, mind yourself! And a +thousand apologies!..."</p> + +<p>Half raising himself, with all his strength he +caught the other a terrible blow in the pit of the +stomach. The baron gave a gurgle and lay stunned +and unconscious.</p> + +<p>"That comes of having a deficient sense of logic, +my friend," said Lupin. "I offered you half your +money. Now I'll give you none at all ... +provided I know where to find any of it. For that's +the main thing. Where has the beggar hidden his +dust? In the safe? By George, it'll be a tough job! +Luckily, I have all the night before me...."</p> + +<p>He began to feel in the baron's pockets, came +upon a bunch of keys, first made sure that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +portmanteau behind the curtain held no papers or +jewels, and then went to the safe.</p> + +<p>But, at that moment, he stopped short: he heard +a noise somewhere. The servants? Impossible. +Their attics were on the top floor. He listened. +The noise came from below. And, suddenly, he +understood: the detectives, who had heard the +two shots, were banging at the front door, as was +their duty, without waiting for daybreak. Then +an electric bell rang, which Lupin recognized as that +in the hall:</p> + +<p>"By Jupiter!" he said. "Pretty work! Here +are these jokers coming ... and just as we were +about to gather the fruits of our laborious efforts! +Tut, tut, Lupin, keep cool! What's expected of +you? To open a safe, of which you don't know +the secret, in thirty seconds. That's a mere trifle +to lose your head about! Come, all you have to do +is to discover the secret! How many letters are there +in the word? Four?"</p> + +<p>He went on thinking, while talking and listening +to the noise outside. He double-locked the door +of the outer room and then came back to the safe:</p> + +<p>"Four ciphers.... Four letters ... four +letters.... Who can lend me a hand?... +Who can give me just a tiny hint?... Who? +Why, Lavernoux, of course! That good Lavernoux, +seeing that he took the trouble to indulge in optical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +telegraphy at the risk of his life.... Lord, what +a fool I am!... Why, of course, why, of course, +that's it!... By Jove, this is too exciting!... +Lupin, you must count ten and suppress that +distracted beating of your heart. If not, it means +bad work."</p> + +<p>He counted ten and, now quite calm, knelt in front +of the safe. He turned the four knobs with careful +attention. Next, he examined the bunch of keys, +selected one of them, then another, and attempted, +in vain, to insert them in the lock:</p> + +<p>"There's luck in odd numbers," he muttered, +trying a third key. "Victory! This is the right one! +Open Sesame, good old Sesame, open!"</p> + +<p>The lock turned. The door moved on its hinges. +Lupin pulled it to him, after taking out the bunch of +keys:</p> + +<p>"The millions are ours," he said. "Baron, I +forgive you!"</p> + +<p>And then he gave a single bound backward, +hiccoughing with fright. His legs staggered beneath +him. The keys jingled together in his +fevered hand with a sinister sound. And, for +twenty, for thirty seconds, despite the din that was +being raised and the electric bells that kept ringing +through the house, he stood there, wild-eyed, gazing +at the most horrible, the most abominable sight: +a woman's body, half-dressed, bent in two in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +safe, crammed in, like an over-large parcel ... +and fair hair hanging down ... and blood ... +clots of blood ... and livid flesh, blue in places, +decomposing, flaccid.</p> + +<p>"The baroness!" he gasped. "The baroness!... +Oh, the monster!..."</p> + +<p>He roused himself from his torpor, suddenly, to spit +in the murderer's face and pound him with his +heels:</p> + +<p>"Take that, you wretch!... Take that, you +villain!... And, with it, the scaffold, the bran-basket!..."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, shouts came from the upper floors in +reply to the detectives' ringing. Lupin heard footsteps +scurrying down the stairs. It was time to think +of beating a retreat.</p> + +<p>In reality, this did not trouble him greatly. During +his conversation with the baron, the enemy's +extraordinary coolness had given him the feeling that +there must be a private outlet. Besides, how could +the baron have begun the fight, if he were not sure +of escaping the police?</p> + +<p>Lupin went into the next room. It looked out +on the garden. At the moment when the detectives +were entering the house, he flung his legs over +the balcony and let himself down by a rain-pipe. +He walked round the building. On the opposite +side was a wall lined with shrubs. He slipped in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +between the shrubs and the wall and at once found +a little door which he easily opened with one of +the keys on the bunch. All that remained for him +to do was to walk across a yard and pass through +the empty rooms of a lodge; and in a few moments +he found himself in the Rue du Faubourg +Saint-Honoré. Of course—and this he had reckoned +on—the police had not provided for this secret +outlet.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>"Well, what do you think of Baron Repstein?" +cried Lupin, after giving me all the details of +that tragic night. "What a dirty scoundrel! And +how it teaches one to distrust appearances! I +swear to you, the fellow looked a thoroughly honest +man!"</p> + +<p>"But what about the millions?" I asked. +"The princess's jewels?"</p> + +<p>"They were in the safe. I remember seeing the +parcel."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"They are there still."</p> + +<p>"Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"They are, upon my word! I might tell you +that I was afraid of the detectives, or else plead a +sudden attack of delicacy. But the truth is +simpler ... and more prosaic: the smell was +too awful!..."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear fellow, the smell that came from +that safe ... from that coffin.... No, I +couldn't do it ... my head swam.... +Another second and I should have been ill.... +Isn't it silly?... Look, this is all I got from my +expedition: the tie-pin.... The bed-rock value +of the pearl is thirty thousand francs.... But +all the same, I feel jolly well annoyed. What a sell!"</p> + +<p>"One more question," I said. "The word that +opened the safe!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"How did you guess it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, quite easily! In fact, I am surprised that I +didn't think of it sooner."</p> + +<p>"Well, tell me."</p> + +<p>"It was contained in the revelations telegraphed by +that poor Lavernoux."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Just think, my dear chap, the mistakes in +spelling...."</p> + +<p>"The mistakes in spelling?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course! They were deliberate. Surely, +you don't imagine that the agent, the private +secretary of the baron—who was a company-promoter, +mind you, and a racing-man—did not +know English better than to spell 'necessery' +with an 'e,' 'atack' with one 't,' 'ennemy'<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +with two 'n's' and 'prudance' with an 'a'! +The thing struck me at once. I put the four letters +together and got 'Etna,' the name of the famous +horse."</p> + +<p>"And was that one word enough?"</p> + +<p>"Of course! It was enough to start with, to +put me on the scent of the Repstein case, of which +all the papers were full, and, next, to make me guess +that it was the key-word of the safe, because, on +the one hand, Lavernoux knew the gruesome contents +of the safe and, on the other, he was denouncing +the baron. And it was in the same way that I was +led to suppose that Lavernoux had a friend in the +street, that they both frequented the same café, +that they amused themselves by working out the +problems and cryptograms in the illustrated papers +and that they had contrived a way of exchanging +telegrams from window to window."</p> + +<p>"That makes it all quite simple!" I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Very simple. And the incident once more +shows that, in the discovery of crimes, there is +something much more valuable than the examination +of facts, than observations, deductions, inferences +and all that stuff and nonsense. What I +mean is, as I said before, intuition ... intuition +and intelligence.... And Arsène Lupin, without +boasting, is deficient in neither one nor the +other!..."</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">THE WEDDING-RING</h3> + + +<p>Yvonne d'Origny kissed her son and told him to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +be good:</p> + +<p>"You know your grandmother d'Origny is not +very fond of children. Now that she has sent for +you to come and see her, you must show her what +a sensible little boy you are." And, turning to the +governess, "Don't forget, Fräulein, to bring him +home immediately after dinner.... Is monsieur +still in the house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, monsieur le comte is in his +study."</p> + +<p>As soon as she was alone, Yvonne d'Origny walked +to the window to catch a glimpse of her son as +he left the house. He was out in the street in +a moment, raised his head and blew her a kiss, +as was his custom every day. Then the governess +took his hand with, as Yvonne remarked to her +surprise, a movement of unusual violence. Yvonne +leant further out of the window and, when the +boy reached the corner of the boulevard, she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +suddenly saw a man step out of a motor-car and go +up to him. The man, in whom she recognized +Bernard, her husband's confidential servant, took +the child by the arm, made both him and the +governess get into the car, and ordered the chauffeur +to drive off.</p> + +<p>The whole incident did not take ten seconds.</p> + +<p>Yvonne, in her trepidation, ran to her bedroom, +seized a wrap and went to the door. The door was +locked; and there was no key in the lock.</p> + +<p>She hurried back to the boudoir. The door of the +boudoir also was locked.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, the image of her husband appeared +before her, that gloomy face which no smile +ever lit up, those pitiless eyes in which, for years, +she had felt so much hatred and malice.</p> + +<p>"It's he ... it's he!" she said to herself. "He +has taken the child.... Oh, it's horrible!"</p> + +<p>She beat against the door with her fists, with her +feet, then flew to the mantelpiece and pressed the +bell fiercely.</p> + +<p>The shrill sound rang through the house from +top to bottom. The servants would be sure to +come. Perhaps a crowd would gather in the street. +And, impelled by a sort of despairing hope, she kept +her finger on the button.</p> + +<p>A key turned in the lock.... The door was +flung wide open. The count appeared on the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span> +threshold of the boudoir. And the expression of his +face was so terrible that Yvonne began to tremble.</p> + +<p>He entered the room. Five or six steps separated +him from her. With a supreme effort, she +tried to stir, but all movement was impossible; and, +when she attempted to speak, she could only flutter +her lips and emit incoherent sounds. She felt +herself lost. The thought of death unhinged her. +Her knees gave way beneath her and she sank into +a huddled heap, with a moan.</p> + +<p>The count rushed at her and seized her by the +throat:</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue ... don't call out!" he +said, in a low voice. "That will be best for +you!..."</p> + +<p>Seeing that she was not attempting to defend +herself, he loosened his hold of her and took from +his pocket some strips of canvas ready rolled and +of different lengths. In a few minutes, Yvonne was +lying on a sofa, with her wrists and ankles bound +and her arms fastened close to her body.</p> + +<p>It was now dark in the boudoir. The count +switched on the electric light and went to a little +writing-desk where Yvonne was accustomed to +keep her letters. Not succeeding in opening it, he +picked the lock with a bent wire, emptied the drawers +and collected all the contents into a bundle, which +he carried off in a cardboard file:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Waste of time, eh?" he grinned. "Nothing +but bills and letters of no importance.... No +proof against you.... Tah! I'll keep my +son for all that; and I swear before Heaven that I +will not let him go!"</p> + +<p>As he was leaving the room, he was joined, near +the door, by his man Bernard. The two stopped +and talked, in a low voice; but Yvonne heard these +words spoken by the servant:</p> + +<p>"I have had an answer from the working jeweller. +He says he holds himself at my disposal."</p> + +<p>And the count replied:</p> + +<p>"The thing is put off until twelve o'clock midday, +to-morrow. My mother has just telephoned to say +that she could not come before."</p> + +<p>Then Yvonne heard the key turn in the lock and +the sound of steps going down to the ground-floor, +where her husband's study was.</p> + +<p>She long lay inert, her brain reeling with vague, +swift ideas that burnt her in passing, like flames. +She remembered her husband's infamous behaviour, +his humiliating conduct to her, his threats, his +plans for a divorce; and she gradually came to +understand that she was the victim of a regular +conspiracy, that the servants had been sent away +until the following evening by their master's orders, +that the governess had carried off her son by the +count's instructions and with Bernard's assistance,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +that her son would not come back and that she would +never see him again.</p> + +<p>"My son!" she cried. "My son!..."</p> + +<p>Exasperated by her grief, she stiffened herself, +with every nerve, with every muscle tense, to make +a violent effort. And she was astonished to find +that her right hand, which the count had fastened too +hurriedly, still retained a certain freedom.</p> + +<p>Then a mad hope invaded her; and, slowly, patiently, +she began the work of self-deliverance.</p> + +<p>It was long in the doing. She needed a deal of +time to widen the knot sufficiently and a deal of time +afterward, when the hand was released, to undo +those other bonds which tied her arms to her body and +those which fastened her ankles.</p> + +<p>Still, the thought of her son sustained her; and +the last shackle fell as the clock struck eight. She +was free!</p> + +<p>She was no sooner on her feet than she flew to +the window and flung back the latch, with the +intention of calling the first passer-by. At that +moment a policeman came walking along the +pavement. She leant out. But the brisk evening +air, striking her face, calmed her. She thought +of the scandal, of the judicial investigation, of the +cross-examination, of her son. O Heaven! What +could she do to get him back? How could she +escape? The count might appear at the least<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +sound. And who knew but that, in a moment of +fury ...?</p> + +<p>She shivered from head to foot, seized with a sudden +terror. The horror of death mingled, in her poor +brain, with the thought of her son; and she stammered, +with a choking throat:</p> + +<p>"Help!... Help!..."</p> + +<p>She stopped and said to herself, several times +over, in a low voice, "Help!... Help!..." +as though the word awakened an idea, a memory +within her, and as though the hope of assistance +no longer seemed to her impossible. For some +minutes she remained absorbed in deep meditation, +broken by fears and starts. Then, with an +almost mechanical series of movements, she put +out her arm to a little set of shelves hanging over +the writing-desk, took down four books, one after +the other, turned the pages with a distraught air, +replaced them and ended by finding, between the +pages of the fifth, a visiting-card on which her eyes +spelt the name:</p> + +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="center"> +HORACE VELMONT, +</div> + +<p>followed by an address written in pencil:</p> + +<div class="center stext"> +<span class="smcap">CERCLE DE LA RUE ROYALE.</span> +</div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> + +<p>And her memory conjured up the strange thing +which that man had said to her, a few years before,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span> +in that same house, on a day when she was at home +to her friends:</p> + +<p>"If ever a danger threatens you, if you need help, +do not hesitate; post this card, which you see me +put into this book; and, whatever the hour, whatever +the obstacles, I will come."</p> + +<p>With what a curious air he had spoken these +words and how well he had conveyed the impression +of certainty, of strength, of unlimited power, of +indomitable daring!</p> + +<p>Abruptly, unconsciously, acting under the impulse +of an irresistible determination, the consequences +of which she refused to anticipate, Yvonne, +with the same automatic gestures, took a pneumatic-delivery +envelope, slipped in the card, sealed it, +directed it to "Horace Velmont, Cercle de la Rue +Royale" and went to the open window. The policeman +was walking up and down outside. She flung +out the envelope, trusting to fate. Perhaps it would +be picked up, treated as a lost letter and posted.</p> + +<p>She had hardly completed this act when she realized +its absurdity. It was mad to suppose that the +message would reach the address and madder still +to hope that the man to whom she was sending +could come to her assistance, "whatever the hour, +whatever the obstacles."</p> + +<p>A reaction followed which was all the greater +inasmuch as the effort had been swift and violent.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span> +Yvonne staggered, leant against a chair and, losing +all energy, let herself fall.</p> + +<p>The hours passed by, the dreary hours of winter +evenings when nothing but the sound of carriages +interrupts the silence of the street. The clock struck, +pitilessly. In the half-sleep that numbed her limbs, +Yvonne counted the strokes. She also heard certain +noises, on different floors of the house, which +told her that her husband had dined, that he was +going up to his room, that he was going down again +to his study. But all this seemed very shadowy to +her; and her torpor was such that she did not even +think of lying down on the sofa, in case he should +come in....</p> + +<p>The twelve strokes of midnight.... Then +half-past twelve ... then one.... Yvonne +thought of nothing, awaiting the events which were +preparing and against which rebellion was useless. She +pictured her son and herself as one pictures those +beings who have suffered much and who suffer no +more and who take each other in their loving arms. +But a nightmare shattered this dream. For now +those two beings were to be torn asunder; and she +had the awful feeling, in her delirium, that she was +crying and choking....</p> + +<p>She leapt from her seat. The key had turned in +the lock. The count was coming, attracted by her +cries. Yvonne glanced round for a weapon with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span> +which to defend herself. But the door was pushed +back quickly and, astounded, as though the sight +that presented itself before her eyes seemed to her +the most inexplicable prodigy, she stammered:</p> + +<p>"You!... You!..."</p> + +<p>A man was walking up to her, in dress-clothes, +with his opera-hat and cape under his arm, and this +man, young, slender and elegant, she had recognized +as Horace Velmont.</p> + +<p>"You!" she repeated.</p> + +<p>He said, with a bow:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, madame, but I did not receive +your letter until very late."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible? Is it possible that this is you ... +that you were able to ...?"</p> + +<p>He seemed greatly surprised:</p> + +<p>"Did I not promise to come in answer to your +call?"</p> + +<p>"Yes ... but ..."</p> + +<p>"Well, here I am," he said, with a smile.</p> + +<p>He examined the strips of canvas from which +Yvonne had succeeded in freeing herself and nodded +his head, while continuing his inspection:</p> + +<p>"So those are the means employed? The Comte +d'Origny, I presume?... I also saw that +he locked you in.... But then the pneumatic +letter?... Ah, through the window!... +How careless of you not to close it!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> + +<p>He pushed both sides to. Yvonne took fright:</p> + +<p>"Suppose they hear!"</p> + +<p>"There is no one in the house. I have been over +it."</p> + +<p>"Still ..."</p> + +<p>"Your husband went out ten minutes ago."</p> + +<p>"Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"With his mother, the Comtesse d'Origny."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's very simple! He was rung up by telephone +and I awaited the result at the corner +of this street and the boulevard. As I expected, +the count came out hurriedly, followed by his +man. I at once entered, with the aid of special +keys."</p> + +<p>He told this in the most natural way, just as +one tells a meaningless anecdote in a drawing-room. +But Yvonne, suddenly seized with fresh +alarm, asked:</p> + +<p>"Then it's not true?... His mother is not +ill?... In that case, my husband will be coming +back...."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, the count will see that a trick has +been played on him and in three quarters of an hour +at the latest...."</p> + +<p>"Let us go.... I don't want him to find me +here.... I must go to my son...."</p> + +<p>"One moment...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One moment!... But don't you know that +they have taken him from me?... That they +are hurting him, perhaps?..."</p> + +<p>With set face and feverish gestures, she tried to +push Velmont back. He, with great gentleness, +compelled her to sit down and, leaning over her in +a respectful attitude, said, in a serious voice:</p> + +<p>"Listen, madame, and let us not waste time, +when every minute is valuable. First of all, +remember this: we met four times, six years ago.... +And, on the fourth occasion, when I was +speaking to you, in the drawing-room of this house, +with too much—what shall I say?—with too much +feeling, you gave me to understand that my visits +were no longer welcome. Since that day I have +not seen you. And, nevertheless, in spite of all, +your faith in me was such that you kept the card +which I put between the pages of that book and, +six years later, you send for me and none other. +That faith in me I ask you to continue. You must +obey me blindly. Just as I surmounted every +obstacle to come to you, so I will save you, whatever +the position may be."</p> + +<p>Horace Velmont's calmness, his masterful voice, +with the friendly intonation, gradually quieted the +countess. Though still very weak, she gained a +fresh sense of ease and security in that man's +presence.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Have no fear," he went on. "The Comtesse +d'Origny lives at the other end of the Bois +de Vincennes. Allowing that your husband finds +a motor-cab, it is impossible for him to be back +before a quarter-past three. Well, it is twenty-five +to three now. I swear to take you away at three +o'clock exactly and to take you to your son. But +I will not go before I know everything."</p> + +<p>"What am I to do?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Answer me and very plainly. We have twenty +minutes. It is enough. But it is not too much."</p> + +<p>"Ask me what you want to know."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that the count had any ... +any murderous intentions?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then it concerns your son?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"He is taking him away, I suppose, because +he wants to divorce you and marry another woman, +a former friend of yours, whom you have turned +out of your house. Is that it? Oh, I entreat +you, answer me frankly! These are facts of public +notoriety; and your hesitation, your scruples, +must all cease, now that the matter concerns your +son. So your husband wished to marry another +woman?</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"The woman has no money. Your husband,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +on his side, has gambled away all his property and +has no means beyond the allowance which he receives +from his mother, the Comtesse d'Origny, +and the income of a large fortune which your son +inherited from two of your uncles. It is this +fortune which your husband covets and which he +would appropriate more easily if the child were +placed in his hands. There is only one way: +divorce. Am I right?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And what has prevented him until now is your +refusal?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mine and that of my mother-in-law, whose +religious feelings are opposed to divorce. The Comtesse +d'Origny would only yield in case ..."</p> + +<p>"In case ...?"</p> + +<p>"In case they could prove me guilty of shameful +conduct."</p> + +<p>Velmont shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"Therefore he is powerless to do anything against +you or against your son. Both from the legal point +of view and from that of his own interests, he stumbles +against an obstacle which is the most insurmountable +of all: the virtue of an honest woman. +And yet, in spite of everything, he suddenly shows +fight."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that, if a man like the count, after so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +many hesitations and in the face of so many difficulties, +risks so doubtful an adventure, it must be because +he thinks he has command of weapons ..."</p> + +<p>"What weapons?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. But they exist ... or else he +would not have begun by taking away your son."</p> + +<p>Yvonne gave way to her despair:</p> + +<p>"Oh, this is horrible!... How do I know +what he may have done, what he may have invented?"</p> + +<p>"Try and think.... Recall your memories.... +Tell me, in this desk which he has broken +open, was there any sort of letter which he could possibly +turn against you?"</p> + +<p>"No ... only bills and addresses...."</p> + +<p>"And, in the words he used to you, in his threats, +is there nothing that allows you to guess?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Still ... still," Velmont insisted, "there must +be something." And he continued, "Has the count +a particularly intimate friend ... in whom he +confides?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Did anybody come to see him yesterday?"</p> + +<p>"No, nobody."</p> + +<p>"Was he alone when he bound you and locked you +in?"</p> + +<p>"At that moment, yes."</p> + +<p>"But afterward?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span></p> + +<p>"His man, Bernard, joined him near the door +and I heard them talking about a working jeweller...."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"And about something that was to happen the +next day, that is, to-day, at twelve o'clock, because +the Comtesse d'Origny could not come earlier."</p> + +<p>Velmont reflected:</p> + +<p>"Has that conversation any meaning that throws +a light upon your husband's plans?"</p> + +<p>"I don't see any."</p> + +<p>"Where are your jewels?"</p> + +<p>"My husband has sold them all."</p> + +<p>"You have nothing at all left?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Not even a ring?"</p> + +<p>"No," she said, showing her hands, "none except +this."</p> + +<p>"Which is your wedding-ring?"</p> + +<p>"Which is my ... wedding—..."</p> + +<p>She stopped, nonplussed. Velmont saw her flush +as she stammered:</p> + +<p>"Could it be possible?... But no ... +no ... he doesn't know...."</p> + +<p>Velmont at once pressed her with questions and +Yvonne stood silent, motionless, anxious-faced. At +last, she replied, in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"This is not my wedding-ring. One day, long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +ago, it dropped from the mantelpiece in my bedroom, +where I had put it a minute before and, hunt for +it as I might, I could not find it again. So I ordered +another, without saying anything about it ... +and this is the one, on my hand...."</p> + +<p>"Did the real ring bear the date of your wedding?"</p> + +<p>"Yes ... the 23rd of October."</p> + +<p>"And the second?"</p> + +<p>"This one has no date."</p> + +<p>He perceived a slight hesitation in her and a +confusion which, in point of fact, she did not try to +conceal.</p> + +<p>"I implore you," he exclaimed, "don't hide anything +from me.... You see how far we have +gone in a few minutes, with a little logic and calmness.... +Let us go on, I ask you as a favour."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure," she said, "that it is necessary?"</p> + +<p>"I am sure that the least detail is of importance +and that we are nearly attaining our object. But +we must hurry. This is a crucial moment."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to conceal," she said, proudly +raising her head. "It was the most wretched and +the most dangerous period of my life. While +suffering humiliation at home, outside I was surrounded +with attentions, with temptations, with +pitfalls, like any woman who is seen to be neglected +by her husband. Then I remembered: before my +marriage, a man had been in love with me. I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +guessed his unspoken love; and he has died since. I +had the name of that man engraved inside the ring; +and I wore it as a talisman. There was no love in me, +because I was the wife of another. But, in my secret +heart, there was a memory, a sad dream, something +sweet and gentle that protected me...."</p> + +<p>She had spoken slowly, without embarrassment, +and Velmont did not doubt for a second that she +was telling the absolute truth. He kept silent; and +she, becoming anxious again, asked:</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose ... that my husband ...?"</p> + +<p>He took her hand and, while examining the plain +gold ring, said:</p> + +<p>"The puzzle lies here. Your husband, I don't +know how, knows of the substitution of one ring for +the other. His mother will be here at twelve o'clock. +In the presence of witnesses, he will compel you +to take off your ring; and, in this way, he will obtain +the approval of his mother and, at the same time, +will be able to obtain his divorce, because he will +have the proof for which he was seeking."</p> + +<p>"I am lost!" she moaned. "I am lost!"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, you are saved! Give me +that ring ... and presently he will find another +there, another which I will send you, to reach you +before twelve, and which will bear the date of the +23rd of October. So...."</p> + +<p>He suddenly broke off. While he was speaking,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +Yvonne's hand had turned ice-cold in his; and, +raising his eyes, he saw that the young woman was +pale, terribly pale:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter? I beseech you ..."</p> + +<p>She yielded to a fit of mad despair:</p> + +<p>"This is the matter, that I am lost!... This +is the matter, that I can't get the ring off! It has +grown too small for me!... Do you understand?... +It made no difference and I did not give it a +thought.... But to-day ... this proof ... +this accusation.... Oh, what torture!... Look ... +it forms part of my finger ... it has grown +into my flesh ... and I can't ... I can't...."</p> + +<p>She pulled at the ring, vainly, with all her might, at +the risk of injuring herself. But the flesh swelled up +around the ring; and the ring did not budge.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she cried, seized with an idea that terrified +her. "I remember ... the other night ... +a nightmare I had.... It seemed to me that +some one entered my room and caught hold of my +hand.... And I could not wake up.... +It was he! It was he! He had put me to sleep, I was +sure of it ... and he was looking at the ring.... +And presently he will pull it off before his +mother's eyes.... Ah, I understand everything: +that working jeweller!... He will cut +it from my hand to-morrow.... You see, you +see.... I am lost!..."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span></p> + +<p>She hid her face in her hands and began to weep. +But, amid the silence, the clock struck once ... +and twice ... and yet once more. And +Yvonne drew herself up with a jerk:</p> + +<p>"There he is!" she cried. "He is coming!... +It is three o'clock!... Let us go!..."</p> + +<p>She grabbed at her cloak and ran to the door ... +Velmont barred the way and, in a masterful tone:</p> + +<p>"You shall not go!"</p> + +<p>"My son.... I want to see him, to take him +back...."</p> + +<p>"You don't even know where he is!"</p> + +<p>"I want to go."</p> + +<p>"You shall not go!... It would be madness...."</p> + +<p>He took her by the wrists. She tried to release +herself; and Velmont had to employ a little force +to overcome her resistance. In the end, he succeeded +in getting her back to the sofa, then in laying +her at full length and, at once, without heeding her +lamentations, he took the canvas strips and fastened +her wrists and ankles:</p> + +<p>"Yes," he said, "It would be madness! Who +would have set you free? Who would have opened +that door for you? An accomplice? What an +argument against you and what a pretty use your +husband would make of it with his mother!... +And, besides, what's the good? To run away<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +means accepting divorce ... and what might +that not lead to?... You must stay here...."</p> + +<p>She sobbed:</p> + +<p>"I'm frightened.... I'm frightened ... +this ring burns me.... Break it.... Take +it away.... Don't let him find it!"</p> + +<p>"And if it is not found on your finger, who will +have broken it? Again an accomplice.... No, +you must face the music ... and face it boldly, +for I answer for everything.... Believe me ... +I answer for everything.... If I have +to tackle the Comtesse d'Origny bodily and thus delay +the interview.... If I had to come myself +before noon ... it is the real wedding-ring that +shall be taken from your finger—that I swear!—and +your son shall be restored to you."</p> + +<p>Swayed and subdued, Yvonne instinctively held +out her hands to the bonds. When he stood up, she +was bound as she had been before.</p> + +<p>He looked round the room to make sure that no +trace of his visit remained. Then he stooped over the +countess again and whispered:</p> + +<p>"Think of your son and, whatever happens, fear +nothing.... I am watching over you."</p> + +<p>She heard him open and shut the door of the boudoir +and, a few minutes later, the hall-door.</p> + +<p>At half-past three, a motor-cab drew up. The +door downstairs was slammed again; and, almost<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span> +immediately after, Yvonne saw her husband hurry in, +with a furious look in his eyes. He ran up to her, +felt to see if she was still fastened and, snatching her +hand, examined the ring. Yvonne fainted....</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>She could not tell, when she woke, how long she had +slept. But the broad light of day was filling the +boudoir; and she perceived, at the first movement +which she made, that her bonds were cut. Then +she turned her head and saw her husband standing +beside her, looking at her:</p> + +<p>"My son ... my son ..." she moaned. +"I want my son...."</p> + +<p>He replied, in a voice of which she felt the jeering +insolence:</p> + +<p>"Our son is in a safe place. And, for the moment, +it's a question not of him, but of you. We are +face to face with each other, probably for the +last time, and the explanation between us will be +a very serious one. I must warn you that it will +take place before my mother. Have you any +objection?"</p> + +<p>Yvonne tried to hide her agitation and answered:</p> + +<p>"None at all."</p> + +<p>"Can I send for her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Leave me, in the meantime. I shall be +ready when she comes."</p> + +<p>"My mother is here."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Your mother is here?" cried Yvonne, in dismay, +remembering Horace Velmont's promise.</p> + +<p>"What is there to astonish you in that?"</p> + +<p>"And is it now ... is it at once that you +want to ...?</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Why?... Why not this evening?... +Why not to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"To-day and now," declared the count. "A rather +curious incident happened in the course of last +night, an incident which I cannot account for and +which decided me to hasten the explanation. Don't +you want something to eat first?"</p> + +<p>"No ... no...."</p> + +<p>"Then I will go and fetch my mother."</p> + +<p>He turned to Yvonne's bedroom. Yvonne +glanced at the clock. It marked twenty-five minutes +to eleven!</p> + +<p>"Ah!" she said, with a shiver of fright.</p> + +<p>Twenty-five minutes to eleven! Horace Velmont +would not save her and nobody in the world +and nothing in the world would save her, for there +was no miracle that could place the wedding-ring +upon her finger.</p> + +<p>The count, returning with the Comtesse d'Origny, +asked her to sit down. She was a tall, lank, angular +woman, who had always displayed a hostile feeling +to Yvonne. She did not even bid her daughter-in-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span>law +good-morning, showing that her mind was made +up as regards the accusation:</p> + +<p>"I don't think," she said, "that we need speak at +length. In two words, my son maintains...."</p> + +<p>"I don't maintain, mother," said the count, "I +declare. I declare on my oath that, three months +ago, during the holidays, the upholsterer, when laying +the carpet in this room and the boudoir, found +the wedding-ring which I gave my wife lying in +a crack in the floor. Here is the ring. The date of +the 23rd of October is engraved inside."</p> + +<p>"Then," said the countess, "the ring which your +wife carries...."</p> + +<p>"That is another ring, which she ordered in exchange +for the real one. Acting on my instructions, +Bernard, my man, after long searching, ended by +discovering in the outskirts of Paris, where he now +lives, the little jeweller to whom she went. This +man remembers perfectly and is willing to bear +witness that his customer did not tell him to +engrave a date, but a name. He has forgotten +the name, but the man who used to work with him +in his shop may be able to remember it. This +working jeweller has been informed by letter that +I required his services and he replied yesterday, +placing himself at my disposal. Bernard went to +fetch him at nine o'clock this morning. They are +both waiting in my study."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span></p> + +<p>He turned to his wife:</p> + +<p>"Will you give me that ring of your own free +will?"</p> + +<p>"You know," she said, "from the other night, that +it won't come off my finger."</p> + +<p>"In that case, can I have the man up? He has the +necessary implements with him."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, in a voice faint as a whisper.</p> + +<p>She was resigned. She conjured up the future +as in a vision: the scandal, the decree of divorce +pronounced against herself, the custody of the +child awarded to the father; and she accepted this, +thinking that she would carry off her son, that she +would go with him to the ends of the earth and +that the two of them would live alone together and +happy....</p> + +<p>Her mother-in-law said:</p> + +<p>"You have been very thoughtless, Yvonne."</p> + +<p>Yvonne was on the point of confessing to her and +asking for her protection. But what was the good? +How could the Comtesse d'Origny possibly believe +her innocent? She made no reply.</p> + +<p>Besides, the count at once returned, followed by +his servant and by a man carrying a bag of tools under +his arm.</p> + +<p>And the count said to the man:</p> + +<p>"You know what you have to do?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the workman. "It's to cut a ring<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +that's grown too small.... That's easily done.... +A touch of the nippers...."</p> + +<p>"And then you will see," said the count, "if +the inscription inside the ring was the one you engraved."</p> + +<p>Yvonne looked at the clock. It was ten minutes +to eleven. She seemed to hear, somewhere in the +house, a sound of voices raised in argument; and, +in spite of herself, she felt a thrill of hope. Perhaps +Velmont has succeeded.... But the sound was +renewed; and she perceived that it was produced +by some costermongers passing under her window +and moving farther on.</p> + +<p>It was all over. Horace Velmont had been unable +to assist her. And she understood that, to recover +her child, she must rely upon her own strength, for +the promises of others are vain.</p> + +<p>She made a movement of recoil. She had felt +the workman's heavy hand on her hand; and that +hateful touch revolted her.</p> + +<p>The man apologized, awkwardly. The count said +to his wife:</p> + +<p>"You must make up your mind, you know."</p> + +<p>Then she put out her slim and trembling hand +to the workman, who took it, turned it over and +rested it on the table, with the palm upward. +Yvonne felt the cold steel. She longed to die, +then and there; and, at once attracted by that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +idea of death, she thought of the poisons which she +would buy and which would send her to sleep almost +without her knowing it.</p> + +<p>The operation did not take long. Inserted on the +slant, the little steel pliers pushed back the flesh, +made room for themselves and bit the ring. A strong +effort ... and the ring broke. The two ends +had only to be separated to remove the ring from +the finger. The workman did so.</p> + +<p>The count exclaimed, in triumph:</p> + +<p>"At last! Now we shall see!... The proof +is there! And we are all witnesses...."</p> + +<p>He snatched up the ring and looked at the inscription. +A cry of amazement escaped him. The +ring bore the date of his marriage to Yvonne: "23rd +of October"!...</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>We were sitting on the terrace at Monte Carlo. +Lupin finished his story, lit a cigarette and calmly +puffed the smoke into the blue air.</p> + +<p>I said:</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well what?"</p> + +<p>"Why, the end of the story...."</p> + +<p>"The end of the story? But what other end could +there be?"</p> + +<p>"Come ... you're joking ..."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. Isn't that enough for you? The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span> +countess is saved. The count, not possessing the +least proof against her, is compelled by his mother +to forego the divorce and to give up the child. +That is all. Since then, he has left his wife, +who is living happily with her son, a fine lad of +sixteen."</p> + +<p>"Yes ... yes ... but the way in which +the countess was saved?"</p> + +<p>Lupin burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"My dear old chap"—Lupin sometimes condescends +to address me in this affectionate manner—"my +dear old chap, you may be rather smart at +relating my exploits, but, by Jove, you do want to +have the i's dotted for you! I assure you, the countess +did not ask for explanations!"</p> + +<p>"Very likely. But there's no pride about me," +I added, laughing. "Dot those i's for me, will +you?"</p> + +<p>He took out a five-franc piece and closed his hand +over it.</p> + +<p>"What's in my hand?"</p> + +<p>"A five-franc piece."</p> + +<p>He opened his hand. The five-franc piece was +gone.</p> + +<p>"You see how easy it is! A working jeweller, +with his nippers, cuts a ring with a date engraved +upon it: 23rd of October. It's a simple little +trick of sleight-of-hand, one of many which I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +in my bag. By Jove, I didn't spend six months with +Dickson, the conjurer,<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a> for nothing!"</p> + +<p>"But then ...?"</p> + +<p>"Out with it!"</p> + +<p>"The working jeweller?"</p> + +<p>"Was Horace Velmont! Was good old Lupin! +Leaving the countess at three o'clock in the morning, +I employed the few remaining minutes before the +husband's return to have a look round his study. +On the table I found the letter from the working +jeweller. The letter gave me the address. A bribe +of a few louis enabled me to take the workman's +place; and I arrived with a wedding-ring ready cut +and engraved. Hocus-pocus! Pass!... The +count couldn't make head or tail of it."</p> + +<p>"Splendid!" I cried. And I added, a little chaffingly, +in my turn, "But don't you think that +you were humbugged a bit yourself, on this occasion?"</p> + +<p>"Oh! And by whom, pray?"</p> + +<p>"By the countess?"</p> + +<p>"In what way?"</p> + +<p>"Hang it all, that name engraved as a talisman!... +The mysterious Adonis who loved her +and suffered for her sake!... All that story +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span>seems very unlikely; and I wonder whether, Lupin +though you be, you did not just drop upon a pretty +love-story, absolutely genuine and ... none too +innocent."</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at me out of the corner of his eye:</p> + +<p>"No," he said.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"If the countess made a misstatement in telling +me that she knew that man before her marriage—and +that he was dead—and if she really did love +him in her secret heart, I, at least, have a positive +proof that it was an ideal love and that he did +not suspect it."</p> + +<p>"And where is the proof?"</p> + +<p>"It is inscribed inside the ring which I myself +broke on the countess's finger ... and which I +carry on me. Here it is. You can read the name she +had engraved on it."</p> + +<p>He handed me the ring. I read:</p> + +<p>"Horace Velmont."</p> + +<p>There was a moment of silence between Lupin +and myself; and, noticing it, I also observed on his +face a certain emotion, a tinge of melancholy.</p> + +<p>I resumed:</p> + +<p>"What made you tell me this story ... to +which you have often alluded in my presence?"</p> + +<p>"What made me ...?"</p> + +<p>He drew my attention to a woman, still ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span>ceedingly +handsome, who was passing on a young +man's arm. She saw Lupin and bowed.</p> + +<p>"It's she," he whispered. "She and her son."</p> + +<p>"Then she recognized you?"</p> + +<p>"She always recognizes me, whatever my disguise."</p> + +<p>"But since the burglary at the Château de Thibermesnil,<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> +the police have identified the two names of +Arsène Lupin and Horace Velmont."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Therefore she knows who you are."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And she bows to you?" I exclaimed, in spite of +myself.</p> + +<p>He caught me by the arm and, fiercely:</p> + +<p>"Do you think that I am Lupin to her? Do you +think that I am a burglar in her eyes, a rogue, a +cheat?... Why, I might be the lowest of +miscreants, I might be a murderer even ... and +still she would bow to me!"</p> + +<p>"Why? Because she loved you once?"</p> + +<p>"Rot! That would be an additional reason, on +the contrary, why she should now despise me."</p> + +<p>"What then?"</p> + +<p>"I am the man who gave her back her son!"</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">THE SIGN OF THE SHADOW</h3> + + +<p>"I received your telegram and here I am," said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +a gentleman with a grey moustache, who entered +my study, dressed in a dark-brown frock-coat and +a wide-brimmed hat, with a red ribbon in his +buttonhole. "What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>Had I not been expecting Arsène Lupin, I should +certainly never have recognized him in the person +of this old half-pay officer:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" I echoed. "Oh, nothing +much: a rather curious coincidence, that's all. +And, as I know that you would just as soon clear +up a mystery as plan one...."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"You seem in a great hurry!"</p> + +<p>"I am ... unless the mystery in question is +worth putting myself out for. So let us get to the +point."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Just begin by casting your eye on +this little picture, which I picked up, a week or +two ago, in a grimy old shop on the other side of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +the river. I bought it for the sake of its Empire +frame, with the palm-leaf ornaments on the +mouldings ... for the painting is execrable."</p> + +<p>"Execrable, as you say," said Lupin, after he +had examined it, "but the subject itself is rather +nice. That corner of an old courtyard, with its +rotunda of Greek columns, its sun-dial and its +fish-pond and that ruined well with the Renascence +roof and those stone steps and stone benches: all +very picturesque."</p> + +<p>"And genuine," I added. "The picture, good +or bad, has never been taken out of its Empire +frame. Besides, it is dated.... There, in the +left-hand bottom corner: those red figures, 15. 4. 2, +which obviously stand for 15 April, 1802."</p> + +<p>"I dare say ... I dare say.... But +you were speaking of a coincidence and, so far, I +fail to see...."</p> + +<p>I went to a corner of my study, took a telescope, +fixed it on its stand and pointed it, through the +open window, at the open window of a little room +facing my flat, on the other side of the street. And +I asked Lupin to look through it.</p> + +<p>He stooped forward. The slanting rays of the +morning sun lit up the room opposite, revealing +a set of mahogany furniture, all very simple, a +large bed and a child's bed hung with cretonne +curtains.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah!" cried Lupin, suddenly. "The same +picture!"</p> + +<p>"Exactly the same!" I said. "And the date: +do you see the date, in red? 15. 4. 2."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see.... And who lives in that room?"</p> + +<p>"A lady ... or, rather, a workwoman, +for she has to work for her living ... needlework, +hardly enough to keep herself and her child."</p> + +<p>"What is her name?"</p> + +<p>"Louise d'Ernemont.... From what I +hear, she is the great-granddaughter of a farmer-general +who was guillotined during the Terror."</p> + +<p>"Yes, on the same day as André Chénier," said +Lupin. "According to the memoirs of the time, +this d'Ernemont was supposed to be a very rich +man." He raised his head and said, "It's an +interesting story.... Why did you wait before +telling me?"</p> + +<p>"Because this is the 15th of April."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I discovered yesterday—I heard them +talking about it in the porter's box—that the 15th +of April plays an important part in the life of +Louise d'Ernemont."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"Contrary to her usual habits, this woman who +works every day of her life, who keeps her two +rooms tidy, who cooks the lunch which her little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +girl eats when she comes home from the parish +school ... this woman, on the 15th of April, goes +out with the child at ten o'clock in the morning +and does not return until nightfall. And this has +happened for years and in all weathers. You must +admit that there is something queer about this date +which I find on an old picture, which is inscribed +on another, similar picture and which controls the +annual movements of the descendant of d'Ernemont +the farmer-general."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's curious ... you're quite right," said +Lupin, slowly. "And don't you know where she +goes to?"</p> + +<p>"Nobody knows. She does not confide in a +soul. As a matter of fact, she talks very little."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of your information?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely. And the best proof of its accuracy +is that here she comes."</p> + +<p>A door had opened at the back of the room +opposite, admitting a little girl of seven or eight, +who came and looked out of the window. A lady +appeared behind her, tall, good-looking still and +wearing a sad and gentle air. Both of them were +ready and dressed, in clothes which were simple +in themselves, but which pointed to a love of +neatness and a certain elegance on the part of the +mother.</p> + +<p>"You see," I whispered, "they are going out."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span></p> + +<p>And presently the mother took the child by the +hand and they left the room together.</p> + +<p>Lupin caught up his hat:</p> + +<p>"Are you coming?"</p> + +<p>My curiosity was too great for me to raise the +least objection. I went downstairs with Lupin.</p> + +<p>As we stepped into the street, we saw my neighbour +enter a baker's shop. She bought two rolls +and placed them in a little basket which her +daughter was carrying and which seemed already +to contain some other provisions. Then they went +in the direction of the outer boulevards and followed +them as far as the Place de l'Étoile, where +they turned down the Avenue Kléber to walk toward +Passy.</p> + +<p>Lupin strolled silently along, evidently obsessed +by a train of thought which I was glad to have +provoked. From time to time, he uttered a sentence +which showed me the thread of his reflections; and +I was able to see that the riddle remained as much +a mystery to him as to myself.</p> + +<p>Louise d'Ernemont, meanwhile, had branched +off to the left, along the Rue Raynouard, a quiet +old street in which Franklin and Balzac once +lived, one of those streets which, lined with old-fashioned +houses and walled gardens, give you the +impression of being in a country-town. The Seine +flows at the foot of the slope which the street<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +crowns; and a number of lanes run down to the +river.</p> + +<p>My neighbour took one of these narrow, winding, +deserted lanes. The first building, on the right, +was a house the front of which faced the Rue Raynouard. +Next came a moss-grown wall, of a +height above the ordinary, supported by buttresses +and bristling with broken glass.</p> + +<p>Half-way along the wall was a low, arched door. +Louise d'Ernemont stopped in front of this door +and opened it with a key which seemed to us enormous. +Mother and child entered and closed the +door.</p> + +<p>"In any case," said Lupin, "she has nothing to +conceal, for she has not looked round once...."</p> + +<p>He had hardly finished his sentence when we +heard the sound of footsteps behind us. It was +two old beggars, a man and a woman, tattered, +dirty, squalid, covered in rags. They passed us +without paying the least attention to our presence. +The man took from his wallet a key similar to my +neighbour's and put it into the lock. The door +closed behind them.</p> + +<p>And, suddenly, at the top of the lane, came the +noise of a motor-car stopping.... Lupin dragged +me fifty yards lower down, to a corner in which we +were able to hide. And we saw coming down the +lane, carrying a little dog under her arm, a young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span> +and very much over-dressed woman, wearing a +quantity of jewellery, a young woman whose eyes +were too dark, her lips too red, her hair too fair. +In front of the door, the same performance, with +the same key.... The lady and the dog disappeared +from view.</p> + +<p>"This promises to be most amusing," said +Lupin, chuckling. "What earthly connection can +there be between those different people?"</p> + +<p>There hove in sight successively two elderly +ladies, lean and rather poverty-stricken in appearance, +very much alike, evidently sisters; a footman +in livery; an infantry corporal; a fat gentleman +in a soiled and patched jacket-suit; and, lastly, +a workman's family, father, mother, and four +children, all six of them pale and sickly, looking +like people who never eat their fill. And each of +the newcomers carried a basket or string-bag +filled with provisions.</p> + +<p>"It's a picnic!" I cried.</p> + +<p>"It grows more and more surprising," said +Lupin, "and I sha'n't be satisfied till I know what +is happening behind that wall."</p> + +<p>To climb it was out of the question. We also +saw that it finished, at the lower as well as at the +upper end, at a house none of whose windows +overlooked the enclosure which the wall contained.</p> + +<p>During the next hour, no one else came along.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +We vainly cast about for a stratagem; and Lupin, +whose fertile brain had exhausted every possible +expedient, was about to go in search of a ladder, +when, suddenly, the little door opened and one +of the workman's children came out.</p> + +<p>The boy ran up the lane to the Rue Raynouard. +A few minutes later he returned, carrying two +bottles of water, which he set down on the pavement +to take the big key from his pocket.</p> + +<p>By that time Lupin had left me and was strolling +slowly along the wall. When the child, after +entering the enclosure, pushed back the door +Lupin sprang forward and stuck the point of his +knife into the staple of the lock. The bolt failed +to catch; and it became an easy matter to push +the door ajar.</p> + +<p>"That's done the trick!" said Lupin.</p> + +<p>He cautiously put his hand through the doorway +and then, to my great surprise, entered boldly. +But, on following his example, I saw that, ten +yards behind the wall, a clump of laurels formed a +sort of curtain which allowed us to come up unobserved.</p> + +<p>Lupin took his stand right in the middle of the +clump. I joined him and, like him, pushed aside +the branches of one of the shrubs. And the +sight which presented itself to my eyes was so +unexpected that I was unable to suppress an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +exclamation, while Lupin, on his side, muttered, +between his teeth:</p> + +<p>"By Jupiter! This is a funny job!"</p> + +<p>We saw before us, within the confined space +that lay between the two windowless houses, the +identical scene represented in the old picture which +I had bought at a second-hand dealer's!</p> + +<p>The identical scene! At the back, against the +opposite wall, the same Greek rotunda displayed +its slender columns. In the middle, the same +stone benches topped a circle of four steps that +ran down to a fish-pond with moss-grown flags. +On the left, the same well raised its wrought-iron +roof; and, close at hand, the same sun-dial showed +its slanting gnomon and its marble face.</p> + +<p>The identical scene! And what added to the +strangeness of the sight was the memory, obsessing +Lupin and myself, of that date of the 15th of +April, inscribed in a corner of the picture, and the +thought that this very day was the 15th of April +and that sixteen or seventeen people, so different +in age, condition and manners, had chosen the +15th of April to come together in this forgotten +corner of Paris!</p> + +<p>All of them, at the moment when we caught +sight of them, were sitting in separate groups on +the benches and steps; and all were eating. Not +very far from my neighbour and her daughter, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +workman's family and the beggar couple were +sharing their provisions; while the footman, the +gentleman in the soiled suit, the infantry corporal +and the two lean sisters were making a common +stock of their sliced ham, their tins of sardines +and their gruyère cheese.</p> + +<p>The lady with the little dog alone, who had +brought no food with her, sat apart from the +others, who made a show of turning their backs +upon her. But Louise d'Ernemont offered her +a sandwich, whereupon her example was followed +by the two sisters; and the corporal at once began +to make himself as agreeable to the young person +as he could.</p> + +<p>It was now half-past one. The beggar-man took +out his pipe, as did the fat gentleman; and, when +they found that one had no tobacco and the other +no matches, their needs soon brought them together. +The men went and smoked by the rotunda +and the women joined them. For that matter, all +these people seemed to know one another quite +well.</p> + +<p>They were at some distance from where we were +standing, so that we could not hear what they +said. However, we gradually perceived that the +conversation was becoming animated. The young +person with the dog, in particular, who by this +time appeared to be in great request, indulged in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +much voluble talk, accompanying her words with +many gestures, which set the little dog barking +furiously.</p> + +<p>But, suddenly, there was an outcry, promptly +followed by shouts of rage; and one and all, +men and women alike, rushed in disorder toward +the well. One of the workman's brats was at that +moment coming out of it, fastened by his belt to +the hook at the end of the rope; and the three +other urchins were drawing him up by turning +the handle. More active than the rest, the corporal +flung himself upon him; and forthwith the footman +and the fat gentleman seized hold of him also, while +the beggars and the lean sisters came to blows +with the workman and his family.</p> + +<p>In a few seconds the little boy had not a stitch +left on him beyond his shirt. The footman, who +had taken possession of the rest of the clothes, +ran away, pursued by the corporal, who snatched +away the boy's breeches, which were next torn +from the corporal by one of the lean sisters.</p> + +<p>"They are mad!" I muttered, feeling absolutely +at sea.</p> + +<p>"Not at all, not at all," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"What! Do you mean to say that you can +make head or tail of what is going on?"</p> + +<p>He did not reply. The young lady with the +little dog, tucking her pet under her arm, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span> +started running after the child in the shirt, who +uttered loud yells. The two of them raced round +the laurel-clump in which we stood hidden; and +the brat flung himself into his mother's arms.</p> + +<p>At long last, Louise d'Ernemont, who had +played a conciliatory part from the beginning, +succeeded in allaying the tumult. Everybody sat +down again; but there was a reaction in all those +exasperated people and they remained motionless +and silent, as though worn out with their exertions.</p> + +<p>And time went by. Losing patience and beginning +to feel the pangs of hunger, I went to the +Rue Raynouard to fetch something to eat, which +we divided while watching the actors in the incomprehensible +comedy that was being performed +before our eyes. They hardly stirred. Each +minute that passed seemed to load them with +increasing melancholy; and they sank into attitudes +of discouragement, bent their backs more +and more and sat absorbed in their meditations.</p> + +<p>The afternoon wore on in this way, under a grey +sky that shed a dreary light over the enclosure.</p> + +<p>"Are they going to spend the night here?" I +asked, in a bored voice.</p> + +<p>But, at five o'clock or so, the fat gentleman +in the soiled jacket-suit took out his watch. The +others did the same and all, watch in hand, seemed +to be anxiously awaiting an event of no little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +importance to themselves. The event did not take +place, for, in fifteen or twenty minutes, the fat gentleman +gave a gesture of despair, stood up and put +on his hat.</p> + +<p>Then lamentations broke forth. The two lean +sisters and the workman's wife fell upon their +knees and made the sign of the cross. The lady +with the little dog and the beggar-woman kissed +each other and sobbed; and we saw Louise d'Ernemont +pressing her daughter sadly to her.</p> + +<p>"Let's go," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"You think it's over?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and we have only just time to make +ourselves scarce."</p> + +<p>We went out unmolested. At the top of the +lane, Lupin turned to the left and, leaving me +outside, entered the first house in the Rue Raynouard, +the one that backed on to the enclosure.</p> + +<p>After talking for a few seconds to the porter, +he joined me and we stopped a passing taxi-cab:</p> + +<p>"No. 34 Rue de Turin," he said to the driver.</p> + +<p>The ground-floor of No. 34 was occupied by a +notary's office; and we were shown in, almost +without waiting, to Maître Valandier, a smiling, +pleasant-spoken man of a certain age.</p> + +<p>Lupin introduced himself by the name of Captain +Jeanniot, retired from the army. He said that +he wanted to build a house to his own liking and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +that some one had suggested to him a plot of +ground situated near the Rue Raynouard.</p> + +<p>"But that plot is not for sale," said Maître +Valandier.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was told...."</p> + +<p>"You have been misinformed, I fear."</p> + +<p>The lawyer rose, went to a cupboard and returned +with a picture which he showed us. I was petrified. +It was the same picture which I had bought, the +same picture that hung in Louise d'Ernemont's +room.</p> + +<p>"This is a painting," he said, "of the plot of +ground to which you refer. It is known as the +Clos d'Ernemont."</p> + +<p>"Precisely."</p> + +<p>"Well, this close," continued the notary, "once +formed part of a large garden belonging to d'Ernemont, +the farmer-general, who was executed during +the Terror. All that could be sold has been sold, +piecemeal, by the heirs. But this last plot has +remained and will remain in their joint possession +... unless...."</p> + +<p>The notary began to laugh.</p> + +<p>"Unless what?" asked Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's quite a romance, a rather curious +romance, in fact. I often amuse myself by looking +through the voluminous documents of the case."</p> + +<p>"Would it be indiscreet, if I asked ...?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Not at all, not at all," declared Maître Valandier, +who seemed delighted, on the contrary, to have +found a listener for his story. And, without +waiting to be pressed, he began: "At the outbreak +of the Revolution, Louis Agrippa d'Ernemont, on +the pretence of joining his wife, who was staying +at Geneva with their daughter Pauline, shut up +his mansion in the Faubourg Saint-Germain, dismissed +his servants and, with his son Charles, came +and took up his abode in his pleasure-house at +Passy, where he was known to nobody except an +old and devoted serving-woman. He remained there +in hiding for three years and he had every reason +to hope that his retreat would not be discovered, +when, one day, after luncheon, as he was having +a nap, the old servant burst into his room. She +had seen, at the end of the street, a patrol of armed +men who seemed to be making for the house. Louis +d'Ernemont got ready quickly and, at the moment +when the men were knocking at the front door, +disappeared through the door that led to the garden, +shouting to his son, in a scared voice, to keep +them talking, if only for five minutes. He may +have intended to escape and found the outlets +through the garden watched. In any case, he +returned in six or seven minutes, replied very +calmly to the questions put to him and raised no +difficulty about accompanying the men. His son<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +Charles, although only eighteen years of age, was +arrested also."</p> + +<p>"When did this happen?" asked Lupin.</p> + +<p>"It happened on the 26th day of Germinal, +Year II, that is to say, on the...."</p> + +<p>Maître Valandier stopped, with his eyes fixed +on a calendar that hung on the wall, and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, it was on this very day! This is the +15th of April, the anniversary of the farmer-general's +arrest."</p> + +<p>"What an odd coincidence!" said Lupin. "And +considering the period at which it took place, the +arrest, no doubt, had serious consequences?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, most serious!" said the notary, laughing. +"Three months later, at the beginning of Thermidor, +the farmer-general mounted the scaffold. His son +Charles was forgotten in prison and their property +was confiscated."</p> + +<p>"The property was immense, I suppose?" said +Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Well, there you are! That's just where the +thing becomes complicated. The property, which +was, in fact, immense, could never be traced. It +was discovered that the Faubourg Saint-Germain +mansion had been sold, before the Revolution, to an +Englishman, together with all the country-seats and +estates and all the jewels, securities and collections +belonging to the farmer-general. The Convention<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +instituted minute inquiries, as did the Directory +afterward. But the inquiries led to no result."</p> + +<p>"There remained, at any rate, the Passy house," +said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"The house at Passy was bought, for a mere +song, by a delegate of the Commune, the very +man who had arrested d'Ernemont, one Citizen +Broquet. Citizen Broquet shut himself up in the +house, barricaded the doors, fortified the walls +and, when Charles d'Ernemont was at last set +free and appeared outside, received him by firing +a musket at him. Charles instituted one law-suit +after another, lost them all and then proceeded to +offer large sums of money. But Citizen Broquet +proved intractable. He had bought the house +and he stuck to the house; and he would have +stuck to it until his death, if Charles had not obtained +the support of Bonaparte. Citizen Broquet +cleared out on the 12th of February, 1803; but +Charles d'Ernemont's joy was so great and his +brain, no doubt, had been so violently unhinged +by all that he had gone through, that, on reaching +the threshold of the house of which he had at last +recovered the ownership, even before opening the +door he began to dance and sing in the street. He +had gone clean off his head."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" said Lupin. "And what became +of him?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span></p> + +<p>"His mother and his sister Pauline, who had +ended by marrying a cousin of the same name at +Geneva, were both dead. The old servant-woman +took care of him and they lived together in the +Passy house. Years passed without any notable +event; but, suddenly, in 1812, an unexpected +incident happened. The old servant made a +series of strange revelations on her death-bed, in +the presence of two witnesses whom she sent for. +She declared that the farmer-general had carried +to his house at Passy a number of bags filled with +gold and silver and that those bags had disappeared +a few days before the arrest. According to earlier +confidences made by Charles d'Ernemont, who +had them from his father, the treasures were hidden +in the garden, between the rotunda, the sun-dial +and the well. In proof of her statement, she +produced three pictures, or rather, for they were +not yet framed, three canvases, which the farmer-general +had painted during his captivity and which +he had succeeded in conveying to her, with instructions +to hand them to his wife, his son and +his daughter. Tempted by the lure of wealth, +Charles and the old servant had kept silence. Then +came the law-suits, the recovery of the house, +Charles's madness, the servant's own useless searches; +and the treasures were still there."</p> + +<p>"And they are there now," chuckled Lupin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And they will be there always," exclaimed +Maître Valandier. "Unless ... unless Citizen +Broquet, who no doubt smelt a rat, succeeded +in ferreting them out. But this is an unlikely +supposition, for Citizen Broquet died in extreme +poverty."</p> + +<p>"So then ...?"</p> + +<p>"So then everybody began to hunt. The +children of Pauline, the sister, hastened from +Geneva. It was discovered that Charles had been +secretly married and that he had sons. All these +heirs set to work."</p> + +<p>"But Charles himself?"</p> + +<p>"Charles lived in the most absolute retirement. +He did not leave his room."</p> + +<p>"Never?"</p> + +<p>"Well, that is the most extraordinary, the most +astounding part of the story. Once a year, Charles +d'Ernemont, impelled by a sort of subconscious +will-power, came downstairs, took the exact road +which his father had taken, walked across the +garden and sat down either on the steps of the +rotunda, which you see here, in the picture, or +on the kerb of the well. At twenty-seven minutes +past five, he rose and went indoors again; and +until his death, which occurred in 1820, he never +once failed to perform this incomprehensible pilgrimage. +Well, the day on which this happened<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +was invariably the 15th of April, the anniversary +of the arrest."</p> + +<p>Maître Valandier was no longer smiling and +himself seemed impressed by the amazing story +which he was telling us.</p> + +<p>"And, since Charles's death?" asked Lupin, +after a moment's reflection.</p> + +<p>"Since that time," replied the lawyer, with a +certain solemnity of manner, "for nearly a hundred +years, the heirs of Charles and Pauline d'Ernemont +have kept up the pilgrimage of the 15th of April. +During the first few years they made the most +thorough excavations. Every inch of the garden +was searched, every clod of ground dug up. All +this is now over. They take hardly any pains. +All they do is, from time to time, for no particular +reason, to turn over a stone or explore the +well. For the most part, they are content to sit +down on the steps of the rotunda, like the poor +madman; and, like him, they wait. And that, +you see, is the sad part of their destiny. In those +hundred years, all these people who have succeeded +one another, from father to son, have lost—what +shall I say?—the energy of life. They have no +courage left, no initiative. They wait. They wait +for the 15th of April; and, when the 15th of April +comes, they wait for a miracle to take place. +Poverty has ended by overtaking every one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +them. My predecessors and I have sold first the +house, in order to build another which yields a +better rent, followed by bits of the garden and +further bits. But, as to that corner over there," +pointing to the picture, "they would rather die +than sell it. On this they are all agreed: Louise +d'Ernemont, who is the direct heiress of Pauline, +as well as the beggars, the workman, the footman, +the circus-rider and so on, who represent the +unfortunate Charles."</p> + +<p>There was a fresh pause; and Lupin asked:</p> + +<p>"What is your own opinion, Maître Valandier?"</p> + +<p>"My private opinion is that there's nothing in +it. What credit can we give to the statements of +an old servant enfeebled by age? What importance +can we attach to the crotchets of a madman? +Besides, if the farmer-general had realized his +fortune, don't you think that that fortune would +have been found? One could manage to hide a +paper, a document, in a confined space like that, +but not treasures."</p> + +<p>"Still, the pictures?..."</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course. But, after all, are they a +sufficient proof?"</p> + +<p>Lupin bent over the copy which the solicitor had +taken from the cupboard and, after examining it +at length, said:</p> + +<p>"You spoke of three pictures."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, the one which you see was handed to my +predecessor by the heirs of Charles. Louise d'Ernemont +possesses another. As for the third, no one +knows what became of it."</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at me and continued:</p> + +<p>"And do they all bear the same date?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the date inscribed by Charles d'Ernemont +when he had them framed, not long before his +death.... The same date, that is to say the +15th of April, Year II, according to the revolutionary +calendar, as the arrest took place in April, 1794."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, of course," said Lupin. "The figure +2 means...."</p> + +<p>He thought for a few moments and resumed:</p> + +<p>"One more question, if I may. Did no one ever +come forward to solve the problem?"</p> + +<p>Maître Valandier threw up his arms:</p> + +<p>"Goodness gracious me!" he cried. "Why, +it was the plague of the office! One of my predecessors, +Maître Turbon, was summoned to Passy no +fewer than eighteen times, between 1820 and 1843, +by the groups of heirs, whom fortune-tellers, +clairvoyants, visionaries, impostors of all sorts had +promised that they would discover the farmer-general's +treasures. At last, we laid down a rule: +any outsider applying to institute a search was to +begin by depositing a certain sum."</p> + +<p>"What sum?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"And did this have the effect of frightening them +off?"</p> + +<p>"No. Four years ago, an Hungarian hypnotist +tried the experiment and made me waste a whole +day. After that, we fixed the deposit at five thousand +francs. In case of success, a third of the treasure +goes to the finder. In case of failure, the deposit +is forfeited to the heirs. Since then, I have been +left in peace."</p> + +<p>"Here are your five thousand francs."</p> + +<p>The lawyer gave a start:</p> + +<p>"Eh? What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"I say," repeated Lupin, taking five bank-notes +from his pocket and calmly spreading them on +the table, "I say that here is the deposit of five +thousand francs. Please give me a receipt and +invite all the d'Ernemont heirs to meet me at Passy +on the 15th of April next year."</p> + +<p>The notary could not believe his senses. I myself, +although Lupin had accustomed me to these surprises, +was utterly taken back.</p> + +<p>"Are you serious?" asked Maître Valandier.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly serious."</p> + +<p>"But, you know, I told you my opinion. All +these improbable stories rest upon no evidence of +any kind."</p> + +<p>"I don't agree with you," said Lupin.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<p>The notary gave him the look which we give +to a person who is not quite right in his head. Then, +accepting the situation, he took his pen and drew +up a contract on stamped paper, acknowledging +the payment of the deposit by Captain Jeanniot and +promising him a third of such moneys as he should +discover:</p> + +<p>"If you change your mind," he added, "you might +let me know a week before the time comes. I +shall not inform the d'Ernemont family until the +last moment, so as not to give those poor people +too long a spell of hope."</p> + +<p>"You can inform them this very day, Maître +Valandier. It will make them spend a happier year."</p> + +<p>We said good-bye. Outside, in the street, I cried:</p> + +<p>"So you have hit upon something?"</p> + +<p>"I?" replied Lupin. "Not a bit of it! And +that's just what amuses me."</p> + +<p>"But they have been searching for a hundred +years!"</p> + +<p>"It is not so much a matter of searching as of +thinking. Now I have three hundred and sixty-five +days to think in. It is a great deal more than +I want; and I am afraid that I shall forget all about +the business, interesting though it may be. Oblige +me by reminding me, will you?"</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>I reminded him of it several times during the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +following months, though he never seemed to attach +much importance to the matter. Then came a +long period during which I had no opportunity +of seeing him. It was the period, as I afterward +learnt, of his visit to Armenia and of the terrible +struggle on which he embarked against Abdul the +Damned, a struggle which ended in the tyrant's +downfall.</p> + +<p>I used to write to him, however, at the address +which he gave me and I was thus able to send him +certain particulars which I had succeeded in gathering, +here and there, about my neighbour Louise +d'Ernemont, such as the love which she had conceived, +a few years earlier, for a very rich young +man, who still loved her, but who had been compelled +by his family to throw her over; the young +widow's despair, and the plucky life which she led +with her little daughter.</p> + +<p>Lupin replied to none of my letters. I did not +know whether they reached him; and, meantime, +the date was drawing near and I could not help +wondering whether his numerous undertakings would +not prevent him from keeping the appointment +which he himself had fixed.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, the morning of the 15th of +April arrived and Lupin was not with me by the +time I had finished lunch. It was a quarter-past +twelve. I left my flat and took a cab to Passy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had no sooner entered the lane than I saw the +workman's four brats standing outside the door in +the wall. Maître Valandier, informed by them of +my arrival, hastened in my direction:</p> + +<p>"Well?" he cried. "Where's Captain Jeanniot?"</p> + +<p>"Hasn't he come?"</p> + +<p>"No; and I can assure you that everybody is +very impatient to see him."</p> + +<p>The different groups began to crowd round the +lawyer; and I noticed that all those faces which +I recognized had thrown off the gloomy and despondent +expression which they wore a year ago.</p> + +<p>"They are full of hope," said Maître Valandier, +"and it is my fault. But what could I do? Your +friend made such an impression upon me that I +spoke to these good people with a confidence ... +which I cannot say I feel. However, he seems a +queer sort of fellow, this Captain Jeanniot of +yours...."</p> + +<p>He asked me many questions and I gave him a +number of more or less fanciful details about the +captain, to which the heirs listened, nodding their +heads in appreciation of my remarks.</p> + +<p>"Of course, the truth was bound to be discovered +sooner or later," said the fat gentleman, in a tone +of conviction.</p> + +<p>The infantry corporal, dazzled by the captain's +rank, did not entertain a doubt in his mind.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span></p> + +<p>The lady with the little dog wanted to know if +Captain Jeanniot was young.</p> + +<p>But Louise d'Ernemont said:</p> + +<p>"And suppose he does not come?"</p> + +<p>"We shall still have the five thousand francs +to divide," said the beggar-man.</p> + +<p>For all that, Louise d'Ernemont's words had +damped their enthusiasm. Their faces began to +look sullen and I felt an atmosphere as of anguish +weighing upon us.</p> + +<p>At half-past one, the two lean sisters felt faint +and sat down. Then the fat gentleman in the +soiled suit suddenly rounded on the notary:</p> + +<p>"It's you, Maître Valandier, who are to blame.... +You ought to have brought the captain here +by main force.... He's a humbug, that's quite +clear."</p> + +<p>He gave me a savage look, and the footman, in +his turn, flung muttered curses at me.</p> + +<p>I confess that their reproaches seemed to me +well-founded and that Lupin's absence annoyed me +greatly:</p> + +<p>"He won't come now," I whispered to the lawyer.</p> + +<p>And I was thinking of beating a retreat, when the +eldest of the brats appeared at the door, yelling:</p> + +<p>"There's some one coming!... A motor-cycle!..."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span></p> + +<p>A motor was throbbing on the other side of the +wall. A man on a motor-bicycle came tearing +down the lane at the risk of breaking his neck. +Suddenly, he put on his brakes, outside the door, +and sprang from his machine.</p> + +<p>Under the layer of dust which covered him from +head to foot, we could see that his navy-blue reefer-suit, +his carefully creased trousers, his black felt +hat and patent-leather boots were not the clothes +in which a man usually goes cycling.</p> + +<p>"But that's not Captain Jeanniot!" shouted the +notary, who failed to recognize him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, it is," said Lupin, shaking hands with +us. "I'm Captain Jeanniot right enough ... +only I've shaved off my moustache.... Besides, +Maître Valandier, here's your receipt."</p> + +<p>He caught one of the workman's children by the +arm and said:</p> + +<p>"Run to the cab-rank and fetch a taxi to the +corner of the Rue Raynouard. Look sharp! I +have an urgent appointment to keep at two o'clock, +or a quarter-past at the latest."</p> + +<p>There was a murmur of protest. Captain Jeanniot +took out his watch:</p> + +<p>"Well! It's only twelve minutes to two! I have +a good quarter of an hour before me. But, by +Jingo, how tired I feel! And how hungry into +the bargain!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span></p> + +<p>The corporal thrust his ammunition-bread into +Lupin's hand; and he munched away at it as he +sat down and said:</p> + +<p>"You must forgive me. I was in the Marseilles +express, which left the rails between Dijon and +Laroche. There were twelve people killed and any +number injured, whom I had to help. Then I +found this motor-cycle in the luggage-van.... +Maître Valandier, you must be good enough to restore +it to the owner. You will find the label fastened +to the handle-bar. Ah, you're back, my boy! Is +the taxi there? At the corner of the Rue Raynouard? +Capital!"</p> + +<p>He looked at his watch again:</p> + +<p>"Hullo! No time to lose!"</p> + +<p>I stared at him with eager curiosity. But how +great must the excitement of the d'Ernemont heirs +have been! True, they had not the same faith +in Captain Jeanniot that I had in Lupin. Nevertheless, +their faces were pale and drawn. Captain +Jeanniot turned slowly to the left and walked up +to the sun-dial. The pedestal represented the figure +of a man with a powerful torso, who bore on his +shoulders a marble slab the surface of which had +been so much worn by time that we could hardly +distinguish the engraved lines that marked the +hours. Above the slab, a Cupid, with outspread +wings, held an arrow that served as a gnomon.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span></p> + +<p>The captain stood leaning forward for a minute, +with attentive eyes.</p> + +<p>Then he said:</p> + +<p>"Somebody lend me a knife, please."</p> + +<p>A clock in the neighbourhood struck two. At +that exact moment, the shadow of the arrow was +thrown upon the sunlit dial along the line of a crack +in the marble which divided the slab very nearly +in half.</p> + +<p>The captain took the knife handed to him. And +with the point, very gently, he began to scratch +the mixture of earth and moss that filled the narrow +cleft.</p> + +<p>Almost immediately, at a couple of inches from +the edge, he stopped, as though his knife had encountered +an obstacle, inserted his thumb and forefinger +and withdrew a small object which he rubbed +between the palms of his hands and gave to the +lawyer:</p> + +<p>"Here, Maître Valandier. Something to go on +with."</p> + +<p>It was an enormous diamond, the size of a hazelnut +and beautifully cut.</p> + +<p>The captain resumed his work. The next moment, +a fresh stop. A second diamond, magnificent and +brilliant as the first, appeared in sight.</p> + +<p>And then came a third and a fourth.</p> + +<p>In a minute's time, following the crack from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +one edge to the other and certainly without digging +deeper than half an inch, the captain had taken +out eighteen diamonds of the same size.</p> + +<p>During this minute, there was not a cry, not a +movement around the sun-dial. The heirs seemed +paralyzed with a sort of stupor. Then the fat +gentleman muttered:</p> + +<p>"Geminy!"</p> + +<p>And the corporal moaned:</p> + +<p>"Oh, captain!... Oh, captain!..."</p> + +<p>The two sisters fell in a dead faint. The lady +with the little dog dropped on her knees and prayed, +while the footman, staggering like a drunken man, +held his head in his two hands, and Louise d'Ernemont +wept.</p> + +<p>When calm was restored and all became eager to +thank Captain Jeanniot, they saw that he was gone.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>Some years passed before I had an opportunity +of talking to Lupin about this business. He was +in a confidential vein and answered:</p> + +<p>"The business of the eighteen diamonds? By +Jove, when I think that three or four generations +of my fellow-men had been hunting for the solution! +And the eighteen diamonds were there all the time, +under a little mud and dust!"</p> + +<p>"But how did you guess?..."</p> + +<p>"I did not guess. I reflected. I doubt if I need<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +even have reflected. I was struck, from the beginning, +by the fact that the whole circumstance +was governed by one primary question: the question +of time. When Charles d'Ernemont was still +in possession of his wits, he wrote a date upon the +three pictures. Later, in the gloom in which he +was struggling, a faint glimmer of intelligence led +him every year to the centre of the old garden; +and the same faint glimmer led him away from it +every year at the same moment, that is to say, at +twenty-seven minutes past five. Something must +have acted on the disordered machinery of his brain +in this way. What was the superior force that +controlled the poor madman's movements? Obviously, +the instinctive notion of time represented +by the sun-dial in the farmer-general's pictures. +It was the annual revolution of the earth around +the sun that brought Charles d'Ernemont back +to the garden at a fixed date. And it was the earth's +daily revolution upon its own axis that took him from +it at a fixed hour, that is to say, at the hour, most +likely, when the sun, concealed by objects different +from those of to-day, ceased to light the Passy +garden. Now of all this the sun-dial was the symbol. +And that is why I at once knew where to +look."</p> + +<p>"But how did you settle the hour at which to +begin looking?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Simply by the pictures. A man living at that +time, such as Charles d'Ernemont, would have +written either 26 Germinal, Year II, or else 15 April, +1794, but not 15 April, Year II. I was astounded +that no one had thought of that."</p> + +<p>"Then the figure 2 stood for two o'clock?"</p> + +<p>"Evidently. And what must have happened was +this: the farmer-general began by turning his +fortune into solid gold and silver money. Then, +by way of additional precaution, with this gold +and silver he bought eighteen wonderful diamonds. +When he was surprised by the arrival of the patrol, +he fled into his garden. Which was the best place +to hide the diamonds? Chance caused his eyes to +light upon the sun-dial. It was two o'clock. The +shadow of the arrow was then falling along the crack +in the marble. He obeyed this sign of the shadow, +rammed his eighteen diamonds into the dust and +calmly went back and surrendered to the soldiers."</p> + +<p>"But the shadow of the arrow coincides with +the crack in the marble every day of the year and +not only on the 15th of April."</p> + +<p>"You forget, my dear chap, that we are dealing +with a lunatic and that he remembered only this +date of the 15th of April."</p> + +<p>"Very well; but you, once you had solved the +riddle, could easily have made your way into the +enclosure and taken the diamonds."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Quite true; and I should not have hesitated, +if I had had to do with people of another description. +But I really felt sorry for those poor wretches. +And then you know the sort of idiot that Lupin is. +The idea of appearing suddenly as a benevolent +genius and amazing his kind would be enough to +make him commit any sort of folly."</p> + +<p>"Tah!" I cried. "The folly was not so great +as all that. Six magnificent diamonds! How delighted +the d'Ernemont heirs must have been to +fulfil their part of the contract!"</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at me and burst into uncontrollable +laughter:</p> + +<p>"So you haven't heard? Oh, what a joke! The +delight of the d'Ernemont heirs!.... Why, my +dear fellow, on the next day, that worthy Captain +Jeanniot had so many mortal enemies! On the very +next day, the two lean sisters and the fat gentleman +organized an opposition. A contract? Not worth +the paper it was written on, because, as could easily +be proved, there was no such person as Captain +Jeanniot. Where did that adventurer spring from? +Just let him sue them and they'd soon show him +what was what!"</p> + +<p>"Louise d'Ernemont too?"</p> + +<p>"No, Louise d'Ernemont protested against that +piece of rascality. But what could she do against +so many? Besides, now that she was rich, she got<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +back her young man. I haven't heard of her +since."</p> + +<p>"So ...?"</p> + +<p>"So, my dear fellow, I was caught in a trap, with +not a leg to stand on, and I had to compromise +and accept one modest diamond as my share, the +smallest and the least handsome of the lot. That +comes of doing one's best to help people!"</p> + +<p>And Lupin grumbled between his teeth:</p> + +<p>"Oh, gratitude!... All humbug!... Where +should we honest men be if we had not our conscience +and the satisfaction of duty performed to +reward us?"</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="IV" id="IV"></a>IV</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">THE INFERNAL TRAP</h3> + + +<p>When the race was over, a crowd of people, streaming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +toward the exit from the grand stand, pushed +against Nicolas Dugrival. He brought his hand +smartly to the inside pocket of his jacket.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"I still feel nervous ... with that money +on me! I'm afraid of some nasty accident."</p> + +<p>She muttered:</p> + +<p>"And I can't understand you. How can you +think of carrying such a sum about with you? +Every farthing we possess! Lord knows, it cost +us trouble enough to earn!"</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" he said. "No one would guess that +it is here, in my pocket-book."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," she grumbled. "That young man-servant +whom we discharged last week knew all +about it, didn't he, Gabriel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, aunt," said a youth standing beside her.</p> + +<p>Nicolas Dugrival, his wife and his nephew Gabriel +were well-known figures at the race-meetings, where<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +the regular frequenters saw them almost every day: +Dugrival, a big, fat, red-faced man, who looked as if +he knew how to enjoy life; his wife, also built on +heavy lines, with a coarse, vulgar face, and always +dressed in a plum-coloured silk much the worse for +wear; the nephew, quite young, slender, with +pale features, dark eyes and fair and rather curly +hair.</p> + +<p>As a rule, the couple remained seated throughout +the afternoon. It was Gabriel who betted for his +uncle, watching the horses in the paddock, picking +up tips to right and left among the jockeys and +stable-lads, running backward and forward between +the stands and the <i>pari-mutuel</i>.</p> + +<p>Luck had favoured them that day, for, three +times, Dugrival's neighbours saw the young man +come back and hand him money.</p> + +<p>The fifth race was just finishing. Dugrival lit +a cigar. At that moment, a gentleman in a tight-fitting +brown suit, with a face ending in a peaked +grey beard, came up to him and asked, in a confidential +whisper:</p> + +<p>"Does this happen to belong to you, sir?"</p> + +<p>And he displayed a gold watch and chain.</p> + +<p>Dugrival gave a start:</p> + +<p>"Why, yes ... it's mine.... Look, +here are my initials, N. G.: Nicolas Dugrival!"</p> + +<p>And he at once, with a movement of terror, clapped<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +his hand to his jacket-pocket. The note-case was +still there.</p> + +<p>"Ah," he said, greatly relieved, "that's a piece +of luck!... But, all the same, how on earth +was it done?... Do you know the scoundrel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we've got him locked up. Pray come +with me and we'll soon look into the matter."</p> + +<p>"Whom have I the honour ...?"</p> + +<p>"M. Delangle, detective-inspector. I have sent +to let M. Marquenne, the magistrate, know."</p> + +<p>Nicolas Dugrival went out with the inspector; +and the two of them started for the commissary's +office, some distance behind the grand stand. They +were within fifty yards of it, when the inspector +was accosted by a man who said to him, hurriedly:</p> + +<p>"The fellow with the watch has blabbed; we +are on the tracks of a whole gang. M. Marquenne +wants you to wait for him at the <i>pari-mutuel</i> and +to keep a look-out near the fourth booth."</p> + +<p>There was a crowd outside the betting-booths +and Inspector Delangle muttered:</p> + +<p>"It's an absurd arrangement.... Whom +am I to look out for?... That's just like +M. Marquenne!..."</p> + +<p>He pushed aside a group of people who were +crowding too close upon him:</p> + +<p>"By Jove, one has to use one's elbows here and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +keep a tight hold on one's purse. That's the way +you got your watch pinched, M. Dugrival!"</p> + +<p>"I can't understand...."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you knew how those gentry go to work! +One never guesses what they're up to next. One +of them treads on your foot, another gives you a +poke in the eye with his stick and the third picks +your pocket before you know where you are.... I've +been had that way myself." He stopped and +then continued, angrily. "But, bother it, what's the +use of hanging about here! What a mob! It's unbearable!... +Ah, there's M. Marquenne +making signs to us!... One moment, please +... and be sure and wait for me here."</p> + +<p>He shouldered his way through the crowd. +Nicolas Dugrival followed him for a moment +with his eyes. Once the inspector was out of +sight, he stood a little to one side, to avoid being +hustled.</p> + +<p>A few minutes passed. The sixth race was +about to start, when Dugrival saw his wife and +nephew looking for him. He explained to them +that Inspector Delangle was arranging matters +with the magistrate.</p> + +<p>"Have you your money still?" asked his wife.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course I have!" he replied. "The +inspector and I took good care, I assure you, not +to let the crowd jostle us."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<p>He felt his jacket, gave a stifled cry, thrust +his hand into his pocket and began to stammer +inarticulate syllables, while Mme. Dugrival gasped, +in dismay:</p> + +<p>"What is it? What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Stolen!" he moaned. "The pocket-book ... the +fifty notes!..."</p> + +<p>"It's not true!" she screamed. "It's not +true!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the inspector ... a common sharper ... he's +the man...."</p> + +<p>She uttered absolute yells:</p> + +<p>"Thief! Thief! Stop thief!... My husband's +been robbed!... Fifty thousand francs!... We +are ruined!... Thief! Thief ..."</p> + +<p>In a moment they were surrounded by policemen +and taken to the commissary's office. Dugrival +went like a lamb, absolutely bewildered. His wife +continued to shriek at the top of her voice, piling +up explanations, railing against the inspector:</p> + +<p>"Have him looked for!... Have him found!... A +brown suit.... A pointed beard.... Oh, +the villain, to think what he's robbed us +of!... Fifty thousand francs!... Why ... why, +Dugrival, what are you doing?"</p> + +<p>With one bound, she flung herself upon her +husband. Too late! He had pressed the barrel<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +of a revolver against his temple. A shot rang +out. Dugrival fell. He was dead.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>The reader cannot have forgotten the commotion +made by the newspapers in connection with this +case, nor how they jumped at the opportunity +once more to accuse the police of carelessness and +blundering. Was it conceivable that a pick-pocket +could play the part of an inspector like that, +in broad daylight and in a public place, and rob a +respectable man with impunity?</p> + +<p>Nicolas Dugrival's widow kept the controversy +alive, thanks to her jeremiads and to the interviews +which she granted on every hand. A reporter +had secured a snapshot of her in front of her husband's +body, holding up her hand and swearing to +revenge his death. Her nephew Gabriel was +standing beside her, with hatred pictured in his +face. He, too, it appeared, in a few words uttered +in a whisper, but in a tone of fierce determination, +had taken an oath to pursue and catch the murderer.</p> + +<p>The accounts described the humble apartment +which they occupied at the Batignolles; and, as +they had been robbed of all their means, a sporting-paper +opened a subscription on their behalf.</p> + +<p>As for the mysterious Delangle, he remained +undiscovered. Two men were arrested, but had +to be released forthwith. The police took up a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +number of clues, which were at once abandoned; +more than one name was mentioned; and, lastly, +they accused Arsène Lupin, an action which provoked +the famous burglar's celebrated cable, dispatched +from New York six days after the incident:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Protest indignantly against calumny invented +by baffled police. Send my condolences to unhappy +victims. Instructing my bankers to remit +them fifty thousand francs.</p> + +<p style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: 60em;">"Lupin."</p></div> + +<p>True enough, on the day after the publication +of the cable, a stranger rang at Mme. Dugrival's +door and handed her an envelope. The envelope +contained fifty thousand-franc notes.</p> + +<p>This theatrical stroke was not at all calculated +to allay the universal comment. But an event +soon occurred which provided any amount of +additional excitement. Two days later, the people +living in the same house as Mme. Dugrival and +her nephew were awakened, at four o'clock in the +morning, by horrible cries and shrill calls for help. +They rushed to the flat. The porter succeeded +in opening the door. By the light of a lantern +carried by one of the neighbours, he found Gabriel +stretched at full-length in his bedroom, with his +wrists and ankles bound and a gag forced into his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +mouth, while, in the next room, Mme. Dugrival +lay with her life's blood ebbing away through a +great gash in her breast.</p> + +<p>She whispered:</p> + +<p>"The money.... I've been robbed.... All +the notes gone...."</p> + +<p>And she fainted away.</p> + +<p>What had happened? Gabriel said—and, as +soon as she was able to speak, Mme. Dugrival completed +her nephew's story—that he was startled +from his sleep by finding himself attacked by two +men, one of whom gagged him, while the other +fastened him down. He was unable to see the men +in the dark, but he heard the noise of the struggle +between them and his aunt. It was a terrible +struggle, Mme. Dugrival declared. The ruffians, +who obviously knew their way about, guided by +some intuition, made straight for the little cupboard +containing the money and, in spite of her resistance +and outcries, laid hands upon the bundle of bank-notes. +As they left, one of them, whom she had +bitten in the arm, stabbed her with a knife, whereupon +the men had both fled.</p> + +<p>"Which way?" she was asked.</p> + +<p>"Through the door of my bedroom and afterward, +I suppose, through the hall-door."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! The porter would have noticed +them."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span></p> + +<p>For the whole mystery lay in this: how had the +ruffians entered the house and how did they manage +to leave it? There was no outlet open to them. +Was it one of the tenants? A careful inquiry +proved the absurdity of such a supposition.</p> + +<p>What then?</p> + +<p>Chief-inspector Ganimard, who was placed in +special charge of the case, confessed that he had +never known anything more bewildering:</p> + +<p>"It's very like Lupin," he said, "and yet it's not +Lupin.... No, there's more in it than meets the +eye, something very doubtful and suspicious.... +Besides, if it were Lupin, why should he take back +the fifty thousand francs which he sent? There's +another question that puzzles me: what is the +connection between the second robbery and the first, +the one on the race-course? The whole thing is +incomprehensible and I have a sort of feeling—which +is very rare with me—that it is no use hunting. +For my part, I give it up."</p> + +<p>The examining-magistrate threw himself into the +case with heart and soul. The reporters united +their efforts with those of the police. A famous +English sleuth-hound crossed the Channel. A +wealthy American, whose head had been turned +by detective-stories, offered a big reward to whosoever +should supply the first information leading +to the discovery of the truth. Six weeks later,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +no one was any the wiser. The public adopted +Ganimard's view; and the examining-magistrate +himself grew tired of struggling in a darkness which +only became denser as time went on.</p> + +<p>And life continued as usual with Dugrival's +widow. Nursed by her nephew, she soon recovered +from her wound. In the mornings, Gabriel settled +her in an easy-chair at the dining-room window, did +the rooms and then went out marketing. He cooked +their lunch without even accepting the proffered +assistance of the porter's wife.</p> + +<p>Worried by the police investigations and especially +by the requests for interviews, the aunt and nephew +refused to see anybody. Not even the portress, +whose chatter disturbed and wearied Mme. Dugrival, +was admitted. She fell back upon Gabriel, whom +she accosted each time that he passed her room:</p> + +<p>"Take care, M. Gabriel, you're both of you being +spied upon. There are men watching you. Why, +only last night, my husband caught a fellow staring +up at your windows."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" said Gabriel. "It's all right. That's +the police, protecting us."</p> + +<p>One afternoon, at about four o'clock, there was +a violent altercation between two costermongers +at the bottom of the street. The porter's wife at +once left her room to listen to the invectives which +the adversaries were hurling at each other's heads.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +Her back was no sooner turned than a man, young, +of medium height and dressed in a grey suit of irreproachable +cut, slipped into the house and ran up +the staircase.</p> + +<p>When he came to the third floor, he rang the bell. +Receiving no answer, he rang again. At the third +summons, the door opened.</p> + +<p>"Mme. Dugrival?" he asked, taking off his hat.</p> + +<p>"Mme. Dugrival is still an invalid and unable to +see any one," said Gabriel, who stood in the hall.</p> + +<p>"It's most important that I should speak to +her."</p> + +<p>"I am her nephew and perhaps I could take her +a message...."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the man. "Please tell Mme. +Dugrival that an accident has supplied me with +valuable information concerning the robbery from +which she has suffered and that I should like to go +over the flat and ascertain certain particulars for +myself. I am accustomed to this sort of inquiry; +and my call is sure to be of use to her."</p> + +<p>Gabriel examined the visitor for a moment, +reflected and said:</p> + +<p>"In that case, I suppose my aunt will consent ... Pray +come in."</p> + +<p>He opened the door of the dining-room and stepped +back to allow the other to pass. The stranger walked +to the threshold, but, at the moment when he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +crossing it, Gabriel raised his arm and, with a swift +movement, struck him with a dagger over the right +shoulder.</p> + +<p>A burst of laughter rang through the room:</p> + +<p>"Got him!" cried Mme. Dugrival, darting up +from her chair. "Well done, Gabriel! But, I +say, you haven't killed the scoundrel, have you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so, aunt. It's a small blade and +I didn't strike him too hard."</p> + +<p>The man was staggering, with his hands stretched +in front of him and his face deathly pale.</p> + +<p>"You fool!" sneered the widow. "So you've +fallen into the trap ... and a good job too! +We've been looking out for you a long time. Come, +my fine fellow, down with you! You don't care +about it, do you? But you can't help yourself, +you see. That's right: one knee on the ground, +before the missus ... now the other knee.... +How well we've been brought up!... Crash, +there we go on the floor! Lord, if my poor Dugrival +could only see him like that!... And now, Gabriel, +to work!"</p> + +<p>She went to her bedroom and opened one of the +doors of a hanging wardrobe filled with dresses. +Pulling these aside, she pushed open another door +which formed the back of the wardrobe and led to +a room in the next house:</p> + +<p>"Help me carry him, Gabriel. And you'll nurse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +him as well as you can, won't you? For the present, +he's worth his weight in gold to us, the artist!..."</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>The hours succeeded one another. Days passed.</p> + +<p>One morning, the wounded man regained a moment's +consciousness. He raised his eyelids and +looked around him.</p> + +<p>He was lying in a room larger than that in which +he had been stabbed, a room sparsely furnished, +with thick curtains hanging before the windows +from top to bottom. There was light enough, however, +to enable him to see young Gabriel Dugrival +seated on a chair beside him and watching him.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's you, youngster!" he murmured. "I +congratulate you, my lad. You have a sure and +pretty touch with the dagger."</p> + +<p>And he fell asleep again.</p> + +<p>That day and the following days, he woke up +several times and, each time, he saw the stripling's +pale face, his thin lips and his dark eyes, with the +hard look in them:</p> + +<p>"You frighten me," he said. "If you have +sworn to do for me, don't stand on ceremony. But +cheer up, for goodness' sake. The thought of death +has always struck me as the most humorous thing +in the world. Whereas, with you, old chap, it +simply becomes lugubrious. I prefer to go to sleep. +Good-night!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>Still, Gabriel, in obedience to Mme. Dugrival's +orders, continued to nurse him with the utmost care +and attention. The patient was almost free from +fever and was beginning to take beef-tea and milk. +He gained a little strength and jested:</p> + +<p>"When will the convalescent be allowed his +first drive? Is the bath-chair there? Why, cheer +up, stupid! You look like a weeping-willow contemplating +a crime. Come, just one little smile +for daddy!"</p> + +<p>One day, on waking, he had a very unpleasant +feeling of constraint. After a few efforts, he perceived +that, during his sleep, his legs, chest and arms +had been fastened to the bedstead with thin wire +strands that cut into his flesh at the least movements.</p> + +<p>"Ah," he said to his keeper, "this time it's the +great performance! The chicken's going to be bled. +Are you operating, Angel Gabriel? If so, see that +your razor's nice and clean, old chap! The antiseptic +treatment, <i>if</i> you please!"</p> + +<p>But he was interrupted by the sound of a key +grating in the lock. The door opposite opened and +Mme. Dugrival appeared.</p> + +<p>She approached slowly, took a chair and, producing +a revolver from her pocket, cocked it and +laid it on the table by the bedside.</p> + +<p>"Brrrrr!" said the prisoner. "We might be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span> +at the Ambigu!... Fourth act: the Traitor's +Doom. And the fair sex to do the deed.... The +hand of the Graces.... What an honour!... +Mme. Dugrival, I rely on you not to disfigure me."</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue, Lupin."</p> + +<p>"Ah, so you know?... By Jove, how clever +we are!"</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue, Lupin."</p> + +<p>There was a solemn note in her voice that impressed +the captive and compelled him to silence. +He watched his two gaolers in turns. The bloated +features and red complexion of Mme. Dugrival +formed a striking contrast with her nephew's refined +face; but they both wore the same air of implacable +resolve.</p> + +<p>The widow leant forward and said:</p> + +<p>"Are you prepared to answer my questions?"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Then listen to me. How did you know that +Dugrival carried all his money in his pocket?"</p> + +<p>"Servants' gossip...."</p> + +<p>"A young man-servant whom we had in our employ: +was that it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And did you steal Dugrival's watch in order +to give it back to him and inspire him with confidence?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> + +<p>She suppressed a movement of fury:</p> + +<p>"You fool! You fool!... What! You rob +my man, you drive him to kill himself and, instead +of making tracks to the uttermost ends of the earth +and hiding yourself, you go on playing Lupin in +the heart of Paris!... Did you forget that I +swore, on my dead husband's head, to find his murderer?"</p> + +<p>"That's what staggers me," said Lupin. "How +did you come to suspect me?"</p> + +<p>"How? Why, you gave yourself away!"</p> + +<p>"I did?..."</p> + +<p>"Of course.... The fifty thousand francs...."</p> + +<p>"Well, what about it? A present...."</p> + +<p>"Yes, a present which you gave cabled instructions +to have sent to me, so as to make believe that +you were in America on the day of the races. A +present, indeed! What humbug! The fact is, +you didn't like to think of the poor fellow whom you +had murdered. So you restored the money to the +widow, publicly, of course, because you love playing +to the gallery and ranting and posing, like the +mountebank that you are. That was all very nicely +thought out. Only, my fine fellow, you ought not +to have sent me the selfsame notes that were stolen +from Dugrival! Yes, you silly fool, the selfsame +notes and no others! We knew the numbers, +Dugrival and I did. And you were stupid enough<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span> +to send the bundle to me. Now do you understand +your folly?"</p> + +<p>Lupin began to laugh:</p> + +<p>"It was a pretty blunder, I confess. I'm not +responsible; I gave different orders. But, all the +same I can't blame any one except myself."</p> + +<p>"Ah, so you admit it! You signed your theft +and you signed your ruin at the same time. There +was nothing left to be done but to find you. Find +you? No, better than that. Sensible people don't +find Lupin: they make him come to them! That +was a masterly notion. It belongs to my young +nephew, who loathes you as much as I do, if possible, +and who knows you thoroughly, through reading +all the books that have been written about you. +He knows your prying nature, your need to be +always plotting, your mania for hunting in the dark +and unravelling what others have failed to unravel. +He also knows that sort of sham kindness of yours, +the drivelling sentimentality that makes you shed +crocodile tears over the people you victimize; +And he planned the whole farce! He invented the +story of the two burglars, the second theft of fifty +thousand francs! Oh, I swear to you, before Heaven, +that the stab which I gave myself with my own +hands never hurt me! And I swear to you, before +Heaven, that we spent a glorious time waiting for +you, the boy and I, peeping out at your confederates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +who prowled under our windows, taking their bearings! +And there was no mistake about it: you +were bound to come! Seeing that you had restored +the Widow Dugrival's fifty thousand francs, +it was out of the question that you should allow the +Widow Dugrival to be robbed of her fifty thousand +francs! You were bound to come, attracted by the +scent of the mystery. You were bound to come, for +swagger, out of vanity! And you come!"</p> + +<p>The widow gave a strident laugh:</p> + +<p>"Well played, wasn't it? The Lupin of Lupins, +the master of masters, inaccessible and invisible, +caught in a trap by a woman and a boy!... +Here he is in flesh and bone ... here he is with +hands and feet tied, no more dangerous than a sparrow ... here +is he ... here he is!..."</p> + +<p>She shook with joy and began to pace the room, +throwing sidelong glances at the bed, like a wild +beast that does not for a moment take its eyes from +its victim. And never had Lupin beheld greater +hatred and savagery in any human being.</p> + +<p>"Enough of this prattle," she said.</p> + +<p>Suddenly restraining herself, she stalked back to +him and, in a quite different tone, in a hollow voice, +laying stress on every syllable:</p> + +<p>"Thanks to the papers in your pocket, Lupin, +I have made good use of the last twelve days. I +know all your affairs, all your schemes, all your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +assumed names, all the organization of your band, +all the lodgings which you possess in Paris and elsewhere. +I have even visited one of them, the most +secret, the one where you hide your papers, your +ledgers and the whole story of your financial operations. +The result of my investigations is very +satisfactory. Here are four cheques, taken from +four cheque-books and corresponding with four +accounts which you keep at four different banks +under four different names. I have filled in each +of them for ten thousand francs. A larger figure +would have been too risky. And, now, sign."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" said Lupin, sarcastically. "This +is blackmail, my worthy Mme. Dugrival."</p> + +<p>"That takes your breath away, what?"</p> + +<p>"It takes my breath away, as you say."</p> + +<p>"And you find an adversary who is a match for +you?"</p> + +<p>"The adversary is far beyond me. So the trap—let +us call it infernal—the infernal trap into +which I have fallen was laid not merely by a widow +thirsting for revenge, but also by a first-rate business +woman anxious to increase her capital?"</p> + +<p>"Just so."</p> + +<p>"My congratulations. And, while I think of it, +used M. Dugrival perhaps to ...?"</p> + +<p>"You have hit it, Lupin. After all, why conceal +the fact? It will relieve your conscience. Yes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +Lupin, Dugrival used to work on the same lines as +yourself. Oh, not on the same scale!... We were +modest people: a louis here, a louis there ... a +purse or two which we trained Gabriel to pick up +at the races.... And, in this way, we had made our +little pile ... just enough to buy a small place in +the country."</p> + +<p>"I prefer it that way," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"That's all right! I'm only telling you, so that +you may know that I am not a beginner and that +you have nothing to hope for. A rescue? No. +The room in which we now are communicates with +my bedroom. It has a private outlet of which +nobody knows. It was Dugrival's special apartment. +He used to see his friends here. He kept +his implements and tools here, his disguises ... +his telephone even, as you perceive. So there's +no hope, you see. Your accomplices have given +up looking for you here. I have sent them off on +another track. Your goose is cooked. Do you +begin to realize the position?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then sign the cheques."</p> + +<p>"And, when I have signed them, shall I be free?"</p> + +<p>"I must cash them first."</p> + +<p>"And after that?"</p> + +<p>"After that, on my soul, as I hope to be saved, +you will be free."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't trust you."</p> + +<p>"Have you any choice?"</p> + +<p>"That's true. Hand me the cheques."</p> + +<p>She unfastened Lupin's right hand, gave him a +pen and said:</p> + +<p>"Don't forget that the four cheques require four +different signatures and that the handwriting has +to be altered in each case."</p> + +<p>"Never fear."</p> + +<p>He signed the cheques.</p> + +<p>"Gabriel," said the widow, "it is ten o'clock. +If I am not back by twelve, it will mean that this +scoundrel has played me one of his tricks. At +twelve o'clock, blow out his brains. I am leaving +you the revolver with which your uncle shot himself. +There are five bullets left out of the six. That will +be ample."</p> + +<p>She left the room, humming a tune as she went.</p> + +<p>Lupin mumbled:</p> + +<p>"I wouldn't give twopence for my life."</p> + +<p>He shut his eyes for an instant and then, suddenly, +said to Gabriel:</p> + +<p>"How much?"</p> + +<p>And, when the other did not appear to understand, +he grew irritated:</p> + +<p>"I mean what I say. How much? Answer +me, can't you? We drive the same trade, you and +I. I steal, thou stealest, we steal. So we ought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +to come to terms: that's what we are here for. +Well? Is it a bargain? Shall we clear out together. +I will give you a post in my gang, an easy, +well-paid post. How much do you want for yourself? +Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Fix your +own price; don't be shy. There's plenty to be had +for the asking."</p> + +<p>An angry shiver passed through his frame as he +saw the impassive face of his keeper:</p> + +<p>"Oh, the beggar won't even answer! Why, you +can't have been so fond of old Dugrival as all that! +Listen to me: if you consent to release me...."</p> + +<p>But he interrupted himself. The young man's +eyes wore the cruel expression which he knew so +well. What was the use of trying to move him?</p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" he snarled. "I'm not going to +croak here, like a dog! Oh, if I could only...."</p> + +<p>Stiffening all his muscles, he tried to burst his +bonds, making a violent effort that drew a cry of +pain from him; and he fell back upon his bed, exhausted.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," he muttered, after a moment, "it's +as the widow said: my goose is cooked. Nothing +to be done. <i>De profundis</i>, Lupin."</p> + +<p>A quarter of an hour passed, half an hour....</p> + +<p>Gabriel, moving closer to Lupin, saw that his +eyes were shut and that his breath came evenly, +like that of a man sleeping. But Lupin said:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't imagine that I'm asleep, youngster. No, +people don't sleep at a moment like this. Only +I am consoling myself. Needs must, eh?... +And then I am thinking of what is to come after.... +Exactly. I have a little theory of my own about +that. You wouldn't think it, to look at me, but +I believe in metempsychosis, in the transmigration +of souls. It would take too long to explain, however.... +I say, boy ... suppose we shook hands +before we part? You won't? Then good-bye. +Good health and a long life to you, Gabriel!..."</p> + +<p>He closed his eyelids and did not stir again before +Mme. Dugrival's return.</p> + +<p>The widow entered with a lively step, at a few +minutes before twelve. She seemed greatly excited:</p> + +<p>"I have the money," she said to her nephew. +"Run away. I'll join you in the motor down below."</p> + +<p>"But...."</p> + +<p>"I don't want your help to finish him off. I +can do that alone. Still, if you feel like seeing +the sort of a face a rogue can pull.... Pass me +the weapon."</p> + +<p>Gabriel handed her the revolver and the widow +continued:</p> + +<p>"Have you burnt our papers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then to work. And, as soon as he's done for,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +be off. The shots may bring the neighbours. They +must find both the flats empty."</p> + +<p>She went up to the bed:</p> + +<p>"Are you ready, Lupin?"</p> + +<p>"Ready's not the word: I'm burning with impatience."</p> + +<p>"Have you any request to make of me?"</p> + +<p>"None."</p> + +<p>"Then...."</p> + +<p>"One word, though."</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"If I meet Dugrival in the next world, what +message am I to give him from you?"</p> + +<p>She shrugged her shoulders and put the barrel +of the revolver to Lupin's temple.</p> + +<p>"That's it," he said, "and be sure your hand +doesn't shake, my dear lady. It won't hurt you, +I swear. Are you ready? At the word of command, +eh? One ... two ... three...."</p> + +<p>The widow pulled the trigger. A shot rang out.</p> + +<p>"Is this death?" said Lupin. "That's funny! +I should have thought it was something much more +different from life!"</p> + +<p>There was a second shot. Gabriel snatched the +weapon from his aunt's hands and examined it:</p> + +<p>"Ah," he exclaimed, "the bullets have been +removed!... There are only the percussion-caps +left!..."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>His aunt and he stood motionless, for a moment, +and confused:</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" she blurted out. "Who could +have done it?... An inspector?... The examining-magistrate?..."</p> + +<p>She stopped and, in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"Hark.... I hear a noise...."</p> + +<p>They listened and the widow went into the hall. +She returned, furious, exasperated by her failure +and by the scare which she had received:</p> + +<p>"There's nobody there.... It must have been +the neighbours going out.... We have plenty +of time.... Ah, Lupin, you were beginning to +make merry!... The knife, Gabriel."</p> + +<p>"It's in my room."</p> + +<p>"Go and fetch it."</p> + +<p>Gabriel hurried away. The widow stamped with +rage:</p> + +<p>"I've sworn to do it!... You've got to suffer, +my fine fellow!... I swore to Dugrival that I +would do it and I have repeated my oath every morning +and evening since.... I have taken it on +my knees, yes, on my knees, before Heaven that +listens to me! It's my duty and my right to +revenge my dead husband!... By the way, +Lupin, you don't look quite as merry as you did!... +Lord, one would almost think you were +afraid!... He's afraid! He's afraid! I can see<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +it in his eyes!... Come along, Gabriel, my +boy!... Look at his eyes!... Look at his +lips!... He's trembling!... Give me the knife, +so that I may dig it into his heart while he's shivering.... +Oh, you coward!... Quick, quick, +Gabriel, the knife!..."</p> + +<p>"I can't find it anywhere," said the young man, +running back in dismay. "It has gone from my +room! I can't make it out!"</p> + +<p>"Never mind!" cried the Widow Dugrival, half +demented. "All the better! I will do the business +myself."</p> + +<p>She seized Lupin by the throat, clutched him +with her ten fingers, digging her nails into his flesh, +and began to squeeze with all her might. Lupin +uttered a hoarse rattle and gave himself up for +lost.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, there was a crash at the window. One +of the panes was smashed to pieces.</p> + +<p>"What's that? What is it?" stammered the +widow, drawing herself erect, in alarm.</p> + +<p>Gabriel, who had turned even paler than usual, +murmured:</p> + +<p>"I don't know.... I can't think...."</p> + +<p>"Who can have done it?" said the widow.</p> + +<p>She dared not move, waiting for what would +come next. And one thing above all terrified her, +the fact that there was no missile on the floor around<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +them, although the pane of glass, as was clearly +visible, had given way before the crash of a heavy +and fairly large object, a stone, probably.</p> + +<p>After a while, she looked under the bed, under +the chest of drawers:</p> + +<p>"Nothing," she said.</p> + +<p>"No," said her nephew, who was also looking. +And, resuming her seat, she said:</p> + +<p>"I feel frightened ... my arms fail me ... you +finish him off...."</p> + +<p>Gabriel confessed:</p> + +<p>"I'm frightened also."</p> + +<p>"Still ... still," she stammered, "it's got to +be done.... I swore it...."</p> + +<p>Making one last effort, she returned to Lupin +and gasped his neck with her stiff fingers. But +Lupin, who was watching her pallid face, received +a very clear sensation that she would not have +the courage to kill him. To her he was becoming +something sacred, invulnerable. A mysterious power +was protecting him against every attack, a power +which had already saved him three times by inexplicable +means and which would find other means +to protect him against the wiles of death.</p> + +<p>She said to him, in a hoarse voice:</p> + +<p>"How you must be laughing at me!"</p> + +<p>"Not at all, upon my word. I should feel frightened +myself, in your place."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nonsense, you scum of the earth! You +imagine that you will be rescued ... that your +friends are waiting outside? It's out of the question, +my fine fellow."</p> + +<p>"I know. It's not they defending me ... nobody's +defending me...."</p> + +<p>"Well, then?..."</p> + +<p>"Well, all the same, there's something strange +at the bottom of it, something fantastic and +miraculous that makes your flesh creep, my fine +lady."</p> + +<p>"You villain!... You'll be laughing on the +other side of your mouth before long."</p> + +<p>"I doubt it."</p> + +<p>"You wait and see."</p> + +<p>She reflected once more and said to her nephew:</p> + +<p>"What would you do?"</p> + +<p>"Fasten his arm again and let's be off," he +replied.</p> + +<p>A hideous suggestion! It meant condemning +Lupin to the most horrible of all deaths, death by +starvation.</p> + +<p>"No," said the widow. "He might still find a +means of escape. I know something better than +that."</p> + +<p>She took down the receiver of the telephone, +waited and asked:</p> + +<p>"Number 82248, please."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>And, after a second or two:</p> + +<p>"Hullo!... Is that the Criminal Investigation +Department?... Is Chief-inspector Ganimard +there?... In twenty minutes, you say?... I'm +sorry!... However!... When he comes, give +him this message from Mme. Dugrival.... Yes, +Mme. Nicolas Dugrival.... Ask him to come to +my flat. Tell him to open the looking-glass door +of my wardrobe; and, when he has done so, he will +see that the wardrobe hides an outlet which makes +my bedroom communicate with two other rooms. +In one of these, he will find a man bound hand and +foot. It is the thief, Dugrival's murderer.... +You don't believe me?... Tell M. Ganimard; +he'll believe me right enough.... Oh, I was +almost forgetting to give you the man's name: +Arsène Lupin!"</p> + +<p>And, without another word, she replaced the +receiver.</p> + +<p>"There, Lupin, that's done. After all, I would +just as soon have my revenge this way. How I +shall hold my sides when I read the reports of the +Lupin trial!... Are you coming, Gabriel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, aunt."</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Lupin. You and I sha'n't see each +other again, I expect, for we are going abroad. But +I promise to send you some sweets while you're in +prison."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Chocolates, mother! We'll eat them together!"</p> + +<p>"Good-bye."</p> + +<p>"<i>Au revoir.</i>"</p> + +<p>The widow went out with her nephew, leaving +Lupin fastened down to the bed.</p> + +<p>He at once moved his free arm and tried to release +himself; but he realized, at the first attempt, +that he would never have the strength to break +the wire strands that bound him. Exhausted +with fever and pain, what could he do in the twenty +minutes or so that were left to him before Ganimard's +arrival?</p> + +<p>Nor did he count upon his friends. True, he +had been thrice saved from death; but this was +evidently due to an astounding series of accidents +and not to any interference on the part of his +allies. Otherwise they would not have contented +themselves with these extraordinary manifestations, +but would have rescued him for good and +all.</p> + +<p>No, he must abandon all hope. Ganimard was +coming. Ganimard would find him there. It was +inevitable. There was no getting away from the +fact.</p> + +<p>And the prospect of what was coming irritated +him singularly. He already heard his old enemy's +gibes ringing in his ears. He foresaw the roars +of laughter with which the incredible news would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +be greeted on the morrow. To be arrested in action, +so to speak, on the battlefield, by an imposing +detachment of adversaries, was one thing: but +to be arrested, or rather picked up, scraped up, +gathered up, in such condition, was really too +silly. And Lupin, who had so often scoffed at +others, felt all the ridicule that was falling to his +share in this ending of the Dugrival business, all +the bathos of allowing himself to be caught in the +widow's infernal trap and finally of being "served +up" to the police like a dish of game, roasted to +a turn and nicely seasoned.</p> + +<p>"Blow the widow!" he growled. "I had rather +she had cut my throat and done with it."</p> + +<p>He pricked up his ears. Some one was moving +in the next room. Ganimard! No. Great as +his eagerness would be, he could not be there yet. +Besides, Ganimard would not have acted like that, +would not have opened the door as gently as that +other person was doing. What other person? +Lupin remembered the three miraculous interventions +to which he owed his life. Was it possible +that there was really somebody who had protected +him against the widow, and that that somebody +was now attempting to rescue him? But, if so, +who?</p> + +<p>Unseen by Lupin, the stranger stooped behind the +bed. Lupin heard the sound of the pliers attacking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +the wire strands and releasing him little by little. +First his chest was freed, then his arms, then his +legs.</p> + +<p>And a voice said to him:</p> + +<p>"You must get up and dress."</p> + +<p>Feeling very weak, he half-raised himself in bed +at the moment when the stranger rose from her +stooping posture.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he whispered. "Who are +you?"</p> + +<p>And a great surprise over came him.</p> + +<p>By his side stood a woman, a woman dressed in +black, with a lace shawl over her head, covering +part of her face. And the woman, as far as he +could judge, was young and of a graceful and slender +stature.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"You must come now," said the woman. "There's +no time to lose."</p> + +<p>"Can I?" asked Lupin, making a desperate effort. +"I doubt if I have the strength."</p> + +<p>"Drink this."</p> + +<p>She poured some milk into a cup; and, as she +handed it to him, her lace opened, leaving the face +uncovered.</p> + +<p>"You!" he stammered. "It's you!... It's you +who ... it was you who were...."</p> + +<p>He stared in amazement at this woman whose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +features presented so striking a resemblance to +Gabriel's, whose delicate, regular face had the same +pallor, whose mouth wore the same hard and forbidding +expression. No sister could have borne +so great a likeness to her brother. There was not +a doubt possible: it was the identical person. +And, without believing for a moment that Gabriel +had concealed himself in a woman's clothes, Lupin, +on the contrary, received the distinct impression +that it was a woman standing beside him and that +the stripling who had pursued him with his hatred +and struck him with the dagger was in very deed a +woman. In order to follow their trade with greater +ease, the Dugrival pair had accustomed her to disguise +herself as a boy.</p> + +<p>"You ... you ...!" he repeated. "Who would +have suspected ...?"</p> + +<p>She emptied the contents of a phial into the +cup:</p> + +<p>"Drink this cordial," she said.</p> + +<p>He hesitated, thinking of poison.</p> + +<p>She added:</p> + +<p>"It was I who saved you."</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course," he said. "It was you +who removed the bullets from the revolver?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And you who hid the knife?"</p> + +<p>"Here it is, in my pocket."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And you who smashed the window-pane while +your aunt was throttling me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was I, with the paper-weight on the +table: I threw it into the street."</p> + +<p>"But why? Why?" he asked, in utter amazement.</p> + +<p>"Drink the cordial."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you want me to die? But then why +did you stab me to begin with?"</p> + +<p>"Drink the cordial."</p> + +<p>He emptied the cup at a draught, without quite +knowing the reason of his sudden confidence.</p> + +<p>"Dress yourself ... quickly," she commanded, +retiring to the window.</p> + +<p>He obeyed and she came back to him, for he had +dropped into a chair, exhausted.</p> + +<p>"We must go now, we must, we have only just +time.... Collect your strength."</p> + +<p>She bent forward a little, so that he might lean +on her shoulder, and turned toward the door and +the staircase.</p> + +<p>And Lupin walked as one walks in a dream, one +of those queer dreams in which the most inconsequent +things occur, a dream that was the happy +sequel of the terrible nightmare in which he had +lived for the past fortnight.</p> + +<p>A thought struck him, however. He began to +laugh:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Poor Ganimard! Upon my word, the fellow +has no luck, I would give twopence to see him +coming to arrest me."</p> + +<p>After descending the staircase with the aid of his +companion, who supported him with incredible +vigour, he found himself in the street, opposite a +motor-car into which she helped him to mount.</p> + +<p>"Right away," she said to the driver.</p> + +<p>Lupin, dazed by the open air and the speed at +which they were travelling, hardly took stock of the +drive and of the incidents on the road. He recovered +all his consciousness when he found himself at home +in one of the flats which he occupied, looked after +by his servant, to whom the girl gave a few rapid +instructions.</p> + +<p>"You can go," he said to the man.</p> + +<p>But, when the girl turned to go as well, he held +her back by a fold of her dress.</p> + +<p>"No ... no ... you must first explain.... +Why did you save me? Did you return unknown +to your aunt? But why did you save me? Was +it from pity?"</p> + +<p>She did not answer. With her figure drawn up +and her head flung back a little, she retained her +hard and impenetrable air. Nevertheless, he thought +he noticed that the lines of her mouth showed not +so much cruelty as bitterness. Her eyes, her beautiful +dark eyes, revealed melancholy. And Lupin,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +without as yet understanding, received a vague +intuition of what was passing within her. He +seized her hand. She pushed him away, with a +start of revolt in which he felt hatred, almost repulsion. +And, when he insisted, she cried:</p> + +<p>"Let me be, will you?... Let me be!... +Can't you see that I detest you?"</p> + +<p>They looked at each other for a moment, Lupin +disconcerted, she quivering and full of uneasiness, +her pale face all flushed with unwonted colour.</p> + +<p>He said to her, gently:</p> + +<p>"If you detested me, you should have let me +die.... It was simple enough.... Why +didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Why?... Why?... How do I know?..."</p> + +<p>Her face contracted. With a sudden movement, +she hid it in her two hands; and he saw tears trickle +between her fingers.</p> + +<p>Greatly touched, he thought of addressing her +in fond words, such as one would use to a little girl +whom one wished to console, and of giving her good +advice and saving her, in his turn, and snatching her +from the bad life which she was leading, perhaps +against her better nature.</p> + +<p>But such words would have sounded ridiculous, +coming from his lips, and he did not know what to +say, now that he understood the whole story and +was able to picture the young woman sitting beside<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +his sick-bed, nursing the man whom she had wounded, +admiring his pluck and gaiety, becoming attached +to him, falling in love with him and thrice over, +probably in spite of herself, under a sort of instinctive +impulse, amid fits of spite and rage, saving him +from death.</p> + +<p>And all this was so strange, so unforeseen; Lupin +was so much unmanned by his astonishment, that, +this time, he did not try to retain her when she +made for the door, backward, without taking her +eyes from him.</p> + +<p>She lowered her head, smiled for an instant and +disappeared.</p> + +<p>He rang the bell, quickly:</p> + +<p>"Follow that woman," he said to his man. "Or +no, stay where you are.... After all, it is better +so...."</p> + +<p>He sat brooding for a while, possessed by the +girl's image. Then he revolved in his mind all that +curious, stirring and tragic adventure, in which he +had been so very near succumbing; and, taking a +hand-glass from the table, he gazed for a long time +and with a certain self-complacency at his features, +which illness and pain had not succeeded in impairing +to any great extent:</p> + +<p>"Good looks count for something, after all!" he +muttered.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="V" id="V"></a>V</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">THE RED SILK SCARF</h3> + + +<p>On leaving his house one morning, at his usual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +early hour for going to the Law Courts, Chief-inspector +Ganimard noticed the curious behaviour +of an individual who was walking along the Rue +Pergolèse in front of him. Shabbily dressed and +wearing a straw hat, though the day was the first +of December, the man stooped at every thirty or +forty yards to fasten his boot-lace, or pick up his +stick, or for some other reason. And, each time, +he took a little piece of orange-peel from his pocket +and laid it stealthily on the kerb of the pavement. +It was probably a mere display of eccentricity, a +childish amusement to which no one else would +have paid attention; but Ganimard was one of those +shrewd observers who are indifferent to nothing +that strikes their eyes and who are never satisfied +until they know the secret cause of things. He +therefore began to follow the man.</p> + +<p>Now, at the moment when the fellow was turning +to the right, into the Avenue de la Grande-Armée,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +the inspector caught him exchanging signals with +a boy of twelve or thirteen, who was walking along +the houses on the left-hand side. Twenty yards +farther, the man stooped and turned up the bottom +of his trousers legs. A bit of orange-peel marked +the place. At the same moment, the boy stopped +and, with a piece of chalk, drew a white cross, +surrounded by a circle, on the wall of the house +next to him.</p> + +<p>The two continued on their way. A minute +later, a fresh halt. The strange individual picked +up a pin and dropped a piece of orange-peel; and +the boy at once made a second cross on the wall +and again drew a white circle round it.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" thought the chief-inspector, with +a grunt of satisfaction. "This is rather promising.... +What on earth can those two merchants be +plotting?"</p> + +<p>The two "merchants" went down the Avenue +Friedland and the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, +but nothing occurred that was worthy of special +mention. The double performance was repeated +at almost regular intervals and, so to speak, mechanically. +Nevertheless, it was obvious, on the +one hand, that the man with the orange-peel did +not do his part of the business until after he had +picked out with a glance the house that was to be +marked and, on the other hand, that the boy did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +not mark that particular house until after he had +observed his companion's signal. It was certain, +therefore, that there was an agreement between +the two; and the proceedings presented no small +interest in the chief-inspector's eyes.</p> + +<p>At the Place Beauveau the man hesitated. Then, +apparently making up his mind, he twice turned +up and twice turned down the bottom of his trousers +legs. Hereupon, the boy sat down on the kerb, +opposite the sentry who was mounting guard outside +the Ministry of the Interior, and marked the flagstone +with two little crosses contained within two +circles. The same ceremony was gone through +a little further on, when they reached the Elysée. +Only, on the pavement where the President's sentry +was marching up and down, there were three signs +instead of two.</p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" muttered Ganimard, pale with +excitement and thinking, in spite of himself, of +his inveterate enemy, Lupin, whose name came to +his mind whenever a mysterious circumstance +presented itself. "Hang it all, what does it +mean?"</p> + +<p>He was nearly collaring and questioning the +two "merchants." But he was too clever to +commit so gross a blunder. The man with the +orange-peel had now lit a cigarette; and the boy, +also placing a cigarette-end between his lips, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +gone up to him, apparently with the object of asking +for a light.</p> + +<p>They exchanged a few words. Quick as thought, +the boy handed his companion an object which +looked—at least, so the inspector believed—like +a revolver. They both bent over this object; and +the man, standing with his face to the wall, put +his hand six times in his pocket and made a movement +as though he were loading a weapon.</p> + +<p>As soon as this was done, they walked briskly +to the Rue de Surène; and the inspector, who followed +them as closely as he was able to do without +attracting their attention, saw them enter the +gateway of an old house of which all the shutters +were closed, with the exception of those on the +third or top floor.</p> + +<p>He hurried in after them. At the end of the +carriage-entrance he saw a large courtyard, with +a house-painter's sign at the back and a staircase +on the left.</p> + +<p>He went up the stairs and, as soon as he reached +the first floor, ran still faster, because he heard, +right up at the top, a din as of a free-fight.</p> + +<p>When he came to the last landing he found the +door open. He entered, listened for a second, +caught the sound of a struggle, rushed to the room +from which the sound appeared to proceed and +remained standing on the threshold, very much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +out of breath and greatly surprised to see the man +of the orange-peel and the boy banging the floor +with chairs.</p> + +<p>At that moment a third person walked out of +an adjoining room. It was a young man of twenty-eight +or thirty, wearing a pair of short whiskers in +addition to his moustache, spectacles, and a smoking-jacket +with an astrakhan collar and looking like a +foreigner, a Russian.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Ganimard," he said. And +turning to the two companions, "Thank you, my +friends, and all my congratulations on the successful +result. Here's the reward I promised you."</p> + +<p>He gave them a hundred-franc note, pushed +them outside and shut both doors.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, old chap," he said to Ganimard. +"I wanted to talk to you ... wanted to talk to +you badly."</p> + +<p>He offered him his hand and, seeing that the +inspector remained flabbergasted and that his face +was still distorted with anger, he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, you don't seem to understand!... +And yet it's clear enough.... I wanted to see +you particularly.... So what could I do?" +And, pretending to reply to an objection, "No, no, +old chap," he continued. "You're quite wrong. If +I had written or telephoned, you would not have +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span>come ... or else you would have come with +a regiment. Now I wanted to see you all alone; +and I thought the best thing was to send those +two decent fellows to meet you, with orders to +scatter bits of orange-peel and draw crosses and +circles, in short, to mark out your road to this +place.... Why, you look quite bewildered! +What is it? Perhaps you don't recognize me? +Lupin.... Arsène Lupin.... Ransack your +memory.... Doesn't the name remind you +of anything?"</p> + +<p>"You dirty scoundrel!" Ganimard snarled between +his teeth.</p> + +<p>Lupin seemed greatly distressed and, in an +affectionate voice:</p> + +<p>"Are you vexed? Yes, I can see it in your eyes.... +The Dugrival business, I suppose? I ought +to have waited for you to come and take me in +charge?... There now, the thought never +occurred to me! I promise you, next time...."</p> + +<p>"You scum of the earth!" growled Ganimard.</p> + +<p>"And I thinking I was giving you a treat! Upon +my word, I did. I said to myself, 'That dear +old Ganimard! We haven't met for an age. He'll +simply rush at me when he sees me!'"</p> + +<p>Ganimard, who had not yet stirred a limb, +seemed to be waking from his stupor. He looked +around him, looked at Lupin, visibly asked himself +whether he would not do well to rush at him in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +reality and then, controlling himself, took hold of +a chair and settled himself in it, as though he had +suddenly made up his mind to listen to his +enemy:</p> + +<p>"Speak," he said. "And don't waste my time +with any nonsense. I'm in a hurry."</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Lupin, "let's talk. You +can't imagine a quieter place than this. It's an +old manor-house, which once stood in the open +country, and it belongs to the Duc de Rochelaure. +The duke, who has never lived in it, lets this +floor to me and the outhouses to a painter and +decorator. I always keep up a few establishments +of this kind: it's a sound, practical plan. Here, +in spite of my looking like a Russian nobleman, +I am M. Daubreuil, an ex-cabinet-minister.... +You understand, I had to select a rather +overstocked profession, so as not to attract +attention...."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I care a hang about all this?" +said Ganimard, interrupting him.</p> + +<p>"Quite right, I'm wasting words and you're in a +hurry. Forgive me. I sha'n't be long now.... +Five minutes, that's all.... I'll start at once.... +Have a cigar? No? Very well, no more will I."</p> + +<p>He sat down also, drummed his fingers on the +table, while thinking, and began in this fashion:</p> + +<p>"On the 17th of October, 1599, on a warm and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span> +sunny autumn day ... Do you follow me?... +But, now that I come to think of it, is it really +necessary to go back to the reign of Henry IV, and +tell you all about the building of the Pont-Neuf? +No, I don't suppose you are very well up in French +history; and I should only end by muddling +you. Suffice it, then, for you to know that, last +night, at one o'clock in the morning, a boatman +passing under the last arch of the Pont-Neuf aforesaid, +along the left bank of the river, heard something +drop into the front part of his barge. The +thing had been flung from the bridge and its evident +destination was the bottom of the Seine. The +bargee's dog rushed forward, barking, and, when the +man reached the end of his craft, he saw the animal +worrying a piece of newspaper that had served to +wrap up a number of objects. He took from the +dog such of the contents as had not fallen into the +water, went to his cabin and examined them carefully. +The result struck him as interesting; and, +as the man is connected with one of my friends, he +sent to let me know. This morning I was waked +up and placed in possession of the facts and of the +objects which the man had collected. Here they +are."</p> + +<p>He pointed to them, spread out on a table. There +were, first of all, the torn pieces of a newspaper. +Next came a large cut-glass inkstand, with a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +piece of string fastened to the lid. There was a bit +of broken glass and a sort of flexible cardboard, +reduced to shreds. Lastly, there was a piece of +bright scarlet silk, ending in a tassel of the same +material and colour.</p> + +<p>"You see our exhibits, friend of my youth," +said Lupin. "No doubt, the problem would be +more easily solved if we had the other objects which +went overboard owing to the stupidity of the dog. +But it seems to me, all the same, that we ought +to be able to manage, with a little reflection and +intelligence. And those are just your great qualities. +How does the business strike you?"</p> + +<p>Ganimard did not move a muscle. He was +willing to stand Lupin's chaff, but his dignity +commanded him not to speak a single word in +answer nor even to give a nod or shake of the head +that might have been taken to express approval or +or criticism.</p> + +<p>"I see that we are entirely of one mind," continued +Lupin, without appearing to remark the +chief-inspector's silence. "And I can sum up the +matter briefly, as told us by these exhibits. Yesterday +evening, between nine and twelve o'clock, a +showily dressed young woman was wounded with +a knife and then caught round the throat and choked +to death by a well-dressed gentleman, wearing a +single eyeglass and interested in racing, with whom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +the aforesaid showily dressed young lady had been +eating three meringues and a coffee éclair."</p> + +<p>Lupin lit a cigarette and, taking Ganimard by the +sleeve:</p> + +<p>"Aha, that's up against you, chief-inspector! +You thought that, in the domain of police deductions, +such feats as those were prohibited to outsiders! +Wrong, sir! Lupin juggles with inferences +and deductions for all the world like a detective +in a novel. My proofs are dazzling and absolutely +simple."</p> + +<p>And, pointing to the objects one by one, as he +demonstrated his statement, he resumed:</p> + +<p>"I said, after nine o'clock yesterday evening. +This scrap of newspaper bears yesterday's date, +with the words, 'Evening edition.' Also, you will +see here, pasted to the paper, a bit of one of those +yellow wrappers in which the subscribers' copies +are sent out. These copies are always delivered +by the nine o'clock post. Therefore, it was after +nine o'clock. I said, a well-dressed man. Please +observe that this tiny piece of glass has the round +hole of a single eyeglass at one of the edges and that +the single eyeglass is an essentially aristocratic +article of wear. This well-dressed man walked +into a pastry-cook's shop. Here is the very thin +cardboard, shaped like a box, and still showing +a little of the cream of the meringues and éclairs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +which were packed in it in the usual way. Having +got his parcel, the gentleman with the eyeglass +joined a young person whose eccentricity in the +matter of dress is pretty clearly indicated by this +bright-red silk scarf. Having joined her, for some +reason as yet unknown he first stabbed her with a +knife and then strangled her with the help of this +same scarf. Take your magnifying glass, chief-inspector, +and you will see, on the silk, stains of a +darker red which are, here, the marks of a knife +wiped on the scarf and, there, the marks of a hand, +covered with blood, clutching the material. Having +committed the murder, his next business is to +leave no trace behind him. So he takes from his +pocket, first, the newspaper to which he subscribes—a +racing-paper, as you will see by glancing at +the contents of this scrap; and you will have no +difficulty in discovering the title—and, secondly, +a cord, which, on inspection, turns out to be a +length of whip-cord. These two details prove—do +they not?—that our man is interested in racing +and that he himself rides. Next, he picks up the +fragments of his eyeglass, the cord of which has +been broken in the struggle. He takes a pair of +scissors—observe the hacking of the scissors—and +cuts off the stained part of the scarf, leaving the +other end, no doubt, in his victim's clenched hands. +He makes a ball of the confectioner's cardboard<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +box. He also puts in certain things that would have +betrayed him, such as the knife, which must have +slipped into the Seine. He wraps everything in +the newspaper, ties it with the cord and fastens this +cut-glass inkstand to it, as a make-weight. Then +he makes himself scarce. A little later, the parcel +falls into the waterman's barge. And there you +are. Oof, it's hot work!... What do you say to +the story?"</p> + +<p>He looked at Ganimard to see what impression +his speech had produced on the inspector. Ganimard +did not depart from his attitude of silence.</p> + +<p>Lupin began to laugh:</p> + +<p>"As a matter of fact, you're annoyed and surprised. +But you're suspicious as well: 'Why +should that confounded Lupin hand the business +over to me,' say you, 'instead of keeping it for himself, +hunting down the murderer and rifling his +pockets, if there was a robbery?' The question +is quite logical, of course. But—there is a 'but'—I +have no time, you see. I am full up with work at +the present moment: a burglary in London, another +at Lausanne, an exchange of children at Marseilles, +to say nothing of having to save a young girl who +is at this moment shadowed by death. That's +always the way: it never rains but it pours. So +I said to myself, 'Suppose I handed the business +over to my dear old Ganimard? Now that it is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +half-solved for him, he is quite capable of succeeding. +And what a service I shall be doing him! +How magnificently he will be able to distinguish +himself!' No sooner said than done. At eight +o'clock in the morning, I sent the joker with the +orange-peel to meet you. You swallowed the bait; +and you were here by nine, all on edge and eager +for the fray."</p> + +<p>Lupin rose from his chair. He went over to +the inspector and, with his eyes in Ganimard's, +said:</p> + +<p>"That's all. You now know the whole story. +Presently, you will know the victim: some ballet-dancer, +probably, some singer at a music-hall. +On the other hand, the chances are that the criminal +lives near the Pont-Neuf, most likely on the left +bank. Lastly, here are all the exhibits. I make +you a present of them. Set to work. I shall only +keep this end of the scarf. If ever you want to +piece the scarf together, bring me the other end, +the one which the police will find round the +victim's neck. Bring it me in four weeks from now +to the day, that is to say, on the 29th of December, +at ten o'clock in the morning. You can be +sure of finding me here. And don't be afraid: +this is all perfectly serious, friend of my youth; +I swear it is. No humbug, honour bright. You +can go straight ahead. Oh, by the way, when you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +arrest the fellow with the eyeglass, be a bit careful: +he is left-handed! Good-bye, old dear, and good +luck to you!"</p> + +<p>Lupin spun round on his heel, went to the door, +opened it and disappeared before Ganimard had +even thought of taking a decision. The inspector +rushed after him, but at once found that the handle +of the door, by some trick of mechanism which +he did not know, refused to turn. It took him ten +minutes to unscrew the lock and ten minutes more +to unscrew the lock of the hall-door. By the time +that he had scrambled down the three flights of +stairs, Ganimard had given up all hope of catching +Arsène Lupin.</p> + +<p>Besides, he was not thinking of it. Lupin inspired +him with a queer, complex feeling, made +up of fear, hatred, involuntary admiration and also +the vague instinct that he, Ganimard, in spite of +all his efforts, in spite of the persistency of his +endeavours, would never get the better of this +particular adversary. He pursued him from a sense +of duty and pride, but with the continual dread +of being taken in by that formidable hoaxer and +scouted and fooled in the face of a public that was +always only too willing to laugh at the chief-inspector's +mishaps.</p> + +<p>This business of the red scarf, in particular, +struck him as most suspicious. It was interesting,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +certainly, in more ways than one, but so very improbable! +And Lupin's explanation, apparently so +logical, would never stand the test of a severe examination!</p> + +<p>"No," said Ganimard, "this is all swank: a +parcel of suppositions and guesswork based upon +nothing at all. I'm not to be caught with chaff."</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>When he reached the headquarters of police, +at 36 Quai des Orfèvres, he had quite made up +his mind to treat the incident as though it had never +happened.</p> + +<p>He went up to the Criminal Investigation Department. +Here, one of his fellow-inspectors said:</p> + +<p>"Seen the chief?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"He was asking for you just now."</p> + +<p>"Oh, was he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you had better go after him."</p> + +<p>"Where?"</p> + +<p>"To the Rue de Berne ... there was a murder +there last night."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Who's the victim?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know exactly ... a music-hall singer, +I believe."</p> + +<p>Ganimard simply muttered:</p> + +<p>"By Jove!"</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later he stepped out of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +underground railway-station and made for the Rue +de Berne.</p> + +<p>The victim, who was known in the theatrical +world by her stage-name of Jenny Saphir, occupied +a small flat on the second floor of one of the houses. +A policeman took the chief-inspector upstairs and +showed him the way, through two sitting-rooms, +to a bedroom, where he found the magistrates in +charge of the inquiry, together with the divisional +surgeon and M. Dudouis, the head of the detective-service.</p> + +<p>Ganimard started at the first glance which he +gave into the room. He saw, lying on a sofa, the +corpse of a young woman whose hands clutched a +strip of red silk! One of the shoulders, which +appeared above the low-cut bodice, bore the marks +of two wounds surrounded with clotted blood. +The distorted and almost blackened features still +bore an expression of frenzied terror.</p> + +<p>The divisional surgeon, who had just finished his +examination, said:</p> + +<p>"My first conclusions are very clear. The victim +was twice stabbed with a dagger and afterward +strangled. The immediate cause of death was asphyxia."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" thought Ganimard again, remembering +Lupin's words and the picture which he had +drawn of the crime.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> + +<p>The examining-magistrate objected:</p> + +<p>"But the neck shows no discoloration."</p> + +<p>"She may have been strangled with a napkin +or a handkerchief," said the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Most probably," said the chief detective, "with +this silk scarf, which the victim was wearing and a +piece of which remains, as though she had clung to +it with her two hands to protect herself."</p> + +<p>"But why does only that piece remain?" asked +the magistrate. "What has become of the +other?"</p> + +<p>"The other may have been stained with blood +and carried off by the murderer. You can plainly +distinguish the hurried slashing of the scissors."</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" said Ganimard, between his teeth, +for the third time. "That brute of a Lupin saw +everything without seeing a thing!"</p> + +<p>"And what about the motive of the murder?" +asked the magistrate. "The locks have been forced, +the cupboards turned upside down. Have you +anything to tell me, M. Dudouis?"</p> + +<p>The chief of the detective-service replied:</p> + +<p>"I can at least suggest a supposition, derived from +the statements made by the servant. The victim, +who enjoyed a greater reputation on account of +her looks than through her talent as a singer, went +to Russia, two years ago, and brought back with her +a magnificent sapphire, which she appears to have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +received from some person of importance at the +court. Since then, she went by the name of Jenny +Saphir and seems generally to have been very proud +of that present, although, for prudence sake, she +never wore it. I daresay that we shall not be far +out if we presume the theft of the sapphire to have +been the cause of the crime."</p> + +<p>"But did the maid know where the stone was?"</p> + +<p>"No, nobody did. And the disorder of the room +would tend to prove that the murderer did not know +either."</p> + +<p>"We will question the maid," said the examining-magistrate.</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis took the chief-inspector aside and +said:</p> + +<p>"You're looking very old-fashioned, Ganimard. +What's the matter? Do you suspect anything?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing at all, chief."</p> + +<p>"That's a pity. We could do with a bit of showy +work in the department. This is one of a number +of crimes, all of the same class, of which we have +failed to discover the perpetrator. This time we +want the criminal ... and quickly!"</p> + +<p>"A difficult job, chief."</p> + +<p>"It's got to be done. Listen to me, Ganimard. +According to what the maid says, Jenny Saphir led +a very regular life. For a month past she was in +the habit of frequently receiving visits, on her return<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span> +from the music-hall, that is to say, at about half-past +ten, from a man who would stay until midnight +or so. 'He's a society man,' Jenny Saphir +used to say, 'and he wants to marry me.' This +society man took every precaution to avoid being +seen, such as turning up his coat-collar and lowering +the brim of his hat when he passed the porter's box. +And Jenny Saphir always made a point of sending +away her maid, even before he came. This is the +man whom we have to find."</p> + +<p>"Has he left no traces?"</p> + +<p>"None at all. It is obvious that we have to deal +with a very clever scoundrel, who prepared his +crime beforehand and committed it with every possible +chance of escaping unpunished. His arrest +would be a great feather in our cap. I rely on you, +Ganimard."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you rely on me, chief?" replied the inspector. +"Well, we shall see ... we shall see.... +I don't say no.... Only...."</p> + +<p>He seemed in a very nervous condition, and his +agitation struck M. Dudouis.</p> + +<p>"Only," continued Ganimard, "only I swear ... +do you hear, chief? I swear...."</p> + +<p>"What do you swear?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing.... We shall see, chief ... we shall +see...."</p> + +<p>Ganimard did not finish his sentence until he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +outside, alone. And he finished it aloud, stamping +his foot, in a tone of the most violent anger:</p> + +<p>"Only, I swear to Heaven that the arrest shall +be effected by my own means, without my employing +a single one of the clues with which that villain +has supplied me. Ah, no! Ah, no!..."</p> + +<p>Railing against Lupin, furious at being mixed up +in this business and resolved, nevertheless, to get +to the bottom of it, he wandered aimlessly about +the streets. His brain was seething with irritation; +and he tried to adjust his ideas a little and to discover, +among the chaotic facts, some trifling detail, +unperceived by all, unsuspected by Lupin himself, +that might lead him to success.</p> + +<p>He lunched hurriedly at a bar, resumed his stroll +and suddenly stopped, petrified, astounded and +confused. He was walking under the gateway of +the very house in the Rue de Surène to which Lupin +had enticed him a few hours earlier! A force +stronger than his own will was drawing him there +once more. The solution of the problem lay there. +There and there alone were all the elements of the +truth. Do and say what he would, Lupin's assertions +were so precise, his calculations so accurate, +that, worried to the innermost recesses of his being +by so prodigious a display of perspicacity, he could +not do other than take up the work at the point +where his enemy had left it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span></p> + +<p>Abandoning all further resistance, he climbed the +three flights of stairs. The door of the flat was +open. No one had touched the exhibits. He put +them in his pocket and walked away.</p> + +<p>From that moment, he reasoned and acted, so +to speak, mechanically, under the influence of the +master whom he could not choose but obey.</p> + +<p>Admitting that the unknown person whom he +was seeking lived in the neighbourhood of the Pont-Neuf, +it became necessary to discover, somewhere +between that bridge and the Rue de Berne, the +first-class confectioner's shop, open in the evenings, +at which the cakes were bought. This did not take +long to find. A pastry-cook near the Gare Saint-Lazare +showed him some little cardboard boxes, +identical in material and shape with the one in +Ganimard's possession. Moreover, one of the shop-girls +remembered having served, on the previous +evening, a gentleman whose face was almost concealed +in the collar of his fur coat, but whose eyeglass +she had happened to notice.</p> + +<p>"That's one clue checked," thought the inspector. +"Our man wears an eyeglass."</p> + +<p>He next collected the pieces of the racing-paper +and showed them to a newsvendor, who easily +recognized the <i>Turf Illustré</i>. Ganimard at once +went to the offices of the <i>Turf</i> and asked to see the +list of subscribers. Going through the list, he jotted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +down the names and addresses of all those who lived +anywhere near the Pont-Neuf and principally—because +Lupin had said so—those on the left bank +of the river.</p> + +<p>He then went back to the Criminal Investigation +Department, took half a dozen men and packed +them off with the necessary instructions.</p> + +<p>At seven o'clock in the evening, the last of these +men returned and brought good news with him. +A certain M. Prévailles, a subscriber to the <i>Turf</i>, +occupied an entresol flat on the Quai des Augustins. +On the previous evening, he left his place, wearing +a fur coat, took his letters and his paper, the <i>Turf +Illustré</i>, from the porter's wife, walked away and +returned home at midnight. This M. Prévailles +wore a single eyeglass. He was a regular race-goer +and himself owned several hacks which he either +rode himself or jobbed out.</p> + +<p>The inquiry had taken so short a time and the +results obtained were so exactly in accordance with +Lupin's predictions that Ganimard felt quite overcome +on hearing the detective's report. Once more +he was measuring the prodigious extent of the resources +at Lupin's disposal. Never in the course +of his life—and Ganimard was already well-advanced +in years—had he come across such perspicacity, +such a quick and far-seeing mind.</p> + +<p>He went in search of M. Dudouis.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Everything's ready, chief. Have you a warrant?"</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>"I said, everything is ready for the arrest, +chief."</p> + +<p>"You know the name of Jenny Saphir's murderer?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But how? Explain yourself."</p> + +<p>Ganimard had a sort of scruple of conscience, +blushed a little and nevertheless replied:</p> + +<p>"An accident, chief. The murderer threw everything +that was likely to compromise him into the +Seine. Part of the parcel was picked up and handed +to me."</p> + +<p>"By whom?"</p> + +<p>"A boatman who refused to give his name, for +fear of getting into trouble. But I had all the clues +I wanted. It was not so difficult as I expected."</p> + +<p>And the inspector described how he had gone to +work.</p> + +<p>"And you call that an accident!" cried M. Dudouis. +"And you say that it was not difficult! +Why, it's one of your finest performances! Finish +it yourself, Ganimard, and be prudent."</p> + +<p>Ganimard was eager to get the business done. +He went to the Quai des Augustins with his men and +distributed them around the house. He questioned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span> +the portress, who said that her tenant took his meals +out of doors, but made a point of looking in after +dinner.</p> + +<p>A little before nine o'clock, in fact, leaning out +of her window, she warned Ganimard, who at once +gave a low whistle. A gentleman in a tall hat and +a fur coat was coming along the pavement beside +the Seine. He crossed the road and walked up to +the house.</p> + +<p>Ganimard stepped forward:</p> + +<p>"M. Prévailles, I believe?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but who are you?"</p> + +<p>"I have a commission to...."</p> + +<p>He had not time to finish his sentence. At the +sight of the men appearing out of the shadow, Prévailles +quickly retreated to the wall and faced his +adversaries, with his back to the door of a shop on +the ground-floor, the shutters of which were closed.</p> + +<p>"Stand back!" he cried. "I don't know you!"</p> + +<p>His right hand brandished a heavy stick, while +his left was slipped behind him and seemed to be +trying to open the door.</p> + +<p>Ganimard had an impression that the man might +escape through this way and through some secret +outlet:</p> + +<p>"None of this nonsense," he said, moving closer +to him. "You're caught.... You had better +come quietly."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>But, just as he was laying hold of Prévailles' +stick, Ganimard remembered the warning which +Lupin gave him: Prévailles was left-handed; and +it was his revolver for which he was feeling behind +his back.</p> + +<p>The inspector ducked his head. He had noticed +the man's sudden movement. Two reports rang +out. No one was hit.</p> + +<p>A second later, Prévailles received a blow under +the chin from the butt-end of a revolver, which +brought him down where he stood. He was entered +at the Dépôt soon after nine o'clock.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>Ganimard enjoyed a great reputation even at +that time. But this capture, so quickly effected, by +such very simple means, and at once made public +by the police, won him a sudden celebrity. Prévailles +was forthwith saddled with all the murders +that had remained unpunished; and the newspapers +vied with one another in extolling Ganimard's +prowess.</p> + +<p>The case was conducted briskly at the start. +It was first of all ascertained that Prévailles, whose +real name was Thomas Derocq, had already been +in trouble. Moreover, the search instituted in his +rooms, while not supplying any fresh proofs, at +least led to the discovery of a ball of whip-cord +similar to the cord used for doing up the parcel and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +also to the discovery of daggers which would have +produced a wound similar to the wounds on the +victim.</p> + +<p>But, on the eighth day, everything was changed. +Until then Prévailles had refused to reply to the +questions put to him; but now, assisted by his +counsel, he pleaded a circumstantial alibi and maintained +that he was at the Folies-Bergère on the +night of the murder.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, the pockets of his dinner-jacket +contained the counterfoil of a stall-ticket and +a programme of the performance, both bearing the +date of that evening.</p> + +<p>"An alibi prepared in advance," objected the +examining-magistrate.</p> + +<p>"Prove it," said Prévailles.</p> + +<p>The prisoner was confronted with the witnesses +for the prosecution. The young lady from the +confectioner's "thought she knew" the gentleman +with the eyeglass. The hall-porter in the Rue de +Berne "thought he knew" the gentleman who used +to come to see Jenny Saphir. But nobody dared +to make a more definite statement.</p> + +<p>The examination, therefore, led to nothing of a +precise character, provided no solid basis whereon +to found a serious accusation.</p> + +<p>The judge sent for Ganimard and told him of his +difficulty.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can't possibly persist, at this rate. There is +no evidence to support the charge."</p> + +<p>"But surely you are convinced in your own mind, +monsieur le juge d'instruction! Prévailles would +never have resisted his arrest unless he was +guilty."</p> + +<p>"He says that he thought he was being assaulted. +He also says that he never set eyes on Jenny +Saphir; and, as a matter of fact, we can find +no one to contradict his assertion. Then again, +admitting that the sapphire has been stolen, we +have not been able to find it at his flat."</p> + +<p>"Nor anywhere else," suggested Ganimard.</p> + +<p>"Quite true, but that is no evidence against him. +I'll tell you what we shall want, M. Ganimard, +and that very soon: the other end of this red +scarf."</p> + +<p>"The other end?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, for it is obvious that, if the murderer +took it away with him, the reason was that the +stuff is stained with the marks of the blood on his +fingers."</p> + +<p>Ganimard made no reply. For several days he +had felt that the whole business was tending to this +conclusion. There was no other proof possible. Given +the silk scarf—and in no other circumstances—Prévailles' +guilt was certain. Now Ganimard's +position required that Prévailles' guilt should be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +established. He was responsible for the arrest, it +had cast a glamour around him, he had been praised +to the skies as the most formidable adversary of +criminals; and he would look absolutely ridiculous +if Prévailles were released.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, the one and only indispensable +proof was in Lupin's pocket. How was he to get +hold of it?</p> + +<p>Ganimard cast about, exhausted himself with +fresh investigations, went over the inquiry from +start to finish, spent sleepless nights in turning over +the mystery of the Rue de Berne, studied the records +of Prévailles' life, sent ten men hunting after the +invisible sapphire. Everything was useless.</p> + +<p>On the 28th of December, the examining-magistrate +stopped him in one of the passages of the Law +Courts:</p> + +<p>"Well, M. Ganimard, any news?"</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur le juge d'instruction."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall dismiss the case."</p> + +<p>"Wait one day longer."</p> + +<p>"What's the use? We want the other end of the +scarf; have you got it?"</p> + +<p>"I shall have it to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but please lend me the piece in your +possession."</p> + +<p>"What if I do?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If you do, I promise to let you have the whole +scarf complete."</p> + +<p>"Very well, that's understood."</p> + +<p>Ganimard followed the examining-magistrate to +his room and came out with the piece of silk:</p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" he growled. "Yes, I will go +and fetch the proof and I shall have it too ... +always presuming that Master Lupin has the courage +to keep the appointment."</p> + +<p>In point of fact, he did not doubt for a moment +that Master Lupin would have this courage, and +that was just what exasperated him. Why had +Lupin insisted on this meeting? What was his +object, in the circumstances?</p> + +<p>Anxious, furious and full of hatred, he resolved +to take every precaution necessary not only to +prevent his falling into a trap himself, but to make +his enemy fall into one, now that the opportunity +offered. And, on the next day, which was the +29th of December, the date fixed by Lupin, after +spending the night in studying the old manor-house +in the Rue de Surène and convincing himself +that there was no other outlet than the front door, +he warned his men that he was going on a dangerous +expedition and arrived with them on the field of +battle.</p> + +<p>He posted them in a café and gave them formal +instructions: if he showed himself at one of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +third-floor windows, or if he failed to return within +an hour, the detectives were to enter the house and +arrest any one who tried to leave it.</p> + +<p>The chief-inspector made sure that his revolver +was in working order and that he could take it from +his pocket easily. Then he went upstairs.</p> + +<p>He was surprised to find things as he had left +them, the doors open and the locks broken. After +ascertaining that the windows of the principal room +looked out on the street, he visited the three other +rooms that made up the flat. There was no one +there.</p> + +<p>"Master Lupin was afraid," he muttered, not +without a certain satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"Don't be silly," said a voice behind him.</p> + +<p>Turning round, he saw an old workman, wearing +a house-painter's long smock, standing in the doorway.</p> + +<p>"You needn't bother your head," said the man. +"It's I, Lupin. I have been working in the painter's +shop since early morning. This is when we knock +off for breakfast. So I came upstairs."</p> + +<p>He looked at Ganimard with a quizzing smile and +cried:</p> + +<p>"'Pon my word, this is a gorgeous moment +I owe you, old chap! I wouldn't sell it for ten +years of your life; and yet you know how I love +you! What do you think of it, artist? Wasn't<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +it well thought out and well foreseen? Foreseen +from alpha to omega? Did I understand the +business? Did I penetrate the mystery of the +scarf? I'm not saying that there were no holes +in my argument, no links missing in the chain.... +But what a masterpiece of intelligence! Ganimard, +what a reconstruction of events! What an intuition +of everything that had taken place and of everything +that was going to take place, from the discovery +of the crime to your arrival here in search of a +proof! What really marvellous divination! Have +you the scarf?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, half of it. Have you the other?"</p> + +<p>"Here it is. Let's compare."</p> + +<p>They spread the two pieces of silk on the table. +The cuts made by the scissors corresponded exactly. +Moreover, the colours were identical.</p> + +<p>"But I presume," said Lupin, "that this was not +the only thing you came for. What you are interested +in seeing is the marks of the blood. Come +with me, Ganimard: it's rather dark in here."</p> + +<p>They moved into the next room, which, though +it overlooked the courtyard, was lighter; and +Lupin held his piece of silk against the window-pane:</p> + +<p>"Look," he said, making room for Ganimard.</p> + +<p>The inspector gave a start of delight. The marks +of the five fingers and the print of the palm were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +distinctly visible. The evidence was undeniable. +The murderer had seized the stuff in his bloodstained +hand, in the same hand that had stabbed +Jenny Saphir, and tied the scarf round her neck.</p> + +<p>"And it is the print of a left hand," observed +Lupin. "Hence my warning, which had nothing +miraculous about it, you see. For, though I admit, +friend of my youth, that you may look upon me +as a superior intelligence, I won't have you treat +me as a wizard."</p> + +<p>Ganimard had quickly pocketed the piece of silk. +Lupin nodded his head in approval:</p> + +<p>"Quite right, old boy, it's for you. I'm so +glad you're glad! And, you see, there was no trap +about all this ... only the wish to oblige ... a +service between friends, between pals.... And also, +I confess, a little curiosity.... Yes, I wanted to +examine this other piece of silk, the one the police +had.... Don't be afraid: I'll give it back to +you.... Just a second...."</p> + +<p>Lupin, with a careless movement, played with the +tassel at the end of this half of the scarf, while Ganimard +listened to him in spite of himself:</p> + +<p>"How ingenious these little bits of women's +work are! Did you notice one detail in the +maid's evidence? Jenny Saphir was very handy +with her needle and used to make all her own hats +and frocks. It is obvious that she made this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span> +scarf herself.... Besides, I noticed that from +the first. I am naturally curious, as I have already +told you, and I made a thorough examination of +the piece of silk which you have just put in your +pocket. Inside the tassel, I found a little sacred +medal, which the poor girl had stitched into it to +bring her luck. Touching, isn't it, Ganimard? A +little medal of Our Lady of Good Succour."</p> + +<p>The inspector felt greatly puzzled and did not +take his eyes off the other. And Lupin continued:</p> + +<p>"Then I said to myself, 'How interesting it +would be to explore the other half of the scarf, the +one which the police will find round the victim's +neck!' For this other half, which I hold in my +hands at last, is finished off in the same way ... +so I shall be able to see if it has a hiding-place too +and what's inside it.... But look, my friend, isn't +it cleverly made? And so simple! All you have +to do is to take a skein of red cord and braid it round +a wooden cup, leaving a little recess, a little empty +space in the middle, very small, of course, but +large enough to hold a medal of a saint ... or anything.... +A precious stone, for instance.... +Such as a sapphire...."</p> + +<p>At that moment he finished pushing back the +silk cord and, from the hollow of a cup he took +between his thumb and forefinger a wonderful blue +stone, perfect in respect of size and purity.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ha! What did I tell you, friend of my +youth?"</p> + +<p>He raised his head. The inspector had turned +livid and was staring wild-eyed, as though fascinated +by the stone that sparkled before him. He at last +realized the whole plot:</p> + +<p>"You dirty scoundrel!" he muttered, repeating +the insults which he had used at the first interview. +"You scum of the earth!"</p> + +<p>The two men were standing one against the other.</p> + +<p>"Give me back that," said the inspector.</p> + +<p>Lupin held out the piece of silk.</p> + +<p>"And the sapphire," said Ganimard, in a peremptory +tone.</p> + +<p>"Don't be silly."</p> + +<p>"Give it back, or...."</p> + +<p>"Or what, you idiot!" cried Lupin. "Look +here, do you think I put you on to this soft thing +for nothing?"</p> + +<p>"Give it back!"</p> + +<p>"You haven't noticed what I've been about, that's +plain! What! For four weeks I've kept you +on the move like a deer; and you want to ...! +Come, Ganimard, old chap, pull yourself together!... +Don't you see that you've been playing the +good dog for four weeks on end?... Fetch it, +Rover!... There's a nice blue pebble over there, +which master can't get at. Hunt it, Ganimard,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +fetch it ... bring it to master.... Ah, he's his +master's own good little dog!... Sit up! Beg!... +Does'ms want a bit of sugar, then?..."</p> + +<p>Ganimard, containing the anger that seethed +within him, thought only of one thing, summoning +his detectives. And, as the room in which he now +was looked out on the courtyard, he tried gradually +to work his way round to the communicating door. +He would then run to the window and break one +of the panes.</p> + +<p>"All the same," continued Lupin, "what a pack +of dunderheads you and the rest must be! You've +had the silk all this time and not one of you ever +thought of feeling it, not one of you ever asked +himself the reason why the poor girl hung on to her +scarf. Not one of you! You just acted at haphazard, +without reflecting, without foreseeing anything...."</p> + +<p>The inspector had attained his object. Taking +advantage of a second when Lupin had turned away +from him, he suddenly wheeled round and grasped +the door-handle. But an oath escaped him: the +handle did not budge.</p> + +<p>Lupin burst into a fit of laughing:</p> + +<p>"Not even that! You did not even foresee +that! You lay a trap for me and you won't admit +that I may perhaps smell the thing out beforehand.... +And you allow yourself to be brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +into this room without asking whether I am not +bringing you here for a particular reason and without +remembering that the locks are fitted with a +special mechanism. Come now, speaking frankly, +what do you think of it yourself?"</p> + +<p>"What do I think of it?" roared Ganimard, +beside himself with rage.</p> + +<p>He had drawn his revolver and was pointing it +straight at Lupin's face.</p> + +<p>"Hands up!" he cried. "That's what I think +of it!"</p> + +<p>Lupin placed himself in front of him and shrugged +his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"Sold again!" he said.</p> + +<p>"Hands up, I say, once more!"</p> + +<p>"And sold again, say I. Your deadly weapon +won't go off."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Old Catherine, your housekeeper, is in my service. +She damped the charges this morning while +you were having your breakfast coffee."</p> + +<p>Ganimard made a furious gesture, pocketed the +revolver and rushed at Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Lupin, stopping him short with a +well-aimed kick on the shin.</p> + +<p>Their clothes were almost touching. They exchanged +defiant glances, the glances of two adversaries +who mean to come to blows. Nevertheless,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +there was no fight. The recollection of the earlier +struggles made any present struggle useless. And +Ganimard, who remembered all his past failures, +his vain attacks, Lupin's crushing reprisals, did +not lift a limb. There was nothing to be done. +He felt it. Lupin had forces at his command against +which any individual force simply broke to pieces. +So what was the good?</p> + +<p>"I agree," said Lupin, in a friendly voice, as +though answering Ganimard's unspoken thought, +"you would do better to let things be as they are. +Besides, friend of my youth, think of all that this +incident has brought you: fame, the certainty of +quick promotion and, thanks to that, the prospect +of a happy and comfortable old age! Surely, you +don't want the discovery of the sapphire and the +head of poor Arsène Lupin in addition! It wouldn't +be fair. To say nothing of the fact that poor Arsène +Lupin saved your life.... Yes, sir! Who warned +you, at this very spot, that Prévailles was left-handed?... +And is this the way you thank me? +It's not pretty of you, Ganimard. Upon my word, +you make me blush for you!"</p> + +<p>While chattering, Lupin had gone through the +same performance as Ganimard and was now near +the door. Ganimard saw that his foe was about +to escape him. Forgetting all prudence, he tried +to block his way and received a tremendous butt<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +in the stomach, which sent him rolling to the opposite +wall.</p> + +<p>Lupin dexterously touched a spring, turned the +handle, opened the door and slipped away, roaring +with laughter as he went.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>Twenty minutes later, when Ganimard at last +succeeded in joining his men, one of them said to +him:</p> + +<p>"A house-painter left the house, as his mates +were coming back from breakfast, and put a letter +in my hand. 'Give that to your governor,' he +said. 'Which governor?' I asked; but he was +gone. I suppose it's meant for you."</p> + +<p>"Let's have it."</p> + +<p>Ganimard opened the letter. It was hurriedly +scribbled in pencil and contained these words:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"This is to warn you, friend of my youth, against +excessive credulity. When a fellow tells you that the +cartridges in your revolver are damp, however +great your confidence in that fellow may be, even +though his name be Arsène Lupin, never allow yourself +to be taken in. Fire first; and, if the fellow +hops the twig, you will have acquired the proof +(1) that the cartridges are not damp; and (2) that +old Catherine is the most honest and respectable +of housekeepers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span></p> + +<p>"One of these days, I hope to have the pleasure +of making her acquaintance.</p> + +<p>"Meanwhile, friend of my youth, believe me +always affectionately and sincerely yours,</p> + +<p style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: 30em;">"Arsène Lupin."</p></div> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="VI" id="VI"></a>VI</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">SHADOWED BY DEATH</h3> + + +<p>After he had been round the walls of the property,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +Arsène Lupin returned to the spot from which he +started. It was perfectly clear to him that there +was no breach in the walls; and the only way of +entering the extensive grounds of the Château de +Maupertuis was through a little low door, firmly +bolted on the inside, or through the principal gate, +which was overlooked by the lodge.</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said. "We must employ heroic +methods."</p> + +<p>Pushing his way into the copsewood where he +had hidden his motor-bicycle, he unwound a length +of twine from under the saddle and went to a place +which he had noticed in the course of his exploration. +At this place, which was situated far +from the road, on the edge of a wood, a number +of large trees, standing inside the park, overlapped +the wall.</p> + +<p>Lupin fastened a stone to the end of the string, +threw it up and caught a thick branch, which he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span> +drew down to him and bestraddled. The branch, +in recovering its position, raised him from the ground. +He climbed over the wall, slipped down the tree, and +sprang lightly on the grass.</p> + +<p>It was winter; and, through the leafless boughs, +across the undulating lawns, he could see the little +Château de Maupertuis in the distance. Fearing +lest he should be perceived, he concealed himself +behind a clump of fir-trees. From there, with the +aid of a field-glass, he studied the dark and melancholy +front of the manor-house. All the windows +were closed and, as it were, barricaded with solid +shutters. The house might easily have been uninhabited.</p> + +<p>"By Jove!" muttered Lupin. "It's not the liveliest +of residences. I shall certainly not come here +to end my days!"</p> + +<p>But the clock struck three; one of the doors on +the ground-floor opened; and the figure of a woman +appeared, a very slender figure wrapped in a brown +cloak.</p> + +<p>The woman walked up and down for a few minutes +and was at once surrounded by birds, to which she +scattered crumbs of bread. Then she went down +the stone steps that led to the middle lawn and +skirted it, taking the path on the right.</p> + +<p>With his field-glass, Lupin could distinctly see +her coming in his direction. She was tall, fair-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>haired, +graceful in appearance, and seemed to be +quite a young girl. She walked with a sprightly +step, looking at the pale December sun and amusing +herself by breaking the little dead twigs on the shrubs +along the road.</p> + +<p>She had gone nearly two thirds of the distance +that separated her from Lupin when there came a +furious sound of barking and a huge dog, a colossal +Danish boarhound, sprang from a neighbouring +kennel and stood erect at the end of the chain by +which it was fastened.</p> + +<p>The girl moved a little to one side, without paying +further attention to what was doubtless a daily +incident. The dog grew angrier than ever, standing +on its legs and dragging at its collar, at the risk +of strangling itself.</p> + +<p>Thirty or forty steps farther, yielding probably +to an impulse of impatience, the girl turned round +and made a gesture with her hand. The great +Dane gave a start of rage, retreated to the back of +its kennel and rushed out again, this time unfettered. +The girl uttered a cry of mad terror. The dog was +covering the space between them, trailing its broken +chain behind it.</p> + +<p>She began to run, to run with all her might, and +screamed out desperately for help. But the dog +came up with her in a few bounds.</p> + +<p>She fell, at once exhausted, giving herself up for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +lost. The animal was already upon her, almost +touching her.</p> + +<p>At that exact moment a shot rang out. The dog +turned a complete somersault, recovered its feet, tore +the ground and then lay down, giving a number of +hoarse, breathless howls, which ended in a dull moan +and an indistinct gurgling. And that was all.</p> + +<p>"Dead," said Lupin, who had hastened up at +once, prepared, if necessary, to fire his revolver a +second time.</p> + +<p>The girl had risen and stood pale, still staggering. +She looked in great surprise at this man whom she +did not know and who had saved her life; and she +whispered:</p> + +<p>"Thank you.... I have had a great fright.... +You were in the nick of time.... I +thank you, monsieur."</p> + +<p>Lupin took off his hat:</p> + +<p>"Allow me to introduce myself, mademoiselle.... +My name is Paul Daubreuil.... But +before entering into any explanations, I must ask for +one moment...."</p> + +<p>He stooped over the dog's dead body and examined +the chain at the part where the brute's effort had +snapped it:</p> + +<p>"That's it," he said, between his teeth. "It's +just as I suspected. By Jupiter, things are moving +rapidly!... I ought to have come earlier."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<p>Returning to the girl's side, he said to her, speaking +very quickly:</p> + +<p>"Mademoiselle, we have not a minute to lose. +My presence in these grounds is quite irregular. +I do not wish to be surprised here; and this for +reasons that concern yourself alone. Do you think +that the report can have been heard at the house?"</p> + +<p>The girl seemed already to have recovered from +her emotion; and she replied, with a calmness that +revealed all her pluck:</p> + +<p>"I don't think so."</p> + +<p>"Is your father in the house to-day?"</p> + +<p>"My father is ill and has been in bed for months. +Besides, his room looks out on the other front."</p> + +<p>"And the servants?"</p> + +<p>"Their quarters and the kitchen are also on the +other side. No one ever comes to this part. I walk +here myself, but nobody else does."</p> + +<p>"It is probable, therefore, that I have not been +seen either, especially as the trees hide us?"</p> + +<p>"It is most probable."</p> + +<p>"Then I can speak to you freely?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, but I don't understand...."</p> + +<p>"You will, presently. Permit me to be brief. +The point is this: four days ago, Mlle. Jeanne +Darcieux...."</p> + +<p>"That is my name," she said, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Mlle. Jeanne Darcieux," continued Lupin, "wrote<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +a letter to one of her friends, called Marceline, who +lives at Versailles...."</p> + +<p>"How do you know all that?" asked the girl, in +astonishment. "I tore up the letter before I had +finished it."</p> + +<p>"And you flung the pieces on the edge of the road +that runs from the house to Vendôme."</p> + +<p>"That's true.... I had gone out walking...."</p> + +<p>"The pieces were picked up and they came into +my hands next day."</p> + +<p>"Then ... you must have read them," said +Jeanne Darcieux, betraying a certain annoyance by +her manner.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I committed that indiscretion; and I do not +regret it, because I can save you."</p> + +<p>"Save me? From what?"</p> + +<p>"From death."</p> + +<p>Lupin spoke this little sentence in a very distinct +voice. The girl gave a shudder. Then she said:</p> + +<p>"I am not threatened with death."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are, mademoiselle. At the end of +October, you were reading on a bench on the terrace +where you were accustomed to sit at the same hour +every day, when a block of stone fell from the cornice +above your head and you were within a few inches +of being crushed."</p> + +<p>"An accident...."</p> + +<p>"One fine evening in November, you were walking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +in the kitchen-garden, by moonlight. A shot was +fired, The bullet whizzed past your ear."</p> + +<p>"At least, I thought so."</p> + +<p>"Lastly, less than a week ago, the little wooden +bridge that crosses the river in the park, two yards +from the waterfall, gave way while you were on it. +You were just able, by a miracle, to catch hold of the +root of a tree."</p> + +<p>Jeanne Darcieux tried to smile.</p> + +<p>"Very well. But, as I wrote to Marceline, these +are only a series of coincidences, of accidents...."</p> + +<p>"No, mademoiselle, no. One accident of this +sort is allowable.... So are two ... and +even then!... But we have no right to suppose +that the chapter of accidents, repeating the same act +three times in such different and extraordinary circumstances, +is a mere amusing coincidence. That +is why I thought that I might presume to come +to your assistance. And, as my intervention can +be of no use unless it remains secret, I did not hesitate +to make my way in here ... without +walking through the gate. I came in the nick of +time, as you said. Your enemy was attacking you +once more."</p> + +<p>"What!... Do you think?... No, it +is impossible.... I refuse to believe...."</p> + +<p>Lupin picked up the chain and, showing it to +her:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Look at the last link. There is no question +but that it has been filed. Otherwise, so powerful +a chain as this would never have yielded. Besides, +you can see the mark of the file here."</p> + +<p>Jeanne turned pale and her pretty features were +distorted with terror:</p> + +<p>"But who can bear me such a grudge?" she gasped. +"It is terrible.... I have never done any one +harm.... And yet you are certainly right.... +Worse still...."</p> + +<p>She finished her sentence in a lower voice:</p> + +<p>"Worse still, I am wondering whether the same +danger does not threaten my father."</p> + +<p>"Has he been attacked also?"</p> + +<p>"No, for he never stirs from his room. But his +is such a mysterious illness!... He has no +strength ... he cannot walk at all.... In +addition to that, he is subject to fits of suffocation, +as though his heart stopped beating.... Oh, +what an awful thing!"</p> + +<p>Lupin realized all the authority which he was able +to assert at such a moment, and he said:</p> + +<p>"Have no fear, mademoiselle. If you obey me +blindly, I shall be sure to succeed."</p> + +<p>"Yes ... yes ... I am quite willing +... but all this is so terrible...."</p> + +<p>"Trust me, I beg of you. And please listen to me, +I shall want a few particulars."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span></p> + +<p>He rapped out a number of questions, which Jeanne +Darcieux answered hurriedly:</p> + +<p>"That animal was never let loose, was he?"</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>"Who used to feed him?"</p> + +<p>"The lodge-keeper. He brought him his food +every evening."</p> + +<p>"Consequently, he could go near him without being +bitten?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and he only, for the dog was very +savage."</p> + +<p>"You don't suspect the man?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!... Baptiste?... Never!"</p> + +<p>"And you can't think of anybody?"</p> + +<p>"No. Our servants are quite devoted to us. They +are very fond of me."</p> + +<p>"You have no friends staying in the house?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"No brother?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then your father is your only protector?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and I have told you the condition he is +in."</p> + +<p>"Have you told him of the different attempts?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and it was wrong of me to do so. Our +doctor, old Dr. Guéroult, forbade me to cause him +the least excitement."</p> + +<p>"Your mother?..."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't remember her. She died sixteen years +ago ... just sixteen years ago."</p> + +<p>"How old were you then?"</p> + +<p>"I was not quite five years old."</p> + +<p>"And were you living here?"</p> + +<p>"We were living in Paris. My father only bought +this place the year after."</p> + +<p>Lupin was silent for a few moments. Then he +concluded:</p> + +<p>"Very well, mademoiselle, I am obliged to you. +Those particulars are all I need for the present. +Besides, it would not be wise for us to remain together +longer."</p> + +<p>"But," she said, "the lodge-keeper will find the +dog soon.... Who will have killed him?"</p> + +<p>"You, mademoiselle, to defend yourself against an +attack."</p> + +<p>"I never carry firearms."</p> + +<p>"I am afraid you do," said Lupin, smiling, "because +you killed the dog and there is no one but +you who could have killed him. For that matter, +let them think what they please. The great thing +is that I shall not be suspected when I come to the +house."</p> + +<p>"To the house? Do you intend to?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I don't yet know how ... But I shall come.... +This very evening.... So, once more, be +easy in your mind. I will answer for everything."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jeanne looked at him and, dominated by him, conquered +by his air of assurance and good faith, she +said, simply:</p> + +<p>"I am quite easy."</p> + +<p>"Then all will go well. Till this evening, mademoiselle."</p> + +<p>"Till this evening."</p> + +<p>She walked away; and Lupin, following her with +his eyes until the moment when she disappeared round +the corner of the house, murmured:</p> + +<p>"What a pretty creature! It would be a pity if +any harm were to come to her. Luckily, Arsène +Lupin is keeping his weather-eye open."</p> + +<p>Taking care not to be seen, with eyes and ears +attentive to the least sight or sound, he inspected +every nook and corner of the grounds, looked for the +little low door which he had noticed outside and +which was the door of the kitchen garden, drew the +bolt, took the key and then skirted the walls and +found himself once more near the tree which he had +climbed. Two minutes later, he was mounting his +motor-cycle.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>The village of Maupertuis lay quite close to the +estate. Lupin inquired and learnt that Dr. Guéroult +lived next door to the church.</p> + +<p>He rang, was shown into the consulting-room and +introduced himself by his name of Paul Daubreuil,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +of the Rue de Surène, Paris, adding that he had +official relations with the detective-service, a fact +which he requested might be kept secret. He had +become acquainted, by means of a torn letter, with +the incidents that had endangered Mlle. Darcieux's +life; and he had come to that young lady's assistance.</p> + +<p>Dr. Guéroult, an old country practitioner, who +idolized Jeanne, on hearing Lupin's explanations +at once admitted that those incidents constituted +undeniable proofs of a plot. He showed great +concern, offered his visitor hospitality and kept him +to dinner.</p> + +<p>The two men talked at length. In the evening, +they walked round to the manor-house together.</p> + +<p>The doctor went to the sick man's room, which was +on the first floor, and asked leave to bring up a young +colleague, to whom he intended soon to make over +his practice, when he retired.</p> + +<p>Lupin, on entering, saw Jeanne Darcieux seated +by her father's bedside. She suppressed a movement +of surprise and, at a sign from the doctor, left +the room.</p> + +<p>The consultation thereupon took place in Lupin's +presence. M. Darcieux's face was worn, with much +suffering and his eyes were bright with fever. He +complained particularly, that day, of his heart. After +the auscultation, he questioned the doctor with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +obvious anxiety; and each reply seemed to give him +relief. He also spoke of Jeanne and expressed his +conviction that they were deceiving him and that +his daughter had escaped yet more accidents. He +continued perturbed, in spite of the doctor's denials. +He wanted to have the police informed and inquiries +set on foot.</p> + +<p>But his excitement tired him and he gradually +dropped off to sleep.</p> + +<p>Lupin stopped the doctor in the passage:</p> + +<p>"Come, doctor, give me your exact opinion. Do +you think that M. Darcieux's illness can be attributed +to an outside cause?"</p> + +<p>"How do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Well, suppose that the same enemy should be interested +in removing both father and daughter."</p> + +<p>The doctor seemed struck by the suggestion.</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, there is something in what you +say.... The father's illness at times adopts such +a very unusual character!... For instance, the +paralysis of the legs, which is almost complete, ought +to be accompanied by...."</p> + +<p>The doctor reflected for a moment and then said +in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"You think it's poison, of course ... but +what poison?... Besides, I see no toxic symptoms.... +It would have to be.... But +what are you doing? What's the matter?..."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span></p> + +<p>The two men were talking outside a little sitting-room +on the first floor, where Jeanne, seizing the +opportunity while the doctor was with her father, +had begun her evening meal. Lupin, who was watching +her through the open door, saw her lift a cup to her +lips and take a few sups.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he rushed at her and caught her by the +arm:</p> + +<p>"What are you drinking there?"</p> + +<p>"Why," she said, taken aback, "only tea!"</p> + +<p>"You pulled a face of disgust ... what made +you do that?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know ... I thought...."</p> + +<p>"You thought what?"</p> + +<p>"That ... that it tasted rather bitter.... +But I expect that comes from the medicine +I mixed with it."</p> + +<p>"What medicine?"</p> + +<p>"Some drops which I take at dinner ... the +drops which you prescribed for me, you know, +doctor."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Dr. Guéroult, "but that medicine +has no taste of any kind.... You know it +hasn't, Jeanne, for you have been taking it for a fortnight +and this is the first time...."</p> + +<p>"Quite right," said the girl, "and this does have a +taste.... There—oh!—my mouth is still burning."</p> + +<p>Dr. Guéroult now took a sip from the cup;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Faugh!" he exclaimed, spitting it out again. +"There's no mistake about it...."</p> + +<p>Lupin, on his side, was examining the bottle containing +the medicine; and he asked:</p> + +<p>"Where is this bottle kept in the daytime?"</p> + +<p>But Jeanne was unable to answer. She had put +her hand to her heart and, wan-faced, with staring +eyes, seemed to be suffering great pain:</p> + +<p>"It hurts ... it hurts," she stammered.</p> + +<p>The two men quickly carried her to her room and +laid her on the bed:</p> + +<p>"She ought to have an emetic," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Open the cupboard," said the doctor. "You'll +see a medicine-case.... Have you got it?... +Take out one of those little tubes.... Yes, that +one.... And now some hot water.... You'll +find some on the tea-tray in the other room."</p> + +<p>Jeanne's own maid came running up in answer to +the bell. Lupin told her that Mlle. Darcieux had +been taken unwell, for some unknown reason.</p> + +<p>He next returned to the little dining-room, +inspected the sideboard and the cupboards, went +down to the kitchen and pretended that the doctor +had sent him to ask about M. Darcieux's diet. +Without appearing to do so, he catechized the cook, +the butler, and Baptiste, the lodge-keeper, who had +his meals at the manor-house with the servants. +Then he went back to the doctor:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"She's asleep."</p> + +<p>"Any danger?"</p> + +<p>"No. Fortunately, she had only taken two or +three sips. But this is the second time to-day that +you have saved her life, as the analysis of this bottle +will show."</p> + +<p>"Quite superfluous to make an analysis, doctor. +There is no doubt about the fact that there has been +an attempt at poisoning."</p> + +<p>"By whom?"</p> + +<p>"I can't say. But the demon who is engineering all +this business clearly knows the ways of the house. +He comes and goes as he pleases, walks about in the +park, files the dog's chain, mixes poison with the +food and, in short, moves and acts precisely as though +he were living the very life of her—or rather of those—whom +he wants to put away."</p> + +<p>"Ah! You really believe that M. Darcieux is +threatened with the same danger?"</p> + +<p>"I have not a doubt of it."</p> + +<p>"Then it must be one of the servants? But +that is most unlikely! Do you think ...?"</p> + +<p>"I think nothing, doctor. I know nothing. All +I can say is that the situation is most tragic and that +we must be prepared for the worst. Death is here, +doctor, shadowing the people in this house; and it will +soon strike at those whom it is pursuing."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What's to be done?"</p> + +<p>"Watch, doctor. Let us pretend that we are +alarmed about M. Darcieux's health and spend the +night in here. The bedrooms of both the father and +daughter are close by. If anything happens, we are +sure to hear."</p> + +<p>There was an easy-chair in the room. They +arranged to sleep in it turn and turn about.</p> + +<p>In reality, Lupin slept for only two or three hours. +In the middle of the night he left the room, without +disturbing his companion, carefully looked round +the whole of the house and walked out through the +principal gate.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>He reached Paris on his motor-cycle at nine o'clock +in the morning. Two of his friends, to whom he +telephoned on the road, met him there. They all +three spent the day in making searches which Lupin +had planned out beforehand.</p> + +<p>He set out again hurriedly at six o'clock; and never, +perhaps, as he told me subsequently, did he risk +his life with greater temerity than in his breakneck +ride, at a mad rate of speed, on a foggy December +evening, with the light of his lamp hardly able to +pierce through the darkness.</p> + +<p>He sprang from his bicycle outside the gate, which +was still open, ran to the house and reached the first +floor in a few bounds.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was no one in the little dining-room.</p> + +<p>Without hesitating, without knocking, he walked +into Jeanne's bedroom:</p> + +<p>"Ah, here you are!" he said, with a sigh of relief, +seeing Jeanne and the doctor sitting side by side, +talking.</p> + +<p>"What? Any news?" asked the doctor, alarmed +at seeing such a state of agitation in a man whose +coolness he had had occasion to observe.</p> + +<p>"No," said Lupin. "No news. And here?"</p> + +<p>"None here, either. We have just left M. Darcieux. +He has had an excellent day and he ate his +dinner with a good appetite. As for Jeanne, you +can see for yourself, she has all her pretty colour back +again."</p> + +<p>"Then she must go."</p> + +<p>"Go? But it's out of the question!" protested +the girl.</p> + +<p>"You must go, you must!" cried Lupin, with real +violence, stamping his foot on the floor.</p> + +<p>He at once mastered himself, spoke a few words +of apology and then, for three or four minutes, preserved +a complete silence, which the doctor and +Jeanne were careful not to disturb.</p> + +<p>At last, he said to the young girl:</p> + +<p>"You shall go to-morrow morning, mademoiselle. +It will be only for one or two weeks. I will take +you to your friend at Versailles, the one to whom you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +were writing. I entreat you to get everything ready +to-night ... without concealment of any kind. +Let the servants know that you are going.... +On the other hand, the doctor will be good enough to +tell M. Darcieux and give him to understand, with +every possible precaution, that this journey is +essential to your safety. Besides, he can join you +as soon as his strength permits.... That's settled, +is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, absolutely dominated by Lupin's +gentle and imperious voice.</p> + +<p>"In that case," he said, "be as quick as you can ... +and do not stir from your room...."</p> + +<p>"But," said the girl, with a shudder, "am I to stay +alone to-night?"</p> + +<p>"Fear nothing. Should there be the least danger, +the doctor and I will come back. Do not open your +door unless you hear three very light taps."</p> + +<p>Jeanne at once rang for her maid. The doctor +went to M. Darcieux, while Lupin had some supper +brought to him in the little dining-room.</p> + +<p>"That's done," said the doctor, returning to him +in twenty minutes' time. "M. Darcieux did not +raise any great difficulty. As a matter of fact, he +himself thinks it just as well that we should send +Jeanne away."</p> + +<p>They then went downstairs together and left the +house.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p>On reaching the lodge, Lupin called the keeper.</p> + +<p>"You can shut the gate, my man. If M. Darcieux +should want us, send for us at once."</p> + +<p>The clock of Maupertuis church struck ten. The +sky was overcast with black clouds, through which +the moon broke at moments.</p> + +<p>The two men walked on for sixty or seventy +yards.</p> + +<p>They were nearing the village, when Lupin gripped +his companion by the arm:</p> + +<p>"Stop!"</p> + +<p>"What on earth's the matter?" exclaimed the +doctor.</p> + +<p>"The matter is this," Lupin jerked out, "that, +if my calculations turn out right, if I have not misjudged +the business from start to finish, Mlle. Darcieux +will be murdered before the night is out."</p> + +<p>"Eh? What's that?" gasped the doctor, in dismay. +"But then why did we go?"</p> + +<p>"With the precise object that the miscreant, who +is watching all our movements in the dark, may not +postpone his crime and may perpetrate it, not at +the hour chosen by himself, but at the hour which I +have decided upon."</p> + +<p>"Then we are returning to the manor-house?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of course we are, but separately."</p> + +<p>"In that case, let us go at once."</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, doctor," said Lupin, in a steady<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +voice, "and let us waste no time in useless words. +Above all, we must defeat any attempt to watch us. +You will therefore go straight home and not come +out again until you are quite certain that you have +not been followed. You will then make for the +walls of the property, keeping to the left, till you +come to the little door of the kitchen-garden. Here +is the key. When the church clock strikes eleven, +open the door very gently and walk right up to the +terrace at the back of the house. The fifth window +is badly fastened. You have only to climb over the +balcony. As soon as you are inside Mlle. Darcieux's +room, bolt the door and don't budge. You quite +understand, don't budge, either of you, whatever +happens. I have noticed that Mlle. Darcieux leaves +her dressing-room window ajar, isn't that so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's a habit which I taught her."</p> + +<p>"That's the way they'll come."</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>"That's the way I shall come also."</p> + +<p>"And do you know who the villain is?"</p> + +<p>Lupin hesitated and then replied:</p> + +<p>"No, I don't know.... And that is just how we +shall find out. But, I implore you, keep cool. Not a +word, not a movement, <i>whatever happens</i>!"</p> + +<p>"I promise you."</p> + +<p>"I want more than that, doctor. You must give +me your word of honour."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I give you my word of honour."</p> + +<p>The doctor went away. Lupin at once climbed +a neighbouring mound from which he could see the +windows of the first and second floor. Several of +them were lighted.</p> + +<p>He waited for some little time. The lights went +out one by one. Then, taking a direction opposite +to that in which the doctor had gone, he branched +off to the right and skirted the wall until he came to +the clump of trees near which he had hidden his +motor-cycle on the day before.</p> + +<p>Eleven o'clock struck. He calculated the time +which it would take the doctor to cross the kitchen-garden +and make his way into the house.</p> + +<p>"That's one point scored!" he muttered. +"Everything's all right on that side. And now, +Lupin to the rescue? The enemy won't be long +before he plays his last trump ... and, by all +the gods, I must be there!..."</p> + +<p>He went through the same performance as on +the first occasion, pulled down the branch and +hoisted himself to the top of the wall, from +which he was able to reach the bigger boughs of the +tree.</p> + +<p>Just then he pricked up his ears. He seemed to +hear a rustling of dead leaves. And he actually +perceived a dark form moving on the level thirty +yards away:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" he said to himself. "I'm done: the +scoundrel has smelt a rat."</p> + +<p>A moonbeam pierced through the clouds. Lupin +distinctly saw the man take aim. He tried to jump +to the ground and turned his head. But he felt +something hit him in the chest, heard the sound of a +report, uttered an angry oath and came crashing down +from branch to branch, like a corpse.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>Meanwhile, Doctor Guéroult, following Arsène Lupin's +instructions, had climbed the ledge of the fifth +window and groped his way to the first floor. On +reaching Jeanne's room, he tapped lightly, three +times, at the door and, immediately on entering, +pushed the bolt:</p> + +<p>"Lie down at once," he whispered to the girl, +who had not taken off her things. "You must +appear to have gone to bed. Brrrr, it's cold in here! +Is the window open in your dressing-room?"</p> + +<p>"Yes ... would you like me to ...?"</p> + +<p>"No, leave it as it is. They are coming."</p> + +<p>"They are coming!" spluttered Jeanne, in affright.</p> + +<p>"Yes, beyond a doubt."</p> + +<p>"But who? Do you suspect any one?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know who.... I expect that there is +some one hidden in the house ... or in the park."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I feel so frightened!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't be frightened. The sportsman who's +looking after you seems jolly clever and makes a +point of playing a safe game. I expect he's on the +look-out in the court."</p> + +<p>The doctor put out the night-light, went to the +window and raised the blind. A narrow cornice, running +along the first story, prevented him from seeing +more than a distant part of the courtyard; and he +came back and sat down by the bed.</p> + +<p>Some very painful minutes passed, minutes that +appeared to them interminably long. The clock +in the village struck; but, taken up as they were +with all the little noises of the night, they hardly noticed +the sound. They listened, listened, with all +their nerves on edge:</p> + +<p>"Did you hear?" whispered the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Yes ... yes," said Jeanne, sitting up in bed.</p> + +<p>"Lie down ... lie down," he said, presently. +"There's some one coming."</p> + +<p>There was a little tapping sound outside, against +the cornice. Next came a series of indistinct noises, +the nature of which they could not make out for +certain. But they had a feeling that the window in +the dressing-room was being opened wider, for they +were buffeted by gusts of cold air.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, it became quite clear: there was some +one next door.</p> + +<p>The doctor, whose hand was trembling a little,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +seized his revolver. Nevertheless, he did not move, +remembering the formal orders which he had received +and fearing to act against them.</p> + +<p>The room was in absolute darkness; and they +were unable to see where the adversary was. But +they felt his presence.</p> + +<p>They followed his invisible movements, the sound +of his footsteps deadened by the carpet; and they +did not doubt but that he had already crossed the +threshold of the room.</p> + +<p>And the adversary stopped. Of that they were +certain. He was standing six steps away from the +bed, motionless, undecided perhaps, seeking to pierce +the darkness with his keen eyes.</p> + +<p>Jeanne's hand, icy-cold and clammy, trembled in +the doctor's grasp.</p> + +<p>With his other hand, the doctor clutched his +revolver, with his finger on the trigger. In spite of +his pledged word, he did not hesitate. If the adversary +touched the end of the bed, the shot would be +fired at a venture.</p> + +<p>The adversary took another step and then stopped +again. And there was something awful about that +silence, that impassive silence, that darkness in +which those human beings were peering at one +another, wildly.</p> + +<p>Who was it looming in the murky darkness? +Who was the man? What horrible enmity was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +it that turned his hand against the girl and what +abominable aim was he pursuing?</p> + +<p>Terrified though they were, Jeanne and the doctor +thought only of that one thing: to see, to learn the +truth, to gaze upon the adversary's face.</p> + +<p>He took one more step and did not move again. +It seemed to them that his figure stood out, darker, +against the dark space and that his arm rose slowly, +slowly....</p> + +<p>A minute passed and then another minute....</p> + +<p>And, suddenly, beyond the man, on the right a +sharp click.... A bright light flashed, was flung +upon the man, lit him full in the face, remorselessly.</p> + +<p>Jeanne gave a cry of affright. She had seen—standing +over her, with a dagger in his hand—she +had seen ... her father!</p> + +<p>Almost at the same time, though the light was +already turned off, there came a report: the doctor +had fired.</p> + +<p>"Dash it all, don't shoot!" roared Lupin.</p> + +<p>He threw his arms round the doctor, who choked +out:</p> + +<p>"Didn't you see?... Didn't you see?... +Listen!... He's escaping!..."</p> + +<p>"Let him escape: it's the best thing that could +happen."</p> + +<p>He pressed the spring of his electric lantern again, +ran to the dressing-room, made certain that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +man had disappeared and, returning quietly to the +table, lit the lamp.</p> + +<p>Jeanne lay on her bed, pallid, in a dead faint.</p> + +<p>The doctor, huddled in his chair, emitted inarticulate +sounds.</p> + +<p>"Come," said Lupin, laughing, "pull yourself +together. There is nothing to excite ourselves about: +it's all over."</p> + +<p>"Her father!... Her father!" moaned the +old doctor.</p> + +<p>"If you please, doctor, Mlle. Darcieux is ill. Look +after her."</p> + +<p>Without more words, Lupin went back to the +dressing-room and stepped out on the window-ledge. +A ladder stood against the ledge. He ran down it. +Skirting the wall of the house, twenty steps farther, +he tripped over the rungs of a rope-ladder, which he +climbed and found himself in M. Darcieux's bedroom. +The room was empty.</p> + +<p>"Just so," he said. "My gentleman did not +like the position and has cleared out. Here's +wishing him a good journey.... And, of course, +the door is bolted?... Exactly!... That +is how our sick man, tricking his worthy medical +attendant, used to get up at night in full security, +fasten his rope-ladder to the balcony and prepare his +little games. He's no fool, is friend Darcieux!"</p> + +<p>He drew the bolts and returned to Jeanne's room.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +The doctor, who was just coming out of the doorway, +drew him to the little dining-room:</p> + +<p>"She's asleep, don't let us disturb her. She has +had a bad shock and will take some time to recover."</p> + +<p>Lupin poured himself out a glass of water and drank +it down. Then he took a chair and, calmly:</p> + +<p>"Pooh! She'll be all right by to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"I say that she'll be all right by to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, because it did not strike me +that Mlle. Darcieux felt any very great affection for +her father."</p> + +<p>"Never mind! Think of it: a father who tries +to kill his daughter! A father who, for months on +end, repeats his monstrous attempt four, five, six +times over again!... Well, isn't that enough to +blight a less sensitive soul than Jeanne's for good and +all? What a hateful memory!"</p> + +<p>"She will forget."</p> + +<p>"One does not forget such a thing as that."</p> + +<p>"She will forget, doctor, and for a very simple +reason...."</p> + +<p>"Explain yourself!"</p> + +<p>"She is not M. Darcieux's daughter!"</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>"I repeat, she is not that villain's daughter."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? M. Darcieux...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + +<p>"M. Darcieux is only her step-father. She had +just been born when her father, her real father, died. +Jeanne's mother then married a cousin of her husband's, +a man bearing the same name, and she died +within a year of her second wedding. She left Jeanne +in M. Darcieux's charge. He first took her abroad +and then bought this country-house; and, as nobody +knew him in the neighbourhood, he represented the +child as being his daughter. She herself did not know +the truth about her birth."</p> + +<p>The doctor sat confounded. He asked:</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of your facts?"</p> + +<p>"I spent my day in the town-halls of the Paris +municipalities. I searched the registers, I interviewed +two solicitors, I have seen all the documents. +There is no doubt possible."</p> + +<p>"But that does not explain the crime, or rather the +series of crimes."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it does," declared Lupin. "And, from +the start, from the first hour when I meddled in this +business, some words which Mlle. Darcieux used +made me suspect that direction which my investigations +must take. 'I was not quite five years old +when my mother died,' she said. 'That was sixteen +years ago.' Mlle. Darcieux, therefore, was nearly +twenty-one, that is to say, she was on the verge of +attaining her majority. I at once saw that this +was an important detail. The day on which you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +reach your majority is the day on which your accounts +are rendered. What was the financial position +of Mlle. Darcieux, who was her mother's natural +heiress? Of course, I did not think of the father +for a second. To begin with, one can't imagine +a thing like that; and then the farce which +M. Darcieux was playing ... helpless, bedridden, +ill...."</p> + +<p>"Really ill," interrupted the doctor.</p> + +<p>"All this diverted suspicion from him ... the +more so as I believe that he himself was exposed +to criminal attacks. But was there not in the family +some person who would be interested in their removal? +My journey to Paris revealed the truth +to me: Mlle. Darcieux inherits a large fortune from +her mother, of which her step-father draws the +income. The solicitor was to have called a meeting +of the family in Paris next month. The truth would +have been out. It meant ruin to M. Darcieux."</p> + +<p>"Then he had put no money by?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he had lost a great deal as the result of +unfortunate speculations."</p> + +<p>"But, after all, Jeanne would not have taken the +management of her fortune out of his hands!"</p> + +<p>"There is one detail which you do not know, +doctor, and which I learnt from reading the torn +letter. Mlle. Darcieux is in love with the brother +of Marceline, her Versailles friend; M. Darcieux<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +was opposed to the marriage; and—you now see the +reason—she was waiting until she came of age to +be married."</p> + +<p>"You're right," said the doctor, "you're right.... +It meant his ruin."</p> + +<p>"His absolute ruin. One chance of saving himself +remained, the death of his step-daughter, of whom he +is the next heir."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, but on condition that no one suspected +him."</p> + +<p>"Of course; and that is why he contrived the series +of accidents, so that the death might appear to be +due to misadventure. And that is why I, on my +side, wishing to bring things to a head, asked you +to tell him of Mlle. Darcieux's impending departure. +From that moment, it was no longer enough +for the would-be sick man to wander about the +grounds and the passages, in the dark, and execute +some leisurely thought-out plan. No, he had to +act, to act at once, without preparation, violently, +dagger in hand. I had no doubt that he would +decide to do it. And he did."</p> + +<p>"Then he had no suspicions?"</p> + +<p>"Of me, yes. He felt that I would return to-night, +and he kept a watch at the place where I had already +climbed the wall."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well," said Lupin, laughing, "I received a bullet<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +full in the chest ... or rather my pocket-book +received a bullet.... Here, you can see the hole.... +So I tumbled from the tree, like a dead man. +Thinking that he was rid of his only adversary, he +went back to the house. I saw him prowl about for +two hours. Then, making up his mind, he went to +the coach-house, took a ladder and set it against the +window. I had only to follow him."</p> + +<p>The doctor reflected and said:</p> + +<p>"You could have collared him earlier. Why did +you let him come up? It was a sore trial for Jeanne ... +and unnecessary."</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, it was indispensable! Mlle. +Darcieux would never have accepted the truth. +It was essential that she should see the murderer's +very face. You must tell her all the circumstances +when she wakes. She will soon be well again."</p> + +<p>"But ... M. Darcieux?"</p> + +<p>"You can explain his disappearance as you think +best ... a sudden journey ... a fit of +madness.... There will be a few inquiries.... +And you may be sure that he will never be +heard of again."</p> + +<p>The doctor nodded his head:</p> + +<p>"Yes ... that is so ... that is so ... +you are right. You have managed all this +business with extraordinary skill; and Jeanne owes you +her life. She will thank you in person.... But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +now, can I be of use to you in any way? You +told me that you were connected with the detective-service.... +Will you allow me to write and +praise your conduct, your courage?"</p> + +<p>Lupin began to laugh:</p> + +<p>"Certainly! A letter of that kind will do me a +world of good. You might write to my immediate +superior, Chief-inspector Ganimard. He will be +glad to hear that his favourite officer, Paul Daubreuil, +of the Rue de Surène, has once again distinguished +himself by a brilliant action. As it happens, I have +an appointment to meet him about a case of which +you may have heard: the case of the red scarf.... +How pleased my dear M. Ganimard will be!"</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="VII" id="VII"></a>VII</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">A TRAGEDY IN THE FOREST OF +MORGUES</h3> + + +<p>The village was terror-stricken.</p> + +<p>It was on a Sunday morning. The peasants of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +Saint-Nicolas and the neighbourhood were coming +out of church and spreading across the square, when, +suddenly, the women who were walking ahead and +who had already turned into the high-road fell back +with loud cries of dismay.</p> + +<p>At the same moment, an enormous motor-car, +looking like some appalling monster, came tearing +into sight at a headlong rate of speed. Amid the +shouts of the madly scattering people, it made +straight for the church, swerved, just as it seemed +about to dash itself to pieces against the steps, +grazed the wall of the presbytery, regained the +continuation of the national road, dashed along, +turned the corner and disappeared, without, by +some incomprehensible miracle, having so much as +brushed against any of the persons crowding the +square.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> + +<p>But they had seen! They had seen a man in the +driver's seat, wrapped in a goat-skin coat, with a +fur cap on his head and his face disguised in a pair +of large goggles, and, with him, on the front of +that seat, flung back, bent in two, a woman whose +head, all covered with blood, hung down over the +bonnet....</p> + +<p>And they had heard! They had heard the +woman's screams, screams of horror, screams of +agony....</p> + +<p>And it was all such a vision of hell and carnage +that the people stood, for some seconds, motionless, +stupefied.</p> + +<p>"Blood!" roared somebody.</p> + +<p>There was blood everywhere, on the cobblestones +of the square, on the ground hardened by +the first frosts of autumn; and, when a number +of men and boys rushed off in pursuit of the motor, +they had but to take those sinister marks for their +guide.</p> + +<p>The marks, on their part, followed the high-road, +but in a very strange manner, going from one side +to the other and leaving a zigzag track, in the wake +of the tires, that made those who saw it shudder. +How was it that the car had not bumped against +that tree? How had it been righted, instead of +smashing into that bank? What novice, what +madman, what drunkard, what frightened criminal<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +was driving that motor-car with such astounding +bounds and swerves?</p> + +<p>One of the peasants declared:</p> + +<p>"They will never do the turn in the forest."</p> + +<p>And another said:</p> + +<p>"Of course they won't! She's bound to upset!"</p> + +<p>The Forest of Morgues began at half a mile beyond +Saint-Nicolas; and the road, which was +straight up to that point, except for a slight +bend where it left the village, started climbing, +immediately after entering the forest, and made +an abrupt turn among the rocks and trees. No +motor-car was able to take this turn without first +slackening speed. There were posts to give notice +of the danger.</p> + +<p>The breathless peasants reached the quincunx of +beeches that formed the edge of the forest. And one +of them at once cried:</p> + +<p>"There you are!"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Upset!"</p> + +<p>The car, a limousine, had turned turtle and lay +smashed, twisted and shapeless. Beside it, the +woman's dead body. But the most horrible, sordid, +stupefying thing was the woman's head, crushed, +flattened, invisible under a block of stone, a huge +block of stone lodged there by some unknown and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span> +prodigious agency. As for the man in the goat-skin +coat he was nowhere to be found.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>He was not found on the scene of the accident. +He was not found either in the neighbourhood. +Moreover, some workmen coming down the Côte +de Morgues declared that they had not seen anybody.</p> + +<p>The man, therefore, had taken refuge in the +woods.</p> + +<p>The gendarmes, who were at once sent for, made a +minute search, assisted by the peasants, but discovered +nothing. In the same way, the examining-magistrates, +after a close inquiry lasting for several +days, found no clue capable of throwing the least +light upon this inscrutable tragedy. On the contrary, +the investigations only led to further mysteries +and further improbabilities.</p> + +<p>Thus it was ascertained that the block of stone +came from where there had been a landslip, at least +forty yards away. And the murderer, in a few +minutes, had carried it all that distance and flung it +on his victim's head.</p> + +<p>On the other hand, the murderer, who was most +certainly not hiding in the forest—for, if so, he must +inevitably have been discovered, the forest being +of limited extent—had the audacity, eight days +after the crime, to come back to the turn on the +hill and leave his goat-skin coat there. Why?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +With what object? There was nothing in the pockets +of the coat, except a corkscrew and a napkin. What +did it all mean?</p> + +<p>Inquiries were made of the builder of the motor-car, +who recognized the limousine as one which he +had sold, three years ago, to a Russian. The said +Russian, declared the manufacturer, had sold it +again at once. To whom? No one knew. The car +bore no number.</p> + +<p>Then again, it was impossible to identify the dead +woman's body. Her clothes and underclothing +were not marked in any way. And the face was quite +unknown.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, detectives were going along the national +road in the direction opposite to that taken by +the actors in this mysterious tragedy. But who was +to prove that the car had followed that particular +road on the previous night?</p> + +<p>They examined every yard of the ground, they +questioned everybody. At last, they succeeded in +learning that, on the Saturday evening, a limousine +had stopped outside a grocer's shop in a small town +situated about two hundred miles from Saint-Nicolas, +on a highway branching out of the national road. +The driver had first filled his tank, bought some +spare cans of petrol and lastly taken away a small +stock of provisions: a ham, fruit, biscuits, wine and a +half-bottle of Three Star brandy.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was a lady on the driver's seat. She did +not get down. The blinds of the limousine were +drawn. One of these blinds was seen to move several +times. The shopman was positive that there was +somebody inside.</p> + +<p>Presuming the shopman's evidence to be correct, +then the problem became even more complicated, +for, so far, no clue had revealed the presence of a +third person.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, as the travellers had supplied themselves +with provisions, it remained to be discovered +what they had done with them and what had become +of the remains.</p> + +<p>The detectives retraced their steps. It was not +until they came to the fork of the two roads, at a +spot eleven or twelve miles from Saint-Nicolas, that +they met a shepherd who, in answer to their questions, +directed them to a neighbouring field, hidden +from view behind the screen of bushes, where he +had seen an empty bottle and other things.</p> + +<p>The detectives were convinced at the first examination. +The motor-car had stopped there; and +the unknown travellers, probably after a night's +rest in their car, had breakfasted and resumed their +journey in the course of the morning.</p> + +<p>One unmistakable proof was the half-bottle of +Three Star brandy sold by the grocer. This bottle +had its neck broken clean off with a stone. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +stone employed for the purpose was picked up, as +was the neck of the bottle, with its cork, covered +with a tin-foil seal. The seal showed marks of +attempts that had been made to uncork the bottle +in the ordinary manner.</p> + +<p>The detectives continued their search and followed +a ditch that ran along the field at right angles to the +road. It ended in a little spring, hidden under +brambles, which seemed to emit an offensive smell. +On lifting the brambles, they perceived a corpse, +the corpse of a man whose head had been smashed +in, so that it formed little more than a sort of pulp, +swarming with vermin. The body was dressed in +jacket and trousers of dark-brown leather. The +pockets were empty: no papers, no pocket-book, +no watch.</p> + +<p>The grocer and his shopman were summoned and, +two days later, formally identified, by his dress and +figure, the traveller who had bought the petrol and +provisions on the Saturday evening.</p> + +<p>The whole case, therefore, had to be reopened on +a fresh basis. The authorities were confronted with +a tragedy no longer enacted by two persons, a man +and a woman, of whom one had killed the other, but +by three persons, including two victims, of whom one +was the very man who was accused of killing his +companion.</p> + +<p>As to the murderer, there was no doubt: he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +the person who travelled inside the motor-car and +who took the precaution to remain concealed behind +the curtains. He had first got rid of the driver and +rifled his pockets and then, after wounding the +woman, carried her off in a mad dash for death.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>Given a fresh case, unexpected discoveries, +unforeseen evidence, one might have hoped that +the mystery would be cleared up, or, at least, that +the inquiry would point a few steps along the road +to the truth. But not at all. The corpse was +simply placed beside the first corpse. New problems +were added to the old. The accusation of +murder was shifted from the one to the other. And +there it ended. Outside those tangible, obvious +facts there was nothing but darkness. The name +of the woman, the name of the man, the name of +the murderer were so many riddles. And then +what had become of the murderer? If he had +disappeared from one moment to the other, +that in itself would have been a tolerably curious +phenomenon. But the phenomenon was actually +something very like a miracle, inasmuch as the +murderer had not absolutely disappeared. He was +there! He made a practice of returning to the +scene of the catastrophe! In addition to the goat-skin +coat, a fur cap was picked up one day; and, +by way of an unparalleled prodigy, one morning,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +after a whole night spent on guard in the rock, beside +the famous turning, the detectives found, on the +grass of the turning itself, a pair of motor-goggles, +broken, rusty, dirty, done for. How had the murderer +managed to bring back those goggles unseen +by the detectives? And, above all, why had he +brought them back?</p> + +<p>Men's brains reeled in the presence of such abnormalities. +They were almost afraid to pursue +the ambiguous adventure. They received the impression +of a heavy, stifling, breathless atmosphere, +which dimmed the eyes and baffled the most clear-sighted.</p> + +<p>The magistrate in charge of the case fell ill. Four +days later, his successor confessed that the matter +was beyond him.</p> + +<p>Two tramps were arrested and at once released. +Another was pursued, but not caught; moreover, +there was no evidence of any sort or kind against +him. In short, it was nothing but one helpless +muddle of mist and contradiction.</p> + +<p>An accident, the merest accident led to the +solution, or rather produced a series of circumstances +that ended by leading to the solution. A +reporter on the staff of an important Paris paper, +who had been sent to make investigations on +the spot, concluded his article with the following +words:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I repeat, therefore, that we must wait for fresh +events, fresh facts; we must wait for some lucky +accident. As things stand, we are simply wasting +our time. The elements of truth are not even sufficient +to suggest a plausible theory. We are in +the midst of the most absolute, painful, impenetrable +darkness. There is nothing to be done. All +the Sherlock Holmeses in the world would not know +what to make of the mystery, and Arsène Lupin +himself, if he will allow me to say so, would have to +pay forfeit here."</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>On the day after the appearance of that article, +the newspaper in question printed this telegram:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Have sometimes paid forfeit, but never over such +a silly thing as this. The Saint-Nicolas tragedy is a +mystery for babies.</p> + +<p style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: 40em;">"Arsène Lupin."</p></div> + +<p>And the editor added:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"We insert this telegram as a matter of curiosity, +for it is obviously the work of a wag. Arsène Lupin, +past-master though he be in the art of practical +joking, would be the last man to display such childish +flippancy."</p></div> + +<p>Two days elapsed; and then the paper published +the famous letter, so precise and categorical in its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +conclusions, in which Arsène Lupin furnished the +solution of the problem. I quote it in full:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p> +"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>: +</p> + +<p>"You have taken me on my weak side by defying +me. You challenge me, and I accept the +challenge. And I will begin by declaring once more +that the Saint-Nicolas tragedy is a mystery for +babies. I know nothing so simple, so natural; and +the proof of the simplicity shall lie in the succinctness +of my demonstration. It is contained in these +few words: when a crime seems to go beyond the +ordinary scope of things, when it seems unusual and +stupid, then there are many chances that its explanation +is to be found in superordinary, supernatural, +superhuman motives.</p> + +<p>"I say that there are many chances, for we must +always allow for the part played by absurdity in the +most logical and commonplace events. But, of +course, it is impossible to see things as they are and +not to take account of the absurd and the disproportionate.</p> + +<p>"I was struck from the very beginning by that +very evident character of unusualness. We have, +first of all, the awkward, zigzag course of the motor-car, +which would give one the impression that the +car was driven by a novice. People have spoken +of a drunkard or a madman, a justifiable supposition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span> +in itself. But neither madness nor drunkenness +would account for the incredible strength required +to transport, especially in so short a space of +time, the stone with which the unfortunate woman's +head was crushed. That proceeding called for a +muscular power so great that I do not hesitate to +look upon it as a second sign of the unusualness +that marks the whole tragedy. And why move +that enormous stone, to finish off the victim, +when a mere pebble would have done the work? +Why again was the murderer not killed, or at least +reduced to a temporary state of helplessness, +in the terrible somersault turned by the car? How +did he disappear? And why, having disappeared, +did he return to the scene of the accident? +Why did he throw his fur coat there; then, on another +day, his cap; then, on another day, his goggles?</p> + +<p>"Unusual, useless, stupid acts.</p> + +<p>"Why, besides, convey that wounded, dying +woman on the driver's seat of the car, where everybody +could see her? Why do that, instead of +putting her inside, or flinging her into some corner, +dead, just as the man was flung under the brambles +in the ditch?</p> + +<p>"Unusualness, stupidity.</p> + +<p>"Everything in the whole story is absurd. +Everything points to hesitation, incoherency, awk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span>wardness, +the silliness of a child or rather of a mad, +blundering savage, of a brute.</p> + +<p>"Look at the bottle of brandy. There was a +corkscrew: it was found in the pocket of the great +coat. Did the murderer use it? Yes, the marks +of the corkscrew can be seen on the seal. But +the operation was too complicated for him. +He broke the neck with a stone. Always stones: +observe that detail. They are the only weapon, +the only implement which the creature employs. +It is his customary weapon, his familiar implement. +He kills the man with a stone, he kills +the woman with a stone and he opens bottles with a +stone!</p> + +<p>"A brute, I repeat, a savage; disordered, unhinged, +suddenly driven mad. By what? Why, +of course, by that same brandy, which he swallowed +at a draught while the driver and his companion +were having breakfast in the field. He got out of +the limousine, in which he was travelling, in his +goat-skin coat and his fur cap, took the bottle, broke +off the neck and drank. There is the whole story. +Having drunk, he went raving mad and hit out at +random, without reason. Then, seized with instinctive +fear, dreading the inevitable punishment, +he hid the body of the man. Then, like an idiot, +he took up the wounded woman and ran away. +He ran away in that motor-car which he did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +know how to work, but which to him represented +safety, escape from capture.</p> + +<p>"But the money, you will ask, the stolen pocket-book? +Why, who says that he was the thief? Who +says that it was not some passing tramp, some labourer, +guided by the stench of the corpse?</p> + +<p>"Very well, you object, but the brute would have +been found, as he is hiding somewhere near the turn, +and as, after all, he must eat and drink.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, I see that you have not yet understood. +The simplest way, I suppose, to have done +and to answer your objections is to make straight +for the mark. Then let the gentlemen of the police +and the gendarmerie themselves make straight for +the mark. Let them take firearms. Let them explore +the forest within a radius of two or three +hundred yards from the turn, no more. But, +instead of exploring with their heads down and +their eyes fixed on the ground, let them look +up into the air, yes, into the air, among the +leaves and branches of the tallest oaks and the +most unlikely beeches. And, believe me, they +will see him. For he is there. He is there, +bewildered, piteously at a loss, seeking for the man +and woman whom he has killed, looking for them +and waiting for them and not daring to go away and +quite unable to understand.</p> + +<p>"I myself am exceedingly sorry that I am kept<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +in town by urgent private affairs and by some +complicated matters of business which I have to set +going, for I should much have liked to see the end +of this rather curious adventure.</p> + +<p>"Pray, therefore excuse me to my kind friends in +the police and permit me to be, sir,</p> + +<p style="margin-left: 33em; margin-top: 1em;">"Your obedient servant,</p> + +<p style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: 38em; margin-top: .5em;">"Arsène Lupin."</p></div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>The upshot will be remembered. The "gentlemen +of the police and the gendarmerie" shrugged +their shoulders and paid no attention to this lucubration. +But four of the local country gentry +took their rifles and went shooting, with their eyes +fixed skyward, as though they meant to pot a few +rooks. In half an hour they had caught sight of the +murderer. Two shots, and he came tumbling from +bough to bough. He was only wounded, and they +took him alive.</p> + +<p>That evening, a Paris paper, which did not yet +know of the capture, printed the following paragraphs:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Enquiries are being made after a M. and Mme. +Bragoff, who landed at Marseilles six weeks ago and +there hired a motor-car. They had been living in +Australia for many years, during which time they +had not visited Europe; and they wrote to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +director of the Jardin d'Acclimatation, with whom +they were in the habit of corresponding, that they +were bringing with them a curious creature, of an +entirely unknown species, of which it was difficult to +say whether it was a man or a monkey.</p> + +<p>"According to M. Bragoff, who is an eminent +archæologist, the specimen in question is the anthropoid +ape, or rather the ape-man, the existence +of which had not hitherto been definitely proved. +The structure is said to be exactly similar to that of +<i>Pithecanthropus erectus</i>, discovered by Dr. Dubois +in Java in 1891.</p> + +<p>"This curious, intelligent and observant animal +acted as its owner's servant on their property in +Australia and used to clean their motor-car and even +attempt to drive it.</p> + +<p>"The question that is being asked is where are +M. and Mme. Bragoff? Where is the strange primate +that landed with them at Marseilles?"</p></div> + +<p>The answer to this question was now made easy. +Thanks to the hints supplied by Arsène Lupin, all +the elements of the tragedy were known. Thanks +to him, the culprit was in the hands of the law.</p> + +<p>You can see him at the Jardin d'Acclimatation, +where he is locked up under the name of "Three +Stars." He is, in point of fact, a monkey; but he +is also a man. He has the gentleness and the wisdom<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +of the domestic animals and the sadness which they +feel when their master dies. But he has many other +qualities that bring him much closer to humanity: +he is treacherous, cruel, idle, greedy and quarrelsome; +and, above all, he is immoderately fond of +brandy.</p> + +<p>Apart from that, he is a monkey. Unless indeed ...!</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>A few days after Three Stars' arrest, I saw Arsène +Lupin standing in front of his cage. Lupin was +manifestly trying to solve this interesting problem +for himself. I at once said, for I had set my heart +upon having the matter out with him:</p> + +<p>"You know, Lupin, that intervention of yours, +your argument, your letter, in short, did not surprise +me so much as you might think!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, really?" he said, calmly. "And why?"</p> + +<p>"Why? Because the incident has occurred +before, seventy or eighty years ago. Edgar Allan +Poe made it the subject of one of his finest tales. +In those circumstances, the key to the riddle was +easy enough to find."</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin took my arm, and walking away +with me, said:</p> + +<p>"When did you guess it, yourself?"</p> + +<p>"On reading your letter," I confessed.</p> + +<p>"And at what part of my letter?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> + +<p>"At the end."</p> + +<p>"At the end, eh? After I had dotted all the +i's. So here is a crime which accident causes to be +repeated, under quite different conditions, it is +true, but still with the same sort of hero; and your +eyes had to be opened, as well as other people's. It +needed the assistance of my letter, the letter in +which I amused myself—apart from the exigencies +of the facts—by employing the argument and sometimes +the identical words used by the American +poet in a story which everybody has read. So you +see that my letter was not absolutely useless and that +one may safely venture to repeat to people things +which they have learnt only to forget them."</p> + +<p>Wherewith Lupin turned on his heel and burst +out laughing in the face of an old monkey, who sat +with the air of a philosopher, gravely meditating.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a>VIII</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">LUPIN'S MARRIAGE</h3> + + +<div class="blockquote" style="margin-top: -.5em;"><p>"Monsieur Arsène Lupin has the honour to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +inform you of his approaching marriage with Mademoiselle +Angélique de Sarzeau-Vendôme, Princesse +de Bourbon-Condé, and to request the pleasure of +your company at the wedding, which will take place +at the church of Sainte-Clotilde...."</p> + +<p style="margin-top: 1.5em;">"The Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme has the honour +to inform you of the approaching marriage of his +daughter Angélique, Princesse de Bourbon-Condé, +with Monsieur Arsène Lupin, and to request...."</p></div> + +<p>Jean Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme could not finish +reading the invitations which he held in his trembling +hand. Pale with anger, his long, lean body +shaking with tremors:</p> + +<p>"There!" he gasped, handing the two communications +to his daughter. "This is what our friends +have received! This has been the talk of Paris +since yesterday! What do you say to that dastardly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span> +insult, Angélique? What would your poor mother +say to it, if she were alive?"</p> + +<p>Angélique was tall and thin like her father, skinny +and angular like him. She was thirty-three years +of age, always dressed in black stuff, shy and retiring +in manner, with a head too small in proportion +to her height and narrowed on either side +until the nose seemed to jut forth in protest +against such parsimony. And yet it would be +impossible to say that she was ugly, for her eyes +were extremely beautiful, soft and grave, proud and +a little sad: pathetic eyes which to see once was +to remember.</p> + +<p>She flushed with shame at hearing her father's +words, which told her the scandal of which she +was the victim. But, as she loved him, notwithstanding +his harshness to her, his injustice and +despotism, she said:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think it must be meant for a joke, father, +to which we need pay no attention!"</p> + +<p>"A joke? Why, every one is gossiping about it! +A dozen papers have printed the confounded notice +this morning, with satirical comments. They quote +our pedigree, our ancestors, our illustrious dead. +They pretend to take the thing seriously...."</p> + +<p>"Still, no one could believe...."</p> + +<p>"Of course not. But that doesn't prevent us +from being the by-word of Paris."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It will all be forgotten by to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, my girl, people will remember that +the name of Angélique de Sarzeau-Vendôme has +been bandied about as it should not be. Oh, if +I could find out the name of the scoundrel who has +dared...."</p> + +<p>At that moment, Hyacinthe, the duke's valet, +came in and said that monsieur le duc was wanted +on the telephone. Still fuming, he took down the +receiver and growled:</p> + +<p>"Well? Who is it? Yes, it's the Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme +speaking."</p> + +<p>A voice replied:</p> + +<p>"I want to apologize to you, monsieur le duc, +and to Mlle. Angélique. It's my secretary's fault."</p> + +<p>"Your secretary?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the invitations were only a rough draft +which I meant to submit to you. Unfortunately +my secretary thought...."</p> + +<p>"But, tell me, monsieur, who are you?"</p> + +<p>"What, monsieur le duc, don't you know my +voice? The voice of your future son-in-law?"</p> + +<p>"What!"</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin."</p> + +<p>The duke dropped into a chair. His face was +livid.</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin ... it's he ... Arsène +Lupin...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span></p> + +<p>Angélique gave a smile:</p> + +<p>"You see, father, it's only a joke, a hoax."</p> + +<p>But the duke's rage broke out afresh and he +began to walk up and down, moving his arms:</p> + +<p>"I shall go to the police!... The fellow can't +be allowed to make a fool of me in this way!... +If there's any law left in the land, it must be +stopped!"</p> + +<p>Hyacinthe entered the room again. He brought +two visiting-cards.</p> + +<p>"Chotois? Lepetit? Don't know them."</p> + +<p>"They are both journalists, monsieur le duc."</p> + +<p>"What do they want?"</p> + +<p>"They would like to speak to monsieur le duc +with regard to ... the marriage...."</p> + +<p>"Turn them out!" exclaimed the duke. "Kick +them out! And tell the porter not to admit scum +of that sort to my house in future."</p> + +<p>"Please, father ..." Angélique ventured to say.</p> + +<p>"As for you, shut up! If you had consented to +marry one of your cousins when I wanted you to +this wouldn't have happened."</p> + +<p>The same evening, one of the two reporters printed, +on the front page of his paper, a somewhat fanciful +story of his expedition to the family mansion +of the Sarzeau-Vendômes, in the Rue de Varennes, +and expatiated pleasantly upon the old nobleman's +wrathful protests.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span></p> + +<p>The next morning, another newspaper published +an interview with Arsène Lupin which was supposed +to have taken place in a lobby at the Opera. Arsène +Lupin retorted in a letter to the editor:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"I share my prospective father-in-law's indignation +to the full. The sending out of the invitations +was a gross breach of etiquette for which I am not +responsible, but for which I wish to make a public +apology. Why, sir, the date of the marriage is not +yet fixed. My bride's father suggests early in May. +She and I think that six weeks is really too long +to wait!..."</p></div> + +<p>That which gave a special piquancy to the affair +and added immensely to the enjoyment of the friends +of the family was the duke's well-known character: +his pride and the uncompromising nature of his +ideas and principles. Duc Jean was the last descendant +of the Barons de Sarzeau, the most ancient +family in Brittany; he was the lineal descendant of +that Sarzeau who, upon marrying a Vendôme, refused +to bear the new title which Louis XV forced +upon him until after he had been imprisoned for ten +years in the Bastille; and he had abandoned none +of the prejudices of the old régime. In his youth, +he followed the Comte de Chambord into exile. +In his old age, he refused a seat in the Chamber on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span> +the pretext that a Sarzeau could only sit with his +peers.</p> + +<p>The incident stung him to the quick. Nothing +could pacify him. He cursed Lupin in good round +terms, threatened him with every sort of punishment +and rounded on his daughter:</p> + +<p>"There, if you had only married!... After all +you had plenty of chances. Your three cousins, +Mussy, d'Emboise and Caorches, are noblemen of +good descent, allied to the best families, fairly well-off; +and they are still anxious to marry you. Why +do you refuse them? Ah, because miss is a dreamer, +a sentimentalist; and because her cousins are too +fat, or too thin, or too coarse for her...."</p> + +<p>She was, in fact, a dreamer. Left to her own +devices from childhood, she had read all the books +of chivalry, all the colourless romances of olden-time +that littered the ancestral presses; and she +looked upon life as a fairy-tale in which the beauteous +maidens are always happy, while the others +wait till death for the bridegroom who does not come. +Why should she marry one of her cousins when they +were only after her money, the millions which she +had inherited from her mother? She might as well +remain an old maid and go on dreaming....</p> + +<p>She answered, gently:</p> + +<p>"You will end by making yourself ill, father. +Forget this silly business."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p> + +<p>But how could he forget it? Every morning, +some pin-prick renewed his wound. Three days +running, Angélique received a wonderful sheaf of +flowers, with Arsène Lupin's card peeping from it. +The duke could not go to his club but a friend +accosted him:</p> + +<p>"That was a good one to-day!"</p> + +<p>"What was?"</p> + +<p>"Why, your son-in-law's latest! Haven't you +seen it? Here, read it for yourself: 'M. Arsène +Lupin is petitioning the Council of State for permission +to add his wife's name to his own and to be +known henceforth as Lupin de Sarzeau-Vendôme.'"</p> + +<p>And, the next day, he read:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"As the young bride, by virtue of an unrepealed +decree of Charles X, bears the title and arms of +the Bourbon-Condés, of whom she is the heiress-of-line, +the eldest son of the Lupins de Sarzeau-Vendôme +will be styled Prince de Bourbon-Condé."</p></div> + +<p>And, the day after, an advertisement.</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Exhibition of Mlle. de Sarzeau-Vendôme's trousseau +at Messrs. ——'s Great Linen Warehouse. +Each article marked with initials L. S. V."</p></div> + +<p>Then an illustrated paper published a photographic +scene: the duke, his daughter and his son-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span>in-law +sitting at a table playing three-handed +auction-bridge.</p> + +<p>And the date also was announced with a great +flourish of trumpets: the 4th of May.</p> + +<p>And particulars were given of the marriage-settlement. +Lupin showed himself wonderfully disinterested. +He was prepared to sign, the newspapers +said, with his eyes closed, without knowing +the figure of the dowry.</p> + +<p>All these things drove the old duke crazy. His +hatred of Lupin assumed morbid proportions. Much +as it went against the grain, he called on the prefect +of police, who advised him to be on his +guard:</p> + +<p>"We know the gentleman's ways; he is employing +one of his favourite dodges. Forgive the expression, +monsieur le duc, but he is 'nursing' you. Don't +fall into the trap."</p> + +<p>"What dodge? What trap?" asked the duke, +anxiously.</p> + +<p>"He is trying to make you lose your head and to +lead you, by intimidation, to do something which +you would refuse to do in cold blood."</p> + +<p>"Still, M. Arsène Lupin can hardly hope that I +will offer him my daughter's hand!"</p> + +<p>"No, but he hopes that you will commit, to put +it mildly, a blunder."</p> + +<p>"What blunder?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Exactly that blunder which he wants you to +commit."</p> + +<p>"Then you think, monsieur le préfet ...?"</p> + +<p>"I think the best thing you can do, monsieur le +duc, is to go home, or, if all this excitement worries +you, to run down to the country and stay there +quietly, without upsetting yourself."</p> + +<p>This conversation only increased the old duke's +fears. Lupin appeared to him in the light of a +terrible person, who employed diabolical methods +and kept accomplices in every sphere of society. +Prudence was the watchword.</p> + +<p>And life, from that moment, became intolerable. +The duke grew more crabbed and silent than ever +and denied his door to all his old friends and even to +Angélique's three suitors, her Cousins de Mussy, +d'Emboise and de Caorches, who were none of them +on speaking terms with the others, in consequence +of their rivalry, and who were in the habit of calling, +turn and turn about, every week.</p> + +<p>For no earthly reason, he dismissed his butler and +his coachman. But he dared not fill their places, +for fear of engaging creatures of Arsène Lupin's; +and his own man, Hyacinthe, in whom he had +every confidence, having had him in his service +for over forty years, had to take upon himself the +laborious duties of the stables and the pantry.</p> + +<p>"Come, father," said Angélique, trying to make<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +him listen to common-sense. "I really can't see +what you are afraid of. No one can force me into +this ridiculous marriage."</p> + +<p>"Well, of course, that's not what I'm afraid of."</p> + +<p>"What then, father?"</p> + +<p>"How can I tell? An abduction! A burglary! +An act of violence! There is no doubt that the +villain is scheming something; and there is also +no doubt that we are surrounded by spies."</p> + +<p>One afternoon, he received a newspaper in which +the following paragraph was marked in red pencil:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"The signing of the marriage-contract is fixed +for this evening, at the Sarzeau-Vendôme town-house. +It will be quite a private ceremony and +only a few privileged friends will be present to +congratulate the happy pair. The witnesses to +the contract on behalf of Mlle. de Sarzeau-Vendôme, +the Prince de la Rochefoucauld-Limours and the +Comte de Chartres, will be introduced by M. Arsène +Lupin to the two gentlemen who have claimed the +honour of acting as his groomsmen, namely, the +prefect of police and the governor of the Santé +Prison."</p></div> + +<p>Ten minutes later, the duke sent his servant +Hyacinthe to the post with three express messages. +At four o'clock, in Angélique's presence, he saw the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span> +three cousins: Mussy, fat, heavy, pasty-faced; d'Emboise, +slender, fresh-coloured and shy: Caorches, +short, thin and unhealthy-looking: all three, old +bachelors by this time, lacking distinction in dress +or appearance.</p> + +<p>The meeting was a short one. The duke had +worked out his whole plan of campaign, a defensive +campaign, of which he set forth the first stage in +explicit terms:</p> + +<p>"Angélique and I will leave Paris to-night for +our place in Brittany. I rely on you, my three +nephews, to help us get away. You, d'Emboise, +will come and fetch us in your car, with the hood up. +You, Mussy, will bring your big motor and kindly +see to the luggage with Hyacinthe, my man. You, +Caorches, will go to the Gare d'Orléans and book +our berths in the sleeping-car for Vannes by the +10.40 train. Is that settled?"</p> + +<p>The rest of the day passed without incident. +The duke, to avoid any accidental indiscretion, +waited until after dinner to tell Hyacinthe to pack +a trunk and a portmanteau. Hyacinthe was to +accompany them, as well as Angélique's maid.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock, all the other servants went to bed, +by their master's order. At ten minutes to ten, +the duke, who was completing his preparations, +heard the sound of a motor-horn. The porter +opened the gates of the courtyard. The duke,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +standing at the window, recognized d'Emboise's landaulette:</p> + +<p>"Tell him I shall be down presently," he said to +Hyacinthe, "and let mademoiselle know."</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, as Hyacinthe did not return, +he left his room. But he was attacked on the landing +by two masked men, who gagged and bound him +before he could utter a cry. And one of the men +said to him, in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"Take this as a first warning, monsieur le duc. +If you persist in leaving Paris and refusing your +consent, it will be a more serious matter."</p> + +<p>And the same man said to his companion:</p> + +<p>"Keep an eye on him. I will see to the young +lady."</p> + +<p>By that time, two other confederates had secured +the lady's maid; and Angélique, herself gagged, lay +fainting on a couch in her boudoir.</p> + +<p>She came to almost immediately, under the +stimulus of a bottle of salts held to her nostrils; +and, when she opened her eyes, she saw bending +over her a young man, in evening-clothes, with a +smiling and friendly face, who said:</p> + +<p>"I implore your forgiveness, mademoiselle. All +these happenings are a trifle sudden and this behaviour +rather out of the way. But circumstances +often compel us to deeds of which our conscience +does not approve. Pray pardon me."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span></p> + +<p>He took her hand very gently and slipped a broad +gold ring on the girl's finger, saying:</p> + +<p>"There, now we are engaged. Never forget +the man who gave you this ring. He entreats you +not to run away from him ... and to stay in +Paris and await the proofs of his devotion. Have +faith in him."</p> + +<p>He said all this in so serious and respectful a +voice, with so much authority and deference, that +she had not the strength to resist. Their eyes met. +He whispered:</p> + +<p>"The exquisite purity of your eyes! It would +be heavenly to live with those eyes upon one. Now +close them...."</p> + +<p>He withdrew. His accomplices followed suit. +The car drove off, and the house in the Rue de +Varennes remained still and silent until the moment +when Angélique, regaining complete consciousness, +called out for the servants.</p> + +<p>They found the duke, Hyacinthe, the lady's maid +and the porter and his wife all tightly bound. A few +priceless ornaments had disappeared, as well as +the duke's pocket-book and all his jewellery; tie +pins, pearl studs, watch and so on.</p> + +<p>The police were advised without delay. In the +morning it appeared that, on the evening before, +d'Emboise, when leaving his house in the motor-car, +was stabbed by his own chauffeur and thrown,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +half-dead, into a deserted street. Mussy and +Caorches had each received a telephone-message, +purporting to come from the duke, countermanding +their attendance.</p> + +<p>Next week, without troubling further about the +police investigation, without obeying the summons +of the examining-magistrate, without even reading +Arsène Lupin's letters to the papers on "the Varennes +Flight," the duke, his daughter and his +valet stealthily took a slow train for Vannes and +arrived one evening, at the old feudal castle that +towers over the headland of Sarzeau. The duke at +once organized a defence with the aid of the Breton +peasants, true mediæval vassals to a man. On the +fourth day, Mussy arrived; on the fifth, Caorches; +and, on the seventh, d'Emboise, whose wound was +not as severe as had been feared.</p> + +<p>The duke waited two days longer before communicating +to those about him what, now that +his escape had succeeded in spite of Lupin, he called +the second part of his plan. He did so, in the +presence of the three cousins, by a dictatorial order +to Angélique, expressed in these peremptory terms:</p> + +<p>"All this bother is upsetting me terribly. I have +entered on a struggle with this man whose daring +you have seen for yourself; and the struggle is killing +me. I want to end it at all costs. There is +only one way of doing so, Angélique, and that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span> +for you to release me from all responsibility by +accepting the hand of one of your cousins. Before +a month is out, you must be the wife of Mussy, +Caorches or d'Emboise. You have a free choice. +Make your decision."</p> + +<p>For four whole days Angélique wept and entreated +her father, but in vain. She felt that he would be +inflexible and that she must end by submitting to +his wishes. She accepted:</p> + +<p>"Whichever you please, father. I love none of +them. So I may as well be unhappy with one as +with the other."</p> + +<p>Thereupon a fresh discussion ensued, as the duke +wanted to compel her to make her own choice. +She stood firm. Reluctantly and for financial considerations, +he named d'Emboise.</p> + +<p>The banns were published without delay.</p> + +<p>From that moment, the watch in and around the +castle was increased twofold, all the more inasmuch +as Lupin's silence and the sudden cessation of the +campaign which he had been conducting in the press +could not but alarm the Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme. +It was obvious that the enemy was getting ready to +strike and would endeavour to oppose the marriage +by one of his characteristic moves.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, nothing happened: nothing two days +before the ceremony, nothing on the day before, +nothing on the morning itself. The marriage took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span> +place in the mayor's office, followed by the religious +celebration in church; and the thing was done.</p> + +<p>Then and not till then, the duke breathed freely. +Notwithstanding his daughter's sadness, notwithstanding +the embarrassed silence of his son-in-law, +who found the situation a little trying, he rubbed his +hands with an air of pleasure, as though he had +achieved a brilliant victory:</p> + +<p>"Tell them to lower the drawbridge," he said +to Hyacinthe, "and to admit everybody. We have +nothing more to fear from that scoundrel."</p> + +<p>After the wedding-breakfast, he had wine served +out to the peasants and clinked glasses with them. +They danced and sang.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock, he returned to the ground-floor +rooms. It was the hour for his afternoon nap. +He walked to the guard-room at the end of the suite. +But he had no sooner placed his foot on the threshold +than he stopped suddenly and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here, d'Emboise? Is this +a joke?"</p> + +<p>D'Emboise was standing before him, dressed as a +Breton fisherman, in a dirty jacket and breeches, +torn, patched and many sizes too large for him.</p> + +<p>The duke seemed dumbfounded. He stared with +eyes of amazement at that face which he knew and +which, at the same time, roused memories of a very +distant past within his brain. Then he strode<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +abruptly to one of the windows overlooking the +castle-terrace and called:</p> + +<p>"Angélique!"</p> + +<p>"What is it, father?" she asked, coming forward.</p> + +<p>"Where's your husband?"</p> + +<p>"Over there, father," said Angélique, pointing +to d'Emboise, who was smoking a cigarette and +reading, some way off.</p> + +<p>The duke stumbled and fell into a chair, with a +great shudder of fright:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall go mad!"</p> + +<p>But the man in the fisherman's garb knelt down +before him and said:</p> + +<p>"Look at me, uncle. You know me, don't you? +I'm your nephew, the one who used to play here +in the old days, the one whom you called Jacquot.... +Just think a minute.... Here, look at this +scar...."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," stammered the duke, "I recognize +you. It's Jacques. But the other one...."</p> + +<p>He put his hands to his head:</p> + +<p>"And yet, no, it can't be ... Explain yourself.... +I don't understand.... I don't want to +understand...."</p> + +<p>There was a pause, during which the newcomer +shut the window and closed the door leading to the +next room. Then he came up to the old duke,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +touched him gently on the shoulder, to wake him +from his torpor, and without further preface, +as though to cut short any explanation that was +not absolutely necessary, spoke as follows:</p> + +<p>"Four years ago, that is to say, in the eleventh +year of my voluntary exile, when I settled in the +extreme south of Algeria, I made the acquaintance, +in the course of a hunting-expedition arranged by +a big Arab chief, of a man whose geniality, whose +charm of manner, whose consummate prowess, whose +indomitable pluck, whose combined humour and +depth of mind fascinated me in the highest degree. +The Comte d'Andrésy spent six weeks as my guest. +After he left, we kept up a correspondence at regular +intervals. I also often saw his name in the papers, +in the society and sporting columns. He was to +come back and I was preparing to receive him, +three months ago, when, one evening as I was out +riding, my two Arab attendants flung themselves +upon me, bound me, blindfolded me and took me, +travelling day and night, for a week, along deserted +roads, to a bay on the coast, where five men awaited +them. I was at once carried on board a small +steam-yacht, which weighed anchor without delay. +There was nothing to tell me who the men were nor +what their object was in kidnapping me. They +had locked me into a narrow cabin, secured by a +massive door and lighted by a port-hole protected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +by two iron cross-bars. Every morning, a hand was +inserted through a hatch between the next cabin +and my own and placed on my bunk two or three +pounds of bread, a good helping of food and a +flagon of wine and removed the remains of yesterday's +meals, which I put there for the purpose. +From time to time, at night, the yacht stopped and I +heard the sound of the boat rowing to some harbour +and then returning, doubtless with provisions. Then +we set out once more, without hurrying, as though +on a cruise of people of our class, who travel for +pleasure and are not pressed for time. Sometimes, +standing on a chair, I would see the coastline, +through my port-hole, too indistinctly, however, +to locate it. And this lasted for weeks. One +morning, in the ninth week, I perceived that the +hatch had been left unfastened and I pushed it open. +The cabin was empty at the time. With an effort, +I was able to take a nail-file from a dressing-table. +Two weeks after that, by dint of patient perseverance, +I had succeeded in filing through the bars of +my port-hole and I could have escaped that way, +only, though I am a good swimmer, I soon grow +tired. I had therefore to choose a moment when the +yacht was not too far from the land. It was not +until yesterday that, perched on my chair, I caught +sight of the coast; and, in the evening, at sunset, +I recognized, to my astonishment, the outlines of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +Château de Sarzeau, with its pointed turrets and its +square keep. I wondered if this was the goal of +my mysterious voyage. All night long, we cruised +in the offing. The same all day yesterday. At +last, this morning, we put in at a distance which +I considered favourable, all the more so as we were +steaming through rocks under cover of which I could +swim unobserved. But, just as I was about to make +my escape, I noticed that the shutter of the hatch, +which they thought they had closed, had once more +opened of itself and was flapping against the partition. +I again pushed it ajar from curiosity. Within +arm's length was a little cupboard which I managed +to open and in which my hand, groping at random, +laid hold of a bundle of papers. This consisted of +letters, letters containing instructions addressed +to the pirates who held me prisoner. An hour later, +when I wriggled through the port-hole and slipped +into the sea, I knew all: the reasons for my abduction, +the means employed, the object in view and +the infamous scheme plotted during the last three +months against the Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme and +his daughter. Unfortunately, it was too late. I +was obliged, in order not to be seen from the yacht, +to crouch in the cleft of a rock and did not reach +land until mid-day. By the time that I had been to +a fisherman's cabin, exchanged my clothes for his +and come on here, it was three o'clock. On my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +arrival. I learnt that Angélique's marriage was celebrated +this morning."</p> + +<p>The old duke had not spoken a word. With his +eyes riveted on the stranger's, he was listening in +ever-increasing dismay. At times, the thought of the +warnings given him by the prefect of police returned +to his mind:</p> + +<p>"They're nursing you, monsieur le duc, they are +nursing you."</p> + +<p>He said, in a hollow voice:</p> + +<p>"Speak on ... finish your story.... All this +is ghastly.... I don't understand it yet ... and +I feel nervous...."</p> + +<p>The stranger resumed:</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to say, the story is easily pieced +together and is summed up in a few sentences. +It is like this: the Comte d'Andrésy remembered +several things from his stay with me and from the +confidences which I was foolish enough to make +to him. First of all, I was your nephew and yet +you had seen comparatively little of me, because +I left Sarzeau when I was quite a child, and since +then our intercourse was limited to the few weeks +which I spent here, fifteen years ago, when I proposed +for the hand of my Cousin Angélique; +secondly, having broken with the past, I received +no letters; lastly, there was a certain physical resemblance +between d'Andrésy and myself which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +could be accentuated to such an extent as to become +striking. His scheme was built up on those three +points. He bribed my Arab servants to give +him warning in case I left Algeria. Then he went +back to Paris, bearing my name and made up to +look exactly like me, came to see you, was invited +to your house once a fortnight and lived under my +name, which thus became one of the many aliases +beneath which he conceals his real identity. Three +months ago, when 'the apple was ripe,' as he says +in his letters, he began the attack by a series of +communications to the press; and, at the same time, +fearing no doubt that some newspaper would tell +me in Algeria the part that was being played under +my name in Paris, he had me assaulted by my +servants and kidnapped by his confederates. I +need not explain any more in so far as you are concerned, +uncle."</p> + +<p>The Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme was shaken with +a fit of nervous trembling. The awful truth to +which he refused to open his eyes appeared to him +in its nakedness and assumed the hateful countenance +of the enemy. He clutched his nephew's +hands and said to him, fiercely, despairingly:</p> + +<p>"It's Lupin, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle."</p> + +<p>"And it's to him ... it's to him that I have +given my daughter!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle, to him, who has stolen my name +of Jacques d'Emboise from me and stolen your +daughter from you. Angélique is the wedded +wife of Arsène Lupin; and that in accordance +with your orders. This letter in his handwriting +bears witness to it. He has upset your whole life, +thrown you off your balance, besieging your hours +of waking and your nights of dreaming, rifling +your town-house, until the moment when, seized +with terror, you took refuge here, where, thinking +that you would escape his artifices and his rapacity, +you told your daughter to choose one of her +three cousins, Mussy, d'Emboise or Caorches, as +her husband.</p> + +<p>"But why did she select that one rather than the +others?"</p> + +<p>"It was you who selected him, uncle."</p> + +<p>"At random ... because he had the biggest +income...."</p> + +<p>"No, not at random, but on the insidious, persistent +and very clever advice of your servant +Hyacinthe."</p> + +<p>The duke gave a start:</p> + +<p>"What! Is Hyacinthe an accomplice?"</p> + +<p>"No, not of Arsène Lupin, but of the man whom +he believes to be d'Emboise and who promised to +give him a hundred thousand francs within a week +after the marriage."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, the villain!... He planned everything, +foresaw everything...."</p> + +<p>"Foresaw everything, uncle, down to shamming +an attempt upon his life so as to avert suspicion, +down to shamming a wound received in your service."</p> + +<p>"But with what object? Why all these dastardly +tricks?"</p> + +<p>"Angélique has a fortune of eleven million francs. +Your solicitor in Paris was to hand the securities +next week to the counterfeit d'Emboise, who had +only to realize them forthwith and disappear. But, +this very morning, you yourself were to hand +your son-in-law, as a personal wedding-present, +five hundred thousand francs' worth of bearer-stock, +which he has arranged to deliver to one of +his accomplices at nine o'clock this evening, +outside the castle, near the Great Oak, so that +they may be negotiated to-morrow morning in +Brussels."</p> + +<p>The Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme had risen from his +seat and was stamping furiously up and down the +room:</p> + +<p>"At nine o'clock this evening?" he said. "We'll +see about that.... We'll see about that.... I'll +have the gendarmes here before then...."</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin laughs at gendarmes."</p> + +<p>"Let's telegraph to Paris."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, but how about the five hundred thousand +francs?... And, still worse, uncle, the scandal?... +Think of this: your daughter, Angélique de +Sarzeau-Vendôme, married to that swindler, that +thief.... No, no, it would never do...."</p> + +<p>"What then?"</p> + +<p>"What?..."</p> + +<p>The nephew now rose and, stepping to a gun-rack, +took down a rifle and laid it on the table, in +front of the duke:</p> + +<p>"Away in Algeria, uncle, on the verge of the +desert, when we find ourselves face to face with a +wild beast, we do not send for the gendarmes. We +take our rifle and we shoot the wild beast. Otherwise, +the beast would tear us to pieces with its +claws."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I mean that, over there, I acquired the habit +of dispensing with the gendarmes. It is a rather +summary way of doing justice, but it is the best +way, believe me, and to-day, in the present case, +it is the only way. Once the beast is killed, you +and I will bury it in some corner, unseen and unknown."</p> + +<p>"And Angélique?"</p> + +<p>"We will tell her later."</p> + +<p>"What will become of her?"</p> + +<p>"She will be my wife, the wife of the real<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span> +d'Emboise. I desert her to-morrow and return +to Algeria. The divorce will be granted in two +months' time."</p> + +<p>The duke listened, pale and staring, with set +jaws. He whispered:</p> + +<p>"Are you sure that his accomplices on the yacht +will not inform him of your escape?"</p> + +<p>"Not before to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"So that ...?"</p> + +<p>"So that inevitably, at nine o'clock this evening, +Arsène Lupin, on his way to the Great Oak, will +take the patrol-path that follows the old ramparts +and skirts the ruins of the chapel. I shall be there, +in the ruins."</p> + +<p>"I shall be there too," said the Duc de Sarzeau-Vendôme, +quietly, taking down a gun.</p> + +<p>It was now five o'clock. The duke talked some +time longer to his nephew, examined the weapons, +loaded them with fresh cartridges. Then, when +night came, he took d'Emboise through the dark +passages to his bedroom and hid him in an adjoining +closet.</p> + +<p>Nothing further happened until dinner. The duke +forced himself to keep calm during the meal. From +time to time, he stole a glance at his son-in-law and +was surprised at the likeness between him and the +real d'Emboise. It was the same complexion, the +same cast of features, the same cut of hair. Never<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span>theless, +the look of the eye was different, keener +in this case and brighter; and gradually the duke +discovered minor details which had passed unperceived +till then and which proved the fellow's imposture.</p> + +<p>The party broke up after dinner. It was eight +o'clock. The duke went to his room and released +his nephew. Ten minutes later, under cover of +the darkness, they slipped into the ruins, gun in +hand.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Angélique, accompanied by her husband, +had gone to the suite of rooms which she +occupied on the ground-floor of a tower that flanked +the left wing. Her husband stopped at the entrance +to the rooms and said:</p> + +<p>"I am going for a short stroll, Angélique. May +I come to you here, when I return?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she replied.</p> + +<p>He left her and went up to the first floor, which +had been assigned to him as his quarters. The +moment he was alone, he locked the door, noiselessly +opened a window that looked over the +landscape and leant out. He saw a shadow at +the foot of the tower, some hundred feet or more +below him. He whistled and received a faint whistle +in reply.</p> + +<p>He then took from a cupboard a thick leather +satchel, crammed with papers, wrapped it in a piece<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +of black cloth and tied it up. Then he sat down at +the table and wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Glad you got my message, for I think it unsafe +to walk out of the castle with that large bundle of +securities. Here they are. You will be in Paris, +on your motor-cycle, in time to catch the morning +train to Brussels, where you will hand over the bonds +to Z.; and he will negotiate them at once.</p> + + +<p style="margin-left: 48em;">"A. L.</p> + +<p style="margin-top: 1em;">"P. S.—As you pass by the Great Oak, tell our +chaps that I'm coming. I have some instructions +to give them. But everything is going well. No +one here has the least suspicion."</p></div> + +<p>He fastened the letter to the parcel and lowered +both through the window with a length of string:</p> + +<p>"Good," he said. "That's all right. It's a +weight off my mind."</p> + +<p>He waited a few minutes longer, stalking up and +down the room and smiling at the portraits of two +gallant gentlemen hanging on the wall:</p> + +<p>"Horace de Sarzeau-Vendôme, marshal of France.... +And you, the Great Condé ... I salute you, +my ancestors both. Lupin de Sarzeau-Vendôme +will show himself worthy of you."</p> + +<p>At last, when the time came, he took his hat and +went down. But, when he reached the ground-floor,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +Angélique burst from her rooms and exclaimed, with +a distraught air:</p> + +<p>"I say ... if you don't mind ... I think you +had better...."</p> + +<p>And then, without saying more, she went in +again, leaving a vision of irresponsible terror in her +husband's mind.</p> + +<p>"She's out of sorts," he said to himself. "Marriage +doesn't suit her."</p> + +<p>He lit a cigarette and went out, without attaching +importance to an incident that ought to have impressed +him:</p> + +<p>"Poor Angélique! This will all end in a divorce...."</p> + +<p>The night outside was dark, with a cloudy sky.</p> + +<p>The servants were closing the shutters of the +castle. There was no light in the windows, it +being the duke's habit to go to bed soon after +dinner.</p> + +<p>Lupin passed the gate-keeper's lodge and, as he +put his foot on the drawbridge, said:</p> + +<p>"Leave the gate open. I am going for a breath +of air; I shall be back soon."</p> + +<p>The patrol-path was on the right and ran along +one of the old ramparts, which used to surround the +castle with a second and much larger enclosure, +until it ended at an almost demolished postern-gate. +The park, which skirted a hillock and afterward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +followed the side of a deep valley, was bordered on +the left by thick coppices.</p> + +<p>"What a wonderful place for an ambush!" he +said. "A regular cut-throat spot!"</p> + +<p>He stopped, thinking that he heard a noise. But +no, it was a rustling of the leaves. And yet a stone +went rattling down the slopes, bounding against +the rugged projections of the rock. But, strange +to say, nothing seemed to disquiet him. The crisp +sea-breeze came blowing over the plains of the +headland; and he eagerly filled his lungs with it:</p> + +<p>"What a thing it is to be alive!" he thought. +"Still young, a member of the old nobility, a multi-millionaire: +what could a man want more?"</p> + +<p>At a short distance, he saw against the darkness +the yet darker outline of the chapel, the ruins of +which towered above the path. A few drops of +rain began to fall; and he heard a clock strike nine. +He quickened his pace. There was a short descent; +then the path rose again. And suddenly, he stopped +once more.</p> + +<p>A hand had seized his.</p> + +<p>He drew back, tried to release himself.</p> + +<p>But some one stepped from the clump of trees +against which he was brushing; and a voice said; +"Ssh!... Not a word!..."</p> + +<p>He recognized his wife, Angélique:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" he asked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> + +<p>She whispered, so low that he could hardly catch +the words:</p> + +<p>"They are lying in wait for you ... they are in +there, in the ruins, with their guns...."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Keep quiet.... Listen...."</p> + +<p>They stood for a moment without stirring; then +she said:</p> + +<p>"They are not moving.... Perhaps they never +heard me.... Let's go back...."</p> + +<p>"But...."</p> + +<p>"Come with me."</p> + +<p>Her accent was so imperious that he obeyed +without further question. But suddenly she took +fright:</p> + +<p>"Run!... They are coming!... I am sure +of it!..."</p> + +<p>True enough, they heard a sound of footsteps.</p> + +<p>Then, swiftly, still holding him by the hand, she +dragged him, with irresistible energy, along a shortcut, +following its turns without hesitation in spite +of the darkness and the brambles. And they very +soon arrived at the drawbridge.</p> + +<p>She put her arm in his. The gate-keeper touched +his cap. They crossed the courtyard and entered +the castle; and she led him to the corner tower +in which both of them had their apartments:</p> + +<p>"Come in here," she said.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"To your rooms?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Two maids were sitting up for her. Their mistress +ordered them to retire to their bedrooms, on +the third floor.</p> + +<p>Almost immediately after, there was a knock at +the door of the outer room; and a voice called:</p> + +<p>"Angélique!"</p> + +<p>"Is that you, father?" she asked, suppressing +her agitation.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Is your husband here?"</p> + +<p>"We have just come in."</p> + +<p>"Tell him I want to speak to him. Ask him to +come to my room. It's important."</p> + +<p>"Very well, father, I'll send him to you."</p> + +<p>She listened for a few seconds, then returned to +the boudoir where her husband was and said:</p> + +<p>"I am sure my father is still there."</p> + +<p>He moved as though to go out:</p> + +<p>"In that case, if he wants to speak to me...."</p> + +<p>"My father is not alone," she said, quickly, +blocking his way.</p> + +<p>"Who is with him?"</p> + +<p>"His nephew, Jacques d'Emboise."</p> + +<p>There was a moment's silence. He looked at her +with a certain astonishment, failing quite to understand +his wife's attitude. But, without pausing to +go into the matter:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, so that dear old d'Emboise is there?" he +chuckled. "Then the fat's in the fire? Unless, +indeed...."</p> + +<p>"My father knows everything," she said. "I +overheard a conversation between them just now. +His nephew has read certain letters.... I hesitated +at first about telling you.... Then I thought that +my duty...."</p> + +<p>He studied her afresh. But, at once conquered +by the queerness of the situation, he burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"What? Don't my friends on board ship burn +my letters? And they have let their prisoner escape? +The idiots! Oh, when you don't see to everything +yourself!... No matter, its distinctly +humorous.... D'Emboise versus d'Emboise.... +Oh, but suppose I were no longer recognized? Suppose +d'Emboise himself were to confuse me with +himself?"</p> + +<p>He turned to a wash-hand-stand, took a towel, +dipped it in the basin and soaped it and, in the +twinkling of an eye, wiped the make-up from his +face and altered the set of his hair:</p> + +<p>"That's it," he said, showing himself to Angélique +under the aspect in which she had seen him +on the night of the burglary in Paris. "I feel more +comfortable like this for a discussion with my father-in-law."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" she cried, flinging herself +in front of the door.</p> + +<p>"Why, to join the gentlemen."</p> + +<p>"You shall not pass!"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Suppose they kill you?"</p> + +<p>"Kill me?"</p> + +<p>"That's what they mean to do, to kill you ... +to hide your body somewhere.... Who would +know of it?"</p> + +<p>"Very well," he said, "from their point of view, +they are quite right. But, if I don't go to them, +they will come here. That door won't stop them.... +Nor you, I'm thinking. Therefore, it's better +to have done with it."</p> + +<p>"Follow me," commanded Angélique.</p> + +<p>She took up the lamp that lit the room, went into +her bedroom, pushed aside the wardrobe, which +slid easily on hidden castors, pulled back an old +tapestry-hanging, and said:</p> + +<p>"Here is a door that has not been used for years. +My father believes the key to be lost. I have it +here. Unlock the door with it. A staircase in the +wall will take you to the bottom of the tower. You +need only draw the bolts of another door and you +will be free."</p> + +<p>He could hardly believe his ears. Suddenly, he +grasped the meaning of Angélique's whole behaviour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span> +In front of that sad, plain, but wonderfully gentle +face, he stood for a moment discountenanced, almost +abashed. He no longer thought of laughing. A +feeling of respect, mingled with remorse and kindness, +overcame him.</p> + +<p>"Why are you saving me?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"You are my husband."</p> + +<p>He protested:</p> + +<p>"No, no ... I have stolen that title. The law +will never recognize my marriage."</p> + +<p>"My father does not want a scandal," she said.</p> + +<p>"Just so," he replied, sharply, "just so. I foresaw +that; and that was why I had your cousin d'Emboise +near at hand. Once I disappear, he becomes +your husband. He is the man you have married +in the eyes of men."</p> + +<p>"You are the man I have married in the eyes of +the Church."</p> + +<p>"The Church! The Church! There are means +of arranging matters with the Church.... Your +marriage can be annulled."</p> + +<p>"On what pretext that we can admit?"</p> + +<p>He remained silent, thinking over all those points +which he had not considered, all those points which +were trivial and absurd for him, but which were +serious for her, and he repeated several times:</p> + +<p>"This is terrible ... this is terrible.... I +should have anticipated...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span></p> + +<p>And, suddenly, seized with an idea, he clapped his +hands and cried:</p> + +<p>"There, I have it! I'm hand in glove with one +of the chief figures at the Vatican. The Pope never +refuses me anything. I shall obtain an audience +and I have no doubt that the Holy Father, moved +by my entreaties...."</p> + +<p>His plan was so humorous and his delight so +artless that Angélique could not help smiling; and +she said:</p> + +<p>"I am your wife in the eyes of God."</p> + +<p>She gave him a look that showed neither scorn +nor animosity, nor even anger; and he realized +that she omitted to see in him the outlaw and the +evil-doer and remembered only the man who was +her husband and to whom the priest had bound her +until the hour of death.</p> + +<p>He took a step toward her and observed her more +attentively. She did not lower her eyes at first. +But she blushed. And never had he seen so pathetic +a face, marked with such modesty and such dignity. +He said to her, as on that first evening in Paris:</p> + +<p>"Oh, your eyes ... the calm and sadness of +your eyes ... the beauty of your eyes!"</p> + +<p>She dropped her head and stammered:</p> + +<p>"Go away ... go ..."</p> + +<p>In the presence of her confusion, he received a +quick intuition of the deeper feelings that stirred<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +her, unknown to herself. To that spinster soul, of +which he recognized the romantic power of imagination, +the unsatisfied yearnings, the poring over old-world +books, he suddenly represented, in that +exceptional moment and in consequence of the +unconventional circumstances of their meetings, +somebody special, a Byronic hero, a chivalrous +brigand of romance. One evening, in spite of all +obstacles, he, the world-famed adventurer, already +ennobled in song and story and exalted by his own +audacity, had come to her and slipped the magic +ring upon her finger: a mystic and passionate betrothal, +as in the days of the <i>Corsair</i> and <i>Hernani</i>.... +Greatly moved and touched, he was on +the verge of giving way to an enthusiastic impulse +and exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"Let us go away together!... Let us fly!... +You are my bride ... my wife.... Share my +dangers, my sorrows and my joys.... It will be +a strange and vigorous, a proud and magnificent +life...."</p> + +<p>But Angélique's eyes were raised to his again; +and they were so pure and so noble that he blushed +in his turn. This was not the woman to whom such +words could be addressed.</p> + +<p>He whispered:</p> + +<p>"Forgive me.... I am a contemptible wretch.... +I have wrecked your life...."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No," she replied, softly. "On the contrary, +you have shown me where my real life lies."</p> + +<p>He was about to ask her to explain. But she had +opened the door and was pointing the way to him. +Nothing more could be spoken between them. He +went out without a word, bowing very low as he +passed.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>A month later, Angélique de Sarzeau-Vendôme, +Princesse de Bourbon-Condé, lawful wife of Arsène +Lupin, took the veil and, under the name of Sister +Marie-Auguste, buried herself within the walls of +the Visitation Convent.</p> + +<p>On the day of the ceremony, the mother superior +of the convent received a heavy sealed envelope +containing a letter with the following words:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"For Sister Marie-Auguste's poor."</p></div> + +<p>Enclosed with the letter were five hundred bank-notes +of a thousand francs each.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="IX" id="IX"></a>IX</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">THE INVISIBLE PRISONER</h3> + + +<p>One day, at about four o'clock, as evening was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +drawing in, Farmer Goussot, with his four sons, +returned from a day's shooting. They were stalwart +men, all five of them, long of limb, broad-chested, +with faces tanned by sun and wind. And all five +displayed, planted on an enormous neck and +shoulders, the same small head with the low forehead, +thin lips, beaked nose and hard and repellent +cast of countenance. They were feared and disliked +by all around them. They were a money-grubbing, +crafty family; and their word was not to be trusted.</p> + +<p>On reaching the old barbican-wall that surrounds +the Héberville property, the farmer opened a narrow, +massive door, putting the big key back in his pocket +after his sons had passed in. And he walked +behind them, along the path that led through the +orchards. Here and there stood great trees, stripped +by the autumn winds, and clumps of pines, the last +survivors of the ancient park now covered by old +Goussot's farm.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the sons said:</p> + +<p>"I hope mother has lit a log or two."</p> + +<p>"There's smoke coming from the chimney," said +the father.</p> + +<p>The outhouses and the homestead showed at the +end of a lawn; and, above them, the village church, +whose steeple seemed to prick the clouds that trailed +along the sky.</p> + +<p>"All the guns unloaded?" asked old Goussot.</p> + +<p>"Mine isn't," said the eldest. "I slipped in a +bullet to blow a kestrel's head off...."</p> + +<p>He was the one who was proudest of his skill. And +he said to his brothers:</p> + +<p>"Look at that bough, at the top of the cherry +tree. See me snap it off."</p> + +<p>On the bough sat a scarecrow, which had been +there since spring and which protected the leafless +branches with its idiot arms.</p> + +<p>He raised his gun and fired.</p> + +<p>The figure came tumbling down with large, comic +gestures, and was caught on a big, lower branch, +where it remained lying stiff on its stomach, with +a great top hat on its head of rags and its hay-stuffed +legs swaying from right to left above some water +that flowed past the cherry tree through a wooden +trough.</p> + +<p>They all laughed. The father approved:</p> + +<p>"A fine shot, my lad. Besides, the old boy was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +beginning to annoy me. I couldn't take my eyes +from my plate at meals without catching sight of +that oaf...."</p> + +<p>They went a few steps farther. They were not +more than thirty yards from the house, when the +father stopped suddenly and said:</p> + +<p>"Hullo! What's up?"</p> + +<p>The sons also had stopped and stood listening. +One of them said, under his breath:</p> + +<p>"It comes from the house ... from the linen-room...."</p> + +<p>And another spluttered:</p> + +<p>"Sounds like moans.... And mother's alone!"</p> + +<p>Suddenly, a frightful scream rang out. All five +rushed forward. Another scream, followed by cries +of despair.</p> + +<p>"We're here! We're coming!" shouted the eldest, +who was leading.</p> + +<p>And, as it was a roundabout way to the door, he +smashed in a window with his fist and sprang into +the old people's bedroom. The room next to it was +the linen-room, in which Mother Goussot spent most +of her time.</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" he said, seeing her lying on the +floor, with blood all over her face. "Dad! Dad!"</p> + +<p>"What? Where is she?" roared old Goussot, +appearing on the scene. "Good lord, what's this?... +What have they done to your mother?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span></p> + +<p>She pulled herself together and, with outstretched +arm, stammered:</p> + +<p>"Run after him!... This way!... This way!... +I'm all right ... only a scratch or two.... +But run, you! He's taken the money."</p> + +<p>The father and sons gave a bound:</p> + +<p>"He's taken the money!" bellowed old Goussot, +rushing to the door to which his wife was pointing. +"He's taken the money! Stop thief!"</p> + +<p>But a sound of several voices rose at the end of +the passage through which the other three sons were +coming:</p> + +<p>"I saw him! I saw him!"</p> + +<p>"So did I! He ran up the stairs."</p> + +<p>"No, there he is, he's coming down again!"</p> + +<p>A mad steeplechase shook every floor in the +house. Farmer Goussot, on reaching the end of +the passage, caught sight of a man standing by +the front door trying to open it. If he succeeded, +it meant safety, escape through the market square +and the back lanes of the village.</p> + +<p>Interrupted as he was fumbling at the bolts, the +man turning stupid, lost his head, charged at old +Goussot and sent him spinning, dodged the eldest +brother and, pursued by the four sons, doubled back +down the long passage, ran into the old couple's +bedroom, flung his legs through the broken window +and disappeared.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span></p> + +<p>The sons rushed after him across the lawns and +orchards, now darkened by the falling night.</p> + +<p>"The villain's done for," chuckled old Goussot. +"There's no way out for him. The walls are too +high. He's done for, the scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>The two farm-hands returned, at that moment, +from the village; and he told them what had happened +and gave each of them a gun:</p> + +<p>"If the swine shows his nose anywhere near the +house," he said, "let fly at him. Give him no +mercy!"</p> + +<p>He told them where to stand, went to make +sure that the farm-gates, which were only used +for the carts, were locked, and, not till then, remembered +that his wife might perhaps be in need +of aid:</p> + +<p>"Well, mother, how goes it?"</p> + +<p>"Where is he? Have you got him?" she asked, +in a breath.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we're after him. The lads must have +collared him by now."</p> + +<p>The news quite restored her; and a nip of rum +gave her the strength to drag herself to the bed, with +old Goussot's assistance, and to tell her story. For +that matter, there was not much to tell. She +had just lit the fire in the living-hall; and she was +knitting quietly at her bedroom window, waiting +for the men to return, when she thought that she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +heard a slight grating sound in the linen-room next +door:</p> + +<p>"I must have left the cat in there," she thought +to herself.</p> + +<p>She went in, suspecting nothing, and was astonished +to see the two doors of one of the linen-cupboards, +the one in which they hid their money, +wide open. She walked up to it, still without suspicion. +There was a man there, hiding, with his +back to the shelves.</p> + +<p>"But how did he get in?" asked old Goussot.</p> + +<p>"Through the passage, I suppose. We never keep +the back door shut."</p> + +<p>"And then did he go for you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I went for him. He tried to get away."</p> + +<p>"You should have let him."</p> + +<p>"And what about the money?"</p> + +<p>"Had he taken it by then?"</p> + +<p>"Had he taken it! I saw the bundle of bank-notes +in his hands, the sweep! I would have let +him kill me sooner.... Oh, we had a sharp tussle, +I give you my word!"</p> + +<p>"Then he had no weapon?'</p> + +<p>"No more than I did. We had our fingers, our +nails and our teeth. Look here, where he bit me. +And I yelled and screamed! Only, I'm an old +woman you see.... I had to let go of him...."</p> + +<p>"Do you know the man?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I'm pretty sure it was old Trainard."</p> + +<p>"The tramp? Why, of course it's old Trainard!" +cried the farmer. "I thought I knew him too.... +Besides, he's been hanging round the house these +last three days. The old vagabond must have smelt +the money. Aha, Trainard, my man, we shall see +some fun! A number-one hiding in the first place; +and then the police.... I say, mother, you can +get up now, can't you? Then go and fetch the +neighbours.... Ask them to run for the gendarmes.... +By the by, the attorney's youngster has +a bicycle.... How that damned old Trainard +scooted! He's got good legs for his age, he has. +He can run like a hare!"</p> + +<p>Goussot was holding his sides, revelling in the +occurrence. He risked nothing by waiting. No +power on earth could help the tramp escape or keep +him from the sound thrashing which he had earned +and from being conveyed, under safe escort, to the +town gaol.</p> + +<p>The farmer took a gun and went out to his two +labourers:</p> + +<p>"Anything fresh?"</p> + +<p>"No, Farmer Goussot, not yet."</p> + +<p>"We sha'n't have long to wait. Unless old Nick +carries him over the walls...."</p> + +<p>From time to time, they heard the four brothers +hailing one another in the distance. The old bird<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +was evidently making a fight for it, was more active +than they would have thought. Still, with sturdy +fellows like the Goussot brothers....</p> + +<p>However, one of them returned, looking rather +crestfallen, and made no secret of his opinion:</p> + +<p>"It's no use keeping on at it for the present. +It's pitch dark. The old chap must have crept into +some hole. We'll hunt him out to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow! Why, lad, you're off your +chump!" protested the farmer.</p> + +<p>The eldest son now appeared, quite out of breath, +and was of the same opinion as his brother. Why +not wait till next day, seeing that the ruffian was +as safe within the demesne as between the walls +of a prison?</p> + +<p>"Well, I'll go myself," cried old Goussot. "Light +me a lantern, somebody!"</p> + +<p>But, at that moment, three gendarmes arrived; +and a number of village lads also came up to hear +the latest.</p> + +<p>The sergeant of gendarmes was a man of method. +He first insisted on hearing the whole story, in full +detail; then he stopped to think; then he questioned +the four brothers, separately, and took his time for +reflection after each deposition. When he had +learnt from them that the tramp had fled toward +the back of the estate, that he had been lost sight +of repeatedly and that he had finally disappeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +near a place known as the Crows' Knoll, he meditated +once more and announced his conclusion:</p> + +<p>"Better wait. Old Trainard might slip through +our hands, amidst all the confusion of a pursuit +in the dark, and then good-night, everybody!"</p> + +<p>The farmer shrugged his shoulders and, cursing +under his breath, yielded to the sergeant's arguments. +That worthy organized a strict watch, +distributed the brothers Goussot and the lads from +the village under his men's eyes, made sure that the +ladders were locked away and established his headquarters +in the dining-room, where he and Farmer +Goussot sat and nodded over a decanter of old +brandy.</p> + +<p>The night passed quietly. Every two hours, the +sergeant went his rounds and inspected the posts. +There were no alarms. Old Trainard did not budge +from his hole.</p> + +<p>The battle began at break of day.</p> + +<p>It lasted four hours.</p> + +<p>In those four hours, the thirteen acres of land +within the walls were searched, explored, gone over +in every direction by a score of men who beat the +bushes with sticks, trampled over the tall grass, +rummaged in the hollows of the trees and scattered +the heaps of dry leaves. And old Trainard remained +invisible.</p> + +<p>"Well, this is a bit thick!" growled Goussot.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Beats me altogether," retorted the sergeant.</p> + +<p>And indeed there was no explaining the phenomenon. +For, after all, apart from a few old clumps +of laurels and spindle-trees, which were thoroughly +beaten, all the trees were bare. There was no +building, no shed, no stack, nothing, in short, that +could serve as a hiding-place.</p> + +<p>As for the wall, a careful inspection convinced +even the sergeant that it was physically impossible +to scale it.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon, the investigations were begun +all over again in the presence of the examining-magistrate +and the public-prosecutor's deputy. The +results were no more successful. Nay, worse, the +officials looked upon the matter as so suspicious that +they could not restrain their ill-humour and asked:</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure, Farmer Goussot, that you +and your sons haven't been seeing double?"</p> + +<p>"And what about my wife?" retorted the farmer, +red with anger. "Did she see double when the +scamp had her by the throat? Go and look at the +marks, if you doubt me!"</p> + +<p>"Very well. But then where is the scamp?"</p> + +<p>"Here, between those four walls."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Then ferret him out. We give it +up. It's quite clear, that if a man were hidden +within the precincts of this farm, we should have +found him by now."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I swear I'll lay hands on him, true as I stand +here!" shouted Farmer Goussot. "It shall not +be said that I've been robbed of six thousand francs. +Yes, six thousand! There were three cows I sold; +and then the wheat-crop; and then the apples. +Six thousand-franc notes, which I was just going +to take to the bank. Well, I swear to Heaven that +the money's as good as in my pocket!"</p> + +<p>"That's all right and I wish you luck," said +the examining-magistrate, as he went away, followed +by the deputy and the gendarmes.</p> + +<p>The neighbours also walked off in a more or less +facetious mood. And, by the end of the afternoon, +none remained but the Goussots and the two farm-labourers.</p> + +<p>Old Goussot at once explained his plan. By +day, they were to search. At night, they were to +keep an incessant watch. It would last as long as +it had to. Hang it, old Trainard was a man like +other men; and men have to eat and drink! Old +Trainard must needs, therefore, come out of his +earth to eat and drink.</p> + +<p>"At most," said Goussot, "he can have a few +crusts of bread in his pocket, or even pull up a root +or two at night. But, as far as drink's concerned, +no go. There's only the spring. And he'll be a +clever dog if he gets near that."</p> + +<p>He himself, that evening, took up his stand near<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +the spring. Three hours later, his eldest son relieved +him. The other brothers and the farm-hands +slept in the house, each taking his turn of the watch +and keeping all the lamps and candles lit, so that +there might be no surprise.</p> + +<p>So it went on for fourteen consecutive nights. +And for fourteen days, while two of the men and +Mother Goussot remained on guard, the five others +explored the Héberville ground.</p> + +<p>At the end of that fortnight, not a sign.</p> + +<p>The farmer never ceased storming. He sent for a +retired detective-inspector who lived in the neighbouring +town. The inspector stayed with him for a +whole week. He found neither old Trainard nor +the least clue that could give them any hope of +finding old Trainard.</p> + +<p>"It's a bit thick!" repeated Farmer Goussot. +"For he's there, the rascal! As far as being anywhere +goes, he's there. So...."</p> + +<p>Planting himself on the threshold, he railed at the +enemy at the top of his voice:</p> + +<p>"You blithering idiot, would you rather croak +in your hole than fork out the money? Then +croak, you pig!"</p> + +<p>And Mother Goussot, in her turn, yelped, in her +shrill voice:</p> + +<p>"Is it prison you're afraid of? Hand over the +notes and you can hook it!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span></p> + +<p>But old Trainard did not breathe a word; and +the husband and wife tired their lungs in vain.</p> + +<p>Shocking days passed. Farmer Goussot could +no longer sleep, lay shivering with fever. The +sons became morose and quarrelsome and never +let their guns out of their hands, having no other +idea but to shoot the tramp.</p> + +<p>It was the one topic of conversation in the village; +and the Goussot story, from being local at first, +soon went the round of the press. Newspaper-reporters +came from the assize-town, from Paris +itself, and were rudely shown the door by Farmer +Goussot.</p> + +<p>"Each man his own house," he said. "You +mind your business. I mind mine. It's nothing +to do with any one."</p> + +<p>"Still, Farmer Goussot...."</p> + +<p>"Go to blazes!"</p> + +<p>And he slammed the door in their face.</p> + +<p>Old Trainard had now been hidden within the +walls of Héberville for something like four weeks. +The Goussots continued their search as doggedly +and confidently as ever, but with daily decreasing +hope, as though they were confronted with one of +those mysterious obstacles which discourage human +effort. And the idea that they would never see +their money again began to take root in them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span></p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>One fine morning, at about ten o'clock, a motor-car, +crossing the village square at full speed, broke +down and came to a dead stop.</p> + +<p>The driver, after a careful inspection, declared +that the repairs would take some little time, whereupon +the owner of the car resolved to wait at the +inn and lunch. He was a gentleman on the right +side of forty, with close-cropped side-whiskers and +a pleasant expression of face; and he soon made +himself at home with the people at the inn.</p> + +<p>Of course, they told him the story of the Goussots. +He had not heard it before, as he had been abroad; +but it seemed to interest him greatly. He made +them give him all the details, raised objections, +discussed various theories with a number of people +who were eating at the same table and ended by +exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! It can't be so intricate as all that. +I have had some experience of this sort of thing. +And, if I were on the premises...."</p> + +<p>"That's easily arranged," said the inn-keeper. +"I know Farmer Goussot.... He won't object...."</p> + +<p>The request was soon made and granted. Old +Goussot was in one of those frames of mind when +we are less disposed to protest against outside interference. +His wife, at any rate, was very firm:</p> + +<p>"Let the gentleman come, if he wants to."</p> + +<p>The gentleman paid his bill and instructed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span> +driver to try the car on the high-road as soon as the +repairs were finished:</p> + +<p>"I shall want an hour," he said, "no more. Be +ready in an hour's time."</p> + +<p>Then he went to Farmer Goussot's.</p> + +<p>He did not say much at the farm. Old Goussot, +hoping against hope, was lavish with information, +took his visitor along the walls down to the little +door opening on the fields, produced the key and +gave minute details of all the searches that had been +made so far.</p> + +<p>Oddly enough, the stranger, who hardly spoke, +seemed not to listen either. He merely looked, with +a rather vacant gaze. When they had been round +the estate, old Goussot asked, anxiously:</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well what?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think you know?"</p> + +<p>The visitor stood for a moment without answering. +Then he said:</p> + +<p>"No, nothing."</p> + +<p>"Why, of course not!" cried the farmer, throwing +up his arms. "How should you know! It's all +hanky-panky. Shall I tell you what I think? +Well, that old Trainard has been so jolly clever that +he's lying dead in his hole ... and the bank-notes +are rotting with him. Do you hear? You can +take my word for it."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p> + +<p>The gentleman said, very calmly:</p> + +<p>"There's only one thing that interests me. The +tramp, all said and done, was free at night and able +to feed on what he could pick up. But how about +drinking?"</p> + +<p>"Out of the question!" shouted the farmer. +"Quite out of the question! There's no water except +this; and we have kept watch beside it every night."</p> + +<p>"It's a spring. Where does it rise?"</p> + +<p>"Here, where we stand."</p> + +<p>"Is there enough pressure to bring it into the +pool of itself?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And where does the water go when it runs out +of the pool?"</p> + +<p>"Into this pipe here, which goes under ground +and carries it to the house, for use in the kitchen. +So there's no way of drinking, seeing that we were +there and that the spring is twenty yards from the +house."</p> + +<p>"Hasn't it rained during the last four weeks?"</p> + +<p>"Not once: I've told you that already."</p> + +<p>The stranger went to the spring and examined +it. The trough was formed of a few boards of +wood joined together just above the ground; and +the water ran through it, slow and clear.</p> + +<p>"The water's not more than a foot deep, is it?" +he asked.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span></p> + +<p>In order to measure it, he picked up from the +grass a straw which he dipped into the pool. But, +as he was stooping, he suddenly broke off and looked +around him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how funny!" he said, bursting into a peal +of laughter.</p> + +<p>"Why, what's the matter?" spluttered old +Goussot, rushing toward the pool, as though a +man could have lain hidden between those narrow +boards.</p> + +<p>And Mother Goussot clasped her hands.</p> + +<p>"What is it? Have you seen him? Where is +he?"</p> + +<p>"Neither in it nor under it," replied the stranger, +who was still laughing.</p> + +<p>He made for the house, eagerly followed by the +farmer, the old woman and the four sons. The +inn-keeper was there also, as were the people from +the inn who had been watching the stranger's movements. +And there was a dead silence, while they +waited for the extraordinary disclosure.</p> + +<p>"It's as I thought," he said, with an amused +expression. "The old chap had to quench his +thirst somewhere; and, as there was only the +spring...."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but look here," growled Farmer Goussot, +"we should have seen him!"</p> + +<p>"It was at night."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span></p> + +<p>"We should have heard him ... and seen him +too, as we were close by."</p> + +<p>"So was he."</p> + +<p>"And he drank the water from the pool?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"From a little way off."</p> + +<p>"With what?"</p> + +<p>"With this."</p> + +<p>And the stranger showed the straw which he had +picked up:</p> + +<p>"There, here's the straw for the customer's long +drink. You will see, there's more of it than usual: +in fact, it is made of three straws stuck into one +another. That was the first thing I noticed: those +three straws fastened together. The proof is conclusive."</p> + +<p>"But, hang it all, the proof of what?" cried +Farmer Goussot, irritably.</p> + +<p>The stranger took a shotgun from the rack.</p> + +<p>"Is it loaded?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the youngest of the brothers. "I use +it to kill the sparrows with, for fun. It's small shot."</p> + +<p>"Capital! A peppering where it won't hurt him +will do the trick."</p> + +<p>His face suddenly assumed a masterful look. +He gripped the farmer by the arm and rapped out, +in an imperious tone:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Farmer Goussot. I'm not here +to do policeman's work; and I won't have the poor +beggar locked up at any price. Four weeks of +starvation and fright is good enough for anybody. +So you've got to swear to me, you and your sons, +that you'll let him off without hurting him."</p> + +<p>"He must hand over the money!"</p> + +<p>"Well, of course. Do you swear?"</p> + +<p>"I swear."</p> + +<p>The gentleman walked back to the door-sill, at +the entrance to the orchard. He took a quick aim, +pointing his gun a little in the air, in the direction +of the cherry tree which overhung the spring. He +fired. A hoarse cry rang from the tree; and the +scarecrow which had been straddling the main +branch for a month past came tumbling to the +ground, only to jump up at once and make off as +fast as its legs could carry it.</p> + +<p>There was a moment's amazement, followed by +outcries. The sons darted in pursuit and were not +long in coming up with the runaway, hampered as +he was by his rags and weakened by privation. +But the stranger was already protecting him against +their wrath:</p> + +<p>"Hands off there! This man belongs to me. +I won't have him touched.... I hope I haven't +stung you up too much, Trainard?"</p> + +<p>Standing on his straw legs wrapped round with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +strips of tattered cloth, with his arms and his +whole body clad in the same materials, his head +swathed in linen, tightly packed like a sausage, +the old chap still had the stiff appearance of a +lay-figure. And the whole effect was so ludicrous +and so unexpected that the onlookers screamed +with laughter.</p> + +<p>The stranger unbound his head; and they saw a +veiled mask of tangled grey beard encroaching on +every side upon a skeleton face lit up by two eyes +burning with fever.</p> + +<p>The laughter was louder than ever.</p> + +<p>"The money! The six notes!" roared the +farmer.</p> + +<p>The stranger kept him at a distance:</p> + +<p>"One moment ... we'll give you that back, +sha'n't we, Trainard?"</p> + +<p>And, taking his knife and cutting away the straw +and cloth, he jested, cheerily:</p> + +<p>"You poor old beggar, what a guy you look! +But how on earth did you manage to pull off that +trick? You must be confoundedly clever, or else +you had the devil's own luck.... So, on the first +night, you used the breathing-time they left you +to rig yourself in these togs! Not a bad idea. Who +could ever suspect a scarecrow?... They were so +accustomed to seeing it stuck up in its tree! But, +poor old daddy, how uncomfortable you must have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +felt, lying flat up there on your stomach, with your +arms and legs dangling down! All day long, like +that! The deuce of an attitude! And how you +must have been put to it, when you ventured to +move a limb, eh? And how you must have funked +going to sleep!... And then you had to eat! +And drink! And you heard the sentry and felt +the barrel of his gun within a yard of your nose! +Brrrr!... But the trickiest of all, you know, +was your bit of straw!... Upon my word, when +I think that, without a sound, without a movement +so to speak, you had to fish out lengths of straw +from your toggery, fix them end to end, let your apparatus +down to the water and suck up the heavenly +moisture drop by drop.... Upon my word, one +could scream with admiration.... Well done, Trainard...." +And he added, between his teeth, "Only +you're in a very unappetizing state, my man. +Haven't you washed yourself all this month, you +old pig? After all, you had as much water as +you wanted!... Here, you people, I hand him +over to you. I'm going to wash my hands, that's +what I'm going to do."</p> + +<p>Farmer Goussot and his four sons grabbed at +the prey which he was abandoning to them:</p> + +<p>"Now then, come along, fork out the money."</p> + +<p>Dazed as he was, the tramp still managed to +simulate astonishment.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't put on that idiot look," growled the +farmer. "Come on. Out with the six notes...."</p> + +<p>"What?... What do you want of me?" stammered +old Trainard.</p> + +<p>"The money ... on the nail...."</p> + +<p>"What money?"</p> + +<p>"The bank-notes."</p> + +<p>"The bank-notes?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm getting sick of you! Here, lads...."</p> + +<p>They laid the old fellow flat, tore off the rags +that composed his clothes, felt and searched him +all over.</p> + +<p>There was nothing on him.</p> + +<p>"You thief and you robber!" yelled old Goussot. +"What have you done with it?"</p> + +<p>The old beggar seemed more dazed than ever. +Too cunning to confess, he kept on whining:</p> + +<p>"What do you want of me?... Money? +I haven't three sous to call my own...."</p> + +<p>But his eyes, wide with wonder, remained fixed +upon his clothes; and he himself seemed not to understand.</p> + +<p>The Goussots' rage could no longer be restrained. +They rained blows upon him, which did not improve +matters. But the farmer was convinced that Trainard +had hidden the money before turning himself +into the scarecrow:</p> + +<p>"Where have you put it, you scum? Out with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +it! In what part of the orchard have you hidden +it?"</p> + +<p>"The money?" repeated the tramp with a stupid +look.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the money! The money which you've +buried somewhere.... Oh, if we don't find it, your +goose is cooked!... We have witnesses, haven't +we?... All of you, friends, eh? And then the +gentleman...."</p> + +<p>He turned, with the intention of addressing the +stranger, in the direction of the spring, which was +thirty or forty steps to the left. And he was quite +surprised not to see him washing his hands there:</p> + +<p>"Has he gone?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Some one answered:</p> + +<p>"No, he lit a cigarette and went for a stroll in +the orchard."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's all right!" said the farmer. "He's +the sort to find the notes for us, just as he found +the man."</p> + +<p>"Unless ..." said a voice.</p> + +<p>"Unless what?" echoed the farmer. "What +do you mean? Have you something in your head? +Out with it, then! What is it?"</p> + +<p>But he interrupted himself suddenly, seized with +a doubt; and there was a moment's silence. The +same idea dawned on all the country-folk. The +stranger's arrival at Héberville, the breakdown of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +his motor, his manner of questioning the people at +the inn and of gaining admission to the farm: were +not all these part and parcel of a put-up job, the +trick of a cracksman who had learnt the story from +the papers and who had come to try his luck on the +spot?...</p> + +<p>"Jolly smart of him!" said the inn-keeper. +"He must have taken the money from old Trainard's +pocket, before our eyes, while he was searching +him."</p> + +<p>"Impossible!" spluttered Farmer Goussot. "He +would have been seen going out that way ... by +the house ... whereas he's strolling in the orchard."</p> + +<p>Mother Goussot, all of a heap, suggested:</p> + +<p>"The little door at the end, down there?..."</p> + +<p>"The key never leaves me."</p> + +<p>"But you showed it to him."</p> + +<p>"Yes; and I took it back again.... Look, here +it is."</p> + +<p>He clapped his hand to his pocket and uttered a +cry:</p> + +<p>"Oh, dash it all, it's gone!... He's sneaked +it!..."</p> + +<p>He at once rushed away, followed and escorted +by his sons and a number of the villagers.</p> + +<p>When they were halfway down the orchard, they +heard the throb of a motor-car, obviously the one +belonging to the stranger, who had given orders<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +to his chauffeur to wait for him at that lower +entrance.</p> + +<p style="margin-bottom: 1.5em;">When the Goussots reached the door, they saw +scrawled with a brick, on the worm-eaten panel, the +two words:</p> + +<div class="center">"ARSÈNE LUPIN."</div> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>Stick to it as the angry Goussots might, they found +it impossible to prove that old Trainard had stolen +any money. Twenty persons had to bear witness +that, when all was said, nothing was discovered +on his person. He escaped with a few months' +imprisonment for the assault.</p> + +<p>He did not regret them. As soon as he was +released, he was secretly informed that, every quarter, +on a given date, at a given hour, under a given +milestone on a given road, he would find three gold +louis.</p> + +<p>To a man like old Trainard that means wealth.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2 class="chapter"><a name="X" id="X"></a>X</h2> + +<h3 class="chapter2">EDITH SWAN-NECK</h3> + + +<p>"Arsène Lupin, what's your real opinion of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +Inspector Ganimard?"</p> + +<p>"A very high one, my dear fellow."</p> + +<p>"A very high one? Then why do you never +miss a chance of turning him into ridicule?"</p> + +<p>"It's a bad habit; and I'm sorry for it. But +what can I say? It's the way of the world. Here's +a decent detective-chap, here's a whole pack of +decent men, who stand for law and order, who +protect us against the apaches, who risk their lives +for honest people like you and me; and we have +nothing to give them in return but flouts and gibes. +It's preposterous!"</p> + +<p>"Bravo, Lupin! you're talking like a respectable +ratepayer!"</p> + +<p>"What else am I? I may have peculiar views +about other people's property; but I assure you +that it's very different when my own's at stake. +By Jove, it doesn't do to lay hands on what belongs +to me! Then I'm out for blood! Aha! It's <i>my</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +pocket, <i>my</i> money, <i>my</i> watch ... hands off! I +have the soul of a conservative, my dear fellow, the +instincts of a retired tradesman and a due respect +for every sort of tradition and authority. And +that is why Ganimard inspires me with no little +gratitude and esteem."</p> + +<p>"But not much admiration?"</p> + +<p>"Plenty of admiration too. Over and above the +dauntless courage which comes natural to all those +gentry at the Criminal Investigation Department, +Ganimard possesses very sterling qualities: decision, +insight and judgment. I have watched him at +work. He's somebody, when all's said. Do you +know the Edith Swan-neck story, as it was called?"</p> + +<p>"I know as much as everybody knows."</p> + +<p>"That means that you don't know it at all. +Well, that job was, I daresay, the one which I +thought out most cleverly, with the utmost care +and the utmost precaution, the one which I shrouded +in the greatest darkness and mystery, the one which +it took the biggest generalship to carry through. +It was a regular game of chess, played according to +strict scientific and mathematical rules. And yet +Ganimard ended by unravelling the knot. Thanks +to him, they know the truth to-day on the Quai +des Orfèvres. And it is a truth quite out of the +common, I assure you."</p> + +<p>"May I hope to hear it?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Certainly ... one of these days ... when I +have time.... But the Brunelli is dancing at +the Opera to-night; and, if she were not to see me +in my stall ...!"</p> + +<p>I do not meet Lupin often. He confesses with +difficulty, when it suits him. It was only gradually, +by snatches, by odds and ends of confidences, that +I was able to obtain the different incidents and to +piece the story together in all its details.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>The main features are well known and I will +merely mention the facts.</p> + +<p>Three years ago, when the train from Brest +arrived at Rennes, the door of one of the luggage +vans was found smashed in. This van had been +booked by Colonel Sparmiento, a rich Brazilian, +who was travelling with his wife in the same train. +It contained a complete set of tapestry-hangings. +The case in which one of these was packed had been +broken open and the tapestry had disappeared.</p> + +<p>Colonel Sparmiento started proceedings against +the railway-company, claiming heavy damages, not +only for the stolen tapestry, but also for the loss +in value which the whole collection suffered in consequence +of the theft.</p> + +<p>The police instituted inquiries. The company +offered a large reward. A fortnight later, a letter +which had come undone in the post was opened by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +the authorities and revealed the fact that the theft +had been carried out under the direction of Arsène +Lupin and that a package was to leave next day +for the United States. That same evening, the +tapestry was discovered in a trunk deposited in the +cloak-room at the Gare Saint-Lazare.</p> + +<p>The scheme, therefore, had miscarried. Lupin felt +the disappointment so much that he vented his ill-humour +in a communication to Colonel Sparmiento, +ending with the following words, which were clear +enough for anybody:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"It was very considerate of me to take only +one. Next time, I shall take the twelve. <i>Verbum +sap.</i></p> + +<p style="margin-left: 40em;">"A. L."</p></div> + +<p>Colonel Sparmiento had been living for some +months in a house standing at the end of a small +garden at the corner of the Rue de la Faisanderie and +the Rue Dufresnoy. He was a rather thick-set, +broad-shouldered man, with black hair and a swarthy +skin, always well and quietly dressed. He was +married to an extremely pretty but delicate Englishwoman, +who was much upset by the business of the +tapestries. From the first she implored her husband +to sell them for what they would fetch. The Colonel +had much too forcible and dogged a nature to yield +to what he had every right to describe as a woman's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span> +fancies. He sold nothing, but he redoubled his +precautions and adopted every measure that was +likely to make an attempt at burglary impossible.</p> + +<p>To begin with, so that he might confine his watch +to the garden-front, he walled up all the windows +on the ground-floor and the first floor overlooking +the Rue Dufresnoy. Next, he enlisted the services +of a firm which made a speciality of protecting +private houses against robberies. Every window +of the gallery in which the tapestries were hung +was fitted with invisible burglar alarms, the position +of which was known, to none but himself. These, +at the least touch, switched on all the electric +lights and set a whole system of bells and gongs +ringing.</p> + +<p>In addition to this, the insurance companies to +which he applied refused to grant policies to any +considerable amount unless he consented to let +three men, supplied by the companies and paid by +himself, occupy the ground-floor of his house every +night. They selected for the purpose three ex-detectives, +tried and trustworthy men, all of whom +hated Lupin like poison. As for the servants, the +colonel had known them for years and was ready to +vouch for them.</p> + +<p>After taking these steps and organizing the +defence of the house as though it were a fortress, +the colonel gave a great house-warming, a sort of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> +private view, to which he invited the members of +both his clubs, as well as a certain number of ladies, +journalists, art-patrons and critics.</p> + +<p>They felt, as they passed through the garden-gate, +much as if they were walking into a prison. +The three private detectives, posted at the foot of +the stairs, asked for each visitor's invitation card +and eyed him up and down suspiciously, making him +feel as though they were going to search his pockets +or take his finger-prints.</p> + +<p>The colonel, who received his guests on the first +floor, made laughing apologies and seemed delighted +at the opportunity of explaining the arrangements +which he had invented to secure the safety of his +hangings. His wife stood by him, looking charmingly +young and pretty, fair-haired, pale and sinuous, +with a sad and gentle expression, the expression +of resignation often worn by those who are threatened +by fate.</p> + +<p>When all the guests had come, the garden-gates +and the hall-doors were closed. Then everybody +filed into the middle gallery, which was reached +through two steel doors, while its windows, with +their huge shutters, were protected by iron bars. +This was where the twelve tapestries were kept.</p> + +<p>They were matchless works of art and, taking +their inspiration from the famous Bayeux Tapestry, +attributed to Queen Matilda, they represented the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +story of the Norman Conquest. They had been +ordered in the fourteenth century by the descendant +of a man-at-arms in William the Conqueror's +train; were executed by Jehan Gosset, a famous +Arras weaver; and were discovered, five hundred +years later, in an old Breton manor-house. On +hearing of this, the colonel had struck a bargain +for fifty thousand francs. They were worth ten +times the money.</p> + +<p>But the finest of the twelve hangings composing +the set, the most uncommon because the subject +had not been treated by Queen Matilda, was the +one which Arsène Lupin had stolen and which +had been so fortunately recovered. It portrayed +Edith Swan-neck on the battlefield of Hastings, +seeking among the dead for the body of her sweetheart +Harold, last of the Saxon kings.</p> + +<p>The guests were lost in enthusiasm over this +tapestry, over the unsophisticated beauty of the +design, over the faded colours, over the life-like +grouping of the figures and the pitiful sadness of +the scene. Poor Edith Swan-neck stood drooping +like an overweighted lily. Her white gown revealed +the lines of her languid figure. Her long, +tapering hands were outstretched in a gesture of +terror and entreaty. And nothing could be more +mournful than her profile, over which flickered +the most dejected and despairing of smiles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A harrowing smile," remarked one of the +critics, to whom the others listened with deference. +"A very charming smile, besides; and it reminds +me, Colonel, of the smile of Mme. Sparmiento."</p> + +<p>And seeing that the observation seemed to meet +with approval, he enlarged upon his idea:</p> + +<p>"There are other points of resemblance that +struck me at once, such as the very graceful curve +of the neck and the delicacy of the hands ... and +also something about the figure, about the general +attitude...."</p> + +<p>"What you say is so true," said the colonel, +"that I confess that it was this likeness that decided +me to buy the hangings. And there was +another reason, which was that, by a really curious +chance, my wife's name happens to be Edith. I +have called her Edith Swan-neck ever since." +And the colonel added, with a laugh, "I hope that +the coincidence will stop at this and that my dear +Edith will never have to go in search of her true-love's +body, like her prototype."</p> + +<p>He laughed as he uttered these words, but his +laugh met with no echo; and we find the same +impression of awkward silence in all the accounts +of the evening that appeared during the next few +days. The people standing near him did not know +what to say. One of them tried to jest:</p> + +<p>"Your name isn't Harold, Colonel?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, thank you," he declared, with continued +merriment. "No, that's not my name; nor am I +in the least like the Saxon king."</p> + +<p>All have since agreed in stating that, at that +moment, as the colonel finished speaking, the first +alarm rang from the windows—the right or the +middle window: opinions differ on this point—rang +short and shrill on a single note. The peal +of the alarm-bell was followed by an exclamation +of terror uttered by Mme. Sparmiento, who caught +hold of her husband's arm. He cried:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter? What does this mean?"</p> + +<p>The guests stood motionless, with their eyes +staring at the windows. The colonel repeated:</p> + +<p>"What does it mean? I don't understand. +No one but myself knows where that bell is +fixed...."</p> + +<p>And, at that moment—here again the evidence +is unanimous—at that moment came sudden, absolute +darkness, followed immediately by the maddening +din of all the bells and all the gongs, from +top to bottom of the house, in every room and at +every window.</p> + +<p>For a few seconds, a stupid disorder, an insane +terror, reigned. The women screamed. The men +banged with their fists on the closed doors. They +hustled and fought. People fell to the floor and +were trampled under foot. It was like a panic-<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span>stricken +crowd, scared by threatening flames or by +a bursting shell. And, above the uproar, rose +the colonel's voice, shouting:</p> + +<p>"Silence!... Don't move!... It's all right!... +The switch is over there, in the corner.... +Wait a bit.... Here!"</p> + +<p>He had pushed his way through his guests and +reached a corner of the gallery; and, all at once, +the electric light blazed up again, while the pandemonium +of bells stopped.</p> + +<p>Then, in the sudden light, a strange sight met +the eyes. Two ladies had fainted. Mme. Sparmiento, +hanging to her husband's arm, with her +knees dragging on the floor, and livid in the face, +appeared half dead. The men, pale, with their +neckties awry, looked as if they had all been in +the wars.</p> + +<p>"The tapestries are there!" cried some one.</p> + +<p>There was a great surprise, as though the disappearance +of those hangings ought to have been +the natural result and the only plausible explanation +of the incident. But nothing had been moved. +A few valuable pictures, hanging on the walls, +were there still. And, though the same din had +reverberated all over the house, though all the +rooms had been thrown into darkness, the detectives +had seen no one entering or trying to +enter.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Besides," said the colonel, "it's only the windows +of the gallery that have alarms. Nobody +but myself understands how they work; and I had +not set them yet."</p> + +<p>People laughed loudly at the way in which they +had been frightened, but they laughed without +conviction and in a more or less shamefaced fashion, +for each of them was keenly alive to the absurdity +of his conduct. And they had but one thought—to +get out of that house where, say what you would, +the atmosphere was one of agonizing anxiety.</p> + +<p>Two journalists stayed behind, however; and the +colonel joined them, after attending to Edith and +handing her over to her maids. The three of +them, together with the detectives, made a search +that did not lead to the discovery of anything of +the least interest. Then the colonel sent for some +champagne; and the result was that it was not until +a late hour—to be exact, a quarter to three in +the morning—that the journalists took their leave, +the colonel retired to his quarters, and the detectives +withdrew to the room which had been set +aside for them on the ground-floor.</p> + +<p>They took the watch by turns, a watch consisting, +in the first place, in keeping awake and, +next, in looking round the garden and visiting the +gallery at intervals.</p> + +<p>These orders were scrupulously carried out,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> +except between five and seven in the morning, +when sleep gained the mastery and the men ceased +to go their rounds. But it was broad daylight out +of doors. Besides, if there had been the least sound +of bells, would they not have woke up?</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, when one of them, at twenty minutes +past seven, opened the door of the gallery and +flung back the shutters, he saw that the twelve +tapestries were gone.</p> + +<p>This man and the others were blamed afterward +for not giving the alarm at once and for starting +their own investigations before informing the +colonel and telephoning to the local commissary. +Yet this very excusable delay can hardly be said +to have hampered the action of the police. In +any case, the colonel was not told until half-past +eight. He was dressed and ready to go out. The +news did not seem to upset him beyond measure, +or, at least, he managed to control his emotion. +But the effort must have been too much for him, +for he suddenly dropped into a chair and, for some +moments, gave way to a regular fit of despair and +anguish, most painful to behold in a man of his +resolute appearance.</p> + +<p>Recovering and mastering himself, he went to +the gallery, stared at the bare walls and then sat +down at a table and hastily scribbled a letter, which +he put into an envelope and sealed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There," he said. "I'm in a hurry.... I +have an important engagement.... Here is a +letter for the commissary of police." And, seeing +the detectives' eyes upon him, he added, "I am +giving the commissary my views ... telling him +of a suspicion that occurs to me.... He must +follow it up.... I will do what I can...."</p> + +<p>He left the house at a run, with excited gestures +which the detectives were subsequently to remember.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, the commissary of police +arrived. He was handed the letter, which contained +the following words:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"I am at the end of my tether. The theft of +those tapestries completes the crash which I have +been trying to conceal for the past year. I bought +them as a speculation and was hoping to get a million +francs for them, thanks to the fuss that was +made about them. As it was, an American offered +me six hundred thousand. It meant my salvation. +This means utter destruction.</p> + +<p>"I hope that my dear wife will forgive the sorrow +which I am bringing upon her. Her name +will be on my lips at the last moment."</p></div> + +<p>Mme. Sparmiento was informed. She remained +aghast with horror, while inquiries were instituted +and attempts made to trace the colonel's movements.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span></p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon, a telephone-message +came from Ville d'Avray. A gang of railway-men +had found a man's body lying at the entrance to +a tunnel after a train had passed. The body was +hideously mutilated; the face had lost all resemblance +to anything human. There were no papers +in the pockets. But the description answered to +that of the colonel.</p> + +<p>Mme. Sparmiento arrived at Ville d'Avray, by +motor-car, at seven o'clock in the evening. She +was taken to a room at the railway-station. When +the sheet that covered it was removed, Edith, Edith +Swan-neck, recognized her husband's body.</p> + +<hr class="hr2" /> + +<p>In these circumstances, Lupin did not receive his +usual good notices in the press:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Let him look to himself," jeered one leader-writer, +summing up the general opinion. "It would +not take many exploits of this kind for him to forfeit +the popularity which has not been grudged him +hitherto. We have no use for Lupin, except when +his rogueries are perpetrated at the expense of +shady company-promoters, foreign adventurers, +German barons, banks and financial companies. +And, above all, no murders! A burglar we can +put up with; but a murderer, no! If he is not +directly guilty, he is at least responsible for this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> +death. There is blood upon his hands; the arms +on his escutcheon are stained gules...."</p></div> + +<p>The public anger and disgust were increased by +the pity which Edith's pale face aroused. The +guests of the night before gave their version of +what had happened, omitting none of the impressive +details; and a legend formed straightway around +the fair-haired Englishwoman, a legend that assumed +a really tragic character, owing to the popular story +of the swan-necked heroine.</p> + +<p>And yet the public could not withhold its admiration +of the extraordinary skill with which the theft +had been effected. The police explained it, after +a fashion. The detectives had noticed from the +first and subsequently stated that one of the three +windows of the gallery was wide open. There +could be no doubt that Lupin and his confederates +had entered through this window. It seemed a +very plausible suggestion. Still, in that case, how +were they able, first, to climb the garden railings, +in coming and going, without being seen; secondly, +to cross the garden and put up a ladder on the flower-border, +without leaving the least trace behind; +thirdly, to open the shutters and the window, without +starting the bells and switching on the lights in +the house?</p> + +<p>The police accused the three detectives of com<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span>plicity. +The magistrate in charge of the case examined +them at length, made minute inquiries +into their private lives and stated formally that they +were above all suspicion. As for the tapestries, +there seemed to be no hope that they would be +recovered.</p> + +<p>It was at this moment that Chief-inspector Ganimard +returned from India, where he had been hunting +for Lupin on the strength of a number of most +convincing proofs supplied by former confederates +of Lupin himself. Feeling that he had once +more been tricked by his everlasting adversary, +fully believing that Lupin had dispatched him on +this wild-goose chase so as to be rid of him during +the business of the tapestries, he asked for a fortnight's +leave of absence, called on Mme. Sparmiento +and promised to avenge her husband.</p> + +<p>Edith had reached the point at which not even +the thought of vengeance relieves the sufferer's +pain. She had dismissed the three detectives on +the day of the funeral and engaged just one man +and an old cook-housekeeper to take the place of +the large staff of servants the sight of whom reminded +her too cruelly of the past. Not caring +what happened, she kept her room and left Ganimard +free to act as he pleased.</p> + +<p>He took up his quarters on the ground-floor and +at once instituted a series of the most minute in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span>vestigations. +He started the inquiry afresh, questioned +the people in the neighbourhood, studied +the distribution of the rooms and set each of the +burglar-alarms going thirty and forty times over.</p> + +<p>At the end of the fortnight, he asked for an extension +of leave. The chief of the detective-service, +who was at that time M. Dudouis, came to +see him and found him perched on the top of a +ladder, in the gallery. That day, the chief-inspector +admitted that all his searches had proved +useless.</p> + +<p>Two days later, however, M. Dudouis called +again and discovered Ganimard in a very thoughtful +frame of mind. A bundle of newspapers lay +spread in front of him. At last, in reply to +his superior's urgent questions, the chief-inspector +muttered:</p> + +<p>"I know nothing, chief, absolutely nothing; but +there's a confounded notion worrying me.... Only +it seems so absurd.... And then it doesn't explain +things.... On the contrary, it confuses them +rather...."</p> + +<p>"Then ...?"</p> + +<p>"Then I implore you, chief, to have a little +patience ... to let me go my own way. But if +I telephone to you, some day or other, suddenly, +you must jump into a taxi, without losing a minute. +It will mean that I have discovered the secret."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> + +<p>Forty-eight hours passed. Then, one morning, +M. Dudouis received a telegram:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Going to Lille.</p> + +<p style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: 9em;">"Ganimard."</p></div> + +<p>"What the dickens can he want to go to Lille +for?" wondered the chief-detective.</p> + +<p>The day passed without news, followed by another +day. But M. Dudouis had every confidence in +Ganimard. He knew his man, knew that the old +detective was not one of those people who excite +themselves for nothing. When Ganimard "got a +move on him," it meant that he had sound reasons +for doing so.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, on the evening of that second +day, M. Dudouis was called to the telephone.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, chief?"</p> + +<p>"Is it Ganimard speaking?"</p> + +<p>Cautious men both, they began by making +sure of each other's identity. As soon as his mind +was eased on this point, Ganimard continued, hurriedly:</p> + +<p>"Ten men, chief, at once. And please come +yourself."</p> + +<p>"Where are you?"</p> + +<p>"In the house, on the ground-floor. But I will +wait for you just inside the garden-gate."</p> + +<p>"I'll come at once. In a taxi, of course?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, chief. Stop the taxi fifty yards from the +house. I'll let you in when you whistle."</p> + +<p>Things took place as Ganimard had arranged. +Shortly after midnight, when all the lights were out +on the upper floors, he slipped into the street and +went to meet M. Dudouis. There was a hurried +consultation. The officers distributed themselves +as Ganimard ordered. Then the chief and the +chief-inspector walked back together, noiselessly +crossed the garden and closeted themselves with +every precaution:</p> + +<p>"Well, what's it all about?" asked M. Dudouis. +"What does all this mean? Upon my word, we +look like a pair of conspirators!"</p> + +<p>But Ganimard was not laughing. His chief had +never seen him in such a state of perturbation, nor +heard him speak in a voice denoting such excitement:</p> + +<p>"Any news, Ganimard?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief, and ... this time ...! But I +can hardly believe it myself.... And yet I'm not +mistaken: I know the real truth.... It may be as +unlikely as you please, but it is the truth, the whole +truth and nothing but the truth."</p> + +<p>He wiped away the drops of perspiration that +trickled down his forehead and, after a further +question from M. Dudouis, pulled himself together, +swallowed a glass of water and began:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Lupin has often got the better of me...."</p> + +<p>"Look here, Ganimard," said M. Dudouis, interrupting +him. "Why can't you come straight +to the point? Tell me, in two words, what's happened."</p> + +<p>"No, chief," retorted the chief-inspector, "it is +essential that you should know the different stages +which I have passed through. Excuse me, but +I consider it indispensable." And he repeated: +"I was saying, chief, that Lupin has often got the +better of me and led me many a dance. But, in this +contest in which I have always come out worst ... +so far ... I have at least gained experience of his +manner of play and learnt to know his tactics. +Now, in the matter of the tapestries, it occurred to +me almost from the start to set myself two problems. +In the first place, Lupin, who never makes a move +without knowing what he is after, was obviously +aware that Colonel Sparmiento had come to the end +of his money and that the loss of the tapestries +might drive him to suicide. Nevertheless, Lupin, +who hates the very thought of bloodshed, stole the +tapestries."</p> + +<p>"There was the inducement," said M. Dudouis, +"of the five or six hundred thousand francs which +they are worth."</p> + +<p>"No, chief, I tell you once more, whatever the +occasion might be, Lupin would not take life, nor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +be the cause of another person's death, for anything +in this world, for millions and millions. That's the +first point. In the second place, what was the +object of all that disturbance, in the evening, during +the house-warming party? Obviously, don't you +think, to surround the business with an atmosphere +of anxiety and terror, in the shortest possible time, +and also to divert suspicion from the truth, which, +otherwise, might easily have been suspected?... +You seem not to understand, chief?"</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, I do not!"</p> + +<p>"As a matter of fact," said Ganimard, "as a +matter of fact, it is not particularly plain. And +I myself, when I put the problem before my mind +in those same words, did not understand it very +clearly.... And yet I felt that I was on the right +track.... Yes, there was no doubt about it that +Lupin wanted to divert suspicions ... to divert +them to himself, Lupin, mark you ... so that the +real person who was working the business might +remain unknown...."</p> + +<p>"A confederate," suggested M. Dudouis. "A +confederate, moving among the visitors, who set +the alarms going ... and who managed to hide +in the house after the party had broken up."</p> + +<p>"You're getting warm, chief, you're getting +warm! It is certain that the tapestries, as they +cannot have been stolen by any one making his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +way surreptitiously into the house, were stolen +by somebody who remained in the house; and it +is equally certain that, by taking the list of the +people invited and inquiring into the antecedents +of each of them, one might...."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, chief, there's a 'but,' namely, that the +three detectives had this list in their hands when +the guests arrived and that they still had it when +the guests left. Now sixty-three came in and sixty-three +went away. So you see...."</p> + +<p>"Then do you suppose a servant?..."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"The detectives?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But, still ... but, still," said the chief, impatiently, +"if the robbery was committed from +the inside...."</p> + +<p>"That is beyond dispute," declared the inspector, +whose excitement seemed to be nearing fever-point. +"There is no question about it. All my +investigations led to the same certainty. And +my conviction gradually became so positive that +I ended, one day, by drawing up this startling axiom: +in theory and in fact, the robbery can only +have been committed with the assistance of an +accomplice staying in the house. Whereas there +was no accomplice!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's absurd," said Dudouis.</p> + +<p>"Quite absurd," said Ganimard. "But, at the +very moment when I uttered that absurd sentence, +the truth flashed upon me."</p> + +<p>"Eh?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, a very dim, very incomplete, but still +sufficient truth! With that clue to guide me, +I was bound to find the way. Do you follow me, +chief?"</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis sat silent. The same phenomenon +that had taken place in Ganimard was evidently +taking place in him. He muttered:</p> + +<p>"If it's not one of the guests, nor the servants, +nor the private detectives, then there's no one +left...."</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief, there's one left...."</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis started as though he had received +a shock; and, in a voice that betrayed his excitement:</p> + +<p>"But, look here, that's preposterous."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Come, think for yourself!"</p> + +<p>"Go on, chief: say what's in your mind."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Go on, chief."</p> + +<p>"It's impossible! How can Sparmiento have been +Lupin's accomplice?"</p> + +<p>Ganimard gave a little chuckle.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Exactly, Arsène Lupin's accomplice!... That +explains everything. During the night, while the +three detectives were downstairs watching, or +sleeping rather, for Colonel Sparmiento had given +them champagne to drink and perhaps doctored +it beforehand, the said colonel took down the hangings +and passed them out through the window +of his bedroom. The room is on the second floor +and looks out on another street, which was not +watched, because the lower windows are walled up."</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis reflected and then shrugged his +shoulders:</p> + +<p>"It's preposterous!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Why? Because, if the colonel had been Arsène +Lupin's accomplice, he would not have committed +suicide after achieving his success."</p> + +<p>"Who says that he committed suicide?"</p> + +<p>"Why, he was found dead on the line!"</p> + +<p>"I told you, there is no such thing as death with +Lupin."</p> + +<p>"Still, this was genuine enough. Besides, Mme. +Sparmiento identified the body."</p> + +<p>"I thought you would say that, chief. The +argument worried me too. There was I, all of +a sudden, with three people in front of me instead +of one: first, Arsène Lupin, cracksman; secondly, +Colonel Sparmiento, his accomplice; thirdly, a dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> +man. Spare us! It was too much of a good +thing!"</p> + +<p>Ganimard took a bundle of newspapers, untied +it and handed one of them to Mr. Dudouis:</p> + +<p>"You remember, chief, last time you were here, +I was looking through the papers.... I wanted to +see if something had not happened, at that period, +that might bear upon the case and confirm my +supposition. Please read this paragraph."</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis took the paper and read aloud:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"Our Lille correspondent informs us that a +curious incident has occurred in that town. A +corpse has disappeared from the local morgue, +the corpse of a man unknown who threw himself +under the wheels of a steam tram-car on the day +before. No one is able to suggest a reason for +this disappearance."</p></div> + +<p>M. Dudouis sat thinking and then asked:</p> + +<p>"So ... you believe ...?"</p> + +<p>"I have just come from Lille," replied Ganimard, +"and my inquiries leave not a doubt in my mind. +The corpse was removed on the same night on +which Colonel Sparmiento gave his house-warming. +It was taken straight to Ville d'Avray by motor-car; +and the car remained near the railway-line +until the evening."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Near the tunnel, therefore," said M. Dudouis.</p> + +<p>"Next to it, chief."</p> + +<p>"So that the body which was found is merely +that body, dressed in Colonel Sparmiento's clothes."</p> + +<p>"Precisely, chief."</p> + +<p>"Then Colonel Sparmiento is not dead?"</p> + +<p>"No more dead than you or I, chief."</p> + +<p>"But then why all these complications? Why +the theft of one tapestry, followed by its recovery, +followed by the theft of the twelve? Why that +house-warming? Why that disturbance? Why +everything? Your story won't hold water, Ganimard."</p> + +<p>"Only because you, chief, like myself, have +stopped halfway; because, strange as this story +already sounds, we must go still farther, very much +farther, in the direction of the improbable and the +astounding. And why not, after all? Remember +that we are dealing with Arsène Lupin. With +him, is it not always just the improbable and the +astounding that we must look for? Must we not +always go straight for the maddest suppositions? +And, when I say the maddest, I am using the wrong +word. On the contrary, the whole thing is wonderfully +logical and so simple that a child could +understand it. Confederates only betray you. Why +employ confederates, when it is so easy and so +natural to act for yourself, by yourself, with your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +own hands and by the means within your own +reach?"</p> + +<p>"What are you saying?... What are you +saying?... What are you saying?" cried M. +Dudouis, in a sort of sing-song voice and a tone +of bewilderment that increased with each separate +exclamation.</p> + +<p>Ganimard gave a fresh chuckle.</p> + +<p>"Takes your breath away, chief, doesn't it? +So it did mine, on the day when you came to see me +here and when the notion was beginning to grow +upon me. I was flabbergasted with astonishment. +And yet I've had experience of my customer. I +know what he's capable of.... But this, no, this +was really a bit too stiff!"</p> + +<p>"It's impossible! It's impossible!" said M. +Dudouis, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, chief, it's quite possible and +quite logical and quite normal. It's the threefold +incarnation of one and the same individual. A +schoolboy would solve the problem in a minute, +by a simple process of elimination. Take away the +dead man: there remains Sparmiento and Lupin. +Take away Sparmiento...."</p> + +<p>"There remains Lupin," muttered the chief-detective.</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief, Lupin simply, Lupin in five letters +and two syllables, Lupin taken out of his Brazilian<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> +skin, Lupin revived from the dead, Lupin translated, +for the past six months, into Colonel Sparmiento, +travelling in Brittany, hearing of the discovery +of the twelve tapestries, buying them, +planning the theft of the best of them, so as to draw +attention to himself, Lupin, and divert it from himself, +Sparmiento. Next, he brings about, in full +view of the gaping public, a noisy contest between +Lupin and Sparmiento or Sparmiento and Lupin, +plots and gives the house-warming party, terrifies +his guests and, when everything is ready, arranges +for Lupin to steal Sparmiento's tapestries and for +Sparmiento, Lupin's victim, to disappear from sight +and die unsuspected, unsuspectable, regretted by +his friends, pitied by the public and leaving behind +him, to pocket the profits of the swindle...."</p> + +<p>Ganimard stopped, looked the chief in the eyes +and, in a voice that emphasized the importance +of his words, concluded:</p> + +<p>"Leaving behind him a disconsolate widow."</p> + +<p>"Mme. Sparmiento! You really believe....?</p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" said the chief-inspector. "People +don't work up a whole business of this sort, without +seeing something ahead of them ... solid profits."</p> + +<p>"But the profits, it seems to me, lie in the sale of +the tapestries which Lupin will effect in America or +elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"First of all, yes. But Colonel Sparmiento could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +effect that sale just as well. And even better. So +there's something more."</p> + +<p>"Something more?"</p> + +<p>"Come, chief, you're forgetting that Colonel +Sparmiento has been the victim of an important +robbery and that, though he may be dead, at least +his widow remains. So it's his widow who will get +the money."</p> + +<p>"What money?"</p> + +<p>"What money? Why, the money due to her! +The insurance-money, of course!"</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis was staggered. The whole business +suddenly became clear to him, with its real meaning. +He muttered:</p> + +<p>"That's true!... That's true!... The +colonel had insured his tapestries...."</p> + +<p>"Rather! And for no trifle either."</p> + +<p>"For how much?"</p> + +<p>"Eight hundred thousand francs."</p> + +<p>"Eight hundred thousand?"</p> + +<p>"Just so. In five different companies."</p> + +<p>"And has Mme. Sparmiento had the money?"</p> + +<p>"She got a hundred and fifty thousand francs +yesterday and two hundred thousand to-day, while +I was away. The remaining payments are to be +made in the course of this week."</p> + +<p>"But this is terrible! You ought to have...."</p> + +<p>"What, chief? To begin with, they took ad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span>vantage +of my absence to settle up accounts with +the companies. I only heard about it on my return +when I ran up against an insurance-manager whom +I happen to know and took the opportunity of +drawing him out."</p> + +<p>The chief-detective was silent for some time, +not knowing what to say. Then he mumbled:</p> + +<p>"What a fellow, though!"</p> + +<p>Ganimard nodded his head:</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief, a blackguard, but, I can't help saying, +a devil of a clever fellow. For his plan to succeed, +he must have managed in such a way that, for four +or five weeks, no one could express or even conceive +the least suspicion of the part played by Colonel +Sparmiento. All the indignation and all the inquiries +had to be concentrated upon Lupin alone. +In the last resort, people had to find themselves +faced simply with a mournful, pitiful, penniless +widow, poor Edith Swan-neck, a beautiful and +legendary vision, a creature so pathetic that the +gentlemen of the insurance-companies were almost +glad to place something in her hands to relieve her +poverty and her grief. That's what was wanted +and that's what happened."</p> + +<p>The two men were close together and did not +take their eyes from each other's faces.</p> + +<p>The chief asked:</p> + +<p>"Who is that woman?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sonia Kritchnoff."</p> + +<p>"Sonia Kritchnoff?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the Russian girl whom I arrested last year +at the time of the theft of the coronet, and whom +Lupin helped to escape."<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a></p> + +<p>"Are you sure?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely. I was put off the scent, like everybody +else, by Lupin's machinations, and had paid +no particular attention to her. But, when I knew +the part which she was playing, I remembered. +She is certainly Sonia, metamorphosed into an +Englishwoman; Sonia, the most innocent-looking +and the trickiest of actresses; Sonia, who would not +hesitate to face death for love of Lupin."</p> + +<p>"A good capture, Ganimard," said M. Dudouis, +approvingly.</p> + +<p>"I've something better still for you, chief!"</p> + +<p>"Really? What?"</p> + +<p>"Lupin's old foster-mother."</p> + +<p>"Victoire?"<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></p> + +<p>"She has been here since Mme. Sparmiento began +playing the widow; she's the cook."</p> + +<p>"Oho!" said M. Dudouis. "My congratulations, +Ganimard!"</p> + +<p>"I've something for you, chief, that's even better +than that!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span></p> + +<p>M. Dudouis gave a start. The inspector's hand +clutched his and was shaking with excitement.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean, Ganimard?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think, chief, that I would have brought +you here, at this late hour, if I had had nothing more +attractive to offer you than Sonia and Victoire? +Pah! They'd have kept!"</p> + +<p>"You mean to say ...?" whispered M. Dudouis, +at last, understanding the chief-inspector's agitation.</p> + +<p>"You've guessed it, chief!"</p> + +<p>"Is he here?"</p> + +<p>"He's here."</p> + +<p>"In hiding?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it. Simply in disguise. He's the +man-servant."</p> + +<p>This time, M. Dudouis did not utter a word nor +make a gesture. Lupin's audacity confounded him.</p> + +<p>Ganimard chuckled.</p> + +<p>"It's no longer a threefold, but a fourfold incarnation. +Edith Swan-neck might have blundered. +The master's presence was necessary; and he had +the cheek to return. For three weeks, he has been +beside me during my inquiry, calmly following the +progress made."</p> + +<p>"Did you recognize him?"</p> + +<p>"One doesn't recognize him. He has a knack<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +of making-up his face and altering the proportions +of his body so as to prevent any one from knowing +him. Besides, I was miles from suspecting.... But, +this evening, as I was watching Sonia in the +shadow of the stairs, I heard Victoire speak to the +man-servant and call him, 'Dearie.' A light +flashed in upon me. 'Dearie!' That was what +she always used to call him. And I knew where +I was."</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis seemed flustered, in his turn, by the +presence of the enemy, so often pursued and always +so intangible:</p> + +<p>"We've got him, this time," he said, between his +teeth. "We've got him; and he can't escape us."</p> + +<p>"No, chief, he can't: neither he nor the two +women."</p> + +<p>"Where are they?"</p> + +<p>"Sonia and Victoire are on the second floor; Lupin +is on the third."</p> + +<p>M. Dudouis suddenly became anxious:</p> + +<p>"Why, it was through the windows of one of +those floors that the tapestries were passed when +they disappeared!"</p> + +<p>"That's so, chief."</p> + +<p>"In that case, Lupin can get away too. The +windows look out on the Rue Dufresnoy."</p> + +<p>"Of course they do, chief; but I have taken my +precautions. The moment you arrived, I sent four<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +of our men to keep watch under the windows in the +Rue Dufresnoy. They have strict instructions to +shoot, if any one appears at the windows and looks +like coming down. Blank cartridges for the first +shot, ball-cartridges for the next."</p> + +<p>"Good, Ganimard! You have thought of everything. +We'll wait here; and, immediately after +sunrise...."</p> + +<p>"Wait, chief? Stand on ceremony with that +rascal? Bother about rules and regulations, legal +hours and all that rot? And suppose he's not +quite so polite to us and gives us the slip meanwhile? +Suppose he plays us one of his Lupin +tricks? No, no, we must have no nonsense! +We've got him: let's collar him; and that without +delay!"</p> + +<p>And Ganimard, all a-quiver with indignant impatience, +went out, walked across the garden and +presently returned with half-a-dozen men:</p> + +<p>"It's all right, chief. I've told them, in the +Rue Dufresnoy, to get their revolvers out and aim +at the windows. Come along."</p> + +<p>These alarums and excursions had not been +effected without a certain amount of noise, which +was bound to be heard by the inhabitants of the +house. M. Dudouis felt that his hand was forced. +He made up his mind to act:</p> + +<p>"Come on, then," he said.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span></p> + +<p>The thing did not take long. The eight of them, +Browning pistols in hand, went up the stairs without +overmuch precaution, eager to surprise Lupin before +he had time to organize his defences.</p> + +<p>"Open the door!" roared Ganimard, rushing +at the door of Mme. Sparmiento's bedroom.</p> + +<p>A policeman smashed it in with his shoulder.</p> + +<p>There was no one in the room; and no one in +Victoire's bedroom either.</p> + +<p>"They're all upstairs!" shouted Ganimard. +"They've gone up to Lupin in his attic. Be careful +now!"</p> + +<p>All the eight ran up the third flight of stairs. +To his great astonishment, Ganimard found the +door of the attic open and the attic empty. And +the other rooms were empty too.</p> + +<p>"Blast them!" he cursed. "What's become +of them?"</p> + +<p>But the chief called him. M. Dudouis, who +had gone down again to the second floor, noticed +that one of the windows was not latched, but just +pushed to:</p> + +<p>"There," he said, to Ganimard, "that's the +road they took, the road of the tapestries. I told +you as much: the Rue Dufresnoy...."</p> + +<p>"But our men would have fired on them," protested +Ganimard, grinding his teeth with rage. +"The street's guarded."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span></p> + +<p>"They must have gone before the street was +guarded."</p> + +<p>"They were all three of them in their rooms +when I rang you up, chief!"</p> + +<p>"They must have gone while you were waiting +for me in the garden."</p> + +<p>"But why? Why? There was no reason why +they should go to-day rather than to-morrow, or +the next day, or next week, for that matter, when +they had pocketed all the insurance-money!"</p> + +<p>Yes, there was a reason; and Ganimard knew +it when he saw, on the table, a letter addressed to +himself and opened it and read it. The letter +was worded in the style of the testimonials which +we hand to people in our service who have given +satisfaction:</p> + +<div class="blockquote"><p>"I, the undersigned, Arsène Lupin, gentleman-burglar, +ex-colonel, ex-man-of-all-work, ex-corpse, +hereby certify that the person of the name of Ganimard +gave proof of the most remarkable qualities +during his stay in this house. He was +exemplary in his behaviour, thoroughly devoted +and attentive; and, unaided by the least clue, he +foiled a part of my plans and saved the insurance-companies +four hundred and fifty thousand francs. +I congratulate him; and I am quite willing to overlook +his blunder in not anticipating that the down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span>stairs +telephone communicates with the telephone +in Sonia Kritchnoff's bedroom and that, when +telephoning to Mr. Chief-detective, he was at +the same time telephoning to me to clear out as +fast as I could. It was a pardonable slip, which +must not be allowed to dim the glamour of his services +nor to detract from the merits of his victory.</p> + +<p>"Having said this, I beg him to accept the +homage of my admiration and of my sincere +friendship.</p> + +<p style="font-variant: small-caps; margin-left: 35em; margin-top: 1em;">"Arsène Lupin"</p></div> + +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="border"> +<h2>FOOTNOTES</h2> +<div class="microspace"> </div> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> <i>The Hollow Needle.</i> By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by +Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Eveleigh Nash).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> <i>813.</i> By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by Alexander Teixeira +de Mattos (Mills & Boon).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> <i>The Exploits of Arsène Lupin.</i> By Maurice Leblanc. Translated +by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Cassell). IV. <i>The Escape +of Arsène Lupin.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> <i>The Exploits of Arsène Lupin. IX. Holmlock Shears arrives +too late.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> <i>Arsène Lupin.</i> The Novel of the Play. By Edgar Jepson and +Maurice Leblanc (Mills & Boon).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> <i>The Hollow Needle.</i> By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by +Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Nash). <i>813</i> By Maurice Leblanc. +Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (Mills & Boon).</p></div> +</div> +<div class="minispace"> </div> +<div class="microspace"> </div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Confessions of Arsène Lupin, by Maurice Leblanc + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONFESSIONS OF ARSÈNE LUPIN *** + +***** This file should be named 28093-h.htm or 28093-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/0/9/28093/ + +Produced by Robert Cicconetti, Meredith Bach, and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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