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diff --git a/34758-h/34758-h.htm b/34758-h/34758-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f16c0f --- /dev/null +++ b/34758-h/34758-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17557 @@ +<!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"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of 813, by Maurice Leblanc. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr.wide { width: 65%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + hr.thin { width: 45%; margin-top: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 1.25em; + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; clear: both;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-style: normal;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .bigtext {font-size: 120%;} + .smalltext {font-size: 80%;} + .caption {font-size: 90%; text-align: center; + margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%;} + + .transnote {text-align: left;} + .chapnum {text-align: right;} + .chapname {text-align: left; font-variant: small-caps; + padding-left: 1em; padding-right: 3em;} + .chappage {text-align: right;} + .newchapter {margin-top: 4em;} + + .sig1 {text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0em; + padding-right: 4em;} + .sig2 {text-align: right; margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-top: 0em; padding-right: 2em;} + .sig3 {text-align: right; margin-top: 0em; + padding-right: 0em;} + .sig4 {text-align: right; padding-right: 1em; + margin-top: 0em;} + .notop {margin-top: 0em;} + .nobottom {margin-bottom: 0em;} + .halfleft {margin-left: 50%;} + .padtwo {padding-left: 2em;} + .padfour {padding-left: 4em;} + .upright {font-style: normal;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of 813, 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: 813 + +Author: Maurice Leblanc + +Translator: Alexander Teixeira de Mattos + +Release Date: December 27, 2010 [EBook #34758] +[Last updated: August 19, 2022] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 813 *** + + + + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 398px;"> +<img src="images/front.jpg" width="398" height="600" alt=""You are the visitor I was expecting"" title="" /> +</div> +<p class="caption">"You are the visitor I was expecting"</p> + + + + +<p class="center bigtext newchapter">THE INTERNATIONAL<br /> +ADVENTURE LIBRARY</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/owls.png" width="500" height="286" alt="three owls" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">THREE OWLS EDITION</p> + +<h1>813</h1> + +<p class="center">BY<br /> +<span class="bigtext">MAURICE LEBLANC</span></p> + +<p class="center">Author of "Arsene Lupin," "The Blonde Lady," +"The Hollow Needle," Etc.</p> + +<p class="center"><i>Translated by Alexander Teixeira De Mattos</i></p> + +<p class="center">W. R. CALDWELL & CO.<br /> +NEW YORK</p> + +<p class="center smalltext">ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION +INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN</p> + +<p class="center smalltext">COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY MAURICE LEBLANC</p> + +<p class="center smalltext">THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N. Y.</p> + + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<h2><a name="TRANSLATORS_NOTE" id="TRANSLATORS_NOTE"></a>TRANSLATOR'S NOTE</h2> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>A zealous reader, collating the translation of this +book with the original, would hit upon certain +differences. These are due to alterations made, in +most case, by the author himself, and, in all cases, +with his full approval.</p> + +<p class="sig3"><span class="smcap">A. T. de M.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Chelsea</span>, England, August, 1910.</p></div> + + + +<hr class="wide" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table class="figcenter" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum smalltext"> </td> +<td class="chapname smalltext"> </td> +<td class="chappage smalltext">CONTENTS</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="transnote" colspan="2">Translator's Note</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#TRANSLATORS_NOTE">v</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">I.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Tragedy at the Palace Hotel</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">3</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">II.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Blue-edged Label</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">31</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">III.</td> +<td class="chapname">M. Lenormand Opens his Campaign</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">55</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IV.</td> +<td class="chapname">Prince Sernine at Work</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">75</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">V.</td> +<td class="chapname">M. Lenormand at Work</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">114</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VI.</td> +<td class="chapname">M. Lenormand Succumbs</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">137</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VII.</td> +<td class="chapname">Parbury-Ribeira-Altenheim</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">162</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">VIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Olive-green Frock-coat</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">192</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">IX.</td> +<td class="chapname">"Santé Palace"</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">219</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">X.</td> +<td class="chapname">Lupin's Great Scheme</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">254</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XI.</td> +<td class="chapname">Charlemagne</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">272</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XII.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Emperor's Letters</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">291</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIII.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Seven Scoundrels</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">324</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XIV.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Man in Black</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">352</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XV.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Map of Europe</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">379</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum">XVI.</td> +<td class="chapname">Arsène Lupin's Three Murders</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">405</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td class="chapnum smcap">Epilogue.</td> +<td class="chapname">The Suicide</td> +<td class="chappage"><a href="#EPILOGUE">434</a></td> +</tr> +</table> + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter">813</h2> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE TRAGEDY AT THE PALACE HOTEL</span></h2> + + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach stopped short on the threshold of the sitting-room, took +his secretary's arm and, in an anxious voice, whispered:</p> + +<p>"Chapman, some one has been here again."</p> + +<p>"Surely not, sir," protested the secretary. "You have just opened the +hall-door yourself; and the key never left your pocket while we were +lunching in the restaurant."</p> + +<p>"Chapman, some one has been here again," Mr. Kesselbach repeated. He +pointed to a traveling-bag on the mantelpiece. "Look, I can prove it. +That bag was shut. It is now open."</p> + +<p>Chapman protested.</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure that you shut it, sir? Besides, the bag contains +nothing but odds and ends of no value, articles of dress. . . ."</p> + +<p>"It contains nothing else, because I took my pocket-book out before we +went down, by way of precaution. . . . But for that. . . . No, Chapman, +I tell you, some one has been here while we were at lunch."</p> + +<p>There was a telephone on the wall. He took down the receiver:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>"Hallo! . . . I'm Mr. Kesselbach. . . . Suite 415 . . . That's right. +. . . Mademoiselle, would you please put me on to the Prefecture of +Police . . . the detective department. . . . I know the number . . . one +second . . . Ah, here it is! Number 822.48. . . . I'll hold the line."</p> + +<p>A moment later he continued:</p> + +<p>"Are you 822.48? I should like a word with M. Lenormand, the chief of +the detective-service. My name's Kesselbach. . . . Hullo! . . . Yes, the +chief detective knows what it's about. He has given me leave to ring him +up. . . . Oh, he's not there? . . . To whom am I speaking? . . . +Detective-sergeant Gourel? . . . You were there yesterday, were you not, +when I called on M. Lenormand? Well, the same thing that I told M. +Lenormand yesterday has occurred again to-day. . . . Some one has +entered the suite which I am occupying. And, if you come at once, you +may be able to discover some clues. . . . In an hour or two? All right; +thanks. . . . You have only to ask for suite 415. . . . Thank you +again."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Rudolf Kesselbach, nicknamed alternatively the King of Diamonds and the +Lord of the Cape, possessed a fortune estimated at nearly twenty +millions sterling. For the past week, he had occupied suite 415, on the +fourth floor of the Palace Hotel, consisting of three rooms, of which +the two larger, on the right, the sitting-room and the principal +bedroom, faced the avenue; while the other, on the left, in which +Chapman, the secretary, slept, looked out on the Rue de Judée.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>Adjoining this bedroom, a suite of five rooms had been reserved for Mrs. +Kesselbach, who was to leave Monte Carlo, where she was at present +staying, and join her husband the moment she heard from him.</p> + +<p>Rudolf Kesselbach walked up and down for a few minutes with a thoughtful +air. He was a tall man, with a ruddy complexion, and still young; and +his dreamy eyes, which showed pale blue through his gold-rimmed +spectacles, gave him an expression of gentleness and shyness that +contrasted curiously with the strength of the square forehead and the +powerfully-developed jaws.</p> + +<p>He went to the window: it was fastened. Besides, how could any one have +entered that way? The private balcony that ran round the flat broke off +on the right and was separated on the left by a stone channel from the +balconies in the Rue de Judée.</p> + +<p>He went to his bedroom: it had no communication with the neighboring +rooms. He went to his secretary's bedroom: the door that led into the +five rooms reserved for Mrs. Kesselbach was locked and bolted.</p> + +<p>"I can't understand it at all, Chapman. Time after time I have noticed +things here . . . funny things, as you must admit. Yesterday, my +walking-stick was moved. . . . The day before that, my papers had +certainly been touched. . . . And yet how was it possible? . . .</p> + +<p>"It is not possible, sir!" cried Chapman, whose honest, placid features +displayed no anxiety. "You're imagining things, that's all. . . . You +have no proof, nothing but impressions, to go upon. . . . Besides, look +here: there is no way into this suite except through the entrance-lobby. +Very well. You had a special key made on the day of our arrival: and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +your own man, Edwards, has the only duplicate. Do you trust him?"</p> + +<p>"Of course I do! . . . He's been with me for ten years! . . . But +Edwards goes to lunch at the same time that we do; and that's a mistake. +He must not go down, in future, until we come back."</p> + +<p>Chapman gave a slight shrug of the shoulders. There was no doubt about +it, the Lord of the Cape was becoming a trifle eccentric, with those +incomprehensible fears of his. What risk can you run in an hotel, +especially when you carry no valuables, no important sum of money on you +or with you?</p> + +<p>They heard the hall-door opening. It was Edwards. Mr. Kesselbach called +him:</p> + +<p>"Are you dressed, Edwards? Ah, that's right! . . . I am expecting no +visitors to-day, Edwards . . . or, rather, one visitor only, M. Gourel. +Meantime, remain in the lobby and keep an eye on the door. Mr. Chapman +and I have some serious work to do."</p> + +<p>The serious work lasted for a few minutes, during which Mr. Kesselbach +went through his correspondence, read three or four letters and gave +instructions how they were to be answered. But, suddenly, Chapman, +waiting with pen poised, saw that Mr. Kesselbach was thinking of +something quite different from his correspondence. He was holding +between his fingers and attentively examining a pin, a black pin bent +like a fish-hook:</p> + +<p>"Chapman," he said, "look what I've found on the table. This bent pin +obviously means something. It's a proof, a material piece of evidence. +You can't pretend now that no one has been in the room. For, after all, +this pin did not come here of itself."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>"Certainly not," replied the secretary. "It came here through me."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Why, it's a pin which I used to fasten my tie to my collar. I took it +out last night, while you were reading, and I twisted it mechanically."</p> + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach rose from his chair, with a great air of vexation, took a +few steps and stopped.</p> + +<p>"You're laughing at me, Chapman, I feel you are . . . and you're quite +right. . . . I won't deny it, I have been rather . . . odd, since my +last journey to the Cape. It's because . . . well . . . you don't know +the new factor in my life . . . a tremendous plan . . . a huge thing +. . . I can only see it, as yet, in the haze of the future . . . but +it's taking shape for all that . . . and it will be something colossal. +. . . Ah, Chapman, you can't imagine. . . . Money I don't care a fig +for: I have money, I have too much money. . . . But this, this means a +great deal more; it means power, might, authority. If the reality comes +up to my expectations, I shall be not only Lord of the Cape, but lord of +other realms as well. . . . Rudolf Kesselbach, the son of the Augsburg +ironmonger, will be on a par with many people who till now have looked +down upon him. . . . He will even take precedence of them, Chapman; he +will, take precedence of them, mark my words . . . and, if ever I . . ."</p> + +<p>He interrupted himself, looked at Chapman as though he regretted having +said too much and, nevertheless, carried away by his excitement, +concluded:</p> + +<p>"You now understand the reasons of my anxiety, Chapman. . . . Here, in +this brain, is an idea<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> that is worth a great deal . . . and this idea +is suspected perhaps . . . and I am being spied upon. . . . I'm +convinced of it. . . ."</p> + +<p>A bell sounded.</p> + +<p>"The telephone," said Chapman.</p> + +<p>"Could it," muttered Kesselbach, "by any chance be . . . ?" He took down +the instrument. "Hullo! . . . Who? The Colonel? Ah, good! Yes, it's I. +. . . Any news? . . . Good! . . . Then I shall expect you. . . . You +will come with one of your men? Very well. . . . What? No, we shan't be +disturbed. . . . I will give the necessary orders. . . . It's as serious +as that, is it? . . . I tell you, my instructions will be positive. +. . . my secretary and my man shall keep the door; and no one shall be +allowed in. . . . You know the way, don't you? . . . Then don't lose a +minute."</p> + +<p>He hung up the receiver and said:</p> + +<p>"Chapman, there are two gentlemen coming. Edwards will show them in. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"But M. Gourel . . . the detective-sergeant. . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"He will come later . . . in an hour. . . . And, even then, there's no +harm in their meeting. So send Edwards down to the office at once, to +tell them. I am at home to nobody . . . except two gentlemen, the +Colonel and his friend, and M. Gourel. He must make them take down the +names."</p> + +<p>Chapman did as he was asked. When he returned to the room, he found Mr. +Kesselbach holding in his hand an envelope, or, rather, a little +pocket-case, in black morocco leather, apparently empty. He seemed to +hesitate, as though he did not know what to do with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> it. Should he put +it in his pocket or lay it down elsewhere? At last he went to the +mantelpiece and threw the leather envelope into his traveling-bag:</p> + +<p>"Let us finish the mail, Chapman. We have ten minutes left. Ah, a letter +from Mrs. Kesselbach! Why didn't you tell me of it, Chapman? Didn't you +recognize the handwriting?"</p> + +<p>He made no attempt to conceal the emotion which he felt in touching and +contemplating that paper which his wife had held in her fingers and to +which she had added a look of her eyes, an atom of her scent, a +suggestion of her secret thoughts. He inhaled its perfume and, unsealing +it, read the letter slowly in an undertone, in fragments that reached +Chapman's ears:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Feeling a little tired. . . . Shall keep my room +to-day. . . . I feel so bored. . . . When can I come +to you? I am longing for your wire. . . ."</p></div> + +<p>"You telegraphed this morning, Chapman? Then Mrs. Kesselbach will be +here to-morrow, Wednesday."</p> + +<p>He seemed quite gay, as though the weight of his business had been +suddenly relieved and he freed from all anxiety. He rubbed his hands and +heaved a deep breath, like a strong man certain of success, like a lucky +man who possessed happiness and who was big enough to defend himself.</p> + +<p>"There's some one ringing, Chapman, some one ringing at the hall door. +Go and see who it is."</p> + +<p>But Edwards entered and said:</p> + +<p>"Two gentlemen asking for you, sir. They are the ones. . . ."</p> + +<p>"I know. Are they there, in the lobby?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>"Close the hall-door and don't open it again except to M. Gourel, the +detective-sergeant. You go and bring the gentlemen in, Chapman, and tell +them that I would like to speak to the Colonel first, to the Colonel +alone."</p> + +<p>Edwards and Chapman left the room, shutting the door after them. Rudolf +Kesselbach went to the window and pressed his forehead against the +glass.</p> + +<p>Outside, just below his eyes, the carriages and motor-cars rolled along +in parallel furrows, marked by the double line of refuges. A bright +spring sun made the brass-work and the varnish gleam again. The trees +were putting forth their first green shoots; and the buds of the tall +chestnuts were beginning to unfold their new-born leaves.</p> + +<p>"What on earth is Chapman doing?" muttered Kesselbach. "The time he +wastes in palavering! . . ."</p> + +<p>He took a cigarette from the table, lit it and drew a few puffs. A faint +exclamation escaped him. Close before him stood a man whom he did not +know.</p> + +<p>He started back:</p> + +<p>"Who are you?"</p> + +<p>The man—he was a well-dressed individual, rather smart-looking, with +dark hair, a dark moustache and hard eyes—the man gave a grin:</p> + +<p>"Who am I? Why, the Colonel!"</p> + +<p>"No, no. . . . The one I call the Colonel, the one who writes to me +under that . . . adopted . . . signature . . . is not you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes . . . the other was only . . . But, my dear sir, all this, you +know, is not of the smallest importance. The essential thing is that I +. . . am myself. And that, I assure you, I <i>am</i>!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span>"But your name, sir? . . ."</p> + +<p>"The Colonel . . . until further orders."</p> + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach was seized with a growing fear. Who was this man? What +did he want with him?</p> + +<p>He called out:</p> + +<p>"Chapman!"</p> + +<p>"What a funny idea, to call out! Isn't my company enough for you?"</p> + +<p>"Chapman!" Mr. Kesselbach cried again. "Chapman! Edwards!"</p> + +<p>"Chapman! Edwards!" echoed the stranger, in his turn. "What are you +doing? You're wanted!"</p> + +<p>"Sir, I ask you, I order you to let me pass."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear sir, who's preventing you?"</p> + +<p>He politely made way. Mr. Kesselbach walked to the door, opened it and +gave a sudden jump backward. Behind the door stood another man, pistol +in hand. Kesselbach stammered:</p> + +<p>"Edwards . . . Chap . . ."</p> + +<p>He did not finish. In a corner of the lobby he saw his secretary and his +servant lying side by side on the floor, gagged and bound.</p> + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach, notwithstanding his nervous and excitable nature, was +not devoid of physical courage; and the sense of a definite danger, +instead of depressing him, restored all his elasticity and vigor. +Pretending dismay and stupefaction, he moved slowly back to the +chimneypiece and leant against the wall. His hand felt for the electric +bell. He found it and pressed the button without removing his finger.</p> + +<p>"Well?" asked the stranger.</p> + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach made no reply and continued to press the button.</p> + +<p>"Well? Do you expect they will come, that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> whole hotel is in +commotion, because you are pressing that bell? Why, my dear sir, look +behind you and you will see that the wire is cut!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach turned round sharply, as though he wanted to make sure; +but, instead, with a quick movement, he seized the traveling-bag, thrust +his hand into it, grasped a revolver, aimed it at the man and pulled the +trigger.</p> + +<p>"Whew!" said the stranger. "So you load your weapons with air and +silence?"</p> + +<p>The cock clicked a second time and a third, but there was no report.</p> + +<p>"Three shots more, Lord of the Cape! I shan't be satisfied till you've +lodged six bullets in my carcass. What! You give up? That's a pity . . . +you were making excellent practice!"</p> + +<p>He took hold of a chair by the back, spun it round, sat down a-straddle +and, pointing to an arm-chair, said:</p> + +<p>"Won't you take a seat, my dear sir, and make yourself at home? A +cigarette? Not for me, thanks: I prefer a cigar."</p> + +<p>There was a box on the table: he selected an Upmann, light in color and +flawless in shape, lit it and, with a bow:</p> + +<p>"Thank you! That's a perfect cigar. And now let's have a chat, shall +we?"</p> + +<p>Rudolf Kesselbach listened to him in amazement. Who could this strange +person be? . . . Still, at the sight of his visitor sitting there so +quiet and so chatty, he became gradually reassured and began to think +that the situation might come to an end without any need to resort to +violence or brute force.</p> + +<p>He took out a pocket-book, opened it, displayed a respectable bundle of +bank-notes and asked:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span>"How much?"</p> + +<p>The other looked at him with an air of bewilderment, as though he found +a difficulty in understanding what Kesselbach meant. Then, after a +moment, he called:</p> + +<p>"Marco!"</p> + +<p>The man with the revolver stepped forward.</p> + +<p>"Marco, this gentleman is good enough to offer you a few bits of paper +for your young woman. Take them, Marco."</p> + +<p>Still aiming his revolver with his right hand, Marco put out his left, +took the notes and withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Now that this question is settled according to your wishes," resumed +the stranger, "let us come to the object of my visit. I will be brief +and to the point. I want two things. In the first place, a little black +morocco pocket-case, shaped like an envelope, which you generally carry +on you. Secondly, a small ebony box, which was in that traveling-bag +yesterday. Let us proceed in order. The morocco case?"</p> + +<p>"Burnt."</p> + +<p>The stranger knit his brows. He must have had a vision of the good old +days when there were peremptory methods of making the contumacious +speak:</p> + +<p>"Very well. We shall see about that. And the ebony box?"</p> + +<p>"Burnt."</p> + +<p>"Ah," he growled, "you're getting at me, my good man!" He twisted the +other's arm with a pitiless hand. "Yesterday, Rudolf Kesselbach, you +walked into the Crédit Lyonnais, on the Boulevard des Italiens, hiding a +parcel under your overcoat. You hired a safe . . . let us be exact: safe +No. 16, in recess No. 9. After signing the book and paying your +safe-rent, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> went down to the basement; and, when you came up again, +you no longer had your parcel with you. Is that correct?"</p> + +<p>"Quite."</p> + +<p>"Then the box and the pocket-case are at the Crédit Lyonnais?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Give me the key of your safe."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Marco!"</p> + +<p>Marco ran up.</p> + +<p>"Look sharp, Marco! The quadruple knot!"</p> + +<p>Before he had even time to stand on the defensive, Rudolf Kesselbach was +tied up in a network of cords that cut into his flesh at the least +attempt which he made to struggle. His arms were fixed behind his back, +his body fastened to the chair and his legs tied together like the legs +of a mummy.</p> + +<p>"Search him, Marco."</p> + +<p>Marco searched him. Two minutes after, he handed his chief a little +flat, nickel-plated key, bearing the numbers 16 and 9.</p> + +<p>"Capital. No morocco pocket-case?"</p> + +<p>"No, governor."</p> + +<p>"It is in the safe. Mr. Kesselbach, will you tell me the secret cypher +that opens the lock?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"You refuse?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Marco!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, governor."</p> + +<p>"Place the barrel of your revolver against the gentleman's temple."</p> + +<p>"It's there."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>"Now put your finger to the trigger."</p> + +<p>"Ready."</p> + +<p>"Well, Kesselbach, old chap, do you intend to speak?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"I'll give you ten seconds, and not one more. Marco!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, governor."</p> + +<p>"In ten seconds, blow out the gentleman's brains."</p> + +<p>"Right you are, governor."</p> + +<p>"Kesselbach, I'm counting. One, two, three, four, five, six . . ."</p> + +<p>Rudolph Kesselbach made a sign.</p> + +<p>"You want to speak?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You're just in time. Well, the cypher . . . the word for the lock?"</p> + +<p>"Dolor."</p> + +<p>"Dolor . . . Dolor . . . Mrs. Kesselbach's name is Dolores, I believe? +You dear boy! . . . Marco, go and do as I told you. . . . No mistake, +mind! I'll repeat it: meet Jérôme at the omnibus office, give him the +key, tell him the word: Dolor. Then, the two of you, go to the Crédit +Lyonnais. Jérôme is to walk in alone, sign the name-book, go down to the +basement and bring away everything in the safe. Do you quite +understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, governor. But if the safe shouldn't open; if the word Dolor . . ."</p> + +<p>"Silence, Marco. When you come out of the Crédit Lyonnais, you must +leave Jérôme, go to your own place and telephone the result of the +operation to me. Should the word Dolor by any chance fail to open the +safe, we (my friend Rudolf Kesselbach and I) will have one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> . . . <i>last</i> +. . . interview. Kesselbach, you're quite sure you're not mistaken?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"That means that you rely upon the futility of the search. We shall see. +Be off, Marco!"</p> + +<p>"What about you, governor?"</p> + +<p>"I shall stay. Oh, I'm not afraid! I've never been in less danger than +at this moment. Your orders about the door were positive, Kesselbach, +were they not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Dash it all, you seemed very eager to get that said! Can you have been +trying to gain time? If so, I should be caught in a trap like a fool. +. . ." He stopped to think, looked at his prisoner and concluded, "No +. . . it's not possible . . . we shall not be disturbed . . ."</p> + +<p>He had not finished speaking, when the door-bell rang. He pressed his +hand violently on Rudolf Kesselbach's mouth:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you old fox, you were expecting some one!"</p> + +<p>The captive's eyes gleamed with hope. He could be heard chuckling under +the hand that stifled him.</p> + +<p>The stranger shook with rage:</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue, or I'll strangle you! Here, Marco, gag him! Quick! +. . . That's it!"</p> + +<p>The bell rang again. He shouted, as though he himself were Kesselbach +and as though Edwards were still there:</p> + +<p>"Why don't you open the door, Edwards?"</p> + +<p>Then he went softly into the lobby and, pointing to the secretary and +the manservant, whispered:</p> + +<p>"Marco, help me shift these two into the bedroom . . . over there . . . +so that they can't be seen."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>He lifted the secretary. Marco carried the servant.</p> + +<p>"Good! Now go back to the sitting-room."</p> + +<p>He followed him in and at once returned to the lobby and said, in a loud +tone of astonishment:</p> + +<p>"Why, your man's not here, Mr. Kesselbach. . . . No, don't move . . . +finish your letter. . . . I'll go myself."</p> + +<p>And he quietly opened the hall-door.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>He found himself faced by a sort of jovial, bright-eyed giant, who stood +swinging from one foot to the other and twisting the brim of his hat +between his fingers. He answered:</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's right. Who shall I say. . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach telephoned. . . . He expects me. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's you. . . . I'll tell him. . . . Do you mind waiting a minute? +. . . Mr. Kesselbach will speak to you."</p> + +<p>He had the audacity to leave the visitor standing on the threshold of +the little entrance-hall, at a place from which he could see a portion +of the sitting-room through the open door, and, slowly, without so much +as turning round, he entered the room, went to his confederate by Mr. +Kesselbach's side and whispered:</p> + +<p>"We're done! It's Gourel, the detective. . . ."</p> + +<p>The other drew his knife. He caught him by the arm:</p> + +<p>"No nonsense! I have an idea. But, for God's sake, Marco, understand me +and speak in your turn. Speak <i>as if you were Kesselbach</i>. . . . You +hear, Marco! You <i>are</i> Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>He expressed himself so coolly, so forcibly and with such authority that +Marco understood, without further<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> explanation, that he himself was to +play the part of Kesselbach. Marco said, so as to be heard:</p> + +<p>"You must apologize for me, my dear fellow. Tell M. Gourel I'm awfully +sorry, but I'm over head and ears in work. . . . I will see him +to-morrow morning, at nine . . . yes, at nine o'clock punctually."</p> + +<p>"Good!" whispered the other. "Don't stir."</p> + +<p>He went back to the lobby, found Gourel waiting, and said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach begs you to excuse him. He is finishing an important +piece of work. Could you possibly come back at nine o'clock to-morrow +morning?"</p> + +<p>There was a pause. Gourel seemed surprised, more or less bothered and +undecided. The other man's hand clutched the handle of a knife at the +bottom of his pocket. At the first suspicious movement, he was prepared +to strike.</p> + +<p>At last, Gourel said:</p> + +<p>"Very well. . . . At nine o'clock to-morrow. . . . But, all the same +. . . However, I shall be here at nine to-morrow. . . ."</p> + +<p>And, putting on his hat, he disappeared down the passage of the hotel.</p> + +<p>Marco, in the sitting-room, burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"That was jolly clever of you, governor! Oh, how nicely you spoofed +him!"</p> + +<p>"Look alive, Marco, and follow him. If he leaves the hotel, let him be, +meet Jérôme at the omnibus-office as arranged . . . and telephone."</p> + +<p>Marco went away quickly.</p> + +<p>Then the man took a water-bottle on the chimneypiece, poured himself out +a tumblerful, which he swallowed at a draught, wetted his handkerchief, +dabbed his forehead, which was covered with perspiration,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> and then sat +down beside his prisoner and, with an affectation of politeness, said:</p> + +<p>"But I must really have the honor, Mr. Kesselbach, of introducing myself +to you."</p> + +<p>And, taking a card from his pocket, he said: "Allow me. . . . Arsène +Lupin, gentleman-burglar."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The name of the famous adventurer seemed to make the best of impressions +upon Mr. Kesselbach. Lupin did not fail to observe the fact and +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Aha, my dear sir, you breathe again! Arsène Lupin is a delicate, +squeamish burglar. He loathes bloodshed, he has never committed a more +serious crime than that of annexing other people's property . . . a mere +peccadillo, eh? And what you're saying to yourself is that he is not +going to burden his conscience with a useless murder. Quite so. . . . +But will your destruction be so useless as all that? Everything depends +on the answer. And I assure you that I'm not larking at present. Come +on, old chap!"</p> + +<p>He drew up his chair beside the arm-chair, removed the prisoner's gag +and, speaking very plainly:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach," he said, "on the day when you arrived in Paris you +entered into relations with one Barbareux, the manager of a confidential +inquiry agency; and, as you were acting without the knowledge of your +secretary, Chapman, it was arranged that the said Barbareux, when +communicating with you by letter or telephone, should call himself 'the +Colonel.' I hasten to tell you that Barbareux is a perfectly honest man. +But I have the good fortune to number one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> his clerks among my own +particular friends. That is how I discovered the motive of your +application to Barbareux and how I came to interest myself in you and to +make a search or two here, with the assistance of a set of false keys +. . . in the course of which search or two, I may as well tell you, I +did not find what I was looking for."</p> + +<p>He lowered his voice and, with his eyes fixed on the eyes of his +prisoner, watching his expression, searching his secret thoughts, he +uttered these words:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach, your instructions to Barbareux were that he should find +a man hidden somewhere in the slums of Paris who bears or used to bear +the name of Pierre Leduc. The man answers to this brief description: +height, five feet nine inches; hair and complexion, fair; wears a +moustache. Special mark: the tip of the little finger of the left hand +is missing, as the result of a cut. Also, he has an almost imperceptible +scar on the right cheek. You seem to attach enormous importance to this +man's discovery, as though it might lead to some great advantage to +yourself. Who is the man?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>The answer was positive, absolute. Did he know or did he not know? It +made little difference. The great thing was that he was determined not +to speak.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said his adversary, "but you have fuller particulars about +him than those with which you furnished Barbareux."</p> + +<p>"I have not."</p> + +<p>"You lie, Mr. Kesselbach. Twice, in Barbareux's presence, you consulted +papers contained in the morocco case."</p> + +<p>"I did."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span>"And the case?"</p> + +<p>"Burnt."</p> + +<p>Lupin quivered with rage. The thought of torture and of the facilities +which it used to offer was evidently passing through his mind again.</p> + +<p>"Burnt? But the box? . . . Come, own up . . . confess that the box is at +the Crédit Lyonnais."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And what's inside it?"</p> + +<p>"The finest two hundred diamonds in my private collection."</p> + +<p>This statement did not seem to displease the adventurer.</p> + +<p>"Aha, the finest two hundred diamonds! But, I say, that's a fortune! +. . . Yes, that makes you smile. . . . It's a trifle to you, no doubt. +. . . And your secret is worth more than that. . . . To you, yes . . . +but to me? . . ."</p> + +<p>He took a cigar, lit a match, which he allowed to go out again +mechanically, and sat for some time thinking, motionless.</p> + +<p>The minutes passed.</p> + +<p>He began to laugh:</p> + +<p>"I dare say you're hoping that the expedition will come to nothing and +that they won't open the safe? . . . Very likely, old chap! But, in that +case, you'll have to pay me for my trouble. I did not come here to see +what sort of figure you cut in an arm-chair. . . . The diamonds, since +diamonds there appear to be . . . or else the morocco case. . . . +There's your dilemma." He looked at his watch. "Half an hour. . . . Hang +it all! . . . Fate is moving very slowly. . . . But there's nothing for +you to grin at, Mr. Kesselbach. I shall not go back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> empty-handed, make +no mistake about that! . . . At last!"</p> + +<p>It was the telephone-bell. Lupin snatched at the receiver and, changing +the sound of his voice, imitated the rough accent of his prisoner:</p> + +<p>"Yes, Rudolf Kesselbach . . . you're speaking to him. . . . Yes, please, +mademoiselle, put me on. . . . Is that you, Marco? . . . Good. . . . Did +it go off all right? . . . Excellent! . . . No hitch? . . . My best +compliments! . . . Well, what did you pick up? . . . The ebony box? +. . . Nothing else? . . . No papers? . . . Tut, tut! . . . And what's in +the box? . . . Are they fine diamonds? . . . Capital, capital! . . . One +minute, Marco, while I think. . . . You see, all this. . . . If I were +to tell you my opinion. . . . Wait, don't go away . . . hold the line. +. . ."</p> + +<p>He turned round.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach, are you keen on your diamonds?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Would you buy them back of me?"</p> + +<p>"Possibly."</p> + +<p>"For how much? Five hundred thousand francs?"</p> + +<p>"Five hundred thousand . . . yes."</p> + +<p>"Only, here's the rub: how are we to make the exchange? A cheque? No, +you'd swindle me . . . or else I'd swindle you. . . . Listen. On the day +after to-morrow, go to the Crédit Lyonnais in the morning, draw out your +five hundred bank-notes of a thousand each and go for a walk in the +Bois, on the Auteuil side. . . . I shall have the diamonds in a bag: +that's handier. . . . The box shows too much. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span>Kesselbach gave a start:</p> + +<p>"No, no . . . the box, too. . . . I want everything. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Ah," cried Lupin, shouting with laughter, "you've fallen into the trap! +. . . The diamonds you don't care about . . . they can be replaced. +. . . But you cling to that box as you cling to your skin. . . . Very +well, you shall have your box . . . on the word of Arsène . . . you +shall have it to-morrow morning, by parcel post!"</p> + +<p>He went back to the telephone:</p> + +<p>"Marco, have you the box in front of you? . . . Is there anything +particular about it? . . . Ebony inlaid with ivory. . . . Yes, I know +the sort of thing. . . . Japanese, from the Faubourg Saint-Antoine. +. . . No mark? . . . Ah, a little round label, with a blue border and a +number! . . . Yes, a shop-mark . . . no importance. And is the bottom of +the box thick? . . . Not very thick. . . . Bother! No false bottom, +then? . . . Look here, Marco: just examine the ivory inlay on the +outside . . . or, rather, no, the lid." He reveled with delight. "The +lid! That's it, Marco! Kesselbach blinked his eyes just now. . . . We're +burning! . . . Ah, Kesselbach, old chap, didn't you see me squinting at +you? You silly fellow!" And, to Marco, "Well, what do you see? . . . A +looking-glass inside the lid? . . . Does it slide? . . . Is it on +hinges? . . . No! . . . Well, then, break it. . . . Yes, yes, I tell you +to break it. . . . That glass serves no purpose there . . . it's been +added since!" He lost patience. "Mind your own business, idiot! . . . Do +as I say! . . ."</p> + +<p>He must have heard the noise which Marco made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> at the other end of the +wire in breaking the glass, for he shouted, in triumph.</p> + +<p>"Didn't I tell you, Mr. Kesselbach, that we should find something? . . . +Hullo! Have you done it? . . . Well? . . . A letter? Victory! All the +diamonds in the Cape and old man Kesselbach's secret into the bargain!"</p> + +<p>He took down the second receiver, carefully put the two discs to his +ears and continued:</p> + +<p>"Read it to me, Marco, read it to me slowly. . . . The envelope first. +. . . Good. . . . Now, repeat." He himself repeated, "'Copy of the +letter contained in the black morocco case.' And next? Tear the +envelope, Marco. . . . Have I your permission, Mr. Kesselbach? It's not +very good form, but, however . . . Go on, Marco, Mr. Kesselbach gives +you leave. . . . Done it? . . . Well, then, read it out."</p> + +<p>He listened and, with a chuckle:</p> + +<p>"The deuce! That's not quite as clear as a pikestaff! Listen. I'll +repeat: a plain sheet of paper folded in four, the folds apparently +quite fresh. . . . Good. . . . At the top of the page, on the right, +these words: 'Five feet nine, left little finger cut.' And so on. . . . +Yes, that's the description of Master Pierre Leduc. In Kesselbach's +handwriting, I suppose? . . . Good. . . . And, in the middle of the +page, this word in printed capitals: 'APOON.' Marco, my lad, leave the +paper as it is and don't touch the box or the diamonds. I shall have +done with our friend here in ten minutes and I shall be with you in +twenty. . . . Oh, by the way, did you send back the motor for me? +Capital! So long!"</p> + +<p>He replaced the instrument, went into the lobby and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> into the bedroom, +made sure that the secretary and the manservant had not unloosed their +bonds and, on the other hand, that they were in no danger of being +choked by their gags. Then he returned to his chief prisoner.</p> + +<p>He wore a determined and relentless look:</p> + +<p>"We've finished joking, Kesselbach. If you don't speak, it will be the +worse for you. Have you made up your mind?"</p> + +<p>"What about?"</p> + +<p>"No nonsense, please. Tell me what you know."</p> + +<p>"I know nothing."</p> + +<p>"You lie. What does this word 'APOON' mean?"</p> + +<p>"If I knew, I should not have written it down."</p> + +<p>"Very well; but whom or what does it refer to? Where did you copy it? +Where did you get it from?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Kesselbach made no reply. Lupin, now speaking in nervous, jerky +tones, resumed:</p> + +<p>"Listen, Kesselbach, I have a proposal to make to you. Rich man, big man +though you may be, there is not so much difference between us. The son +of the Augsburg ironmonger and Arsène Lupin, prince of burglars, can +come to an understanding without shame on either side. I do my thieving +indoors; you do yours on the Stock Exchange. It's all much of a +muchness. So here we are, Kesselbach. Let's be partners in this +business. I have need of you, because I don't know what it's about. You +have need of me, because you will never be able to manage it alone. +Barbareux is an ass. I am Lupin. Is it a bargain?"</p> + +<p>No answer. Lupin persisted, in a voice shaking with intensity:</p> + +<p>"Answer, Kesselbach, is it a bargain? If so, I'll find your Pierre Leduc +for you in forty-eight hours<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>. For he's the man you're after, eh? Isn't +that the business? Come along, answer! Who is the fellow? Why are you +looking for him? What do you know about him?"</p> + +<p>He calmed himself suddenly, laid his hand on Kesselbach's shoulder and, +harshly:</p> + +<p>"One word only. Yes or no?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>He drew a magnificent gold watch from Kesselbach's fob and placed it on +the prisoner's knees. He unbuttoned Kesselbach's waistcoat, opened his +shirt, uncovered his chest and, taking a steel dagger, with a +gold-crusted handle, that lay on the table beside him, he put the point +of it against the place where the pulsations of the heart made the bare +flesh throb:</p> + +<p>"For the last time?"</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach, it is eight minutes to three. If you don't answer +within eight minutes from now, you are a dead man!"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The next morning, Sergeant Gourel walked into the Palace Hotel +punctually at the appointed hour. Without stopping, scorning to take the +lift, he went up the stairs. On the fourth floor he turned to the right, +followed the passage and rang at the door of 415.</p> + +<p>Hearing no sound, he rang again. After half-a-dozen fruitless attempts, +he went to the floor office. He found a head-waiter there:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach did not sleep here last night. We have not seen him +since yesterday afternoon."</p> + +<p>"But his servant? His secretary?"</p> + +<p>"We have not seen them either."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>"Then they also did not sleep in the hotel?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose not."</p> + +<p>"You suppose not? But you ought to be certain."</p> + +<p>"Why? Mr. Kesselbach is not staying in the hotel; he is at home here, in +his private flat. He is not waited on by us, but by his own man; and we +know nothing of what happens inside."</p> + +<p>"That's true. . . . That's true. . . ."</p> + +<p>Gourel seemed greatly perplexed. He had come with positive orders, a +precise mission, within the limits of which his mind was able to exert +itself. Outside those limits he did not quite know how to act:</p> + +<p>"If the chief were here," he muttered, "if the chief were here. . . ."</p> + +<p>He showed his card and stated his quality. Then he said, on the +off-chance:</p> + +<p>"So you have not seen them come in?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But you saw them go out?"</p> + +<p>"No, I can't say I did."</p> + +<p>"In that case, how do you know that they went out?"</p> + +<p>"From a gentleman who called yesterday afternoon."</p> + +<p>"A gentleman with a dark mustache?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I met him as he was going away, about three o'clock. He said: 'The +people in 415 have gone out. Mr. Kesselbach will stay at Versailles +to-night, at the Reservoirs; you can send his letters on to him there.'"</p> + +<p>"But who was this gentleman? By what right did he speak?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>Gourel felt uneasy. It all struck him as rather queer.</p> + +<p>"Have you the key?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span>"No. Mr. Kesselbach had special keys made."</p> + +<p>"Let's go and look."</p> + +<p>Gourel rang again furiously. Nothing happened. He was about to go when, +suddenly, he bent down and clapped his ear to the keyhole:</p> + +<p>"Listen. . . . I seem to hear . . . Why, yes . . . it's quite distinct. +. . . I hear moans. . . ."</p> + +<p>He gave the door a tremendous blow with his fist.</p> + +<p>"But, sir, you have not the right . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, hang the right!"</p> + +<p>He struck the door with renewed force, but to so little purpose that he +abandoned the attempt forthwith:</p> + +<p>"Quick, quick, a locksmith!"</p> + +<p>One of the waiters started off at a run. Gourel, blustering and +undecided, walked to and fro. The servants from the other floors +collected in groups. People from the office, from the manager's +department arrived. Gourel cried:</p> + +<p>"But why shouldn't we go in though the adjoining rooms? Do they +communicate with this suite?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but the communicating doors are always bolted on both sides."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall telephone to the detective-office," said Gourel, to whose +mind obviously there existed no salvation without his chief.</p> + +<p>"And to the commissary of police," observed some one.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you like," he replied, in the tone of a gentleman who took +little or no interest in that formality.</p> + +<p>When he returned from the telephone, the locksmith had nearly finished +trying the keys. The last worked the lock. Gourel walked briskly in.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>He at once hastened in the direction from which the moans came and hit +against the bodies of Chapman the secretary, and Edwards the manservant. +One of them, Chapman, had succeeded, by dint of patience, in loosening +his gag a little and was uttering short, stifled moans. The other seemed +asleep.</p> + +<p>They were released. But Gourel was anxious:</p> + +<p>"Where's Mr. Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>He went into the sitting-room. Mr. Kesselbach was sitting strapped to +the back of the arm-chair, near the table. His head hung on his chest.</p> + +<p>"He has fainted," said Gourel, going up to him. "He must have exerted +himself beyond his strength."</p> + +<p>Swiftly he cut the cords that fastened the shoulders. The body fell +forward in an inert mass. Gourel caught it in his arms and started back +with a cry of horror:</p> + +<p>"Why, he's dead! Feel . . . his hands are ice-cold! And look at his +eyes!"</p> + +<p>Some one ventured the opinion:</p> + +<p>"An apoplectic stroke, no doubt . . . or else heart-failure."</p> + +<p>"True, there's no sign of a wound . . . it's a natural death."</p> + +<p>They laid the body on the sofa and unfastened the clothes. But red +stains at once appeared on the white shirt; and, when they pushed it +back, they saw that, near the heart, the chest bore a little scratch +through which had trickled a thin stream of blood.</p> + +<p>And on the shirt was pinned a card. Gourel bent forward. It was Arsène +Lupin's card, bloodstained like the rest.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>Then Gourel drew himself up, authoritatively and sharply:</p> + +<p>"Murdered! . . . Arsène Lupin! . . . Leave the flat. . . . Leave the +flat, all of you! . . . No one must stay here or in the bedroom. . . . +Let the two men be removed and seen to elsewhere! . . . Leave the flat +. . . and don't touch a thing . . .</p> + +<p>"<i>The chief is on his way! . . .</i>"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE BLUE-EDGED LABEL</span></h2> + + +<p>"Arsène Lupin!"</p> + +<p>Gourel repeated these two fateful words with an absolutely petrified +air. They rang within him like a knell. Arsène Lupin! The great, the +formidable Arsène Lupin. The burglar-king, the mighty adventurer! Was it +possible?</p> + +<p>"No, no," he muttered, "it's not possible, <i>because he's dead</i>!"</p> + +<p>Only that was just it . . . was he really dead?</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin!</p> + +<p>Standing beside the corpse, he remained dull and stunned, turning the +card over and over with a certain dread, as though he had been +challenged by a ghost. Arsène Lupin! What ought he to do? Act? Take the +field with his resources? No, no . . . better not act . . . . He was +bound to make mistakes if he entered the lists with an adversary of that +stamp. Besides, the chief was on his way!</p> + +<p><i>The chief was on his way!</i> All Gourel's intellectual philosophy was +summed up in that short sentence. An able, persevering officer, full of +courage and experience and endowed with Herculean strength, he was one +of those who go ahead only when obeying directions and who do good work +only when ordered. And this lack of initiative had become still more +marked since M. Lenormand had taken the place of M. Dudouis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> in the +detective-service. M. Lenormand was a chief indeed! With him, one was +sure of being on the right track. So sure, even, that Gourel stopped the +moment that the chief's incentive was no longer behind him.</p> + +<p>But the chief was on his way! Gourel took out his watch and calculated +the exact time when he would arrive. If only the commissary of police +did not get there first, if only the examining-magistrate, who was no +doubt already appointed, or the divisional surgeon, did not come to make +inopportune discoveries before the chief had time to fix the essential +points of the case in his mind!</p> + +<p>"Well, Gourel, what are you dreaming about?"</p> + +<p>"The chief!"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand was still a young man, if you took stock only of the +expression of his face and his eyes gleaming through his spectacles; but +he was almost an old man when you saw his bent back, his skin dry and +yellow as wax, his grizzled hair and beard, his whole decrepit, +hesitating, unhealthy appearance. He had spent his life laboriously in +the colonies as government commissary, in the most dangerous posts. He +had there acquired a series of fevers; an indomitable energy, +notwithstanding his physical weariness; the habit of living alone, of +talking little and acting in silence; a certain misanthropy; and, +suddenly, at the age of fifty-five, in consequence of the famous case of +the three Spaniards at Biskra, a great and well-earned notoriety.</p> + +<p>The injustice was then repaired; and he was straightway transferred to +Bordeaux, was next appointed deputy in Paris, and lastly, on the death +of M. Dudouis, chief of the detective-service. And in each of these +posts he displayed such a curious faculty of inventiveness in his +proceedings, such resourcefulness, so many<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> new and original qualities; +and above all, he achieved such correct results in the conduct of the +last four or five cases with which public opinion had been stirred, that +his name was quoted in the same breath with those of the most celebrated +detectives.</p> + +<p>Gourel, for his part, had no hesitation. Himself a favourite of the +chief, who liked him for his frankness and his passive obedience, he set +the chief above them all. The chief to him was an idol, an infallible +god.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand seemed more tired than usual that day. He sat down wearily, +parted the tails of his frock-coat—an old frock-coat, famous for its +antiquated cut and its olive-green hue—untied his neckerchief—an +equally famous maroon-coloured neckerchief, rested his two hands on his +stick, and said:</p> + +<p>"Speak!"</p> + +<p>Gourel told all that he had seen, and all that he had learnt, and told +it briefly, according to the habit which the chief had taught him.</p> + +<p>But, when he produced Lupin's card, M. Lenormand gave a start:</p> + +<p>"Lupin!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Lupin. The brute's bobbed up again."</p> + +<p>"That's all right, that's all right," said M. Lenormand, after a +moment's thought.</p> + +<p>"That's all right, of course," said Gourel, who loved to add a word of +his own to the rare speeches of a superior whose only fault in his eyes +was an undue reticence. "That's all right, for at last you will measure +your strength with an adversary worthy of you. . . . And Lupin will meet +his master. . . . Lupin will cease to exist. . . . Lupin . . ."</p> + +<p>"Ferret!" said M. Lenormand, cutting him short.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span>It was like an order given by a sportsman to his dog. And Gourel +ferreted after the manner of a good dog, a lively and intelligent +animal, working under his master's eyes. M. Lenormand pointed his stick +to a corner, to an easy chair, just as one points to a bush or a tuft of +grass, and Gourel beat up the bush or the tuft of grass with +conscientious thoroughness.</p> + +<p>"Nothing," said the sergeant, when he finished.</p> + +<p>"Nothing for you!" grunted M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>"That's what I meant to say. . . . I know that, for you, chief, there +are things that talk like human beings, real living witnesses. For all +that, here is a murder well and duly added to our score against Master +Lupin."</p> + +<p>"The first," observed M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>"The first, yes. . . . But it was bound to come. You can't lead that +sort of life without, sooner or later, being driven by circumstances to +serious crime. Mr. Kesselbach must have defended himself. . . ."</p> + +<p>"No, because he was bound."</p> + +<p>"That's true," owned Gourel, somewhat disconcertedly, "and it's rather +curious too. . . . Why kill an adversary who has practically ceased to +exist? . . . But, no matter, if I had collared him yesterday, when we +were face to face at the hall-door . . ."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand had stepped out on the balcony. Then he went to Mr. +Kesselbach's bedroom, on the right, and tried the fastenings of the +windows and doors.</p> + +<p>"The windows of both rooms were shut when I came in," said Gourel.</p> + +<p>"Shut, or just pushed to?"</p> + +<p>"No one has touched them since. And they are shut, chief."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span>A sound of voices brought them back to the sitting-room. Here they found +the divisional surgeon, engaged in examining the body, and M. Formerie, +the magistrate. M. Formerie exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin! I am glad that at last a lucky chance has brought me into +touch with that scoundrel again! I'll show the fellow the stuff I'm made +of! . . . And this time it's a murder! . . . It's a fight between you +and me now, Master Lupin!"</p> + +<p>M. Formerie had not forgotten the strange adventure of the Princesse de +Lamballe's diadem, nor the wonderful way in which Lupin had tricked him +a few years before.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> The thing had remained famous in the annals of +the law-courts. People still laughed at it; and in M. Formerie it had +left a just feeling of resentment, combined with the longing for a +striking revenge.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> See <i>Arsène Lupin</i>. By Edgar Jepson and Maurice Leblanc. +(Doubleday, Page & Co.).</p></div> + +<p>"The nature of the crime is self-evident," he declared, with a great air +of conviction, "and we shall have no difficulty in discovering the +motive. So all is well. . . . M. Lenormand, how do you do? . . . I am +delighted to see you. . . ."</p> + +<p>M. Formerie was not in the least delighted. On the contrary, M. +Lenormand's presence did not please him at all, seeing that the chief +detective hardly took the trouble to disguise the contempt in which he +held him. However, the magistrate drew himself up and, in his most +solemn tones:</p> + +<p>"So, doctor, you consider that death took place about a dozen hours ago, +perhaps more! . . . That, in fact, was my own idea. . . . We are quite +agreed. . . . And the instrument of the crime?"</p> + +<p>"A knife with a very thin blade, Monsieur le Juge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> d'Instruction," +replied the surgeon. "Look, the blade has been wiped on the dead man's +own handkerchief. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Just so . . . just so . . . you can see the mark. . . . And now let us +go and question Mr. Kesselbach's secretary and man-servant. I have no +doubt that their examination will throw some more light on the case."</p> + +<p>Chapman, who together with Edwards, had been moved to his own room, on +the left of the sitting-room, had already recovered from his +experiences. He described in detail the events of the previous day, Mr. +Kesselbach's restlessness, the expected visit of the Colonel and, +lastly, the attack of which they had been the victims.</p> + +<p>"Aha!" cried M. Formerie. "So there's an accomplice! And you heard his +name! . . . Marco, you say? . . . This is very important. When we've got +the accomplice, we shall be a good deal further advanced. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but we've not got him," M. Lenormand ventured to remark.</p> + +<p>"We shall see. . . . One thing at a time. . . . And then, Mr. Chapman, +this Marco went away immediately after M. Gourel had rung the bell?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we heard him go."</p> + +<p>"And after he went, did you hear nothing else?"</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . from time to time, but vaguely. . . . The door was shut."</p> + +<p>"And what sort of noises did you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Bursts of voices. The man . . ."</p> + +<p>"Call him by his name, Arsène Lupin."</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin must have telephoned."</p> + +<p>"Capital! We will examine the person of the hotel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> who has charge of the +branch exchange communicating with the outside. And, afterward, did you +hear him go out, too?"</p> + +<p>"He came in to see if we were still bound; and, a quarter of an hour +later, he went away, closing the hall-door after him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, as soon as his crime was committed. Good. . . . Good. . . . It all +fits in. . . . And, after that?"</p> + +<p>"After that, we heard nothing more. . . . The night passed. . . . I fell +asleep from exhaustion. . . . So did Edwards. . . . And it was not until +this morning . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know. . . . There, it's not going badly . . . it all fits in. +. . ."</p> + +<p>And, marking off the stages of his investigation, in a tone as though he +were enumerating so many victories over the stranger, he muttered +thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"The accomplice . . . the telephone . . . the time of the murder . . . +the sounds that were heard. . . . Good. . . . Very good. . . . We have +still to establish the motive of the crime. . . . In this case, as we +have Lupin to deal with, the motive is obvious. M. Lenormand, have you +noticed the least sign of anything being broken open?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then the robbery must have been effected upon the person of the victim +himself. Has his pocket-book been found?"</p> + +<p>"I left it in the pocket of his jacket," said Gourel.</p> + +<p>They all went into the sitting-room, where M. Formerie discovered that +the pocket-book contained nothing but visiting-cards and papers +establishing the murdered man's identity.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>"That's odd. Mr. Chapman, can you tell us if Mr. Kesselbach had any +money on him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. On the previous day—that is, on Monday, the day before +yesterday—we went to the Crédit Lyonnais, where Mr. Kesselbach hired a +safe . . ."</p> + +<p>"A safe at the Crédit Lyonnais? Good. . . . We must look into that."</p> + +<p>"And, before we left, Mr. Kesselbach opened an account and drew out five +or six thousand francs in bank-notes."</p> + +<p>"Excellent . . . that tells us just what we want to know."</p> + +<p>Chapman continued:</p> + +<p>"There is another point, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction. Mr. Kesselbach, +who for some days had been very uneasy in his mind—I have told you the +reason: a scheme to which he attached the utmost importance—Mr. +Kesselbach seemed particularly anxious about two things. There was, +first, a little ebony box, which he put away safely at the Crédit +Lyonnais; and, next, a little black morocco note-case, in which he kept +a few papers."</p> + +<p>"And where is that?"</p> + +<p>"Before Lupin's arrival, he put it, in my presence, into that +travelling-bag."</p> + +<p>M. Formerie took the bag and felt about in it. The note-case was not +there. He rubbed his hands:</p> + +<p>"Ah, everything fits in! . . . We know the culprit, the conditions and +the motive of the crime. This case won't take long. Are we quite agreed +upon everything, M. Lenormand?"</p> + +<p>"Upon not one single thing."</p> + +<p>There was a moment of stupefaction. The commissary of police had +arrived: and, behind him, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> spite of the constables keeping the door, +a troop of journalists, and the hotel staff had forced their way in and +were standing in the entrance-lobby.</p> + +<p>Notorious though the old fellow was for his bluntness—a bluntness which +was not without a certain discourtesy and which had already procured him +an occasional reprimand in high quarters—the abruptness of this reply +took every one aback. And M. Formerie in particular appeared utterly +nonplussed:</p> + +<p>"Still," he said, "I can see nothing that isn't quite simple. Lupin is +the thief. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Why did he commit the murder?" M. Lenormand flung at him.</p> + +<p>"In order to commit the theft."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon; the witnesses' story proves that the theft took +place before the murder. Mr. Kesselbach was first bound and gagged, then +robbed. Why should Lupin, who has never resorted to murder, choose this +time to kill a man whom he had rendered helpless and whom he had already +robbed?"</p> + +<p>The examining-magistrate stroked his long, fair whiskers, with the +gesture customary to him when a question seemed incapable of solution. +He replied in a thoughtful tone:</p> + +<p>"There are several answers to that. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What are they?"</p> + +<p>"It depends . . . it depends upon a number of facts as yet unknown. +. . . And, moreover, the objection applies only to the nature of the +motives. We are agreed as to the remainder."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>This time, again, the denial was flat, blunt, almost impolite; so much +so that the magistrate was abso<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>lutely nonplussed, dared not even raise +a protest, and remained abashed in the presence of this strange +collaborator. At last he said:</p> + +<p>"We all have our theories. I should like to know yours."</p> + +<p>"I have none."</p> + +<p>The chief detective rose and, leaning on his stick, took a few steps +through the room. All the people around him were silent. . . . And it +was rather curious, in a group in which, after all, his position was +only that of an auxiliary, a subordinate, to see this ailing, decrepit, +elderly man dominate the others by the sheer force of an authority which +they had to feel, even though they did not accept it. After a long pause +he said:</p> + +<p>"I should like to inspect the rooms which adjoin this suite."</p> + +<p>The manager showed him the plan of the hotel. The only way out of the +right-hand bedroom, which was Mr. Kesselbach's, was through the little +entrance-hall of the suite. But the bedroom on the left, the room +occupied by the secretary, communicated with another apartment.</p> + +<p>"Let us inspect it," said M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>M. Formerie could not help shrugging his shoulders and growling:</p> + +<p>"But the communicating door is bolted and the window locked."</p> + +<p>"Let us inspect it," repeated M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>He was taken into the apartment, which was the first of the five rooms +reserved for Mrs. Kesselbach. Then, at his request, he was taken to the +rooms leading out of it. All the communicating doors were bolted on both +sides.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>"Are not any of these rooms occupied?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Where are the keys?"</p> + +<p>"The keys are always kept in the office."</p> + +<p>"Then no one can have got in? . . ."</p> + +<p>"No one, except the floor-waiter who airs and dusts the rooms."</p> + +<p>"Send for him, please."</p> + +<p>The man, whose name was Gustave Beudot, replied that he had closed the +windows of five rooms on the previous day in accordance with his general +instructions.</p> + +<p>"At what time?"</p> + +<p>"At six o'clock in the evening."</p> + +<p>"And you noticed nothing?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"And, this morning . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"This morning, I opened the windows at eight o'clock exactly."</p> + +<p>"And you found nothing?"</p> + +<p>He hesitated. He was pressed with questions and ended by admitting:</p> + +<p>"Well, I picked up a cigarette-case near the fireplace in 420. . . . I +intended to take it to the office this evening."</p> + +<p>"Have you it on you?"</p> + +<p>"No, it is in my room. It is a gun-metal case. It has a space for +tobacco and cigarette-papers on one side and for matches on the other. +There are two initials in gold: an L and an M. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What's that?"</p> + +<p>Chapman had stepped forward. He seemed greatly surprised and, +questioning the servant:</p> + +<p>"A gun-metal cigarette-case, you say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>"With three compartments—for tobacco, cigarette-papers, and matches. +. . . Russian tobacco, wasn't it, very fine and light?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Go and fetch it. . . . I should like to see it for myself . . . to make +sure. . . ."</p> + +<p>At a sign from the chief detective, Gustave Beudot left the room.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand sat down and his keen eyes examined the carpet, the +furniture and the curtains. He asked:</p> + +<p>"This is room 420, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>The magistrate grinned:</p> + +<p>"I should very much like to know what connection you establish between +this incident and the tragedy. Five locked doors separate us from the +room in which Mr. Kesselbach was murdered."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand did not condescend to reply.</p> + +<p>Time passed. Gustave did not return.</p> + +<p>"Where does he sleep?" asked the chief detective.</p> + +<p>"On the sixth floor," answered the manager. "The room is on the Rue de +Judée side: above this, therefore. It's curious that he's not back yet."</p> + +<p>"Would you have the kindness to send some one to see?"</p> + +<p>The manager went himself, accompanied by Chapman. A few minutes after, +he returned alone, running, with every mark of consternation on his +face.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Dead!"</p> + +<p>"Murdered?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Oh, by thunder, how clever these scoundrels are!" roared M. Lenormand, +"Off with you, Gourel, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> have the doors of the hotel locked. . . . +Watch every outlet. . . . And you, Mr. Manager, please take us to +Gustave Beudot's room."</p> + +<p>The manager led the way. But as they left the room, M. Lenormand stooped +and picked up a tiny little round piece of paper, on which his eyes had +already fixed themselves.</p> + +<p>It was a label surrounded with a blue border and marked with the number +813. He put it in his pocket, on chance, and joined the others. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A small wound in the back, between the shoulder-blades. . . .</p> + +<p>"Exactly the same wound as Mr. Kesselbach's," declared the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said M. Lenormand, "it was the same hand that struck the blow and +the same weapon was used."</p> + +<p>Judging by the position of the body, the man had been surprised when on +his knees before the bed, feeling under the mattress for the +cigarette-case which he had hidden there. His arm was still caught +between the mattress and the bed, but the cigarette-case was not to be +found.</p> + +<p>"That cigarette-case must have been devilish compromising!" timidly +suggested M. Formerie, who no longer dared put forward any definite +opinion.</p> + +<p>"Well, of course!" said the chief detective.</p> + +<p>"At any rate, we know the initials: an L and an M. And with that, +together with what Mr. Chapman appears to know, we shall easily learn. +. . ."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand gave a start:</p> + +<p>"Chapman! But where is he?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>They looked in the passage among the groups of people crowded together. +Chapman was not there.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Chapman came with me," said the manager.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I know, but he did not come back with you."</p> + +<p>"No, I left him with the corpse."</p> + +<p>"You left him! . . . Alone?"</p> + +<p>"I said to him, 'Stay here . . . don't move.'"</p> + +<p>"And was there no one about? Did you see no one?"</p> + +<p>"In the passage? No."</p> + +<p>"But in the other attics? . . . Or else, look here, round that corner: +was there no one hiding there?"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand seemed greatly excited. He walked up and down, he opened +the doors of the rooms. And, suddenly, he set off at a run, with an +agility of which no one would have thought him capable. He rattled down +the six storeys, followed at a distance by the manager and the +examining-magistrate. At the bottom, he found Gourel in front of the +main door.</p> + +<p>"Has no one gone out?"</p> + +<p>"No, chief."</p> + +<p>"What about the other door, in the Rue Orvieto?"</p> + +<p>"I have posted Dieuzy there."</p> + +<p>"With firm orders?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief."</p> + +<p>The huge hall of the hotel was crowded with anxious visitors, all +commenting on the more or less accurate versions that had reached them +of the crime. All the servants had been summoned by telephone and were +arriving, one by one. M. Lenormand questioned them without delay. None +of them was able to supply the least information. But a fifth-floor +chambermaid appeared. Ten minutes earlier, or thereabouts, she had +passed two gentlemen who were coming down the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> servants' staircase +between the fifth and the fourth floors.</p> + +<p>"They came down very fast. The one in front was holding the other by the +hand. I was surprised to see those two gentlemen on the servants' +staircase."</p> + +<p>"Would you know them again?"</p> + +<p>"Not the first one. He had his head turned the other way. He was a thin, +fair man. He wore a soft black hat . . . and black clothes."</p> + +<p>"And the other?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the other was an Englishman, with a big, clean-shaven face and a +check suit. He had no hat on."</p> + +<p>The description obviously referred to Chapman.</p> + +<p>The woman added:</p> + +<p>"He looked . . . he looked quite funny . . . as if he was mad."</p> + +<p>Gourel's word was not enough for M. Lenormand. One after the other, he +questioned the under-porters standing at the two doors:</p> + +<p>"Did you know Mr. Chapman?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir, he always spoke to us."</p> + +<p>"And you have not seen him go out?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir. He has not been out this morning."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand turned to the commissary of police: "How many men have you +with you, Monsieur le Commissaire?"</p> + +<p>"Four."</p> + +<p>"That's not sufficient. Telephone to your secretary to send you all the +men available. And please be so good as yourself to organize the closest +watch at every outlet. The state of siege, Monsieur le Commissaire. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"But I say," protested the manager, "my customers?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>"I don't care a hang, sir, for your customers! My duty comes before +everything; and my duty is at all costs to arrest. . . ."</p> + +<p>"So you believe . . ." the examining-magistrate ventured to interpolate.</p> + +<p>"I don't <i>believe</i>, monsieur . . . I am sure that the perpetrator of +both the murders is still in the hotel."</p> + +<p>"But then Chapman . . ."</p> + +<p>"At this moment, I cannot guarantee that Chapman is still alive. In any +case, it is only a question of minutes, of seconds. . . . Gourel, take +two men and search all the rooms on the fourth floor. . . . Mr. Manager, +send one of your clerks with them. . . . As for the other floors, I +shall proceed as soon as we are reënforced. Come, Gourel, off with you, +and keep your eyes open. . . . It's big game you're hunting!"</p> + +<p>Gourel and his men hurried away. M. Lenormand himself remained in the +hall, near the office. This time, he did not think of sitting down, as +his custom was. He walked from the main entrance to the door in the Rue +Orvieto and returned to the point from which he had started. At +intervals he gave instructions:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Manager, see that the kitchens are watched. They may try to escape +that way. . . . Mr. Manager, instruct your young lady at the telephone +not to put any of the people in the hotel into communication with +outside subscribers. If a call comes from the outside, she can connect +the caller with the person asked for, but she must take a note of that +person's name. . . . Mr. Manager, have a list made out of all your +visitors whose name begins with an L or an M."</p> + +<p>The tension caught the spectators by the throat,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> as they stood +clustered in the middle of the hall, silent and gasping for breath, +shaking with fear at the least sound, obsessed by the infernal image of +the murderer. Where was he hiding? Would he show himself? Was he not one +of themselves: this one, perhaps . . . or that one? . . .</p> + +<p>And all eyes were turned on the gray-haired gentleman in spectacles, an +olive-green frock-coat and a maroon-colored neckerchief, who was walking +about, with his bent back, on a pair of shaky legs.</p> + +<p>At times, one of the waiters accompanying Sergeant Gourel on his search +would come running up.</p> + +<p>"Any news?" asked M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>"No, sir, we've found nothing."</p> + +<p>The manager made two attempts to induce him to relax his orders +regarding the doors. The situation was becoming intolerable. The office +was filled with loudly-protesting visitors, who had business outside, or +who had arranged to leave Paris.</p> + +<p>"I don't care a hang!" said M. Lenormand again.</p> + +<p>"But I know them all."</p> + +<p>"I congratulate you."</p> + +<p>"You are exceeding your powers."</p> + +<p>"I know."</p> + +<p>"The law will decide against you."</p> + +<p>"I'm convinced of that."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction himself. . . ."</p> + +<p>"M. Formerie had better not interfere. He can mind his own business, +which is to examine the servants, as he is doing now. Besides, it has +nothing to do with the examining-magistrate, it has to do with the +police. It's my affair."</p> + +<p>Just then a squad of police burst into the hotel. The chief detective +divided them into several sections<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> which he sent up to the third floor. +Then, addressing the commissary of police:</p> + +<p>"My dear commissary, I leave the task of watching the doors to you. No +weakness, I entreat you. I will take the responsibility for anything +that happens."</p> + +<p>And, turning to the lift, he had himself conveyed to the second floor.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>It was a difficult business and a long one, for they had to open the +doors of the sixty bedrooms, to inspect all the bathrooms, all the +recesses, all the cupboards, every nook and corner.</p> + +<p>And it was also fruitless. An hour later, on the stroke of twelve, M. +Lenormand had just done the second floor; the other parties had not yet +finished the upper floors; and no discovery had been made.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand hesitated: had the murderer retreated to the attics?</p> + +<p>He was deciding, however, to go downstairs, when he was told that Mrs. +Kesselbach had just arrived with her lady-companion. Edwards, the old +confidential man-servant, had accepted the task of informing her of Mr. +Kesselbach's death.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand found her in one of the drawing rooms, overcome by the +unexpected shock, dry-eyed, but with her features wrung with grief and +her body trembling all over, as though convulsed with fever. She was a +rather tall, dark woman; and her black and exceedingly beautiful eyes +were filled with gold, with little gold spots, like spangles gleaming in +the dark. Her husband had met her in Holland, where Dolores was born of +an old family of Spanish origin, the Amontis. He fell in love with her +at first sight; and for four years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> the harmony between them, built up +of mutual affection and devotion, had never been interrupted.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand introduced himself. She looked at him without replying; and +he was silent, for she did not appear, in her stupor, to understand what +he said. Then, suddenly, she began to shed copious tears and asked to be +taken to her husband.</p> + +<p>In the hall, M. Lenormand found Gourel, who was looking for him and who +rushed at him with a hat which he held in his hand:</p> + +<p>"I picked this up, chief. . . . There's no doubt whom it belongs to, is +there?"</p> + +<p>It was a soft, black felt hat and resembled the description given. There +was no lining or label inside it.</p> + +<p>"Where did you pick it up?"</p> + +<p>"On the second-floor landing of the servants' staircase."</p> + +<p>"Nothing on the other floors?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. We've searched everywhere. There is only the first floor left. +And this hat shows that the man went down so far. We're burning, chief!"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>At the foot of the stairs M. Lenormand stopped:</p> + +<p>"Go back to the commissary and give him my orders: he must post two men +at the foot of each of the four staircases, revolver in hand. And they +are to fire, if necessary. Understand this, Gourel: if Chapman is not +saved and if the fellow escapes, it means my resignation. I've been +wool-gathering for over two hours."</p> + +<p>He went up the stairs. On the first floor he met two policemen leaving a +bedroom, accompanied by a servant of the hotel.</p> + +<p>The passage was deserted. The hotel staff dared not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> venture into it. +Some of the permanent visitors had locked themselves in their rooms; and +the police had to knock for a long time and proclaim who they were +before they could get the doors opened.</p> + +<p>Farther on, M. Lenormand saw another group of policemen searching the +maid's pantry and, at the end of a long passage, he saw some more men +who were approaching the turning, that is to say, that part of the +passage which contained the rooms overlooking the Rue de Judée.</p> + +<p>And, suddenly, he heard these men shouting; and they disappeared at a +run.</p> + +<p>He hurried after them.</p> + +<p>The policemen had stopped in the middle of the passage. At their feet, +blocking their way, with its face on the carpet, lay a corpse.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand bent down and took the lifeless head in his hands:</p> + +<p>"Chapman," he muttered. "He is dead."</p> + +<p>He examined the body. A white knitted silk muffler was tied round the +neck. He undid it. Red stains appeared; and he saw that the muffler held +a thick wad of cotton-wool in position against the nape of the neck. The +wad was soaked with blood.</p> + +<p>Once again there was the same little wound, clean, frank and pitiless.</p> + +<p>M. Formerie and the commissary were at once told and came hastening up.</p> + +<p>"No one gone out?" asked the chief detective. "No surprise?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the commissary. "There are two men on guard at the foot of +each staircase."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps he has gone up again?" said M. Formerie.</p> + +<p>"No! . . . No! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>"But some one must have met him. . . ."</p> + +<p>"No. . . . This all happened quite a long time ago. The hands are cold. +. . . The murder must have been committed almost immediately after the +other . . . as soon as the two men came here by the servants' +staircase."</p> + +<p>"But the body would have been seen! Think, fifty people must have passed +this spot during the last two hours. . . ."</p> + +<p>"The body was not here."</p> + +<p>"Then where was it?"</p> + +<p>"Why, how can I tell?" snapped the chief detective. "Do as I'm doing, +look for yourself! You can't find things by talking."</p> + +<p>He furiously patted the knob of his stick with a twitching hand; and he +stood there, with his eyes fixed on the body, silent and thoughtful. At +last he spoke:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Commissaire, be so good as to have the victim taken to an +empty room. Let them fetch the doctor. Mr. Manager, would you mind +opening the doors of all the rooms on this passage for me?"</p> + +<p>On the left were three bedrooms and two sitting-rooms, forming an empty +suite, which M. Lenormand inspected. On the right were four bedrooms. +Two were occupied respectively by a M. Reverdat and an Italian, Baron +Giacomini, who were both then out. In the third room they found an +elderly English maiden lady still in bed; and, in the fourth, an +Englishman who was placidly reading and smoking and who had not been in +the least disturbed by the noises in the passage. His name was Major +Parbury.</p> + +<p>No amount of searching or questioning led to any result. The old maid +had heard nothing before the exclamations of the policeman: no noise of +a struggle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> no cry of pain, no sound of quarreling; and Major Parbury +neither.</p> + +<p>Moreover, there was no suspicious clue found, no trace of blood, nothing +to lead them to suppose that the unfortunate Chapman had been in one of +those rooms.</p> + +<p>"It's queer," muttered the examining-magistrate, "it's all very queer. +. . ." And he confessed, ingenuously, "I feel more and more at sea. +. . . There is a whole series of circumstances that are partly beyond +me. What do you make of it, M. Lenormand?"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand was on the point of letting off one of those pointed +rejoinders in which he was wont to give vent to his chronic ill-temper, +when Gourel appeared upon the scene, all out of breath.</p> + +<p>"Chief," he panted, "they've found this . . . downstairs . . . in the +office . . . on a chair. . . ."</p> + +<p>It was a parcel of moderate dimensions, wrapped up in a piece of black +serge.</p> + +<p>"Did they open it?" asked the chief.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but when they saw what the parcel contained, they did it up again +exactly as it was . . . fastened very tight, as you can see. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Untie it."</p> + +<p>Gourel removed the wrapper and disclosed a black diagonal jacket and +trousers, which had evidently been packed up in a hurry, as the creases +in the cloth showed. In the middle was a towel, covered with blood, +which had been dipped in water, in order, no doubt, to destroy the marks +of the hands that had been wiped on it. Inside the napkin was a steel +dagger, with a handle encrusted with gold. This also was red with blood, +the blood of three men stabbed within<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> the space of a few hours by an +invisible hand, amid the crowd of three hundred people moving about in +the huge hotel.</p> + +<p>Edwards, the man-servant, at once identified the dagger as belonging to +Mr. Kesselbach. He had seen it on the table on the previous day, before +the assault committed by Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Mr. Manager," said the chief detective, "the restriction is over. +Gourel, go and give orders to leave the doors free."</p> + +<p>"So you think that Lupin has succeeded in getting out?" asked M. +Formerie.</p> + +<p>"No. The perpetrator of the three murders which we have discovered is in +one of the rooms of the hotel, or, rather, he is among the visitors in +the hall or in the reception-rooms. In my opinion, he was staying in the +hotel."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! Besides, where would he have changed his clothes? And what +clothes would he have on now?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, but I am stating a fact."</p> + +<p>"And you are letting him go? Why, he'll just walk out quietly, with his +hands in his pockets!"</p> + +<p>"The one who walks away like that, without his luggage, and who does not +return, will be the criminal. Mr. Manager, please come with me to the +office. I should like to make a close inspection of your visitors' +book."</p> + +<p>In the office, M. Lenormand found a few letters addressed to Mr. +Kesselbach. He handed them to the examining-magistrate. There was also a +parcel that had just come by the Paris parcel-post. The paper in which +it was packed was partly torn; and M. Lenormand saw that it held a small +ebony box, engraved with the name of Rudolf Kesselbach. Feeling +curious,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> he opened the parcel. The box contained the fragments of a +looking-glass which had evidently been fixed to the inside of the lid. +It also contained the card of Arsène Lupin.</p> + +<p>But one detail seemed to strike the chief detective. On the outside, at +the bottom of the box, was a little blue-edged label, similar to the +label which he had picked up in the room on the fourth floor where the +cigarette-case was found, and this label bore the same number, 813.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> +<span class="smalltext">M. LENORMAND OPENS HIS CAMPAIGN</span></h2> + + +<p>"Auguste, show M. Lenormand in."</p> + +<p>The messenger went out and, a few seconds later, announced the chief of +the detective-service.</p> + +<p>There were three men in the prime minister's private room on the Place +Beauvau: the famous Valenglay, leader of the radical party for the past +thirty years and now president of the council and minister of the +interior; the attorney-general, M. Testard; and the prefect of police, +Delaume.</p> + +<p>The prefect of police and the attorney-general did not rise from the +chairs which they had occupied during their long conversation with the +prime minister. Valenglay, however, stood up and, pressing the chief +detective's hand, said, in the most cordial tones:</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt, my dear Lenormand, that you know the reason why I +asked you to come."</p> + +<p>"The Kesselbach case?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The Kesselbach case! Not one of us but is able to recall not only the +main details of this tragic affair, the tangled skein of which I have +set myself to unravel, but even its very smallest incidents, so greatly +did the tragedy excite us all during these recent years. Nor is there +one of us but remembers the extraordinary<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> stir which it created both in +and outside France. And yet there was one thing that upset the public +even more than the three murders committed in such mysterious +circumstances, more than the detestable atrocity of that butchery, more +than anything else; and that was the reappearance—one might almost say +the resurrection—of Arsène Lupin.</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin! No one had heard speak of him for over four years, since +his incredible, his astounding adventure of the Hollow Needle,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> since +the day when he had slunk away into the darkness before the eyes of +Holmlock Shears and Isidore Beautrelet, carrying on his back the dead +body of the woman whom he loved, and followed by his old servant, +Victoire.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> See <i>The Hollow Needle</i>. By Maurice Leblanc. Translated by +Alexander Teixeira de Mattos and published by Doubleday, Page & Co.</p></div> + +<p>From that day onward he had been generally believed to be dead. This was +the version put about by the police, who, finding no trace of their +adversary, were content purely and simply to bury him.</p> + +<p>Some, however, believing him to be saved, described him as leading a +placid, Philistine existence. According to them, he was living with his +wife and children, growing his small potatoes; whereas others maintained +that, bent down with the weight of sorrow and weary of the vanities of +this world, he had sought the seclusion of a Trappist monastery.</p> + +<p>And here he was once more looming large in the public view and resuming +his relentless struggle against society! Arsène Lupin was Arsène Lupin +again, the fanciful, intangible, disconcerting, audacious, genial Arsène +Lupin! But, this time, a cry of horror arose. Arsène Lupin had taken +human life! And the fierce<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>ness, the cruelty, the ruthless cynicism of +the crime were so great that, then and there, the legend of the popular +hero, of the chivalrous and occasionally sentimental adventurer, made +way for a new conception of an inhuman, bloodthirsty, and ferocious +monster. The crowd now loathed and feared its former idol with more +intensity than it had once shown in admiring him for his easy grace and +his diverting good-humor.</p> + +<p>And, forthwith, the indignation of that frightened crowd turned against +the police. Formerly, people had laughed. They forgave the beaten +commissary of police for the comical fashion in which he allowed himself +to be beaten. But the joke had lasted too long; and, in a burst of +revolt and fury, they now called the authorities to account for the +unspeakable crimes which these were powerless to prevent.</p> + +<p>In the press, at public meetings, in the streets and even in the tribune +of the Chamber of Deputies there was such an explosion of wrath that the +government grew alarmed and strove by every possible means to allay the +public excitement.</p> + +<p>It so happened that Valenglay, the premier, took a great interest in all +these police questions and had often amused himself by going closely +into different cases with the chief of the detective-service, whose good +qualities and independent character he valued highly. He sent for the +prefect and the attorney-general to see him in his room, talked to them +and then sent for M. Lenormand.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>"Yes, my dear Lenormand, it's about the Kesselbach case. But, before we +discuss it, I must call your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> attention to a point which more +particularly affects and, I may say, annoys Monsieur le Préfet de +Police. M. Delaume, will you explain to M. Lenormand . . . ?</p> + +<p>"Oh, M. Lenormand knows quite well how the matter stands," said the +prefect, in a tone which showed but little good-will toward his +subordinate. "We have talked it over already and I have told him what I +thought of his improper conduct at the Palace Hotel. People are +generally indignant."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand rose, took a paper from his pocket and laid it on the +table.</p> + +<p>"What is this?" asked Valenglay.</p> + +<p>"My resignation, Monsieur le Président du Conseil."</p> + +<p>Valenglay gave a jump:</p> + +<p>"What! Your resignation! For a well-meaning remark which Monsieur le +Préfet thinks fit to address to you and to which, for that matter, he +attaches no importance whatever—do you, Delaume? No importance +whatever—and there you go, taking offence! You must confess, my dear +Lenormand, that you're devilish touchy! Come, put that bit of paper back +in your pocket and let's talk seriously."</p> + +<p>The chief detective sat down again, and Valenglay, silencing the +prefect, who made no attempt to conceal his dissatisfaction, said:</p> + +<p>"In two words, Lenormand, the thing is that Lupin's reappearance upon +the scene annoys us. The brute has defied us long enough. It used to be +funny, I confess, and I, for my part, was the first to laugh at it. But +it's no longer a question of that. It's a question of murder now. We +could stand Lupin, as long as he amused the gallery. But, when he takes +to killing people, no!"</p> + +<p>"Then what is it that you ask, Monsieur le Président?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>"What we ask? Oh, it's quite simple! First, his arrest and then his +head!"</p> + +<p>"I can promise you his arrest, some day or another, but not his head."</p> + +<p>"What! If he's arrested, it means trial for murder, a verdict of guilty, +and the scaffold."</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"And why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because Lupin has not committed murder."</p> + +<p>"Eh? Why, you're mad, Lenormand! The corpses at the Palace Hotel are so +many inventions, I suppose! And the three murders were never committed!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but not by Lupin."</p> + +<p>The chief spoke these words very steadily, with impressive calmness and +conviction. The attorney and the prefect protested.</p> + +<p>"I presume, Lenormand," said Valenglay, "that you do not put forward +that theory without serious reasons?"</p> + +<p>"It is not a theory."</p> + +<p>"What proof have you?"</p> + +<p>"There are two, to begin with, two proofs of a moral nature, which I at +once placed before Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction and which the +newspapers have laid stress upon. First and foremost, Lupin does not +kill people. Next, why should he have killed anybody, seeing that the +object which he set out to achieve, the theft, was accomplished and that +he had nothing to fear from an adversary who was gagged and bound?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. But the facts?"</p> + +<p>"Facts are worth nothing against reason and logic; and, moreover, the +facts also are on my side. What would be the meaning of Lupin's presence +in the room in which the cigarette-case was discovered? On the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> other +hand, the black clothes which were found and which evidently belonged to +the murderer are not in the least of a size to fit Lupin."</p> + +<p>"You know him, then, do you?"</p> + +<p>"I? No. But Edwards saw him, Gourel saw him; and the man whom they saw +is not the man whom the chambermaid saw, on the servants' staircase, +dragging Chapman by the hand."</p> + +<p>"Then your idea . . ."</p> + +<p>"You mean to say, the truth, M. le Président. Here it is, or, at least, +here is the truth as far as I know it. On Tuesday, the 16th of April, a +man—-Lupin—broke into Mr. Kesselbach's room at about two o'clock in +the afternoon. . . ."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand was interrupted by a burst of laughter. It came from the +prefect of police.</p> + +<p>"Let me tell you, M. Lenormand, that you are in rather too great a hurry +to state your precise facts. It has been shown that, at three o'clock on +that day, Mr. Kesselbach walked into the Crédit Lyonnais and went down +to the safe deposit. His signature in the register proves it."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand waited respectfully until his superior had finished +speaking. Then, without even troubling to reply directly to the attack, +he continued:</p> + +<p>"At about two o'clock in the afternoon, Lupin, assisted by an +accomplice, a man named Marco, bound Mr. Kesselbach hand and foot, +robbed him of all the loose cash which he had upon him and compelled him +to reveal the cypher of his safe at the Crédit Lyonnais. As soon as the +secret was told, Marco left. He joined another accomplice, who, +profiting by a certain resemblance to Mr. Kesselbach—a resemblance +which he accentuated that day by wearing clothes similar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> to Mr. +Kesselbach's and putting on a pair of gold spectacles—entered the +Crédit Lyonnais, imitated Mr. Kesselbach's signature, emptied the safe +of its contents and walked off, accompanied by Marco. Marco at once +telephoned to Lupin. Lupin, as soon as he was sure that Mr. Kesselbach +had not deceived him and that the object of his expedition was attained, +went away."</p> + +<p>Valenglay seemed to waver in his mind:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes . . . we'll admit that. . . . But what surprises me is that a +man like Lupin should have risked so much for such a paltry profit: a +few bank-notes and the hypothetical contents of a safe."</p> + +<p>"Lupin was after more than that. He wanted either the morocco envelope +which was in the traveling-bag, or else the ebony box which was in the +safe. He had the ebony box, because he has sent it back empty. +Therefore, by this time, he knows, or is in a fair way for knowing, the +famous scheme which Mr. Kesselbach was planning, and which he was +discussing with his secretary a few minutes before his death."</p> + +<p>"What was the scheme?"</p> + +<p>"I don't exactly know. The manager of Barbareux's agency, to whom he had +opened his mind about it, has told me that Mr. Kesselbach was looking +for a man who went by the name of Pierre Leduc, a man who had lost +caste, it appears. Why and how the discovery of this person was +connected with the success of his scheme, I am unable to say."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Valenglay. "So much for Arsène Lupin. His part is +played. Mr. Kesselbach is bound hand and foot, robbed, but alive! . . . +What happens up to the time when he is found dead?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>"Nothing, for several hours, nothing until night. But, during the night, +some one made his way in."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"Through room 420, one of the rooms reserved by Mr. Kesselbach. The +person in question evidently possessed a false key."</p> + +<p>"But," exclaimed the prefect of police, "all the doors between that room +and Mr. Kesselbach's flat were bolted; and there were five of them!"</p> + +<p>"There was always the balcony."</p> + +<p>"The balcony!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; the balcony runs along the whole floor, on the Rue de Judée side."</p> + +<p>"And what about the spaces in between?"</p> + +<p>"An active man can step across them. Our man did. I have found marks."</p> + +<p>"But all the windows of the suite were shut; and it was ascertained, +after the crime, that they were still shut."</p> + +<p>"All except one, the secretary's window, Chapman's, which was only +pushed to. I tried it myself."</p> + +<p>This time the prime minister seemed a little shaken, so logical did M. +Lenormand's version seem, so precise and supported by such sound facts. +He asked, with growing interest:</p> + +<p>"But what was the man's object in coming?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you don't know!"</p> + +<p>"Any more than I know his name."</p> + +<p>"But why did he kill Mr. Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. This all remains a mystery. The utmost that we have the +right to suppose is that he did not come with the intention of killing, +but with the intention, he too, of taking the documents con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>tained in +the morocco note-case and the ebony box; and that, finding himself by +accident in the presence of the enemy reduced to a state of +helplessness, he killed him."</p> + +<p>Valenglay muttered:</p> + +<p>"Yes, strictly speaking, that is possible. . . . And, according to you, +did he find the documents?"</p> + +<p>"He did not find the box, because it was not there; but he found the +black morocco note-case. So that Lupin and . . . the other are in the +same position. Each knows as much as the other about the Kesselbach +scheme."</p> + +<p>"That means," remarked the premier, "that they will fight."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. And the fight has already begun. The murderer, finding a card +of Arsène Lupin's, pinned it to the corpse. All the appearances would +thus be against Arsène Lupin . . . therefore, Arsène Lupin would be the +murderer."</p> + +<p>"True . . . true," said Valenglay. "The calculation seemed pretty +accurate."</p> + +<p>"And the stratagem would have succeeded," continued M. Lenormand, "if in +consequence of another and a less favorable accident, the murderer had +not, either in coming or going, dropped his cigarette-case in room 420, +and if the floor-waiter, Gustave Beudot, had not picked it up. From that +moment, knowing himself to be discovered, or on the point of being +discovered . . ."</p> + +<p>"How did he know it?"</p> + +<p>"How? Why, through M. Formerie, the examining-magistrate, himself! The +investigation took place with open doors. It is certain that the +murderer was concealed among the people, members of the hotel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> staff and +journalists, who were present when Gustave Beudot was giving his +evidence; and when the magistrate sent Gustave Beudot to his attic to +fetch the cigarette-case, the man followed and struck the blow. Second +victim!"</p> + +<p>No one protested now. The tragedy was being reconstructed before their +eyes with a realism and a probable accuracy which were equally striking.</p> + +<p>"And the third victim?" asked Valenglay.</p> + +<p>"He himself gave the ruffian his opportunity. When Beudot did not +return, Chapman, curious to see the cigarette-case for himself, went +upstairs with the manager of the hotel. He was surprised by the +murderer, dragged away by him, taken to one of the bedrooms and murdered +in his turn."</p> + +<p>"But why did he allow himself to be dragged away like that and to be led +by a man whom he knew to be the murderer of Mr. Kesselbach and of +Gustave Beudot?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, any more than I know the room in which the crime was +committed, or the really miraculous way in which the criminal escaped."</p> + +<p>"Something has been said about two blue labels."</p> + +<p>"Yes, one was found on the box which Lupin sent back; and the other was +found by me and doubtless came from the morocco note-case stolen by the +murderer."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think that they mean anything. What does mean something is the +number 813, which Mr. Kesselbach wrote on each of them. His handwriting +has been recognized."</p> + +<p>"And that number 813?"</p> + +<p>"It's a mystery."</p> + +<p>"Then?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>"I can only reply again that I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Have you no suspicions?"</p> + +<p>"None at all. Two of my men are occupying one of the rooms in the Palace +Hotel, on the floor where Chapman's body was found. I have had all the +people in the hotel watched by these two men. The criminal is not one of +those who have left."</p> + +<p>"Did no one telephone while the murders were being committed?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, some one telephoned from the outside to Major Parbury, one of the +four persons who occupied rooms on the first-floor passage."</p> + +<p>"And this Major Parbury?"</p> + +<p>"I am having him watched by my men. So far, nothing has been discovered +against him."</p> + +<p>"And in which direction do you intend to seek?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, in a very limited direction. In my opinion, the murderer must be +numbered among the friends or connections of Mr. and Mrs. Kesselbach. He +followed their scent, knew their habits, the reason of Mr. Kesselbach's +presence in Paris; and he at least suspected the importance of Mr. +Kesselbach's plans."</p> + +<p>"Then he was not a professional criminal?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, certainly not! The murder was committed with extraordinary +cleverness and daring, but it was due to circumstances. I repeat, we +shall have to look among the people forming the immediate circle of Mr. +and Mrs. Kesselbach. And the proof is that Mr. Kesselbach's murderer +killed Gustave Beudot for the sole reason that the waiter had the +cigarette-case in his possession; and Chapman for the sole reason that +the secretary knew of its existence. Remember Chapman's excitement: at +the mere description of the cigarette-case, Chapman received a sudden +insight<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> into the tragedy. If he had seen the cigarette-case, we should +have been fully informed. The man, whoever he may be, was well aware of +that: and he put an end to Chapman. And we know nothing, nothing but the +initials L and M."</p> + +<p>He reflected for a moment and said:</p> + +<p>"There is another proof, which forms an answer to one of your questions, +Monsieur le Président: Do you believe that Chapman would have +accompanied that man along the passages and staircases of the hotel if +he did not already know him?"</p> + +<p>The facts were accumulating. The truth or, at least, the probable truth +was gaining strength. Many of the points at issue, the most interesting, +perhaps, remained obscure. But what a light had been thrown upon the +subject! Short of the motives that inspired them, how clearly +Lenormand's hearers now perceived the sequence of acts performed on that +tragic morning!</p> + +<p>There was a pause. Every one was thinking, seeking for arguments, for +objections. At last, Valenglay exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"My dear Lenormand, this is all quite excellent. You have convinced me. +. . . But, taking one thing with another, we are no further than we +were."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"What I say. The object of our meeting is not to clear up a portion of +the mystery, which, one day, I am sure, you will clear up altogether, +but to satisfy the public demand as fully as we possibly can. Now +whether the murderer is Lupin or another; whether there are two +criminals, or three, or only one: all this gives us neither the +criminal's name nor his arrest. And the public continues under the +disastrous impression that the law is powerless."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>"What can I do?"</p> + +<p>"Give the public the definite satisfaction which it demands."</p> + +<p>"But it seems to me that this explanation ought to be enough. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Words! The public wants deeds! One thing alone will satisfy it: an +arrest."</p> + +<p>"Hang it all! Hang it all! We can't arrest the first person that comes +along!"</p> + +<p>"Even that would be better than arresting nobody," said Valenglay, with +a laugh. "Come, have a good look round! Are you sure of Edwards, +Kesselbach's servant?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely sure. Besides . . . No, Monsieur le Président, it would be +dangerous and ridiculous; and I am sure that Mr. Attorney-General +himself . . . There are only two people whom we have the right to +arrest: the murderer—I don't know who he is—and Arsène Lupin."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"There is no question of arresting Arsène Lupin, or, at least, it +requires time, a whole series of measures, which I have not yet had the +leisure to contrive, because I looked upon Lupin as settled down . . . +or dead."</p> + +<p>Valenglay stamped his foot with the impatience of a man who likes to see +his wishes realized on the spot:</p> + +<p>"And yet . . . and yet, my dear Lenormand, something must be done . . . +if only for your own sake. You know as well as I do that you have +powerful enemies . . . and that, if I were not there . . . In short, +Lenormand, you can't be allowed to get out of it like this. What are you +doing about the accomplices? There are others besides Lupin. There is +Marco;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> and there's the rogue who impersonated Mr. Kesselbach in order +to visit the cellars of the Crédit Lyonnais."</p> + +<p>"Would you be satisfied if you got him, Monsieur le Président?"</p> + +<p>"Would I be satisfied? Heavens alive, I should think I would!"</p> + +<p>"Well, give me seven days."</p> + +<p>"Seven days! Why, it's not a question of days, my dear Lenormand! It's a +question of hours!"</p> + +<p>"How many will you give me, Monsieur le Président?"</p> + +<p>Valenglay took out his watch and chuckled:</p> + +<p>"I will give you ten minutes, my dear Lenormand!"</p> + +<p>The chief took out his, and emphasizing each syllable, said calmly:</p> + +<p>"That is four minutes more than I want, Monsieur le Président."</p> + +<p>Valenglay looked at him in amazement.</p> + +<p>"Four minutes more than you want? What do you mean by that?"</p> + +<p>"I mean, Monsieur le Président, that the ten minutes which you allow me +are superfluous. I want six, and not one minute more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but look here, Lenormand . . . if you imagine that this is the time +for joking . . ."</p> + +<p>The chief detective went to the window and beckoned to two men who were +walking round the courtyard.</p> + +<p>Then he returned:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Attorney-General, would you have the kindness to sign a warrant for +the arrest of Auguste Maximin Philippe Daileron, aged forty-seven? You +might leave the profession open."</p> + +<p>He went to the door:</p> + +<p>"Come in, Gourel. You, too, Dieuzy."</p> + +<p>Gourel entered, accompanied by Inspector Dieuzy.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>"Have you the handcuffs, Gourel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand went up to Valenglay:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président, everything is ready. But I entreat you most +urgently to forego this arrest. It upsets all my plans; it may render +them abortive; and, for the sake of what, after all, is a very trifling +satisfaction, it exposes us to the risk of jeopardizing the whole +business."</p> + +<p>"M. Lenormand, let me remark that you have only eighty seconds left."</p> + +<p>The chief suppressed a gesture of annoyance, strode across the room and, +leaning on his stick, sat down angrily, as though he had decided not to +speak. Then, suddenly making up his mind:</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président, the first person who enters this room will be +the man whose arrest you asked for . . . against my wish, as I insist on +pointing out to you."</p> + +<p>"Fifteen seconds, Lenormand!"</p> + +<p>"Gourel . . . Dieuzy . . . the first person, do you understand? . . . +Mr. Attorney, have you signed the warrant?"</p> + +<p>"Ten seconds, Lenormand!"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président, would you be so good as to ring the bell?"</p> + +<p>Valenglay rang.</p> + +<p>The messenger appeared in the doorway and waited.</p> + +<p>Valenglay turned to the chief:</p> + +<p>"Well, Lenormand, he's waiting for your orders. Whom is he to show in?"</p> + +<p>"No one."</p> + +<p>"But the rogue whose arrest you promised us? The six minutes are more +than past."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span>"Yes, but the rogue is here!"</p> + +<p>"Here? I don't understand. No one has entered the room!"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say. . . . Look here, Lenormand, you're making fun of us. I tell +you again that no one has entered the room."</p> + +<p>"There were six of us in this room, Monsieur le Président; there are +seven now. Consequently, some one has entered the room."</p> + +<p>Valenglay started:</p> + +<p>"Eh! But this is madness! . . . What! You mean to say . . ."</p> + +<p>The two detectives had slipped between the messenger and the door. M. +Lenormand walked up to the messenger, clapped his hand on his shoulder +and, in a loud voice:</p> + +<p>"In the name of the law, Auguste Maximin Philippe Daileron, chief +messenger at the Ministry of the Interior, I arrest you."</p> + +<p>Valenglay burst out laughing.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what a joke! What a joke! That infernal Lenormand! Of all the +first-rate notions! Well done, Lenormand! It's long since I enjoyed so +good a laugh."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand turned to the attorney-general:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Attorney, you won't forget to fill in Master Daileron's profession +on the warrant, will you? Chief messenger at the Ministry of the +Interior."</p> + +<p>"Oh, good! . . . Oh, capital! . . . Chief messenger at the Ministry of +the Interior!" spluttered Valenglay, holding his sides. "Oh, this +wonderful Lenormand gets hold of ideas that would never occur to anybody +else! The public is clamoring for an arrest. . . . Whoosh, he flings at +its head my chief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> messenger . . . Auguste . . . the model servant! +Well, Lenormand, my dear fellow, I knew you had a certain gift of +imagination, but I never suspected that it would go so far as this! The +impertinence of it!"</p> + +<p>From the commencement of this scene, Auguste had not stirred a limb and +seemed to understand nothing of what was going on around him. His face, +the typical face of a good, loyal, faithful serving-man, seemed +absolutely bewildered. He looked at the gentlemen turn and turn about, +with a visible effort to catch the meaning of their words.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand said a few words to Gourel, who went out. Then, going up to +Auguste and speaking with great decision, he said:</p> + +<p>"There's no way out of it. You're caught. The best thing to do, when the +game is lost, is to throw down your cards. What were you doing on +Tuesday?"</p> + +<p>"I? Nothing. I was here."</p> + +<p>"You lie. You were off duty. You went out for the day."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes . . . I remember . . . I had a friend to see me from the +country. . . . We went for a walk in the Bois."</p> + +<p>"Your friend's name was Marco. And you went for a walk in the cellars of +the Crédit Lyonnais."</p> + +<p>"I? What an idea! . . . Marco! . . . I don't know any one by that name."</p> + +<p>"And these? Do you know these?" cried the chief, thrusting a pair of +gold-rimmed spectacles under his nose.</p> + +<p>"No . . . certainly not. . . . I don't wear spectacles. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you do; you wear them when you go to the Crédit Lyonnais and when +you pass yourself off as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Mr. Kesselbach. These come from your room, the +room which you occupy, under the name of M. Jérôme, at No. 50 Rue du +Colisee."</p> + +<p>"My room? <i>My</i> room? I sleep here, at the office."</p> + +<p>"But you change your clothes over there, to play your parts in Lupin's +gang."</p> + +<p>A blow in the chest made him stagger back. Auguste reached the window at +a bound, climbed over the balcony and jumped into the courtyard.</p> + +<p>"Dash it all!" shouted Valenglay. "The scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>He rang the bell, ran to the window, wanted to call out. M. Lenormand, +with the greatest calm, said:</p> + +<p>"Don't excite yourself, Monsieur le Président . . ."</p> + +<p>"But that blackguard of an Auguste . . ."</p> + +<p>"One second, please. . . . I foresaw this ending . . . in fact, I +allowed for it. . . . It's the best confession we could have. . . ."</p> + +<p>Yielding in the presence of this coolness, Valenglay resumed his seat. +In a moment, Gourel entered, with his hand on the collar of Master +Auguste Maximin Philippe Daileron, <i>alias</i> Jérôme, chief messenger at +the Ministry of the Interior.</p> + +<p>"Bring him, Gourel!" said M. Lenormand, as who should say, "Fetch it! +Bring it!" to a good retriever carrying the game in its jaws. "Did he +come quietly?"</p> + +<p>"He bit me a little, but I held tight," replied the sergeant, showing +his huge, sinewy hand.</p> + +<p>"Very well, Gourel. And now take this chap off to the Dépôt in a cab. +Good-bye for the present, M. Jérôme."</p> + +<p>Valenglay was immensely amused. He rubbed his hands and laughed. The +idea that his chief messenger was one of Lupin's accomplices struck him +as a most delightfully ludicrous thing.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>"Well done, my dear Lenormand; this is wonderful! But how on earth did +you manage it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, in the simplest possible fashion. I knew that Mr. Kesselbach was +employing the Barbareux agency and that Lupin had called on him, +pretending to come from the agency. I hunted in that direction and +discovered that, when the indiscretion was committed to the prejudice of +Mr. Kesselbach and of Barbareux, it could only have been to the +advantage of one Jérôme, a friend of one of the clerks at the agency. If +you had not ordered me to hustle things, I should have watched the +messenger and caught Marco and then Lupin."</p> + +<p>"You'll catch them, Lenormand, you'll catch them, I assure you. And we +shall be assisting at the most exciting spectacle in the world: the +struggle between Lupin and yourself. I shall bet on you."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The next morning the newspapers published the following letter:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">"<i>Open Letter to M. Lenormand, Chief of the +Detective-service.</i></p> + +<p>"All my congratulations, dear sir and dear friend, on +your arrest of Jérôme the messenger. It was a smart +piece of work, well executed and worthy of you.</p> + +<p>"All my compliments, also, on the ingenious manner in +which you proved to the prime minister that I was not +Mr. Kesselbach's murderer. Your demonstration was +clear, logical, irrefutable and, what is more, +truthful. As you know, I do not kill people. Thank you +for proving it on this occasion. The esteem of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +contemporaries and of yourself, dear sir and dear +friend, are indispensable to my happiness.</p> + +<p>"In return, allow me to assist you in the pursuit of +the monstrous assassin and to give you a hand with the +Kesselbach case, a very interesting case, believe me: +so interesting and so worthy of my attention that I +have determined to issue from the retirement in which +I have been living for the past four years, between my +books and my good dog Sherlock, to beat all my +comrades to arms and to throw myself once more into +the fray.</p> + +<p>"What unexpected turns life sometimes takes! Here am +I, your fellow-worker! Let me assure you, dear sir and +dear friend, that I congratulate myself upon it, and +that I appreciate this favor of destiny at its true +value.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin.</span></p> + +<p>"P.S.—One word more, of which I feel sure that you +will approve. As it is not right and proper that a +gentleman who has had the glorious privilege of +fighting under my banner should languish on the straw +of your prisons, I feel it my duty to give you fair +warning that, in five weeks' time, on Friday, the 31st +of May, I shall set at liberty Master Jérôme, promoted +by me to the rank of chief messenger at the Ministry +of the Interior. Don't forget the date: Friday, the +31st of May.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"A. L."</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">PRINCE SERNINE AT WORK</span></h2> + + +<p>A ground-floor flat, at the corner of the Boulevard Haussmann and the +Rue de Courcelles. Here lived Prince Sernine: Prince Sernine, one of the +most brilliant members of the Russian colony in Paris, whose name was +constantly recurring in the "Arrivals and Departures" column in the +newspapers.</p> + +<p>Eleven o'clock in the morning. The prince entered his study. He was a +man of thirty-eight or forty years of age, whose chestnut hair was +mingled with a few silver threads on the temples. He had a fresh, +healthy complexion and wore a large mustache and a pair of whiskers cut +extremely short, so as to be hardly noticeable against the fresh skin of +his cheeks.</p> + +<p>He was smartly dressed in a tight-fitting frock-coat and a white drill +waistcoat, which showed above the opening.</p> + +<p>"Come on!" he said, in an undertone. "I have a hard day's work before +me, I expect."</p> + +<p>He opened a door leading into a large room where a few people sat +waiting, and said:</p> + +<p>"Is Varnier there? Come in, Varnier."</p> + +<p>A man looking like a small tradesman, squat, solidly built, firmly set +upon his legs, entered at the summons. The prince closed the door behind +him:</p> + +<p>"Well, Varnier, how far are you?"</p> + +<p>"Everything's ready for this evening, governor."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>"Good. Tell me in a few words."</p> + +<p>"It's like this. After her husband's murder, Mrs. Kesselbach, on the +strength of the prospectuses which you ordered to be sent to her, +selected as her residence the establishment known as the Retreat for +Gentlewomen, at Garches. She occupies the last of the four small houses, +at the bottom of the garden, which the management lets to ladies who +prefer to live quite apart from the other boarders, the house known as +the Pavillon de l'Impératrice."</p> + +<p>"What servants has she?"</p> + +<p>"Her companion, Gertrude, with whom she arrived a few hours after the +crime, and Gertrude's sister Suzanne, whom she sent for to Monte Carlo +and who acts as her maid. The two sisters are devoted to her."</p> + +<p>"What about Edwards, the valet?"</p> + +<p>"She did not keep him. He has gone back to his own country."</p> + +<p>"Does she see people?"</p> + +<p>"No. She spends her time lying on a sofa. She seems very weak and ill. +She cries a great deal. Yesterday the examining-magistrate was with her +for two hours."</p> + +<p>"Very good. And now about the young girl."</p> + +<p>"Mlle. Geneviève Ernemont lives across the way . . . in a lane running +toward the open country, the third house on the right in the lane. She +keeps a free school for backward children. Her grandmother, Mme. +Ernemont, lives with her."</p> + +<p>"And, according to what you wrote to me, Geneviève Ernemont and Mrs. +Kesselbach have become acquainted?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. The girl went to ask Mrs. Kesselbach for a subscription for her +school. They must have taken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> a liking to each other, for, during the +past four days, they have been walking together in the Parc de +Villeneuve, of which the garden of the Retreat is only a dependency."</p> + +<p>"At what time do they go out?"</p> + +<p>"From five to six. At six o'clock exactly the young lady goes back to +her school."</p> + +<p>"So you have arranged the thing?"</p> + +<p>"For six o'clock to-day. Everything is ready."</p> + +<p>"Will there be no one there?"</p> + +<p>"There is never any one in the park at that hour."</p> + +<p>"Very well. I shall be there. You can go."</p> + +<p>He sent him out through the door leading to the hall, and, returning to +the waiting-room, called:</p> + +<p>"The brothers Doudeville."</p> + +<p>Two young men entered, a little overdressed, keen-eyed and +pleasant-looking.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Jean. Good morning, Jacques. Any news at the Prefecture?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much, governor."</p> + +<p>"Does M. Lenormand continue to have confidence in you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Next to Gourel, we are his favorite inspectors. A proof is that he +has posted us in the Palace Hotel to watch the people who were living on +the first-floor passage at the time of Chapman's murder. Gourel comes +every morning, and we make the same report to him that we do to you."</p> + +<p>"Capital. It is essential that I should be informed of all that happens +and all that is said at the Prefecture of Police. As long as Lenormand +looks upon you as his men, I am master of the situation. And have you +discovered a trail of any kind in the hotel?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>Jean Doudeville, the elder of the two, replied:</p> + +<p>"The Englishwoman who occupied one of the bedrooms has gone."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't interest me. I know all about her. But her neighbor, Major +Parbury?"</p> + +<p>They seemed embarrassed. At last, one of them replied:</p> + +<p>"Major Parbury, this morning, ordered his luggage to be taken to the +Gare du Nord, for the twelve-fifty train, and himself drove away in a +motor. We were there when the train left. The major did not come."</p> + +<p>"And the luggage?"</p> + +<p>"He had it fetched at the station."</p> + +<p>"By whom?"</p> + +<p>"By a commissionaire, so we were told."</p> + +<p>"Then his tracks are lost?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"At last!" cried the prince, joyfully.</p> + +<p>The others looked at him in surprise.</p> + +<p>"Why, of course," he said, "that's a clue!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Evidently. The murder of Chapman can only have been committed in one of +the rooms on that passage. Mr. Kesselbach's murderer took the secretary +there, to an accomplice, killed him there, changed his clothes there; +and, once the murderer had got away, the accomplice placed the corpse in +the passage. But which accomplice? The manner of Major Parbury's +disappearance goes to show that he knows something of the business. +Quick, telephone the good news to M. Lenormand or Gourel. The Prefecture +must be informed as soon as possible. The people there and I are +marching hand in hand."</p> + +<p>He gave them a few more injunctions, concerning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> their double rôle as +police-inspectors in the service of Prince Sernine, and dismissed them.</p> + +<p>Two visitors remained in the waiting-room. He called one of them in:</p> + +<p>"A thousand pardons, Doctor," he said. "I am quite at your orders now. +How is Pierre Leduc?"</p> + +<p>"He's dead."</p> + +<p>"Aha!" said Sernine. "I expected it, after your note of this morning. +But, all the same, the poor beggar has not been long. . . ."</p> + +<p>"He was wasted to a shadow. A fainting-fit; and it was all over."</p> + +<p>"Did he not speak?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure that, from the day when the two of us picked him up under +the table in that low haunt at Belleville, are you sure that nobody in +your nursing-home suspected that he was the Pierre Leduc whom the police +were looking for, the mysterious Pierre Leduc whom Mr. Kesselbach was +trying to find at all costs?"</p> + +<p>"Nobody. He had a room to himself. Moreover, I bandaged up his left hand +so that the injury to the little finger could not be seen. As for the +scar on the cheek, it is hidden by the beard."</p> + +<p>"And you looked after him yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Myself. And, according to your instructions, I took the opportunity of +questioning him whenever he seemed at all clear in his head. But I could +never get more than an inarticulate stammering out of him."</p> + +<p>The prince muttered thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"Dead! . . . So Pierre Leduc is dead? . . . The whole Kesselbach case +obviously turned on him, and now he disappears . . . without a +revelation, without a word about himself, about his past<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>. . . . Ought I +to embark on this adventure, in which I am still entirely in the dark? +It's dangerous. . . . I may come to grief. . . ."</p> + +<p>He reflected for a moment and exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, who cares? I shall go on for all that. It's no reason, because +Pierre Leduc is dead, that I should throw up the game. On the contrary! +And the opportunity is too tempting! Pierre Leduc is dead! Long live +Pierre Leduc! . . . Go, Doctor, go home. I shall ring you up before +dinner."</p> + +<p>The doctor went out.</p> + +<p>"Now then, Philippe," said Sernine to his last remaining visitor, a +little gray-haired man, dressed like a waiter at a hotel, a very +tenth-rate hotel, however.</p> + +<p>"You will remember, governor," Philippe began, "that last week, you made +me go as boots to the Hôtel des Deux-Empereurs at Versailles, to keep my +eye on a young man."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know. . . . Gérard Baupré. How do things stand with him?"</p> + +<p>"He's at the end of his resources."</p> + +<p>"Still full of gloomy ideas?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. He wants to kill himself."</p> + +<p>"Is he serious?"</p> + +<p>"Quite. I found this little note in pencil among his papers."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said Sernine, reading the note. "He announces his suicide . . . +and for this evening too!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, governor, he has bought the rope and screwed the hook to the +ceiling. Thereupon, acting on your instructions, I talked to him. He +told me of his distress, and I advised him to apply to you: 'Prince +Sernine is rich,' I said; 'he is generous; perhaps he will help you.'"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>"All this is first-rate. So he is coming?"</p> + +<p>"He is here."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"I followed him. He took the train to Paris, and he is walking up and +down the boulevard at this minute. He will make up his mind from one +moment to the other."</p> + +<p>Just then the servant brought in a card. The prince glanced at it and +said to the man:</p> + +<p>"Show M. Gérard Baupré in."</p> + +<p>Then, turning to Philippe:</p> + +<p>"You go into the dressing-room, here; listen and don't stir."</p> + +<p>Left alone, the prince muttered:</p> + +<p>"Why should I hesitate? It's fate that sends him my way. . . ."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later a tall young man entered. He was fair and slender, +with an emaciated face and feverish eyes, and he stood on the threshold +embarrassed, hesitating, in the attitude of a beggar who would like to +put out his hand for alms and dares not.</p> + +<p>The conversation was brief:</p> + +<p>"Are you M. Gérard Baupré?"</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes . . . that is my name."</p> + +<p>"I have not the honor . . ."</p> + +<p>"It's like this, sir. . . . Some one told me . . ."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"A hotel servant . . . who said he had been in your service. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Please come to the point. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well! . . ."</p> + +<p>The young man stopped, taken aback and frightened by the haughty +attitude adopted by the prince, who exclaimed:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>"But, sir, there must be some . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, the man told me that you were very rich . . . and very +generous. . . . And I thought that you might possibly . . ."</p> + +<p>He broke off short, incapable of uttering the word of prayer and +humiliation.</p> + +<p>Sernine went up to him.</p> + +<p>"M. Gérard Baupré, did you not publish a volume of poetry called <i>The +Smile of Spring</i>?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," cried the young man, his face lighting up. "Have you read +it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. . . . Very pretty, your poems, very pretty. . . . Only, do you +reckon upon being able to live on what they will bring you?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly . . . sooner or later. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Sooner or later? Later rather than sooner, I expect! And, meantime, you +have come to ask me for the wherewithal to live?"</p> + +<p>"For the wherewithal to buy food, sir."</p> + +<p>Sernine put his hand on the young man's shoulder and, coldly:</p> + +<p>"Poets do not need food, monsieur. They live on rhymes and dreams. Do as +they do. That is better than begging for bread."</p> + +<p>The young man quivered under the insult. He turned to the door without a +word.</p> + +<p>Sernine stopped him:</p> + +<p>"One thing more, monsieur. Have you no resources of any kind?"</p> + +<p>"None at all."</p> + +<p>"And you are not reckoning on anything?"</p> + +<p>"I have one hope left: I have written to one of my relations, imploring +him to send me something. I shall have his answer to-day. It is my last +chance."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>"And, if you have no answer, you have doubtless made up your mind, this +very evening, to . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>This was said quite plainly and simply.</p> + +<p>Sernine burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"Bless my soul, what a queer young man you are! And full of artless +conviction, too! Come and see me again next year, will you? We will talk +about all this . . . it's so curious, so interesting . . . and, above +all, so funny! . . . Ha, ha, ha, ha!"</p> + +<p>And, shaking with laughter, with affected bows and gestures, he showed +him the door.</p> + +<p>"Philippe," he said, admitting the hotel-servant, "did you hear?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, governor."</p> + +<p>"Gérard Baupré is expecting a telegram this afternoon, a promise of +assistance. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, it's his last hope."</p> + +<p>"He must not receive that telegram. If it comes, intercept it and tear +it up."</p> + +<p>"Very well, governor."</p> + +<p>"Are you alone at your hotel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, with the cook, who does not sleep in. The boss is away."</p> + +<p>"Good. So we are the masters. Till this evening, at eleven. Be off."</p> + +<p>Prince Sernine went to his room and rang for his servant:</p> + +<p>"My hat, gloves, and stick. Is the car there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir."</p> + +<p>He dressed, went out, and sank into a large, comfortable limousine, +which took him to the Bois de Boulogne, to the Marquis and Marquise de +Gastyne's, where he was engaged for lunch.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>At half-past two he took leave of his hosts, stopped in the Avenue +Kléber, picked up two of his friends and a doctor, and at five minutes +to three arrived at the Parc des Princes.</p> + +<p>At three o'clock he fought a sword duel with the Italian Major Spinelli, +cut his adversary's ear in the first bout, and, at a quarter to four, +took a bank at the Rue Cambon Club, from which he retired, at twenty +minutes past five, after winning forty-seven thousand francs.</p> + +<p>And all this without hurrying, with a sort of haughty indifference, as +though the feverish activity that sent his life whizzing through a whirl +of tempestuous deeds and events were the ordinary rule of his most +peaceful days.</p> + +<p>"Octave," he said to his chauffeur, "go to Garches."</p> + +<p>And at ten minutes to six he alighted outside the old walls of the Parc +de Villeneuve.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Although broken up nowadays and spoilt, the Villeneuve estate still +retains something of the splendor which it knew at the time when the +Empress Eugénie used to stay there. With its old trees, its lake and the +leafy horizon of the woods of Saint-Cloud, the landscape has a certain +melancholy grace.</p> + +<p>An important part of the estate was made over to the Pasteur Institute. +A smaller portion, separated from the other by the whole extent of the +space reserved for the public, forms a property contained within the +walls which is still fairly large, and which comprises the House of +Retreat, with four isolated garden-houses standing around it.</p> + +<p>"That is where Mrs. Kesselbach lives," said the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> prince to himself, +catching sight of the roofs of the house and the four garden-houses in +the distance.</p> + +<p>He crossed the park and walked toward the lake.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he stopped behind a clump of trees. He had seen two ladies +against the parapet of the bridge that crossed the lake:</p> + +<p>"Varnier and his men must be somewhere near. But, by Jove, they are +keeping jolly well hidden! I can't see them anywhere. . . ."</p> + +<p>The two ladies were now strolling across the lawns, under the tall, +venerable trees. The blue of the sky appeared between the branches, +which swayed in the peaceful breeze, and the scent of spring and of +young vegetation was wafted through the air.</p> + +<p>On the grassy slopes that ran down to the motionless water, daisies, +violets, daffodils, lilies of the valley, all the little flowers of +April and May stood grouped, and, here and there, formed constellations +of every color. The sun was sinking on the horizon.</p> + +<p>And, all at once, three men started from a thicket of bushes and made +for the two ladies.</p> + +<p>They accosted them. A few words were exchanged. The ladies gave visible +signs of dread. One of the men went up to the shorter of the two and +tried to snatch the gold purse which she was carrying in her hand. They +cried out; and the three men flung themselves upon them.</p> + +<p>"Now or never!" said the prince.</p> + +<p>And he rushed forward. In ten seconds he had almost reached the brink of +the water. At his approach, the three men fled.</p> + +<p>"Run away, you vagabonds," he chuckled; "run for all you are worth! +Here's the rescuer coming!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>And he set out in pursuit of them. But one of the ladies entreated him:</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, I beg of you . . . my friend is ill."</p> + +<p>The shorter lady had fallen on the grass in a dead faint.</p> + +<p>He retraced his steps and, anxiously:</p> + +<p>"She is not wounded?" he asked. "Did those scoundrels . . ."</p> + +<p>"No . . . no . . . it's only the fright . . . the excitement. . . . +Besides you will understand . . . the lady is Mrs. Kesselbach. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he said.</p> + +<p>He produced a bottle of smelling-salts, which the younger woman at once +applied to her friend's nostrils. And he added:</p> + +<p>"Lift the amethyst that serves as a stopper. . . . You will see a little +box containing some tabloids. Give madame one of them . . . one, no more +. . . they are very strong. . . ."</p> + +<p>He watched the young woman helping her friend. She was fair-haired, very +simply dressed; and her face was gentle and grave, with a smile that lit +up her features even when she was not smiling.</p> + +<p>"That is Geneviève," he thought. And he repeated with emotion, +"Geneviève . . . Geneviève. . . ."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Mrs. Kesselbach gradually recovered consciousness. She was +astonished at first, seemed not to understand. Then, her memory +returning, she thanked her deliverer with a movement of the head.</p> + +<p>He made a deep bow and said:</p> + +<p>"Allow me to introduce myself. . . . I am Prince Sernine. . . ."</p> + +<p>She said, in a faint voice:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>"I do not know how to express my gratitude."</p> + +<p>"By not expressing it at all, madame. You must thank chance, the chance +that turned my steps in this direction. May I offer you my arm?"</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, Mrs. Kesselbach rang at the door of the House of +Retreat and said to the prince:</p> + +<p>"I will ask one more service of you, monsieur. Do not speak of this +assault."</p> + +<p>"And yet, madame, it would be the only way of finding out . . ."</p> + +<p>"Any attempt to find out would mean an inquiry; and that would involve +more noise and fuss about me, examinations, fatigue; and I am worn out +as it is."</p> + +<p>The prince did not insist. Bowing to her, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Will you allow me to call and ask how you are?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly. . . ."</p> + +<p>She kissed Geneviève and went indoors.</p> + +<p>Meantime, night was beginning to fall. Sernine would not let Geneviève +return alone. But they had hardly entered the path, when a figure, +standing out against the shadow, hastened toward them.</p> + +<p>"Grandmother!" cried Geneviève.</p> + +<p>She threw herself into the arms of an old woman, who covered her with +kisses:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my darling, my darling, what has happened? How late you are! . . . +And you are always so punctual!"</p> + +<p>Geneviève introduced the prince:</p> + +<p>"Prince Sernine . . . Mme. Ernemont, my grandmother. . . ."</p> + +<p>Then she related the incident, and Mme. Ernemont repeated:</p> + +<p>"Oh, my darling, how frightened you must have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> been! . . . I shall never +forget your kindness, monsieur, I assure you. . . . But how frightened +you must have been, my poor darling!"</p> + +<p>"Come, granny, calm yourself, as I am here. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but the fright may have done you harm. . . . One never knows the +consequences. . . . Oh, it's horrible! . . ."</p> + +<p>They went along a hedge, through which a yard planted with trees, a few +shrubs, a playground and a white house were just visible. Behind the +house, sheltered by a clump of elder-trees arranged to form a covered +walk, was a little gate.</p> + +<p>The old lady asked Prince Sernine to come in and led the way to a little +drawing-room or parlor. Geneviève asked leave to withdraw for a moment, +to go and see her pupils, whose supper-time it was. The prince and Mme. +Ernemont remained alone.</p> + +<p>The old lady had a sad and a pale face, under her white hair, which +ended in two long, loose curls. She was too stout, her walk was heavy +and, notwithstanding her appearance and her dress, which was that of a +lady, she had something a little vulgar about her; but her eyes were +immensely kind.</p> + +<p>Prince Sernine went up to her, took her head in his two hands and kissed +her on both cheeks:</p> + +<p>"Well, old one, and how are you?"</p> + +<p>She stood dumfounded, wild-eyed, open-mouthed. The prince kissed her +again, laughing.</p> + +<p>She spluttered:</p> + +<p>"You! It's you! O mother of God! . . . O mother of God! . . . Is it +possible! . . . O mother of God! . . ."</p> + +<p>"My dear old Victoire!"</p> + +<p>"Don't call me that," she cried, shuddering. "Vic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>toire is dead . . . +your old servant no longer exists.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> I belong entirely to Geneviève." +And, lowering her voice, "O mother of God! . . . I saw your name in the +papers: then it's true that you have taken to your wicked life again?"</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> See <i>Arsène Lupin</i>, by Edgar Jepson and Maurice Leblanc, +and <i>The Hollow Needle</i>, by Maurice Leblanc, translated by Alexander +Teixeira de Mattos.</p></div> + +<p>"As you see."</p> + +<p>"And yet you swore to me that it was finished, that you were going away +for good, that you wanted to become an honest man."</p> + +<p>"I tried. I have been trying for four years. . . . You can't say that I +have got myself talked about during those four years!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it bores me."</p> + +<p>She gave a sigh and asked:</p> + +<p>"Always the same. . . . You haven't changed. . . . Oh, it's settled, you +never will change. . . . So you are in the Kesselbach case?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course! But for that, would I have taken the trouble to arrange +for an attack on Mrs. Kesselbach at six o'clock, so that I might have +the opportunity of delivering her from the clutches of my own men at +five minutes past? Looking upon me as her rescuer, she is obliged to +receive me. I am now in the heart of the citadel and, while protecting +the widow, can keep a lookout all round. Ah, you see, the sort of life +which I lead does not permit me to lounge about and waste my time on +little questions of politeness and such outside matters. I have to go +straight to the point, violently, brutally, dramatically. . . ."</p> + +<p>She looked at him in dismay and gasped:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>"I see . . . I see . . . it's all lies about the attack. . . . But then +. . . Geneviève . . ."</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm killing two birds with one stone! It was as easy to rescue two +as one. Think of the time it would have taken, the efforts—useless +efforts, perhaps—to worm myself into that child's friendship! What was +I to her? What should I be now? An unknown person . . . a stranger. +Whereas now I am the rescuer. In an hour I shall be . . . the friend."</p> + +<p>She began to tremble:</p> + +<p>"So . . . so you did not rescue Geneviève. . . . So you are going to mix +us up in your affairs. . . ." And, suddenly, in a fit of rebellion, +seizing him by the shoulders, "No, I won't have it, do you understand? +You brought the child to me one day, saying, 'Here, I entrust her to you +. . . her father and mother are dead . . . take her under your +protection.' Well, she's under my protection now and I shall know how to +defend her against you and all your manœuvers!"</p> + +<p>Standing straight upright, in a very determined attitude, Mme. Ernemont +seemed ready for all emergencies.</p> + +<p>Slowly and deliberately Sernine loosened the two hands, one after the +other, that held him, and in his turn, took the old lady by the +shoulders, forced her into an arm-chair, stooped over and, in a very +calm voice, said:</p> + +<p>"Rot!"</p> + +<p>She began to cry and, clasping her hands together, implored him:</p> + +<p>"I beseech you, leave us in peace. We were so happy! I thought that you +had forgotten us and I blessed Heaven every time a day had passed. Why, +yes <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>. . . I love you just the same. But, Geneviève . . . you see, +there's nothing that I wouldn't do for that child. She has taken your +place in my heart."</p> + +<p>"So I perceive," said he, laughing. "You would send me to the devil with +pleasure. Come, enough of this nonsense! I have no time to waste. I must +talk to Geneviève."</p> + +<p>"You're going to talk to her?"</p> + +<p>"Well, is that a crime?"</p> + +<p>"And what have you to tell her?"</p> + +<p>"A secret . . . a very grave secret . . . and a very touching one. +. . ."</p> + +<p>The old lady took fright:</p> + +<p>"And one that will cause her sorrow, perhaps? Oh, I fear everything, I +fear everything, where she's concerned! . . ."</p> + +<p>"She is coming," he said.</p> + +<p>"No, not yet."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I hear her. . . . Wipe your eyes and be sensible."</p> + +<p>"Listen," said she, eagerly, "listen. I don't know what you are going to +say, what secret you mean to reveal to this child whom you don't know. +But I, who do know her, tell you this: Geneviève has a very plucky, very +spirited, but very sensitive nature. Be careful how you choose your +words. . . . You might wound feelings . . . the existence of which you +cannot even suspect. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Lord bless me! And why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because she belongs to another race than you, to a different world. +. . . I mean, a different moral world. . . . There are things which you +are forbidden to understand nowadays. Between you and her, the obstacle +is insurmountable. . . . Gene<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>viève has the most unblemished and upright +conscience . . . and you . . ."</p> + +<p>"And I?"</p> + +<p>"And you are not an honest man!"</p> + +<p>Geneviève entered, bright and charming:</p> + +<p>"All my babies have gone to bed; I have ten minutes to spare. . . . Why, +grandmother, what's the matter? You look quite upset. . . . Is it still +that business with the . . ."</p> + +<p>"No, mademoiselle," said Sernine, "I believe I have had the good fortune +to reassure your grandmother. Only, we were talking of you, of your +childhood; and that is a subject, it seems, which your grandmother +cannot touch upon without emotion."</p> + +<p>"Of my childhood?" said Geneviève, reddening. "Oh, grandmother!"</p> + +<p>"Don't scold her, mademoiselle. The conversation turned in that +direction by accident. It so happens that I have often passed through +the little village where you were brought up."</p> + +<p>"Aspremont?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Aspremont, near Nice. You used to live in a new house, white all +over. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "white all over, with a touch of blue paint round the +windows. . . . I was only seven years old when I left Aspremont; but I +remember the least things of that period. And I have not forgotten the +glare of the sun on the white front of the house, nor the shade of the +eucalyptus-tree at the bottom of the garden."</p> + +<p>"At the bottom of the garden, mademoiselle, was a field of olive-trees; +and under one of those olive-trees stood a table at which your mother +used to work on hot days. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span>"That's true, that's true," she said, quite excitedly, "I used to play +by her side. . . ."</p> + +<p>"And it was there," said he, "that I saw your mother several times. +. . . I recognized her image the moment I set eyes on you . . . but it +was a brighter, happier image."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my poor mother was not happy. My father died on the very day of my +birth, and nothing was ever able to console her. She used to cry a great +deal. I still possess a little handkerchief with which I used to dry her +tears at that time."</p> + +<p>"A little handkerchief with a pink pattern."</p> + +<p>"What!" she exclaimed, seized with surprise. "You know . . ."</p> + +<p>"I was there one day when you were comforting her. . . . And you +comforted her so prettily that the scene remained impressed on my +memory."</p> + +<p>She gave him a penetrating glance and murmured, almost to herself:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. . . . I seem to . . . The expression of your eyes . . . and +then the sound of your voice. . . ."</p> + +<p>She lowered her eyelids for a moment and reflected as if she were vainly +trying to bring back a recollection that escaped her. And she continued:</p> + +<p>"Then you knew her?"</p> + +<p>"I had some friends living near Aspremont and used to meet her at their +house. The last time I saw her, she seemed to me sadder still . . . +paler . . . and, when I came back again . . ."</p> + +<p>"It was all over, was it not?" said Geneviève. "Yes, she went very +quickly . . . in a few weeks . . . and I was left alone with neighbors +who sat up with her . . . and one morning they took her away. . . . And, +on the evening of that day, some one came,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> while I was asleep, and +lifted me up and wrapped me in blankets. . . ."</p> + +<p>"A man?" asked the prince.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a man. He talked to me, quite low, very gently . . . his voice did +me good . . . and, as he carried me down the road and also in the +carriage, during the night, he rocked me in his arms and told me stories +. . . in the same voice . . . in the same voice . . ."</p> + +<p>She broke off gradually and looked at him again, more sharply than +before and with a more obvious effort to seize the fleeting impression +that passed over her at moments. He asked:</p> + +<p>"And then? Where did he take you?"</p> + +<p>"I can't recollect clearly . . . it is just as though I had slept for +several days. . . . I can remember nothing before the little town of +Montégut, in the Vendée, where I spent the second half of my childhood, +with Father and Mother Izereau, a worthy couple who reared me and +brought me up and whose love and devotion I shall never forget."</p> + +<p>"And did they die, too?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, "of an epidemic of typhoid fever in the district . . . +but I did not know that until later. . . . As soon as they fell ill, I +was carried off as on the first occasion and under the same conditions, +at night, by some one who also wrapped me up in blankets. . . . Only, I +was bigger, I struggled, I tried to call out . . . and he had to close +my mouth with a silk handkerchief."</p> + +<p>"How old were you then?"</p> + +<p>"Fourteen . . . it was four years ago."</p> + +<p>"Then you were able to see what the man was like?"</p> + +<p>"No, he hid his face better and he did not speak a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> single word to me. +. . . Nevertheless, I have always believed him to be the same one . . . +for I remember the same solicitude, the same attentive, careful +movements. . . ."</p> + +<p>"And after that?"</p> + +<p>"After that, came oblivion, sleep, as before. . . . This time, I was +ill, it appears; I was feverish. . . . And I woke in a bright, cheerful +room. A white-haired lady was bending over me and smiling. It was +grandmother . . . and the room was the one in which I now sleep +upstairs."</p> + +<p>She had resumed her happy face, her sweet, radiant expression; and she +ended, with a smile:</p> + +<p>"That was how she became my grandmother and how, after a few trials, the +little Aspremont girl now knows the delights of a peaceful life and +teaches grammar and arithmetic to little girls who are either naughty or +lazy . . . but who are all fond of her."</p> + +<p>She spoke cheerfully, in a tone at once thoughtful and gay, and it was +obvious that she possessed a reasonable, well-balanced mind. Sernine +listened to her with growing surprise and without trying to conceal his +agitation:</p> + +<p>"Have you never heard speak of that man since?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Never."</p> + +<p>"And would you be glad to see him again?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, very glad."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, mademoiselle . . ."</p> + +<p>Geneviève gave a start:</p> + +<p>"You know something . . . the truth perhaps . . ."</p> + +<p>"No . . . no . . . only . . ."</p> + +<p>He rose and walked up and down the room. From<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> time to time, his eyes +fell upon Geneviève; and it looked as though he were on the point of +giving a more precise answer to the question which she had put to him. +Would he speak?</p> + +<p>Mme. Ernemont awaited with anguish the revelation of the secret upon +which the girl's future peace might depend.</p> + +<p>He sat down beside Geneviève, appeared to hesitate, and said at last:</p> + +<p>"No . . . no . . . just now . . . an idea occurred to me . . . a +recollection . . ."</p> + +<p>"A recollection? . . . And . . ."</p> + +<p>"I was mistaken. Your story contained certain details that misled me."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?"</p> + +<p>He hesitated and then declared:</p> + +<p>"Absolutely sure."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said she, greatly disappointed. "I had half guessed . . . that +that man whom I saw twice . . . that you knew him . . . that . . ."</p> + +<p>She did not finish her sentence, but waited for an answer to the +question which she had put to him without daring to state it completely.</p> + +<p>He was silent. Then, insisting no further, she bent over Mme. Ernemont:</p> + +<p>"Good night, grandmother. My children must be in bed by this time, but +they could none of them go to sleep before I had kissed them."</p> + +<p>She held out her hand to the prince:</p> + +<p>"Thank you once more. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Are you going?" he asked quickly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you will excuse me; grandmother will see you out."</p> + +<p>He bowed low and kissed her hand. As she opened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> the door, she turned +round and smiled. Then she disappeared. The prince listened to the sound +of her footsteps diminishing in the distance and stood stock-still, his +face white with emotion.</p> + +<p>"Well," said the old lady, "so you did not speak?"</p> + +<p>"No. . . ."</p> + +<p>"That secret . . ."</p> + +<p>"Later. . . . To-day . . . oddly enough . . . I was not able to."</p> + +<p>"Was it so difficult? Did not she herself feel that you were the +stranger who took her away twice. . . . A word would have been enough. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"Later, later," he repeated, recovering all his assurance. "You can +understand . . . the child hardly knows me. . . . I must first gain the +right to her affection, to her love. . . . When I have given her the +life which she deserves, a wonderful life, such as one reads of in +fairy-tales, then I will speak."</p> + +<p>The old lady tossed her head:</p> + +<p>"I fear that you are making a great mistake. Geneviève does not want a +wonderful life. She has simple tastes."</p> + +<p>"She has the tastes of all women; and wealth, luxury and power give joys +which not one of them despises."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Geneviève does. And you would do much better . . ."</p> + +<p>"We shall see. For the moment, let me go my own way. And be quite easy. +I have not the least intention, as you say, of mixing her up in any of +my manœuvers. She will hardly ever see me. . . . Only, we had to come +into contact, you know. . . . That's done. . . . Good-bye."</p> + +<p>He left the school and walked to where his motor-car was waiting for +him. He was perfectly happy:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span>"She is charming . . . and so gentle, so grave! Her mother's eyes, eyes +that soften you . . . Heavens, how long ago that all is! And what a +delightful recollection! A little sad, but so delightful!" And he said, +aloud, "Certainly I shall look after her happiness! And that at once! +This very evening! That's it, this very evening she shall have a +sweetheart! Is not love the essential condition of any young girl's +happiness?"</p> + +<p>He found his car on the high-road:</p> + +<p>"Home," he said to Octave.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>When Sernine reached home, he rang up Neuilly and telephoned his +instructions to the friend whom he called the doctor. Then he dressed, +dined at the Rue Cambon Club, spent an hour at the opera and got into +his car again:</p> + +<p>"Go to Neuilly, Octave. We are going to fetch the doctor. What's the +time?"</p> + +<p>"Half-past ten."</p> + +<p>"Dash it! Look sharp!"</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later, the car stopped at the end of the Boulevard Inkerman, +outside a villa standing in its own grounds. The doctor came down at the +sound of the hooter. The prince asked:</p> + +<p>"Is the fellow ready?"</p> + +<p>"Packed up, strung up, sealed up."</p> + +<p>"In good condition?"</p> + +<p>"Excellent. If everything goes as you telephoned, the police will be +utterly at sea."</p> + +<p>"That's what they're there for. Let's get him on board."</p> + +<p>They carried into the motor a sort of long sack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> shaped like a human +being and apparently rather heavy. And the prince said:</p> + +<p>"Go to Versailles, Octave, Rue de la Vilaine. Stop outside the Hôtel des +Deux-Empereurs."</p> + +<p>"Why, it's a filthy hotel," observed the doctor. "I know it well; a +regular hovel."</p> + +<p>"You needn't tell me! And it will be a hard piece of work, for me, at +least. . . . But, by Jove, I wouldn't sell this moment for a fortune! +Who dares pretend that life is monotonous?"</p> + +<p>They reached the Hôtel des Deux-Empereurs. A muddy alley; two steps +down; and they entered a passage lit by a flickering lamp.</p> + +<p>Sernine knocked with his fist against a little door.</p> + +<p>A waiter appeared, Philippe, the man to whom Sernine had given orders, +that morning, concerning Gérard Baupré.</p> + +<p>"Is he here still?" asked the prince.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"The rope?"</p> + +<p>"The knot is made."</p> + +<p>"He has not received the telegram he was hoping for?"</p> + +<p>"I intercepted it: here it is."</p> + +<p>Sernine took the blue paper and read it:</p> + +<p>"Gad!" he said. "It was high time. This is to promise him a thousand +francs for to-morrow. Come, fortune is on my side. A quarter to twelve. +. . . In a quarter of an hour, the poor devil will take a leap into +eternity. Show me the way, Philippe. You stay here, Doctor."</p> + +<p>The waiter took the candle. They climbed to the third floor, and, +walking on tip-toe, went along a low and evil-smelling corridor, lined +with garrets and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> ending in a wooden staircase covered with the musty +remnants of a carpet.</p> + +<p>"Can no one hear me?" asked Sernine.</p> + +<p>"No. The two rooms are quite detached. But you must be careful not to +make a mistake: he is in the room on the left."</p> + +<p>"Very good. Now go downstairs. At twelve o'clock, the doctor, Octave and +you are to carry the fellow up here, to where we now stand, and wait +till I call you."</p> + +<p>The wooden staircase had ten treads, which the prince climbed with +definite caution. At the top was a landing with two doors. It took +Sernine quite five minutes to open the one of the right without breaking +the silence with the least sound of a creaking hinge.</p> + +<p>A light gleamed through the darkness of the room. Feeling his way, so as +not to knock against one of the chairs, he made for that light. It came +from the next room and filtered through a glazed door covered with a +tattered hanging.</p> + +<p>The prince pulled the threadbare stuff aside. The panes were of ground +glass, but scratched in parts, so that, by applying one eye, it was easy +to see all that happened in the other room.</p> + +<p>Sernine saw a man seated at a table facing him. It was the poet, Gérard +Baupré. He was writing by the light of a candle.</p> + +<p>Above his head hung a rope, which was fastened to a hook fixed in the +ceiling. At the end of the rope was a slip-knot.</p> + +<p>A faint stroke sounded from a clock in the street.</p> + +<p>"Five minutes to twelve," thought Sernine. "Five minutes more."</p> + +<p>The young man was still writing. After a moment, he put down his pen, +collected the ten or twelve sheets<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> of paper which he had covered and +began to read them over.</p> + +<p>What he read did not seem to please him, for an expression of discontent +passed across his face. He tore up his manuscript and burnt the pieces +in the flame of the candle.</p> + +<p>Then, with a fevered hand, he wrote a few words on a clean sheet, signed +it savagely and rose from his chair.</p> + +<p>But, seeing the rope at ten inches above his head, he sat down again +suddenly with a great shudder of alarm.</p> + +<p>Sernine distinctly saw his pale features, his lean cheeks, against which +he pressed his clenched fists. A tear trickled slowly down his face, a +single, disconsolate tear. His eyes gazed into space, eyes terrifying in +their unutterable sadness, eyes that already seemed to behold the dread +unknown.</p> + +<p>And it was so young a face! Cheeks still so smooth, with not a blemish, +not a wrinkle! And blue eyes, blue like an eastern sky! . . .</p> + +<p>Midnight . . . the twelve tragic strokes of midnight, to which so many a +despairing man has hitched the last second of his existence!</p> + +<p>At the twelfth stroke, he stood up again and, bravely this time, without +trembling, looked at the sinister rope. He even tried to give a smile, a +poor smile, the pitiful grimace of the doomed man whom death has already +seized for its own.</p> + +<p>Swiftly he climbed the chair and took the rope in one hand.</p> + +<p>For a moment, he stood there, motionless: not that he was hesitating or +lacking in courage. But this was the supreme moment, the one minute of +grace which a man allows himself before the fatal deed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>He gazed at the squalid room to which his evil destiny had brought him, +the hideous paper on the walls, the wretched bed.</p> + +<p>On the table, not a book: all were sold. Not a photograph, not a letter: +he had no father, no mother, no relations. What was there to make him +cling to life?</p> + +<p>With a sudden movement he put his head into the slip-knot and pulled at +the rope until the noose gripped his neck.</p> + +<p>And, kicking the chair from him with both feet, he leapt into space.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Ten seconds, fifteen seconds passed, twenty formidable, eternal seconds. +. . .</p> + +<p>The body gave two or three jerks. The feet had instinctively felt for a +resting-place. Then nothing moved. . . .</p> + +<p>A few seconds more. . . . The little glazed door opened.</p> + +<p>Sernine entered.</p> + +<p>Without the least haste he took the sheet of paper to which the young +man had set his signature, and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Tired of living, ill, penniless, hopeless, I am +taking my own life. Let no one be accused of my death.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Gérard Baupré.</span></p> + +<p>"<i><span class="upright">30</span> April.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>He put back the paper on the table where it could be seen, picked up the +chair and placed it under the young man's feet. He himself climbed up on +the table and, holding the body close to him, lifted it up, loosened the +slip-knot and passed the head through it.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span>The body sank into his arms. He let it slide along the table and, +jumping to the floor, laid it on the bed.</p> + +<p>Then, with the same coolness, he opened the door on the passage:</p> + +<p>"Are you there, all the three of you?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>Some one answered from the foot of the wooden staircase near him:</p> + +<p>"We are here. Are we to hoist up our bundle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, come along!"</p> + +<p>He took the candle and showed them a light.</p> + +<p>The three men trudged up the stairs, carrying the sack in which the +"fellow" was tied up.</p> + +<p>"Put him here," he said, pointing to the table.</p> + +<p>With a pocket-knife, he cut the cords round the sack. A white sheet +appeared, which he flung back. In the sheet was a corpse, the corpse of +Pierre Leduc.</p> + +<p>"Poor Pierre Leduc!" said Sernine. "You will never know what you lost by +dying so young! I should have helped you to go far, old chap. However, +we must do without your services. . . . Now then, Philippe, get up on +the table; and you, Octave, on the chair. Lift up his head and fasten +the slip-knot."</p> + +<p>Two minutes later, Pierre Leduc's body was swinging at the end of the +rope.</p> + +<p>"Capital, that was quite simple! Now you can all of you go. You, Doctor, +will call back here to-morrow morning; you will hear of the suicide of a +certain Gérard Baupré: you understand, Gérard Baupré. Here is his +farewell letter. You will send for the divisional surgeon and the +commissary; you will arrange that neither of them notices that the +deceased has a cut finger or a scar on one cheek. . . ."</p> + +<p>"That's easy."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>"And you will manage so as to have the report written then and there, to +your dictation."</p> + +<p>"That's easy."</p> + +<p>"Lastly, avoid having the body sent to the Morgue and make them give +permission for an immediate burial."</p> + +<p>"That's not so easy."</p> + +<p>"Try. Have you examined the other one?"</p> + +<p>He pointed to the young man lying lifeless on the bed.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the doctor. "The breathing is becoming normal. But it was a +big risk to run . . . the carotid artery might have . . ."</p> + +<p>"Nothing venture, nothing have. . . . How soon will he recover +consciousness?"</p> + +<p>"In a few minutes."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Oh, by the way, don't go yet, Doctor. Wait for me +downstairs. There is more for you to do."</p> + +<p>The prince, when he found himself alone, lit a cigarette and puffed at +it quietly, sending little blue rings of smoke floating up to the +ceiling.</p> + +<p>A sigh roused him from his thoughts. He went to the bed. The young man +was beginning to move; and his chest rose and fell violently, like that +of a sleeper under the influence of a nightmare. He put his hands to his +throat, as though he felt a pain there; and this action suddenly made +him sit up, terrified, panting. . . .</p> + +<p>Then he saw Sernine in front of him:</p> + +<p>"You?" he whispered, without understanding. "You? . . ."</p> + +<p>He gazed at him stupidly, as though he had seen a ghost.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>He again touched his throat, felt round his neck. . . . And suddenly he +gave a hoarse cry; a mad terror dilated his eyes, made his hair stand on +end, shook him from head to foot like an aspen-leaf! The prince had +moved aside; and he saw the man's corpse hanging from the rope.</p> + +<p>He flung himself back against the wall. That man, that hanged man, was +himself! He was dead and he was looking at his own dead body! Was this a +hideous dream that follows upon death? A hallucination that comes to +those who are no more and whose distracted brain still quivers with a +last flickering gleam of life? . . .</p> + +<p>His arms struck at the air. For a moment, he seemed to be defending +himself against the squalid vision. Then, exhausted, he fainted away for +the second time.</p> + +<p>"First-rate," said the prince, with a grin. "A sensitive, impressionable +nature. . . . At present, the brain is out of gear. . . . Come, this is +a propitious moment. . . . But, if I don't get the business done in +twenty minutes . . . he'll escape me. . . ."</p> + +<p>He pushed open the door between the two garrets, came back to the bed, +lifted the young man and carried him to the bed in the other room. Then +he bathed his temples with cold water and made him sniff at some salts.</p> + +<p>This time, the swoon did not last long.</p> + +<p>Gérard timidly opened his eyes and raised them to the ceiling. The +vision was gone. But the arrangement of the furniture, the position of +the table and the fireplace, and certain other details all surprised him +. . . And then came the remembrance of his act, the pain which he felt +at his throat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>. . . .</p> + +<p>He said to the prince:</p> + +<p>"I have had a dream, have I not?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, no?" And, suddenly recollecting, "Oh, that's true, I +remember. . . . I meant to kill myself . . . and I even . . ." Bending +forward anxiously, "But the rest, the vision . . ."</p> + +<p>"What vision?"</p> + +<p>"The man . . . the rope . . . was that a dream? . . ."</p> + +<p>"No," said Sernine. "That also was real."</p> + +<p>"What are you saying? What are you saying? . . . Oh, no, no! . . . I +entreat you! . . . Wake me, if I am asleep . . . or else let me die! +. . . But I am dead, am I not? And this is the nightmare of a corpse! +. . . Oh, I feel my brain going! . . . I entreat you. . . ."</p> + +<p>Sernine placed his hand gently on the young man's head and, bending over +him:</p> + +<p>"Listen to me . . . listen to me carefully and understand what I say. +You are alive. Your matter and your mind are as they were and live. But +Gérard Baupré is dead. You understand me, do you not? That member of +society who was known as Gérard Baupré has ceased to exist. You have +done away with that one. To-morrow, the registrar will write in his +books, opposite the name you bore, the word 'Dead,' with the date of +your decease."</p> + +<p>"It's a lie!" stammered the terrified lad. "It's a lie! Considering that +I, Gérard Baupré, am here!"</p> + +<p>"You are not Gérard Baupré," declared Sernine. And, pointing to the open +door, "Gérard Baupré is there, in the next room. Do you wish to see +him?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> He is hanging from the nail to which you hooked him. On the table +is a letter in which you certify his death with your signature. It is +all quite regular, it is all final. There is no getting away from the +irrevocable, brutal fact: Gérard Baupré has ceased to exist!"</p> + +<p>The young man listened in despair. Growing calmer, now that facts were +assuming a less tragic significance, he began to understand:</p> + +<p>"And then . . ." he muttered.</p> + +<p>"And then . . . let us talk."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes . . . let us talk. . . ."</p> + +<p>"A cigarette?" asked the prince. "Will you have one? Ah, I see that you +are becoming reconciled to life! So much the better: we shall understand +each other; and that quickly."</p> + +<p>He lit the young man's cigarette and his own and, at once, in a few +words uttered in a hard voice, explained himself:</p> + +<p>"You, the late Gérard Baupré, were weary of life, ill, penniless, +hopeless. . . . Would you like to be well, rich, and powerful?"</p> + +<p>"I don't follow you."</p> + +<p>"It is quite simple. Accident has placed you on my path. You are young, +good-looking, a poet; you are intelligent and—your act of despair shows +it—you have a fine sense of conduct. These are qualities which are +rarely found united in one person. I value them . . . and I take them +for my account."</p> + +<p>"They are not for sale."</p> + +<p>"Idiot! Who talks of buying or selling? Keep your conscience. It is too +precious a jewel for me to relieve you of it."</p> + +<p>"Then what do you ask of me?"</p> + +<p>"Your life!" And, pointing to the bruises on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> young man's throat, +"Your life, which you have not known how to employ! Your life, which you +have bungled, wasted, destroyed and which, I propose to build up again, +in accordance with an ideal of beauty, greatness and dignity that would +make you giddy, my lad, if you saw the abyss into which my secret +thought plunges. . . ." He had taken Gérard's head between his hands and +he continued, eagerly: "You are free! No shackles! You have no longer +the weight of your name to bear! You have got rid of that number with +which society had stamped you as though branding you on the shoulder. +You are free! In this world of slaves where each man bears his label you +can either come and go unknown, invisible, as if you owned Gyges' ring +. . . or else you can choose your own label, the one you like best! Do +you understand the magnificent treasure which you represent to an artist +. . . to yourself, if you like? A virgin life, a brand-new life! Your +life is the wax which you have the right to fashion as you please, +according to the whims of your imagination and the counsels of your +reason."</p> + +<p>The young man made a gesture expressive of weariness:</p> + +<p>"Ah, what would you have me do with that treasure? What have I done with +it so far? Nothing!"</p> + +<p>"Give it to me."</p> + +<p>"What can you do with it?"</p> + +<p>"Everything. If you are not an artist, I am; and an enthusiastic artist, +inexhaustible, indomitable, exuberant. If you have not the Promethean +fire, I have! Where you failed, I shall succeed. Give me your life."</p> + +<p>"Words, promises!" cried the young man, whose features began to glow +with animation. "Empty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> dreams! I know my own worthlessness! I know my +cowardice, my despondency, my efforts that come to nothing, all my +wretchedness. To begin life anew, I should need a will which I do not +possess. . . ."</p> + +<p>"I possess mine."</p> + +<p>"Friends. . . ."</p> + +<p>"You shall have them."</p> + +<p>"Means. . . ."</p> + +<p>"I am providing you with means . . . and such means! You will only have +to dip, as one would dip into a magic coffer."</p> + +<p>"But who are you?" cried the young man, wildly.</p> + +<p>"To others, Prince Sernine. . . . To you . . . what does it matter? I am +more than a prince, more than a king, more than an emperor. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Who are you? . . . Who are you?" stammered Baupré.</p> + +<p>"The Master . . . he who will and who can . . . he who acts. . . . There +are no bounds to my will, there is none to my power. I am richer than +the richest man alive, for his fortune is mine. . . . I am more powerful +than the mightiest, for their might is at my service!"</p> + +<p>He took the other's head in his hands again and, looking deep into his +eyes:</p> + +<p>"Be rich, too . . . be mighty. . . . I offer you happiness . . . and the +joy of living . . . and peace for your poet's brain . . . and fame and +glory also. . . . Do you accept?"</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes . . ." whispered Gérard, dazzled and overmastered. "What +am I to do?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"But . . ."</p> + +<p>"Nothing, I say. The whole scaffolding of my plans<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> rests on you, but +you do not count. You have no active part to play. You are, for the +moment, but a silent actor, or not even that, but just a pawn which I +move along the board."</p> + +<p>"What shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. Write poetry. You shall live as you please. You shall have +money. You shall enjoy life. I will not even bother my head about you. I +repeat, you play no part in my venture."</p> + +<p>"And who shall I be?"</p> + +<p>Sernine stretched out his arm and pointed to the next room:</p> + +<p>"You shall take that man's place. <i>You are that man!</i>"</p> + +<p>Gérard shuddered with revolt and disgust:</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, he is dead! . . . And then . . . it is a crime! . . . No, I +want a new life, made for me, thought out for me . . . an unknown name. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"That man, I tell you!" cried Sernine, irresistible in his energy and +authority. "You shall be that man and none other! That man, because his +destiny is magnificent, because his name is illustrious, and because he +hands down to you a thrice-venerable heritage of ancestral dignity and +pride."</p> + +<p>"It is a crime!" moaned Baupré, faltering.</p> + +<p>"You shall be that man!" spoke Sernine, with unparalleled vehemence. +"You shall be that man! If not, you become Baupré again; and over Baupré +I own rights of life and death. Choose."</p> + +<p>He drew his revolver, cocked it and took aim at the young man:</p> + +<p>"Choose," he repeated.</p> + +<p>The expression of his face was implacable. Gérard was frightened and +sank down on his bed sobbing:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>"I wish to live!"</p> + +<p>"You wish it firmly, irrevocably?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a thousand times yes! After the terrible thing which I attempted, +death appals me. . . . Anything . . . anything rather than death! . . . +Anything! . . . Pain . . . hunger . . . illness . . . every torture, +every shame . . . crime itself, if need be . . . but not death!"</p> + +<p>He shivered with fever and agony, as though the great enemy were still +prowling round him and as though he felt himself powerless to escape +from its clutches. The prince redoubled his efforts and, in a fervent +voice, holding him under him like a prey:</p> + +<p>"I will ask nothing impossible of you, nothing wrong. . . . If there is +anything, I am responsible. . . . No, no crime . . . a little pain at +most. . . . A little of your blood must flow. But what is that, compared +with the dread of dying?"</p> + +<p>"Pain is indifferent to me."</p> + +<p>"Then here and now!" shouted Sernine. "Here and now! Ten seconds of pain +and that is all. . . . Ten seconds and the other's life is yours. . . ."</p> + +<p>He had seized him round the body and forced him down on a chair; and he +now held the young man's left hand flat on the table, with his five +fingers spread out. He swiftly took a knife from his pocket, pressed the +blade against the little finger, between the first and second joints, +and commanded:</p> + +<p>"Strike! Strike your own blow. One blow of the fist and that is all!"</p> + +<p>He had taken Gérard's right hand and was trying to bring it down upon +the other like a hammer.</p> + +<p>Gérard writhed and twisted, convulsed with horror. He understood:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>"Never!" he stuttered. "Never!"</p> + +<p>"Strike! One blow and it's done! One blow and you will be like that man: +no one will recognize you."</p> + +<p>"Tell me his name. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Strike first!"</p> + +<p>"Never! Oh, what torture! . . . I beseech you . . . presently. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Now. . . . I insist . . . you must . . ."</p> + +<p>"No . . . no . . . I can't do it. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Strike, you fool! It means fortune, fame, love. . . ."</p> + +<p>Gérard raised his fist with a sudden movement.</p> + +<p>"Love," he said, "yes . . . for that, yes. . . ."</p> + +<p>"You will love and be loved," said Sernine. "Your betrothed awaits you. +I have chosen her myself. She is the purest of the pure, the fairest of +the fair. But you must win her. Strike!"</p> + +<p>The lad's arm stiffened for the fatal blow; but the instinct of +self-preservation was too strong for him. His body was wrung with a +superhuman effort. He suddenly released himself from Sernine's hold and +fled.</p> + +<p>He rushed like a madman to the other room. A yell of terror escaped him, +at the sight of the abominable vision, and he came back and fell on his +knees before Sernine, beside the table.</p> + +<p>"Strike!" said the prince, again spreading out the lad's fingers and +fixing the blade of the knife.</p> + +<p>What followed was done mechanically. With an automatic movement, with +haggard eyes and a livid face, the young man raised his fist and struck:</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he cried, with a moan of pain.</p> + +<p>A small piece of flesh was separated from the little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> finger. Blood +flowed. For the third time, Gérard fainted.</p> + +<p>Sernine looked at him for a second or two and said, gently:</p> + +<p>"Poor little chap! . . . There, I'll reward you for what you've done; +and a hundred times over. I always pay generously."</p> + +<p>He went downstairs and found the doctor waiting below:</p> + +<p>"It's done. Go upstairs, you, and make a little cut in his right cheek, +similar to Pierre Leduc's. The two scars must be exactly alike. I shall +come back for you in an hour."</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?"</p> + +<p>"To take the air. My heart feels anyhow."</p> + +<p>Outside he drew a long breath and lit another cigarette:</p> + +<p>"A good day's work," he muttered. "A little over-crowded, a little +tiring, but fruitful, really fruitful. I am Dolores Kesselbach's friend. +I am Geneviève's friend. I have manufactured a new Pierre Leduc, a very +presentable one and entirely at my disposal. Lastly, I have found +Geneviève a husband of the sort that you don't find by the dozen. Now my +task is done. I have only to gather the fruit of my efforts. It's your +turn to work, M. Lenormand. I, for my part, am ready." And he added, +thinking of the poor mutilated lad whom he had dazzled with his +promises, "Only—for there is an 'only'—I have not the slightest notion +who this Pierre Leduc was, whose place I have magnanimously awarded to +that good young man. And that's very annoying. . . . For when all is +said, there's nothing to prove to me that Pierre Leduc was not the son +of a pork-butcher! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> +<span class="smalltext">M. LENORMAND AT WORK</span></h2> + + +<p>On the morning of the 31st of May, all the newspapers reminded their +readers that Lupin, in a letter addressed to M. Lenormand, had announced +the escape of the messenger Jérôme for that date. And one of them summed +up the situation, as it then stood, in very able terms:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The horrible carnage at the Palace Hotel took place +as far back as the 17th of April. What has been +discovered since? Nothing.</p> + +<p>"There were three clues: the cigarette-case, the +initials L and M and the parcel of clothes left behind +in the office of the hotel. What advantage has been +taken of these clues? None.</p> + +<p>"It appears that the police suspect one of the +visitors who was staying on the first floor and who +disappeared in a doubtful manner. Have they found him? +Have they established his identity? No.</p> + +<p>"The tragedy, therefore, remains as mysterious as at +the beginning, the gloom is impenetrable.</p> + +<p>"To complete the picture, we are told that dissension +prevails between the prefect of police and his +subordinate, M. Lenormand, and that the latter, +finding himself less vigorously supported by the prime +minister, virtually sent in his resignation several +days ago. According to our information, the conduct of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> Kesselbach case is now in the hands of the +deputy-chief of the detective-service, M. Weber, a +personal enemy of M. Lenormand's.</p> + +<p>"In short, disorder and confusion reign; and this in +the face of Lupin, who stands for method, energy and +steadfastness of mind.</p> + +<p>"What conclusion do we draw from these facts? Briefly, +this: Lupin will release his accomplice to-day, the +31st of May, as he foretold."</p></div> + +<p>This conclusion, which was echoed in all the other newspapers, was also +the conclusion at which the general public had arrived. And we must take +it that the threat was not considered devoid of importance in high +places, for the prefect of police and, in the absence of M. Lenormand, +who was said to be unwell, the deputy-chief of the detective-service, M. +Weber, had adopted the most stringent measures, both at the Palais de +Justice and at the Santé Prison, where the prisoner was confined.</p> + +<p>They did not dare, for sheer reasons of shame, to suspend on that +particular day the examinations conducted daily by M. Formerie; but, +from the prison to the Boulevard du Palais, a regular mobilization of +police-forces guarded the streets along the line.</p> + +<p>To the intense astonishment of one and all, the 31st of May passed and +the threatened escape did not take place.</p> + +<p>One thing did happen, an attempt to execute the plan, as was betrayed by +a block of tramway-cars, omnibuses and drays along the road taken by the +prison-van and the unaccountable breaking of one of the wheels of the +van itself. But the attempt assumed no more definite form.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span>Lupin, therefore, had met with a check. The public felt almost +disappointed and the police triumphed loudly.</p> + +<p>On the next day, Saturday, an incredible rumour spread through the +Palais and the newspaper-offices: Jérôme the messenger had disappeared.</p> + +<p>Was it possible? Although the special editions confirmed the news, +people refused to believe it. But, at six o'clock, a note published by +the <i>Dépêche du Soir</i> made it official:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We have received the following communication signed +by Arsène Lupin. The special stamp affixed to it, in +accordance with the circular which Lupin recently sent +to the press, guarantees the genuineness of the +document:</p> + +<p>"'<i>To the Editor of the <span class="upright">Dépêche du Soir</span>.</i></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>"'Pray make my apologies to the public for not keeping +my word yesterday. I remembered, at the last moment, +that the 31st of May fell on a Friday! Could I set my +friend at liberty on a Friday? I did not think it +right to assume that responsibility.</p> + +<p>"'I must also apologize for not on this occasion +explaining, with my customary frankness, how this +little event was managed. My process is so ingenious +and so simple that I fear lest, if I revealed it, +every criminal should be inspired by it. How surprised +people will be on the day when I am free to speak! "Is +that all?" I shall be asked. That is all; but it had +to be thought of.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"'Permit me to be, Sir,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"'Your obedient servant,</p> + +<p class="sig3">"'<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin.</span>'"</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>An hour later, M. Lenormand was rung up on the telephone and informed +that Valenglay, the prime minister, wished to see him at the Ministry of +the Interior.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>"How well you're looking, my dear Lenormand! And I who thought that you +were ill and dared not leave your room!"</p> + +<p>"I am not ill, Monsieur le Président."</p> + +<p>"So you were sulking in your tent! . . . But you were always a +bad-tempered fellow."</p> + +<p>"I confess to the bad temper, Monsieur le Président, but not to the +sulking."</p> + +<p>"But you stay at home! And Lupin takes advantage of it to release his +friends. . . ."</p> + +<p>"How could I stop him?"</p> + +<p>"How? Why, Lupin's trick was of the plainest. In accordance with his +usual method, he announced the date of the escape beforehand; everybody +believed in it; an apparent attempt was planned; the escape was not +made; and, on the next day, when nobody is thinking about +it—whoosh!—the bird takes flight."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président," said the chief of the detective-service, +solemnly, "Lupin disposes of such means that we are not in a position to +prevent what he has decided on. The escape was mathematically certain. I +preferred to pass the hand . . . and leave the laughter for others to +face."</p> + +<p>Valenglay chuckled:</p> + +<p>"It's a fact that Monsieur le Préfet de Police and M. Weber cannot be +enjoying themselves at the present moment. . . . But, when all is said, +can you explain to me, M. Lenormand . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>"All that we know, Monsieur le Président, is that the escape took place +from the Palais de Justice. The prisoner was brought in a prison-van and +taken to M. Formerie's room. He left M. Formerie's room, but he did not +leave the Palais de Justice. And yet nobody knows what became of him."</p> + +<p>"It's most bewildering."</p> + +<p>"Most bewildering."</p> + +<p>"And has nothing else been discovered?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. The inner corridor leading to the examining magistrates' rooms was +blocked by an absolutely unprecedented crowd of prisoners, warders, +counsel and doorkeepers; and it was discovered that all those people had +received forged notices to appear at the same hour. On the other hand, +not one of the examining-magistrates who were supposed to have summoned +them sat in his room that day; and this because of forged notices from +the public prosecutor's office, sending them to every part of Paris +. . . and of the outskirts."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"No. Two municipal guards and a prisoner were seen to cross the +courtyards. A cab was waiting for them outside and all three stepped in.</p> + +<p>"And your supposition, Lenormand, your opinion. . . ."</p> + +<p>"My supposition, Monsieur le Président, is that the two municipal guards +were accomplices who, profiting by the disorder in the corridor, took +the place of the three warders. And my opinion is that this escape +succeeded only through such special circumstances and so strange a +combination of facts that we must look upon the most unlikely cases of +complicity as absolutely certain. Lupin, for that matter, has +con<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>nections at the Palais that balk all our calculations. He has agents +in your ministry. He has agents at the Prefecture of Police. He has +agents around me. It is a formidable organization, a detective-service a +thousand times more clever, more daring, more varied and more supple +than that under my own orders."</p> + +<p>"And you stand this, Lenormand?"</p> + +<p>"No, I do not."</p> + +<p>"Then why this slackness on your part since the beginning of the case? +What have you done against Lupin?"</p> + +<p>"I have prepared for the struggle."</p> + +<p>"Ah, capital! And, while you were preparing, he was acting."</p> + +<p>"So was I."</p> + +<p>"And do you know anything?"</p> + +<p>"I know a great deal."</p> + +<p>"What? Speak!"</p> + +<p>Leaning on his stick, M. Lenormand took a little contemplative walk +across the spacious room. Then he sat down opposite Valenglay, brushed +the facings of his olive-green coat with his finger-tips, settled his +spectacles on his nose and said, plainly:</p> + +<p>"M. le Président, I hold three trump-cards in my hand. First, I know the +name under which Arsène Lupin is hiding at this moment, the name under +which he lived on the Boulevard Haussmann, receiving his assistants +daily, reconstructing and directing his gang."</p> + +<p>"But then why, in heaven's name, don't you arrest him?"</p> + +<p>"I did not receive these particulars until later. The prince—let us +call him Prince Dash—has disappeared. He is abroad, on other +business."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>"And, if he does not return . . ."</p> + +<p>"The position which he occupies, the manner in which he has flung +himself into the Kesselbach case, necessitate his return and under the +same name."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless . . ."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président, I come to my second trump. I have at last +discovered Pierre Leduc."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"Or rather Lupin discovered him, and before disappearing, settled him in +a little villa in the neighborhood of Paris."</p> + +<p>"By Jove! But how did you know . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, easily! Lupin has placed two of his accomplices with Pierre Leduc, +to watch him and defend him. Now these accomplices are two of my own +detectives, two brothers whom I employ in the greatest secrecy and who +will hand him over to me at the first opportunity!"</p> + +<p>"Well done you! So that . . ."</p> + +<p>"So that, as Pierre Leduc, we may say, is the central point of the +efforts of all those who are trying to solve the famous Kesselbach +secret, I shall, sooner or later, through Pierre Leduc, catch, first, +the author of the treble murder, because that miscreant substituted +himself for Mr. Kesselbach in the accomplishment of an immense scheme +and because Mr. Kesselbach had to find Pierre Leduc in order to be able +to accomplish that scheme; and, secondly, Arsène Lupin, because Arsène +Lupin is pursuing the same object."</p> + +<p>"Splendid! Pierre Leduc is the bait which you are throwing to the +enemy."</p> + +<p>"And the fish is biting, Monsieur le Président. I have just had word +that a suspicious person was seen, a short time ago, prowling round the +little villa where Pierre<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> Leduc is living under the protection of my +officers. I shall be on the spot in four hours."</p> + +<p>"And the third trump, Lenormand?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président, a letter arrived yesterday, addressed to Mr. +Rudolf Kesselbach, which I intercepted. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Intercepted, eh? You're getting on!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I intercepted it, opened it and kept it for myself. Here it is. It +is dated two months back. It bears the Capetown postmark and contains +these words: 'My dear Rudolf, I shall be in Paris on the 1st of June and +in just as wretched a plight as when you came to my assistance. But I +have great hopes of this Pierre Leduc affair of which I told you. What a +strange story it is! Have you found the man I mean? Where do we stand? I +am most anxious to know.' The letter is signed, 'Steinweg.' The first of +June," continued M. Lenormand, "is to-day. I have ordered one of my +inspectors to hunt me out this Steinweg. I have no doubt that he will +succeed."</p> + +<p>"Nor I, no doubt at all," cried Valenglay, rising from his chair, "and I +make you every apology, my dear Lenormand, and my humble confession: I +was on the point of letting you slide . . . for good and all! To-morrow +I was expecting the prefect of police and M. Weber."</p> + +<p>"I knew that, Monsieur le Président."</p> + +<p>"Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"But for that, should I have put myself out? You now see my plan of +campaign. On the one side, I am setting traps in which the murderer will +be caught sooner or later. Pierre Leduc or Steinweg will deliver him +into my hands. On the other side, I am on Arsène Lupin's heels. Two of +his agents are in my pay and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> believes them to be his most devoted +helpers. In addition to this, he is working for me, because he is +pursuing the perpetrator of the threefold crime as I am. Only, he +imagines that he is dishing me, whereas it is I who am dishing him. So I +shall succeed, but on one condition. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"That I am given free scope and allowed to act according to the needs of +the moment, without troubling about the public, who are growing +impatient, or my superiors, who are intriguing against me."</p> + +<p>"I agree."</p> + +<p>"In that case, Monsieur le Président, in a few days from this I shall be +the victor . . . or I shall be dead."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>At Saint-Cloud. A little villa situated on one of the highest points of +the upland, in an unfrequented road.</p> + +<p>It was eleven o'clock at night. M. Lenormand left his car at Saint-Cloud +and walked cautiously along the road. A shadow appeared.</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Gourel?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief."</p> + +<p>"Did you tell the brothers Doudeville that I was coming?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, your room is ready, you can go to bed and sleep . . . unless they +try to carry off Pierre Leduc to-night, which would not surprise me, +considering the behavior of the fellow whom the Doudevilles saw."</p> + +<p>They walked across the garden, softly entered the house and went up to +the first floor. The two brothers, Jean and Jacques Doudeville, were +there.</p> + +<p>"No news of Prince Sernine?" asked Lenormand.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>"No, chief."</p> + +<p>"What about Pierre Leduc?"</p> + +<p>"He spends the whole day lying flat on his back in his room on the +ground-floor, or else in the garden. He never comes up to see us."</p> + +<p>"Is he better?"</p> + +<p>"Much better. The rest has made a great change in his appearance."</p> + +<p>"Is he wholly devoted to Lupin?"</p> + +<p>"To Prince Sernine, rather, for he does not suspect that the two are one +and the same man. At least, I suppose so. One never knows, with him. He +does not speak at all. Oh, he's a queer fish! There's only one person +who has the gift of cheering him up, of making him talk and even laugh. +That's a young girl from Garches, to whom Prince Sernine introduced him. +Geneviève Ernemont her name is. She has been here three times already +. . . she was here to-day." He added, jestingly, "I believe there's a +little flirting going on. . . . It's like his highness Prince Sernine +and Mrs. Kesselbach. . . . It seems he's making eyes at her! . . . That +devil of a Lupin!"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand did not reply. But it was obvious that all these details, +to which he seemed to attach no importance, were noted in the recesses +of his memory, to be used whenever he might need to draw the logical +inferences from them. He lit a cigar, chewed it without smoking it, lit +it again and dropped it.</p> + +<p>He asked two or three more questions and then, dressed as he was, threw +himself on his bed:</p> + +<p>"If the least thing happens, let me be awakened. . . . If not, I shall +sleep through the night. . . . Go to your posts, all of you."</p> + +<p>The others left the room.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>An hour passed, two hours.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, M. Lenormand felt some one touch him and Gourel said to him:</p> + +<p>"Get up, chief; they have opened the gate."</p> + +<p>"One man or two?"</p> + +<p>"I only saw one . . . the moon appeared just then . . . he crouched down +against a hedge."</p> + +<p>"And the brothers Doudeville?"</p> + +<p>"I sent them out by the back. They will cut off his retreat when the +time comes."</p> + +<p>Gourel took M. Lenormand's hand, led him downstairs and then into a +little dark room:</p> + +<p>"Don't stir, chief; we are in Pierre Leduc's dressing-room. I am opening +the door of the recess in which his bed stands. . . . Don't be afraid +. . . he has taken his veronal as he does every evening . . . nothing +can wake him. Come this way. . . . It's a good hiding-place, isn't it? +. . . These are the curtains of his bed. . . . From here you can see the +window and the whole side of the room between the window and the bed."</p> + +<p>The casement stood open and admitted a vague light, which became very +precise at times, when the moon burst through her veil of clouds. The +two men did not take their eyes from the empty window-frame, feeling +certain that the event which they were awaiting would come from that +side.</p> + +<p>A slight, creaking noise . . .</p> + +<p>"He is climbing the trellis," whispered Gourel.</p> + +<p>"Is it high?"</p> + +<p>"Six feet or so."</p> + +<p>The creaking became more distinct.</p> + +<p>"Go, Gourel," muttered M. Lenormand, "find the Doudevilles, bring them +back to the foot of the wall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> and bar the road to any one who tries to +get down this way."</p> + +<p>Gourel went. At the same moment, a head appeared at the level of the +window. Then a leg was flung over the balcony. M. Lenormand +distinguished a slenderly-built man, below the middle height, dressed in +dark colours and without a hat.</p> + +<p>The man turned and, leaning over the balcony, looked for a few seconds +into space, as though to make sure that no danger threatened him. Then +he stooped down and lay at full length on the floor. He appeared +motionless. But soon M. Lenormand realized that the still blacker shadow +which he formed against the surrounding darkness was coming forward, +nearer.</p> + +<p>It reached the bed.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand had an impression that he could hear the man's breathing +and, at the same time, that he could just see his eyes, keen, glittering +eyes, which pierced the darkness like shafts of fire and which +themselves could see through that same darkness.</p> + +<p>Pierre Leduc gave a deep sigh and turned over.</p> + +<p>A fresh silence. . . .</p> + +<p>The man had glided along the bed with imperceptible movements and his +dark outline now stood out against the whiteness of the sheets that hung +down to the floor.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand could have touched him by putting out his arm. This time, +he clearly distinguished the breathing, which alternated with that of +the sleeper, and he had the illusion that he also heard the sound of a +heart beating.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, a flash of light. . . . The man had pressed the spring of an +electric lantern; and Pierre Leduc was lit full in the face, but the man +remained<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> in the shade, so that M. Lenormand was unable to see his +features.</p> + +<p>All that he saw was something that shone in the bright space; and he +shuddered. It was the blade of a knife; and that thin, tapering knife, +more like a stiletto than a dagger, seemed to him identical with the +weapon which he had picked up by the body of Chapman, Mr. Kesselbach's +secretary.</p> + +<p>He put forth all his will-power to restrain himself from springing upon +the man. He wanted first to know what the man had come to do.</p> + +<p>The hand was raised. Was he going to strike? M. Lenormand calculated the +distance in order to stop the blow. . . . But no, it was not a murderous +gesture, but one of caution. The hand would only fall if Pierre Leduc +stirred or tried to call out. And the man bent over the sleeper, as +though he were examining something.</p> + +<p>"The right cheek," thought M. Lenormand, "the scar on the right cheek. +. . . He wants to make sure that it is really Pierre Leduc."</p> + +<p>The man had turned a little to one side, so that only his shoulders were +visible. But his clothes, his overcoat, were so near that they brushed +against the curtains behind which M. Lenormand was hiding.</p> + +<p>"One movement on his part," thought the chief detective, "a thrill of +alarm; and I shall collar him."</p> + +<p>But the man, entirely absorbed in his examination, did not stir. At +last, after shifting the dagger to the hand that held the lantern, he +raised the sheet, at first hardly at all, then a little more, then more +still, until the sleeper's left arm was uncovered and the hand laid +bare. The flash of the lantern shone upon the hand. The fingers lay +outspread. The little finger was cut on the second joint.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>Again Pierre Leduc made a movement. The light was immediately put out; +and, for an instant, the man remained beside the bed, motionless, +standing straight up. Would he make up his mind to strike? M. Lenormand +underwent the agony of the crime which he could so easily prevent, but +which he did not want to forestall before the very last second.</p> + +<p>A long, a very long silence. Suddenly, he saw or rather fancied that he +saw an arm uplifted. Instinctively he moved, stretching his hand above +the sleeper. In making this gesture, he hit against the man.</p> + +<p>A dull cry. The fellow struck out at space, defended himself at random +and fled toward the window. But M. Lenormand had leapt upon him and had +his two arms around the man's shoulders.</p> + +<p>He at once felt him yielding and, as the weaker of the two, powerless in +Lenormand's hands, trying to avoid the struggle and to slip from between +his arms. Lenormand, exerting all his strength, held him flat against +his chest, bent him in two and stretched him on his back on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Ah, I've got him, I've got him!" he muttered triumphantly.</p> + +<p>And he felt a singular elation at imprisoning that terrifying criminal, +that unspeakable monster, in his irresistible grip. He felt him living +and quivering, enraged and desperate, their two lives mingled, their +breaths blended:</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" he asked. "Who are you? . . . You'll have to speak. +. . ."</p> + +<p>And he clasped the enemy's body with still greater force, for he had an +impression that that body was diminishing between his arms, that it was +vanishing. He gripped harder . . . and harder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>. . . .</p> + +<p>And suddenly he shuddered from head to foot. He had felt, he still felt +a tiny prick in the throat. . . . In his exasperation, he gripped harder +yet: the pain increased! And he observed that the man had succeeded in +twisting one arm round, slipping his hand to his chest and holding the +dagger on end. The arm, it was true, was incapable of motion; but the +closer M. Lenormand tightened his grip, the deeper did the point of the +dagger enter the proffered flesh.</p> + +<p>He flung back his head a little to escape the point: the point followed +the movement and the wound widened.</p> + +<p>Then he moved no more, remembering the three crimes and all the +alarming, atrocious and prophetic things represented by that same little +steel needle which was piercing his skin and which, in its turn, was +implacably penetrating. . . .</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he let go and gave a leap backwards. Then, at once, he tried +to resume the offensive. It was too late. The man flung his legs across +the window-sill and jumped.</p> + +<p>"Look out, Gourel!" he cried, knowing that Gourel was there, ready to +catch the fugitive.</p> + +<p>He leant out. A crunching of pebbles . . . a shadow between two trees, +the slam of the gate. . . . And no other sound . . . no interference. +. . .</p> + +<p>Without giving a thought to Pierre Leduc, he called:</p> + +<p>"Gourel! . . . Doudeville!"</p> + +<p>No answer. The great silence of the countryside at night. . . .</p> + +<p>In spite of himself, he continued to think of the treble murder, the +steel dagger. But no, it was impossible, the man had not had time, had +not even had the need to strike, as he had found the road clear.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>M. Lenormand jumped out in his turn and, switching on his lantern, +recognized Gourel lying on the ground:</p> + +<p>"Damn it!" he swore. "If they've killed him, they'll have to pay dearly +for it."</p> + +<p>But Gourel was not dead, only stunned; and, a few minutes later, he came +to himself and growled:</p> + +<p>"Only a blow of the fist, chief . . . just a blow of the fist which +caught me full in the chest. But what a fellow!"</p> + +<p>"There were two of them then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a little one, who went up, and another, who took me unawares while +I was watching."</p> + +<p>"And the Doudevilles?"</p> + +<p>"Haven't seen them."</p> + +<p>One of them, Jacques, was found near the gate, bleeding from a punch in +the jaw; the other a little farther, gasping for breath from a blow full +on the chest.</p> + +<p>"What is it? What happened?" asked M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>Jacques said that his brother and he had knocked up against an +individual who had crippled them before they had time to defend +themselves.</p> + +<p>"Was he alone?"</p> + +<p>"No; when he passed near us, he had a pal with him, shorter than +himself."</p> + +<p>"Did you recognize the man who struck you?"</p> + +<p>"Judging by the breadth of his shoulders, I thought he might be the +Englishman of the Palace Hotel, the one who left the hotel and whose +traces we lost."</p> + +<p>"The major?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Major Parbury."</p> + +<p>After a moment's reflection, M. Lenormand said:</p> + +<p>"There is no doubt possible. There were two of them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> in the Kesselbach +case: the man with the dagger, who committed the murders, and his +accomplice, the major."</p> + +<p>"That is what Prince Sernine thinks," muttered Jacques Doudeville.</p> + +<p>"And to-night," continued the chief detective, "it is they again: the +same two." And he added, "So much the better. The chance of catching two +criminals is a hundred times greater than the chance of catching one."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand attended to his men, had them put to bed and looked to see +if the assailants had dropped anything or left any traces. He found +nothing and went back to bed again himself.</p> + +<p>In the morning, as Gourel and the Doudevilles felt none the worse for +their injuries, he told the two brothers to scour the neighborhood and +himself set out with Gourel for Paris, in order to hurry matters on and +give his orders.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He lunched in his office. At two o'clock, he heard good news. One of his +best detectives, Dieuzy, had picked up Steinweg, Rudolf Kesselbach's +correspondent, as the German was stepping out of a train from +Marseilles.</p> + +<p>"Is Dieuzy there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief," said Gourel. "He's here with the German."</p> + +<p>"Have them brought in to me."</p> + +<p>At that moment, the telephone-bell rang. It was Jean Doudeville, +speaking from the post-office at Garches. The conversation did not take +long:</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Jean? Any news?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief, Major Parbury. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>"We have found him. He has become a Spaniard and has darkened his skin. +We have just seen him. He was entering the Garches free-school. He was +received by that young lady . . . you know, the girl who knows Prince +Sernine, Geneviève Ernemont."</p> + +<p>"Thunder!"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand let go the receiver, made a grab at his hat, flew into the +passage, met Dieuzy and the German, shouted to them to meet him in his +office at six o'clock, rushed down the stairs, followed by Gourel and +two inspectors whom he picked up on the way, and dived into a taxi-cab:</p> + +<p>"Quick as you can to Garches . . . ten francs for yourself!"</p> + +<p>He stopped the car a little before the Parc de Villeneuve, at the turn +of the lane that led to the school. Jean Doudeville was waiting for him +and at once exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"He slipped away, ten minutes ago, by the other end of the lane."</p> + +<p>"Alone?"</p> + +<p>"No, with the girl."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand took Doudeville by the collar:</p> + +<p>"Wretch! You let him go! But you ought to have . . . you ought to have +. . ."</p> + +<p>"My brother is on his track."</p> + +<p>"A lot of good that will do us! He'll stick your brother. You're no +match for him, either of you!"</p> + +<p>He himself took the steering-wheel of the taxi, and resolutely drove +into the lane, regardless of the cart-ruts and of the bushes on each +side. They soon emerged on a parish-road, which took them to a crossway +where five roads met. M. Lenormand, without hesitation chose the one on +the left, the Saint-Cucufa Road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> As a matter of fact, at the top of the +slope that runs down to the lake, they met the other Doudeville brother, +who shouted:</p> + +<p>"They are in a carriage . . . half a mile away."</p> + +<p>The chief did not stop. He sent the car flying down the incline, rushed +along the bends, drove round the lake and suddenly uttered an +exclamation of triumph. Right at the top of a little hill that stood in +front of them, he had seen the hood of a carriage.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately, he had taken the wrong road and had to back the machine. +When he reached the place where the roads branched, the carriage was +still there, stationary. And, suddenly, while he was turning, he saw a +girl spring from the carriage. A man appeared on the step. The girl +stretched out her arm. Two reports rang out.</p> + +<p>She had taken bad aim, without a doubt, for a head looked round the +other side of the hood and the man, catching sight of the motor-cab, +gave his horse a great lash with the whip and it started off at a +gallop. The next moment, a turn of the road hid the carriage from sight.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand finished his tacking in a few seconds, darted straight up +the incline, passed the girl without stopping and turned round boldly. +He found himself on a steep, pebbly forest road, which ran down between +dense woods and which could only be followed very slowly and with the +greatest caution. But what did he care! Twenty yards in front of him, +the carriage, a sort of two-wheeled cabriolet, was dancing over the +stones, drawn, or rather held back, by a horse which knew enough only to +go very carefully, feeling its way and taking no risks. There was +nothing to fear; escape was impossible.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>And the two conveyances went shaking and jolting down-hill. At one +moment, they were so close together that M. Lenormand thought of +alighting and running with his men. But he felt the danger of putting on +the brake on so steep a slope; and he went on, pressing the enemy +closely, like a prey which one keeps within sight, within touch. . . .</p> + +<p>"We've got him, chief, we've got him!" muttered the inspectors, excited +by the unexpected nature of the chase.</p> + +<p>At the bottom, the way flattened out into a road that ran towards the +Seine, towards Bougival. The horse, on reaching level ground, set off at +a jog-trot, without hurrying itself and keeping to the middle of the +road.</p> + +<p>A violent effort shook the taxi. It appeared, instead of rolling, to +proceed by bounds, like a darting fawn, and, slipping by the roadside +slope, ready to smash any obstacle, it caught up the carriage, came +level with it, passed it. . . .</p> + +<p>An oath from M. Lenormand . . . shouts of fury. . . . The carriage was +empty!</p> + +<p>The carriage was empty. The horse was going along peacefully, with the +reins on its back, no doubt returning to the stable of some inn in the +neighborhood, where it had been hired for the day. . . .</p> + +<p>Suppressing his inward rage, the chief detective merely said:</p> + +<p>"The major must have jumped out during the few seconds when we lost +sight of the carriage, at the top of the descent."</p> + +<p>"We have only to beat the woods, chief, and we are sure . . ."</p> + +<p>"To return empty-handed. The beggar is far away by this time. He's not +one of those who are caught twice in one day. Oh, hang it all, hang it +all!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>They went back to the young girl, whom they found in the company of +Jacques Doudeville and apparently none the worse for her adventure. M. +Lenormand introduced himself, offered to take her back home and at once +questioned her about the English major, Parbury.</p> + +<p>She expressed astonishment:</p> + +<p>"He is neither English nor a major; and his name is not Parbury."</p> + +<p>"Then what is his name?"</p> + +<p>"Juan Ribeira. He is a Spaniard sent by his government to study the +working of the French schools."</p> + +<p>"As you please. His name and his nationality are of no importance. He is +the man we are looking for. Have you known him long?"</p> + +<p>"A fortnight or so. He had heard about a school which I have founded at +Garches and he interested himself in my experiment to the extent of +proposing to make me an annual grant, on the one condition that he might +come from time to time to observe the progress of my pupils. I had not +the right to refuse. . . ."</p> + +<p>"No, of course not; but you should have consulted your acquaintances. Is +not Prince Sernine a friend of yours? He is a man of good counsel."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I have the greatest confidence in him; but he is abroad at +present."</p> + +<p>"Did you not know his address?"</p> + +<p>"No. And, besides, what could I have said to him? That gentleman behaved +very well. It was not until to-day . . . But I don't know if . . ."</p> + +<p>"I beg you, mademoiselle, speak frankly. You can have confidence in me +also."</p> + +<p>"Well, M. Ribeira came just now. He told me that he had been sent by a +French lady who was paying a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> short visit to Bougival, that this lady +had a little girl whose education she would like to entrust to me and +that she wished me to come and see her without delay. The thing seemed +quite natural. And, as this is a holiday and as M. Ribeira had hired a +carriage which was waiting for him at the end of the road, I made no +difficulty about accepting a seat in it."</p> + +<p>"But what was his object, after all?"</p> + +<p>She blushed and said:</p> + +<p>"To carry me off, quite simply. He confessed it to me after half an +hour. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Do you know nothing about him?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Does he live in Paris?"</p> + +<p>"I suppose so."</p> + +<p>"Has he ever written to you? Do you happen to have a few lines in his +handwriting, anything which he left behind, that may serve us as a +clue?"</p> + +<p>"No clue at all. . . . Oh, wait a minute . . . but I don't think that +has any importance. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Speak, speak . . . please. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well, two days ago, the gentleman asked permission to use my +typewriting machine; and he typed out—with difficulty, for he evidently +had no practice—a letter of which I saw the address by accident."</p> + +<p>"What was the address?"</p> + +<p>"He was writing to the <i>Journal</i> and he put about twenty stamps into the +envelope."</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . the agony-column, no doubt," said M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>"I have to-day's number with me, chief," said Gourel.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand unfolded the sheet and looked at the eighth page. +Presently, he gave a start. He had read<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> the following sentence, printed +with the usual abbreviation:<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"To any person knowing Mr. Steinweg. Advertiser wishes +to know if he is in Paris and his address. Reply +through this column."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Personal advertisements in the French newspapers are +charged by the line, not by the word; and consequently nearly every word +is clipped down to two, three or four letters.—<i>Translator's Note.</i></p></div> + +<p>"Steinweg!" exclaimed Gourel. "But that's the very man whom Dieuzy is +bringing to you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," said M. Lenormand, to himself, "it's the man whose letter to +Mr. Kesselbach I intercepted, the man who put Kesselbach on the track of +Pierre Leduc. . . . So they, too, want particulars about Pierre Leduc +and his past? . . . They, too, are groping in the dark? . . ."</p> + +<p>He rubbed his hands: Steinweg was at his disposal. In less than an hour, +Steinweg would have spoken. In less than an hour, the murky veil which +oppressed him and which made the Kesselbach case the most agonizing and +the most impenetrable that he had ever had in hand: that veil would be +torn asunder.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">M. LENORMAND SUCCUMBS</span></h2> + + +<p>M. Lenormand was back in his room at the Prefecture of Police at six +o'clock in the evening. He at once sent for Dieuzy:</p> + +<p>"Is your man here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief."</p> + +<p>"How far have you got with him?"</p> + +<p>"Not very. He won't speak a word. I told him that, by a new regulation, +foreigners were 'bliged to make a declaration at the Prefecture as to +the object and the probable length of their stay in Paris; and I brought +him here, to your secretary's office."</p> + +<p>"I will question him."</p> + +<p>But, at that moment, an office-messenger appeared:</p> + +<p>"There's a lady asking to see you at once, chief."</p> + +<p>"Have you her card?"</p> + +<p>"Here, chief."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Kesselbach! Show her in."</p> + +<p>He walked across the room to receive the young widow at the door and +begged her to take a seat. She still wore the same disconsolate look, +the same appearance of illness and that air of extreme lassitude which +revealed the distress of her life.</p> + +<p>She held out a copy of the <i>Journal</i> and pointed to the line in the +agony-column which mentioned Steinweg:</p> + +<p>"Old Steinweg was a friend of my husband's," she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> said, "and I have no +doubt that he knows a good many things."</p> + +<p>"Dieuzy," said M. Lenormand, "bring the person who is waiting. . . . +Your visit, madame, will not have been useless. I will only ask you, +when this person enters, not to say a word."</p> + +<p>The door opened. A man appeared, an old man with white whiskers meeting +under his chin and a face furrowed with deep wrinkles, poorly clad and +wearing the hunted look of those wretches who roam about the world in +search of their daily pittance.</p> + +<p>He stood on the threshold, blinking his eyelids, stared at M. Lenormand, +seemed confused by the silence that greeted him on his entrance and +turned his hat in his hands with embarrassment.</p> + +<p>But, suddenly, he appeared stupefied, his eyes opened wide and he +stammered:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. . . . Mrs. Kesselbach!"</p> + +<p>He had seen the young widow. And, recovering his serenity, smiling, +losing his shyness, he went up to her and in a strong German accent:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am glad! . . . At last! . . . I thought I should never . . . I +was so surprised to receive no news down there . . . no telegrams. . . . +And how is our dear Rudolf Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>The lady staggered back, as though she had been struck in the face, and +at once fell into a chair and began to sob.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter? . . . Why, what's the matter?" asked Steinweg.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand interposed:</p> + +<p>"I see, sir, that you know nothing about certain events that have taken +place recently. Have you been long travelling?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>"Yes, three months. . . . I had been up to the Rand. Then I went back to +Capetown and wrote to Rudolf from there. But, on my way home by the East +Coast route, I accepted some work at Port Said. Rudolf has had my +letter, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"He is away. I will explain the reason of his absence. But, first, there +is a point on which we should be glad of some information. It has to do +with a person whom you knew and to whom you used to refer, in your +intercourse with Mr. Kesselbach, by the name of Pierre Leduc."</p> + +<p>"Pierre Leduc! What! Who told you?"</p> + +<p>The old man was utterly taken aback.</p> + +<p>He spluttered out again:</p> + +<p>"Who told you? Who disclosed to you . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>"Never! It was a secret which I confided to him and Rudolf keeps his +secrets . . . especially this one . . ."</p> + +<p>"Nevertheless, it is absolutely necessary that you should reply to our +questions. We are at this moment engaged on an inquiry about Pierre +Leduc which must come to a head without delay; and you alone can +enlighten us, as Mr. Kesselbach is no longer here."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," cried Steinweg, apparently making up his mind, "what do +you want?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know Pierre Leduc?"</p> + +<p>"I have never seen him, but I have long been the possessor of a secret +which concerns him. Through a number of incidents which I need not +relate and thanks to a series of chances, I ended by acquiring the +certainty that the man in whose discovery I was interested was leading a +dissolute life in Paris and that he was calling himself Pierre Leduc, +which is not his real name."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>"But does he know his real name himself?"</p> + +<p>"I presume so."</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know it."</p> + +<p>"Well, tell it to us."</p> + +<p>He hesitated; then, vehemently:</p> + +<p>"I can't," he said. "No, I can't."</p> + +<p>"But why not?"</p> + +<p>"I have no right to. The whole secret lies there. When I revealed the +secret to Rudolf, he attached so much importance to it that he gave me a +large sum of money to purchase my silence and he promised me a fortune, +a real fortune, on the day when he should succeed, first, in finding +Pierre Leduc and, next, in turning the secret to account." He smiled +bitterly. "The large sum of money is already lost. I came to see how my +fortune was getting on."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Kesselbach is dead," said the chief detective.</p> + +<p>Steinweg gave a bound:</p> + +<p>"Dead! Is it possible? No, it's a trap. Mrs. Kesselbach, is it true?"</p> + +<p>She bowed her head.</p> + +<p>He seemed crushed by this unexpected revelation; and, at the same time, +it must have been infinitely painful to him, for he began to cry:</p> + +<p>"My poor Rudolf, I knew him when he was a little boy. . . . He used to +come and play at my house at Augsburg. . . . I was very fond of him." +And, calling Mrs. Kesselbach to witness, "And he of me, was he not, Mrs. +Kesselbach? He must have told you. . . . His old Daddy Steinweg, he used +to call me."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand went up to him and, in his clearest voice:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>"Listen to me," he said. "Mr. Kesselbach died murdered. . . . Come, be +calm . . . exclamations are of no use. . . . He died murdered, I say, +and all the circumstances of the crime prove that the culprit knew about +the scheme in question. Was there anything in the nature of that scheme +that would enable you to guess . . . ?"</p> + +<p>Steinweg stood dumfounded. He stammered:</p> + +<p>"It was my fault. . . . If I had not suggested the thing to him . . ."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kesselbach went up to him, entreating him:</p> + +<p>"Do you think . . . have you any idea? . . . Oh, Steinweg, I implore +you! . . ."</p> + +<p>"I have no idea. . . . I have not reflected," he muttered. "I must have +time to reflect. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Cast about in Mr. Kesselbach's surroundings," said M. Lenormand. "Did +nobody take part in your interviews at that time? Was there nobody in +whom he himself could have confided?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Think well."</p> + +<p>Both the others, Dolores and M. Lenormand, leant toward him, anxiously +awaiting his answer.</p> + +<p>"No," he said, "I don't see. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Think well," repeated the chief detective. "The murderer's Christian +name and surname begin with an L and an M."</p> + +<p>"An L," he echoed. "I don't see . . . an L . . . an M. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the initials are in gold on the corner of a cigarette-case +belonging to the murderer."</p> + +<p>"A cigarette-case?" asked Steinweg, making an effort of memory.</p> + +<p>"A gun-metal case . . . and one of the com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>partments is divided into two +spaces, the smaller for cigarette-papers, the other for tobacco. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Two spaces, two spaces," repeated Steinweg, whose thoughts seemed +stimulated by that detail. "Couldn't you show it to me?"</p> + +<p>"Here it is, or rather this is an exact reproduction," said M. +Lenormand, giving him a cigarette-case.</p> + +<p>"Eh! What!" said Steinweg, taking the case in his hands.</p> + +<p>He looked at it with stupid eyes, examined it, turned it over in every +direction and, suddenly, gave a cry, the cry of a man struck with a +horrible idea. And he stood like that, livid, with trembling hands and +wild, staring eyes.</p> + +<p>"Speak, come, speak!" said M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>"Oh," he said, as though blinded with light, "now all is explained! +. . ."</p> + +<p>"Speak, speak!"</p> + +<p>He walked across to the windows with a tottering step, then returned +and, rushing up to the chief detective:</p> + +<p>"Sir, sir . . . Rudolf's murderer . . . I'll tell you. . . . Well . . ."</p> + +<p>He stopped short.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>There was a moment's pause. . . . Was the name of the odious criminal +about to echo through the great silence of the office, between those +walls which had heard so many accusations, so many confessions? M. +Lenormand felt as if he were on the brink of the unfathomable abyss and +as if a voice were mounting, mounting up to him. . . . A few seconds +more and he would know. . . .</p> + +<p>"No," muttered Steinweg, "no, I can't. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span>"What's that you say?" cried the chief detective, furiously.</p> + +<p>"I say that I can't."</p> + +<p>"But you have no right to be silent. The law requires you to speak."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow. . . . I will speak to-morrow . . . I must have time to +reflect. . . . To-morrow, I will tell you all that I know about Pierre +Leduc . . . all that I suppose about that cigarette-case. . . . +To-morrow, I promise you. . . ."</p> + +<p>It was obvious that he possessed that sort of obstinacy against which +the most energetic efforts are of no avail. M. Lenormand yielded:</p> + +<p>"Very well. I give you until to-morrow, but I warn you that, if you do +not speak to-morrow, I shall be obliged to go to the +examining-magistrate."</p> + +<p>He rang and, taking Inspector Dieuzy aside, said:</p> + +<p>"Go with him to his hotel . . . and stay there. . . . I'll send you two +men. . . . And mind you keep your eyes about you. Somebody may try to +get hold of him."</p> + +<p>The inspector went off with Steinweg; and M. Lenormand, returning to +Mrs. Kesselbach, who had been violently affected by this scene, made his +excuses.</p> + +<p>"Pray accept all my regrets, madame. . . . I can understand how upset +you must feel. . . ."</p> + +<p>He questioned her as to the period at which Mr. Kesselbach renewed his +relations with old Steinweg and as to the length of time for which those +relations lasted. But she was so much worn-out that he did not insist.</p> + +<p>"Am I to come back to-morrow?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"No, it's not necessary. I will let you know all that Steinweg says. May +I see you down to your carriage? These three flights are rather steep. +. . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span>He opened the door and stood back to let her pass. At that moment shouts +were heard in the passage and people came running up, inspectors on +duty, office-messengers, clerks:</p> + +<p>"Chief! Chief!"</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Dieuzy! . . ."</p> + +<p>"But he's just left here. . . ."</p> + +<p>"He's been found on the staircase. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Not dead? . . ."</p> + +<p>"No, stunned, fainting. . . ."</p> + +<p>"But the man . . . the man who was with him . . . old Steinweg?"</p> + +<p>"He's disappeared. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Damn it!"</p> + +<p>He rushed along the passage and down the stairs, where he found Dieuzy +lying on the first-floor landing, surrounded by people who were +attending to him.</p> + +<p>He saw Gourel coming up again:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Gourel, have you been downstairs? Did you come across anybody?"</p> + +<p>"No, chief. . . ."</p> + +<p>But Dieuzy was recovering consciousness and, almost before he had opened +his eyes, mumbled:</p> + +<p>"Here, on the landing, the little door. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, hang it, the door of Court 7!"<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> shouted the chief detective. +"Didn't I say that it was to be kept locked? . . . It was certain that, +sooner or later<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> . . ." He seized the door-handle. "Oh, of course! The +door is bolted on the other side now!"</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Since M. Lenormand left the detective service, two other +criminals have escaped by the same door, after shaking off the officers +in charge of them; the police kept both cases dark. Nevertheless, it +would be very easy, if this communication is absolutely required, to +remove the useless bolt on the other side of the door, which enables the +fugitive to cut off all pursuit and to walk away quietly through the +passage leading to Civil Court 7 and through the corridor of the Chief +President's Court.</p></div> + +<p>The door was partly glazed. He smashed a pane with the butt-end of his +revolver, drew the bolt and said to Gourel:</p> + +<p>"Run through this way to the exit on the Place Dauphine. . . ."</p> + +<p>He went back to Dieuzy:</p> + +<p>"Come, Dieuzy, tell me about it. How did you come to let yourself be put +into this state?"</p> + +<p>"A blow in the pit of the stomach, chief. . . ."</p> + +<p>"A blow? From that old chap? . . . Why, he can hardly stand on his legs! +. . ."</p> + +<p>"Not the old man, chief, but another, who was walking up and down the +passage while Steinweg was with you and who followed us as though he +were going out, too. . . . When we got as far as this, he asked me for a +light. . . . I looked for my matches . . . Then he caught me a punch in +the stomach. . . . I fell down, and, as I fell, I thought I saw him open +that door and drag the old man with him. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Would you know him again?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, chief . . . a powerful fellow, very dark-skinned . . . a +southerner of sorts, that's certain. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Ribeira," snarled M. Lenormand. "Always Ribeira! . . . Ribeira, <i>alias</i> +Parbury. . . . Oh, the impudence of the scoundrel! He was afraid of what +old Steinweg might say . . . and came to fetch him away under my very +nose!" And, stamping his foot with anger, "But, dash it, how did he know +that Steinweg was here, the blackguard! It's only four hours since I was +chasing him in the Saint-Cucufa woods . . . and now he's here! . . . How +did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> he know? . . . One would think he lived inside my skin! . . ."</p> + +<p>He was seized with one of those fits of dreaming in which he seemed to +hear nothing and see nothing. Mrs. Kesselbach, who passed at that +moment, bowed without his replying.</p> + +<p>But a sound of footsteps in the corridor roused him from his lethargy.</p> + +<p>"At last, is that you, Gourel?"</p> + +<p>"I've found out how it was, chief," said Gourel, panting for breath. +"There were two of them. They went this way and out of the Place +Dauphine. There was a motor-car waiting for them. There were two people +inside: one was a man dressed in black, with a soft hat pulled over his +eyes . . ."</p> + +<p>"That's he," muttered M. Lenormand, "that's the murderer, the accomplice +of Ribeira,—Parbury. And who was the other?"</p> + +<p>"A woman, a woman without a hat, a servant-girl, it might be. . . . And +good-looking, I'm told, with red hair."</p> + +<p>"Eh, what! You say she had red hair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand turned round with a bound, ran down the stairs four steps +at a time, hurried across the courtyard and came out on the Quai des +Orfèvres:</p> + +<p>"Stop!" he shouted.</p> + +<p>A victoria and pair was driving off. It was Mrs. Kesselbach's carriage. +The coachman heard and pulled up his horses. M. Lenormand sprang on the +step:</p> + +<p>"I beg a thousand pardons, madame, but I cannot do without your +assistance. I will ask you to let me go with you. . . . But we must act +swiftly. . . . Gourel, where's my taxi?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>"I've sent it away, chief."</p> + +<p>"Well then, get another, quick!" . . .</p> + +<p>The men all ran in different directions. But ten minutes elapsed before +one of them returned with a motor-cab. M. Lenormand was boiling with +impatience. Mrs. Kesselbach, standing on the pavement, swayed from side +to side, with her smelling-salts in her hand.</p> + +<p>At last they were seated.</p> + +<p>"Gourel, get up beside the driver and go straight to Garches."</p> + +<p>"To my house?" asked Dolores, astounded.</p> + +<p>He did not reply. He leant out of the window, waved his pass, explained +who he was to the policeman regulating the traffic in the streets. At +last, when they reached the Cours-la-Reine, he sat down again and said:</p> + +<p>"I beseech you, madame, to give me plain answers to my questions. Did +you see Mlle. Geneviève Ernemont just now, at about four o'clock?"</p> + +<p>"Geneviève? . . . Yes. . . . I was dressing to go out."</p> + +<p>"Did she tell you of the advertisement about Steinweg in the <i>Journal</i>?"</p> + +<p>"She did."</p> + +<p>"And it was that which made you come to see me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Were you alone during Mlle. Ernemont's visit?"</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, I can't say. . . . Why?"</p> + +<p>"Recollect. Was one of your servants present?"</p> + +<p>"Probably . . . as I was dressing. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What are their names?"</p> + +<p>"Suzanne and Gertrude."</p> + +<p>"One of them has red hair, has she not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Gertrude."</p> + +<p>"Have you known her long?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span>"Her sister has always been with me . . . and so has Gertrude, for +years. . . . She is devotion and honesty personified. . . ."</p> + +<p>"In short, you will answer for her?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, absolutely!"</p> + +<p>"Very well . . . very well."</p> + +<p>It was half-past seven and the daylight was beginning to wane when the +taxi-cab reached the House of Retreat. Without troubling about his +companion, the chief detective rushed into the porter's lodge:</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Kesselbach's maid has just come in, has she not?"</p> + +<p>"Whom do you mean, the maid?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Gertrude, one of the two sisters."</p> + +<p>"But Gertrude can't have been out, sir. We haven't seen her go out."</p> + +<p>"Still some one has just come in."</p> + +<p>"No, sir, we haven't opened the door to anybody since—let me see—six +o'clock this evening."</p> + +<p>"Is there no other way out than this gate?"</p> + +<p>"No. The walls surround the estate on every side and they are very high. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Kesselbach, we will go to your house, please."</p> + +<p>They all three went. Mrs. Kesselbach, who had no key, rang. The door was +answered by Suzanne, the other sister.</p> + +<p>"Is Gertrude in?" asked Mrs. Kesselbach.</p> + +<p>"Yes, ma'am, in her room."</p> + +<p>"Send her down, please," said the chief detective.</p> + +<p>After a moment, Gertrude came downstairs, looking very attractive and +engaging in her white embroidered apron.</p> + +<p>She had, in point of fact, a rather pretty face, crowned with red hair.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>M. Lenormand looked at her for a long time without speaking, as though +he were trying to read what lay behind those innocent eyes.</p> + +<p>He asked her no questions. After a minute, he simply said:</p> + +<p>"That will do, thank you. Come, Gourel."</p> + +<p>He went out with the sergeant and, at once, as they followed the +darkling paths of the garden, said:</p> + +<p>"That's the one!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think so, chief? She looked so placid!"</p> + +<p>"Much too placid. Another would have been astonished, would have wanted +to know why I sent for her. Not this one! Nothing but the concentrated +effort of a face that is determined to smile at all costs. Only, I saw a +drop of perspiration trickle from her temple along her ear."</p> + +<p>"So that . . . ?</p> + +<p>"So that everything becomes plain. Gertrude is in league with the two +ruffians who are conspiring round the Kesselbach case, in order either +to discover and carry out the famous scheme, or to capture the widow's +millions. No doubt, the other sister is in the plot as well. At four +o'clock, Gertrude, learning that I know of the advertisement in the +<i>Journal</i>, takes advantage of her mistress's absence, hastens to Paris, +finds Ribeira and the man in the soft hat and drags them off to the +Palais, where Ribeira annexes Master Steinweg for his own purposes."</p> + +<p>He reflected and concluded:</p> + +<p>"All this proves, first, the importance which they attach to Steinweg +and their fear of what he may reveal; secondly, that a regular plot is +being hatched around Mrs. Kesselbach; thirdly, that I have no time to +lose, for the plot is ripe."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>"Very well," said Gourel, "but one thing remains unexplained. How was +Gertrude able to leave the garden in which we now are and to enter it +again, unknown to the porter and his wife?"</p> + +<p>"Through a secret passage which the rogues must have contrived to make +quite recently."</p> + +<p>"And which would end, no doubt," said Gourel, "in Mrs. Kesselbach's +house."</p> + +<p>"Yes, perhaps," said M. Lenormand, "perhaps . . . But I have another +idea."</p> + +<p>They followed the circuit of the wall. It was a bright night; and, +though their two forms were hardly distinguishable, they themselves +could see enough to examine the stones of the walls and to convince +themselves that no breach, however skilful, had been effected.</p> + +<p>"A ladder, very likely?" suggested Gourel.</p> + +<p>"No, because Gertrude is able to get out in broad daylight. A +communication of the kind I mean can evidently not end out of doors. The +entrance must be concealed by some building already in existence."</p> + +<p>"There are only the four garden-houses," objected Gourel, "and they are +all inhabited."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon: the third, the Pavillon Hortense, is not inhabited."</p> + +<p>"Who told you so?"</p> + +<p>"The porter. Mrs. Kesselbach hired this house, which is near her own, +for fear of the noise. Who knows but that, in so doing, she acted under +Gertrude's influence?"</p> + +<p>He walked round the house in question. The shutters were closed. He +lifted the latch of the door, on the off-chance; the door opened.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Gourel, I think we've struck it! Let's go in. Light your lantern. +. . . Oh, the hall<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>. . . . the drawing-room . . . the dining-room . . . +that's no use. There must be a basement, as the kitchen is not on this +floor."</p> + +<p>"This way, chief . . . the kitchen-stairs are here."</p> + +<p>They went down into a rather large kitchen, crammed full of wicker-work +garden-chairs and flower-stands. Beside it was a wash-house, which also +served as a cellar, and which presented the same untidy sight of objects +piled one on the top of the other.</p> + +<p>"What is that shiny thing down there, chief?"</p> + +<p>Gourel stooped and picked up a brass pin with a head made of an +imitation pearl.</p> + +<p>"The pearl is quite bright still," said M. Lenormand, "which it would +not be if it had been lying in this cellar long. Gertrude passed this +way, Gourel."</p> + +<p>Gourel began to demolish a great stack of empty wine-casks, writing +desks and old rickety tables.</p> + +<p>"You are wasting your time," said M. Lenormand. "If that is the way out, +how would she have time first to move all those things and then to +replace them behind her? Look, here is a shutter out of use, which has +no valid reason for being fastened to the wall by that nail. Draw it +back."</p> + +<p>Gourel did so. Behind the shutter, the wall was hollowed out. By the +light of the lantern they saw an underground passage running downwards.</p> + +<p>"I was right," said M. Lenormand.. "The communication is of recent date. +You see, it's a piece of work hurriedly done, and not intended to last +for any length of time. . . . No masonry. . . . Two planks placed +cross-wise at intervals, with a joist to serve as a roof; and that is +all. It will hold up as best<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> it may: well enough, in any case, for the +object in view, that is to say . . ."</p> + +<p>"That is to say what, chief?"</p> + +<p>"Well, first to allow of the going backwards and forwards between +Gertrude and her accomplices . . . and then, one day, one day soon, of +the kidnapping, or rather the total, miraculous, incomprehensible +disappearance of Mrs. Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>They proceeded cautiously, so as not to knock against certain beams +which did not look over-safe. It at once became evident that the tunnel +was much longer than the fifty yards at most that separated the house +from the boundary of the garden. It must, therefore, end at a fair +distance from the walls and beyond the road that skirted the property.</p> + +<p>"We are not going in the direction of Villeneuve and the lake are we?" +asked Gourel.</p> + +<p>"Not at all, the other way about," declared M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>The tunnel descended with a gentle slope. There was a step, then +another; and they veered toward the right. They at once knocked up +against a door which was fitted into a rubble frame, carefully cemented. +M. Lenormand pushed it and it opened.</p> + +<p>"One second, Gourel," he said, stopping. "Let us think. . . . It might +perhaps be wiser to turn back."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"We must reflect that Ribeira will have foreseen the danger and presume +that he has taken his precautions, in case the underground passage +should be discovered. Now he knows that we are on his track. He knows +that we are searching the garden. He no doubt saw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> us enter the house. +How do I know that he is not at this moment laying a trap for us?"</p> + +<p>"There are two of us, chief. . . ."</p> + +<p>"And suppose there were twenty of them?"</p> + +<p>He looked in front of him. The tunnel sloped upward again, closed by +another door, which was at five or six yards' distance.</p> + +<p>"Let us go so far," he said. "Then we shall see."</p> + +<p>He passed through, followed by Gourel, whom he told to leave the first +door open, and walked to the other door, resolving within himself to go +no farther. But this second door was shut; and though the lock seemed to +work, he could not succeed in opening it.</p> + +<p>"The door is bolted," he said. "Let us make no noise and go back. The +more so as, outside, by remembering the position of the tunnel, we can +fix the line along which to look for the other outlet."</p> + +<p>They therefore retraced their steps to the first door, when Gourel, who +was walking ahead, gave an exclamation of surprise:</p> + +<p>"Why, it's closed! . . ."</p> + +<p>"How is that? When I told you to leave it open!"</p> + +<p>"I did leave it open, chief, but the door must have fallen back of its +own weight."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! We should have heard the sound."</p> + +<p>"Then? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Then . . . then . . . I don't know . . ." He went up to the door. +"Let's see, . . . there's a key . . . does it turn? . . . Yes, it turns. +But there seems to be a bolt on the other side."</p> + +<p>"Who can have fastened it?"</p> + +<p>"They, of course! Behind our backs! . . . Perhaps they have another +tunnel that runs above this one, alongside of it . . . or else they were +waiting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> in that empty house. . . . In any case, we're caught in a trap. +. . ."</p> + +<p>He grew angry with the lock, thrust his knife into the chink of the +door, tried every means and then, in a moment of weariness, said:</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to be done!"</p> + +<p>"What, chief, nothing to be done? In that case, we're diddled!"</p> + +<p>"I dare say!" said M. Lenormand. . . .</p> + +<p>They returned to the other door and came back again to the first. Both +were solid, made of hard wood, strengthened with cross-beams . . . in +short, indestructible.</p> + +<p>"We should want a hatchet," said the chief of the detective-service, "or +at the very least, a serious implement . . . a knife even, with which we +might try to cut away the place where the bolt is most likely to be +. . . and we have nothing. . . ."</p> + +<p>He was seized with a sudden fit of rage and flung himself upon the +obstacle, as though he hoped to do away with it. Then, powerless, +beaten, he said to Gourel:</p> + +<p>"Listen, we'll look into this in an hour or two. . . . I am tired out. +. . . I am going to sleep. . . . Keep watch so long . . . and if they +come and attack us . . ."</p> + +<p>"Ah, if they come, we shall be saved, chief!" cried Gourel, who would +have been relieved by a fight, however great the odds.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand lay down on the ground. In a minute, he was asleep.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>When he woke up, he remained for some seconds undecided, not +understanding; and he also asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> himself what sort of pain it was that +was tormenting him:</p> + +<p>"Gourel!" he called. "Come! Gourel!"</p> + +<p>Obtaining no reply, he pressed the spring of his lantern and saw Gourel +lying beside him, sound asleep.</p> + +<p>"What on earth can this pain be?" he thought. "Regular twitchings. . . . +Oh, why, of course, I am hungry, that's all. . . . I'm starving! What +can the time be?"</p> + +<p>His watch marked twenty minutes past seven, but he remembered that he +had not wound it up. Gourel's watch was not going either.</p> + +<p>Gourel had awoke under the action of the same inward pangs, which made +them think that the breakfast-hour must be long past and that they had +already slept for a part of the day.</p> + +<p>"My legs are quite numbed," said Gourel, "and my feet feel as if they +were on ice. What a funny sensation!" He bent down to rub them and went +on: "Why, it's not on ice that my feet were, but in water. . . . Look, +chief . . . there's a regular pool near the first door. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Soaked through," M. Lenormand replied. "We'll go back to the second +door; you can dry yourself . . ."</p> + +<p>"But what are you doing, chief?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think I am going to allow myself to be buried alive in this +vault? . . . Not if I know it; I haven't reached the age! . . . As the +two doors are closed, let us try to pass through the walls."</p> + +<p>One by one he loosened the stones that stood out at the height of his +hand, in the hope of contriving another gallery that would slope upwards +to the level of the soil. But the work was long and painful, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> in +this part of the tunnel, as he perceived the stones were cemented.</p> + +<p>"Chief . . . chief," stammered Gourel, in a stifled voice. . . .</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"You are standing with your feet in the water."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! . . . Why, so I am! . . . Well, it can't be helped. . . . +I'll dry them in the sun. . . ."</p> + +<p>"But don't you see?"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Why, it's rising, chief, it's rising! . . ."</p> + +<p>"What's rising?"</p> + +<p>"The water! . . ."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand felt a shudder pass over his skin. He suddenly understood. +It was not a casual trickling through, as he had thought, but a +carefully-prepared flood, mechanically, irresistibly produced by some +infernal system.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the scoundrel!" he snarled. "If ever I lay hands on him . . . !"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, chief, but we must first get out of this. . . . And, as far +as I can see . . ."</p> + +<p>Gourel seemed completely prostrated, incapable of having an idea, of +proposing a plan.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand knelt down on the ground and measured the rate at which the +water was rising. A quarter, or thereabouts, of the first door was +covered; and the water was half-way toward the second door.</p> + +<p>"The progress is slow, but uninterrupted," he said "In a few hours it +will be over our heads."</p> + +<p>"But this is terrible, chief, it's horrible!" moaned Gourel.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look here, don't come boring me with your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> lamentations, do you +understand? Cry, if it amuses you, but don't let me hear you!"</p> + +<p>"It's the hunger that weakens me, chief; my brain's going round."</p> + +<p>"Bite your fist!"</p> + +<p>As Gourel said, the position was terrible; and, if M. Lenormand had had +less energy, he would have abandoned the vain struggle. What was to be +done? It was no use hoping that Ribeira would have the charity to let +them out. It was no use either hoping that the brothers Doudeville would +rescue them, for the inspectors did not know of the existence of the +tunnel. So no hope remained . . . no hope but that of an impossible +miracle. . . .</p> + +<p>"Come, come," said M. Lenormand, "this is too silly. We're not going to +kick the bucket here! Hang it all, there must be something! . . . Show +me a light, Gourel."</p> + +<p>Flattening himself against the second door, he examined it from top to +bottom, in every corner. There was an enormous bolt on that side, just +as there probably was on the other. He unfastened the screws with the +blade of his knife; and the bolt came off in his hand.</p> + +<p>"And what next?" asked Gourel.</p> + +<p>"What next?" he echoed. "Well, this bolt is made of iron, pretty long +and very nearly pointed. Certainly, it's not as good as a pick-axe, but +it's better than nothing and . . ."</p> + +<p>Without finishing his sentence, he drove the implement into the +side-wall of the tunnel, a little in front of the pillar of masonry that +supported the hinges of the door. As he expected, once he had passed the +first layer of cement and stones, he found soft earth:</p> + +<p>"To work!" he cried.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>"Certainly, chief, but would you explain . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"It's quite simple. I want to dig round this pillar a passage, three or +four yards long, which will join the tunnel on the other side of the +door and allow us to escape."</p> + +<p>"But it will take us hours; and meanwhile, the water is rising."</p> + +<p>"Show me a light, Gourel."</p> + +<p>"In twenty minutes, or half an hour at most, it will have reached our +feet."</p> + +<p>"Show me a light, Gourel."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand's idea was correct and, with some little exertion, by +pulling the earth, which he first loosened with his implement, towards +him and making it fall into the tunnel, he was not long in digging a +hole large enough to slip into.</p> + +<p>"It's my turn, chief!" said Gourel.</p> + +<p>"Aha, you're returning to life, I see! Well, fire away! . . . You have +only to follow the shape of the pillar."</p> + +<p>At that moment, the water was up to their ankles. Would they have time +to complete the work begun?</p> + +<p>It became more difficult as they went on, for the earth which they +disturbed was in their way; and, lying flat on their stomachs in the +passage, they were obliged at every instant to remove the rubbish that +obstructed them.</p> + +<p>After two hours, the work was perhaps three-quarters through, but the +water now covered their legs. Another hour and it would reach the +opening of the hole which they were digging. And that would mean the +end!</p> + +<p>Gourel, who was exhausted by the want of food and who was too stout to +move with any freedom in that ever-narrower passage, had had to give up. +He no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> longer stirred, trembling with anguish at feeling that icy water +which was gradually swallowing him up.</p> + +<p>As for M. Lenormand, he worked on with indefatigable ardor. It was a +terrible job, this ants' work performed in the stifling darkness. His +hands were bleeding. He was fainting with hunger. The insufficiency of +the air hampered his breathing; and, from time to time, Gourel's sighs +reminded him of the awful danger that threatened him at the bottom of +his hole.</p> + +<p>But nothing could discourage him, for now he again found opposite him +those cemented stones which formed the side-wall of the gallery. It was +the most difficult part, but the end was at hand.</p> + +<p>"It's rising," cried Gourel, in a choking voice, "it's rising!"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand redoubled his efforts. Suddenly the stem of the bolt which +he was using leapt out into space. The passage was dug. He had now only +to widen it, which became much easier once he was able to shoot the +materials in front of him.</p> + +<p>Gourel, mad with terror, was howling like a dying beast. M. Lenormand +paid no attention to him. Safety was at hand.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he had a few seconds of anxiety when he perceived, by the +sound of the materials falling, that this part of the tunnel was also +under water, which was natural, as the door did not form a sufficiently +tight-fitting barrier. But what did it matter! The outlet was free. One +last effort . . . he passed through.</p> + +<p>"Come, Gourel," he cried, returning to fetch his companion.</p> + +<p>He dragged him, half dead, by the wrists:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span>"Come along, booby, pull yourself together! We are saved."</p> + +<p>"Do you really think so, chief? . . . The water's up to our chests. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"Never mind, as long as it's not over our mouths. . . . Where's your +lantern?"</p> + +<p>"It's not working."</p> + +<p>"No matter." He gave an exclamation of delight. "One step . . . two +steps! . . . A staircase. . . . At last!"</p> + +<p>They emerged from the water, that accursed water which had almost +swallowed them up; and it was a delicious sensation, a release that sent +up their spirits.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" said M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>His head had knocked against something. With arms outstretched, he +pushed against the obstacle, which yielded at once. It was the flap of a +trap-door; and, when this trap-door was opened, he found himself in a +cellar into which the light of a fine night filtered through an +air-hole.</p> + +<p>He threw back the flap and climbed the last treads.</p> + +<p>Then a veil fell over his eyes. Arms seized upon him. He felt himself as +it were wrapped in a sheet, in a sort of sack, and then fastened with +cords.</p> + +<p>"Now for the other one!" said a voice.</p> + +<p>The same operation must have been performed on Gourel; and the same +voice said:</p> + +<p>"If they call out, kill them at once. Have you your dagger?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Come along. You two, take this one . . . you two, that one. . . . No +light . . . and no noise either. . . . It would be a serious matter. +They've been searching the garden next door since<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> this morning . . . +there are ten or fifteen of them knocking about. . . . Go back to the +house, Gertrude, and, if the least thing happens, telephone to me in +Paris."</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand felt that he was being lifted up and carried and, a moment +after, that he was in the open air.</p> + +<p>"Bring the cart nearer," said a voice.</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand heard the sound of a horse and cart.</p> + +<p>He was laid out on some boards. Gourel was hoisted up beside him. The +horse started at a trot.</p> + +<p>The drive lasted about half an hour.</p> + +<p>"Halt!" commanded the voice. "Lift them out. Here, driver, turn the cart +so that the tail touches the parapet of the bridge. . . . Good. . . . No +boats on the river? Sure? Then let's waste no time. . . . Oh, have you +fastened some stones to them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, paving-stones."</p> + +<p>"Right away, then! Commend your soul to God, M. Lenormand, and pray for +me, Parbury-Ribeira, better known by the name of Baron Altenheim. Are +you ready? All right? Well, here's wishing you a pleasant journey, M. +Lenormand!"</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand was placed on the parapet. Someone gave him a push. He felt +himself falling into space and he still heard the voice chuckling:</p> + +<p>"A pleasant journey!"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Ten seconds later it was Sergeant Gourel's turn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">PARBURY-RIBEIRA-ALTENHEIM</span></h2> + + +<p>The girls were playing in the garden, under the supervision of Mlle. +Charlotte, Geneviève's new assistant. Mme. Ernemont came out, +distributed some cakes among them and then went back to the room which +served as a drawing-room and parlor in one, sat down before a +writing-desk and began to arrange her papers and account-books.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, she felt the presence of a stranger in the room. She turned +round in alarm:</p> + +<p>"You!" she cried. "Where have you come from? How did you get in?"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" said Prince Sernine. "Listen to me and do not let us waste a +minute: Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>"Calling on Mrs. Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>"When will she be here?"</p> + +<p>"Not before an hour."</p> + +<p>"Then I will let the brothers Doudeville come. I have an appointment +with them. How is Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>"Very well."</p> + +<p>"How often has she seen Pierre Leduc since I went away, ten days ago?"</p> + +<p>"Three times; and she is to meet him to-day at Mrs. Kesselbach's, to +whom she introduced him, as you said she must. Only, I may as well tell +you that I don't think much of this Pierre Leduc of yours. Geneviève +would do better to find some good fellow in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> her own class of life. For +instance, there's the schoolmaster."</p> + +<p>"You're mad! Geneviève marry a schoolmaster!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you considered Geneviève's happiness first. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Shut up, Victoire. You're boring me with your cackle. I have no time to +waste on sentiment. I'm playing a game of chess; and I move my men +without troubling about what they think. When I have won the game, I +will go into the question whether the knight, Pierre Leduc, and the +queen, Geneviève, have a heart or not."</p> + +<p>She interrupted him:</p> + +<p>"Did you hear? A whistle. . . ."</p> + +<p>"It's the two Doudevilles. Go and bring them in; and then leave us."</p> + +<p>As soon as the two brothers were in the room, he questioned them with +his usual precision:</p> + +<p>"I know what the newspapers have said about the disappearance of +Lenormand and Gourel. Do you know any more?"</p> + +<p>"No. The deputy-chief, M. Weber, has taken the case in hand. We have +been searching the garden of the House of Retreat for the past week; and +nobody is able to explain how they can have disappeared. The whole force +is in a flutter. . . . No one has ever seen the like . . . a chief of +the detective-service disappearing, without leaving a trace behind him!"</p> + +<p>"The two maids?"</p> + +<p>"Gertrude has gone. She is being looked for."</p> + +<p>"Her sister Suzanne?"</p> + +<p>"M. Weber and M. Formerie have questioned her. There is nothing against +her."</p> + +<p>"Is that all you have to tell me?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span>"Oh, no, there are other things, all the things which we did not tell +the papers."</p> + +<p>They then described the incidents that had marked M. Lenormand's last +two days: the night visit of the two ruffians to Pierre Leduc's villa; +next day, Ribeira's attempt to kidnap Geneviève and the chase through +the Saint-Cucufa woods; old Steinweg's arrival, his examination at the +detective-office in Mrs. Kesselbach's presence, his escape from the +Palais. . . .</p> + +<p>"And no one knows these details except yourselves?"</p> + +<p>"Dieuzy knows about the Steinweg incident: he told us of it."</p> + +<p>"And they still trust you at the Prefecture of Police?"</p> + +<p>"So much so that they employ us openly. M. Weber swears by us."</p> + +<p>"Come," said the prince, "all is not lost. If M. Lenormand has committed +an imprudence that has cost him his life, as I suppose he did, at any +rate he performed some good work first; and we have only to continue it. +The enemy has the start of us, but we will catch him up."</p> + +<p>"It won't be an easy job, governor."</p> + +<p>"Why not? It is only a matter of finding old Steinweg again, for the +answer to the riddle is in his hands."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but where has Ribeira got old Steinweg tucked away?"</p> + +<p>"At his own place, of course."</p> + +<p>"Then we should have to know where Ribeira hangs out."</p> + +<p>"Well, of course!"</p> + +<p>He dismissed them and went to the House of Retreat. Motor-cars were +awaiting outside the door and two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> men were walking up and down, as +though mounting guard.</p> + +<p>In the garden, near Mrs. Kesselbach's house, he saw Geneviève sitting on +a bench with Pierre Leduc and a thick-set gentleman wearing a single +eye-glass. The three were talking and none of them saw him. But several +people came out of the house: M. Formerie, M. Weber, a magistrate's +clerk, and two inspectors. Geneviève went indoors and the gentleman with +the eye-glass went up and spoke to the examining-magistrate and the +deputy-chief of the detective-service and walked away with them slowly.</p> + +<p>Sernine came beside the bench where Pierre Leduc was sitting and +whispered:</p> + +<p>"Don't move, Pierre Leduc; it's I."</p> + +<p>"You! . . . you! . . ."</p> + +<p>It was the third time that the young man saw Sernine since the awful +night at Versailles; and each time it upset him.</p> + +<p>"Tell me . . . who is the fellow with the eye-glass?"</p> + +<p>Pierre Leduc turned pale and jabbered. Sernine pinched his arm:</p> + +<p>"Answer me, confound it! Who is he?"</p> + +<p>"Baron Altenheim."</p> + +<p>"Where does he come from?"</p> + +<p>"He was a friend of Mr. Kesselbach's. He arrived from Austria, six days +ago, and placed himself at Mrs. Kesselbach's disposal."</p> + +<p>The police authorities had, meanwhile, gone out of the garden; Baron +Altenheim also.</p> + +<p>The prince rose and, turning towards the Pavillon de l'Impératrice, +continued:</p> + +<p>"Has the baron asked you many questions?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>"Yes, a great many. He is interested in my case. He wants to help me +find my family. He appealed to my childhood memories."</p> + +<p>"And what did you say?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, because I know nothing. What memories have I? You put me in +another's place and I don't even know who that other is."</p> + +<p>"No more do I!" chuckled the prince. "And that's just what makes your +case so quaint."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's all very well for you to laugh . . . you're always laughing! +. . . But I'm beginning to have enough of it. . . . I'm mixed up in a +heap of nasty matters . . . to say nothing of the danger which I run in +pretending to be somebody that I am not."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean . . . that you are not? You're quite as much a duke as +I am a prince . . . perhaps even more so. . . . Besides, if you're not a +duke, hurry up and become one, hang it all! Geneviève can't marry any +one but a duke! Look at her: isn't she worth selling your soul for?"</p> + +<p>He did not even look at Leduc, not caring what he thought. They had +reached the house by this time; and Geneviève appeared at the foot of +the steps, comely and smiling:</p> + +<p>"So you have returned?" she said to the prince. "Ah, that's a good +thing! I am so glad. . . . Do you want to see Dolores?"</p> + +<p>After a moment, she showed him into Mrs. Kesselbach's room. The prince +was taken aback. Dolores was paler still and thinner than on the day +when he saw her last. Lying on a sofa, wrapped up in white stuffs, she +looked like one of those sick people who have ceased to struggle against +death. As for her, she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> had ceased to struggle against life, against the +fate that was overwhelming her with its blows.</p> + +<p>Sernine gazed at her with deep pity and with an emotion which he did not +strive to conceal. She thanked him for the sympathy which he showed her. +She also spoke of Baron Altenheim, in friendly terms.</p> + +<p>"Did you know him before?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, by name, and through his intimacy with my husband."</p> + +<p>"I have met an Altenheim who lives in the Rue de Rivoli. Do you think +it's the same?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, this one lives in . . . As a matter of fact, I don't quite +know; he gave me his address, but I can't say that I remember it. . . ."</p> + +<p>After a few minutes' conversation, Sernine took his leave. Geneviève was +waiting for him in the hall:</p> + +<p>"I want to speak to you," she said eagerly, "on a serious matter. . . . +Did you see him?"</p> + +<p>"Whom?"</p> + +<p>"Baron Altenheim. . . . But that's not his name . . . or, at least, he +has another. . . . I recognized him . . . he does not know it."</p> + +<p>She dragged him out of doors and walked on in great excitement.</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself, Geneviève. . . ."</p> + +<p>"He's the man who tried to carry me off. . . . But for that poor M. +Lenormand, I should have been done for. . . . Come, you must know, for +you know everything. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Then his real name is . . ."</p> + +<p>"Ribeira."</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?"</p> + +<p>"It was no use his changing his appearance, his accent, his manner: I +knew him at once, by the horror<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> with which he inspires me. But I said +nothing . . . until you returned."</p> + +<p>"You said nothing to Mrs. Kesselbach either?"</p> + +<p>"No. She seemed so happy at meeting a friend of her husband's. But you +will speak to her about it, will you not? You will protect her. . . . I +don't know what he is preparing against her, against myself. . . . Now +that M. Lenormand is no longer there, he has nothing to fear, he does as +he pleases. Who can unmask him?"</p> + +<p>"I can. I will be responsible for everything. But not a word to +anybody."</p> + +<p>They had reached the porter's lodge. The gate was opened. The prince +said:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Geneviève, and be quite easy in your mind. I am there."</p> + +<p>He shut the gate, turned round and gave a slight start. Opposite him +stood the man with the eye-glass, Baron Altenheim, with his head held +well up, his broad shoulders, his powerful frame.</p> + +<p>They looked at each other for two or three seconds, in silence. The +baron smiled.</p> + +<p>Then the baron said:</p> + +<p>"I was waiting for you, Lupin."</p> + +<p>For all his self-mastery, Sernine felt a thrill pass over him. He had +come to unmask his adversary; and his adversary had unmasked him at the +first onset. And, at the same time, the adversary was accepting the +contest boldly, brazenly, as though he felt sure of victory. It was a +swaggering thing to do and gave evidence of no small amount of pluck.</p> + +<p>The two men, violently hostile one to the other, took each other's +measure with their eyes.</p> + +<p>"And what then?" asked Sernine.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span>"What then? Don't you think we have occasion for a meeting?"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"I want to talk to you."</p> + +<p>"What day will suit you?"</p> + +<p>"To-morrow. Let us lunch together at a restaurant."</p> + +<p>"Why not at your place?"</p> + +<p>"You don't know my address."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do."</p> + +<p>With a swift movement, the prince pulled out a newspaper protruding from +Altenheim's pocket, a paper still in its addressed wrapper, and said:</p> + +<p>"No. 29, Villa Dupont."</p> + +<p>"Well played!" said the other. "Then we'll say, to-morrow, at my place."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow, at your place. At what time?"</p> + +<p>"One o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I shall be there. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>They were about to walk away. Altenheim stopped:</p> + +<p>"Oh, one word more, prince. Bring a weapon with you."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"I keep four men-servants and you will be alone."</p> + +<p>"I have my fists," said Sernine. "We shall be on even terms."</p> + +<p>He turned his back on him and then, calling him back:</p> + +<p>"Oh, one word more, baron. Engage four more servants."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"I have thought it over. I shall bring my whip."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>At one o'clock the next day, precisely, a horseman rode through the gate +of the so-called Villa Dupont, a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> peaceful, countrified private road, +the only entrance to which is in the Rue Pergolèse, close to the Avenue +du Bois.</p> + +<p>It is lined with gardens and handsome private houses; and, right at the +end, it is closed by a sort of little park containing a large old house, +behind which runs the Paris circular railway. It was here, at No. 29, +that Baron Altenheim lived.</p> + +<p>Sernine flung the reins of his horse to a groom whom he had sent on +ahead and said:</p> + +<p>"Bring him back at half-past two."</p> + +<p>He rang the bell. The garden-gate opened and he walked to the front-door +steps, where he was awaited by two tall men in livery who ushered him +into an immense, cold, stone hall, devoid of any ornament. The door +closed behind him with a heavy thud; and, great and indomitable as his +courage was, he nevertheless underwent an unpleasant sensation at +feeling himself alone, surrounded by enemies, in that isolated prison.</p> + +<p>"Say Prince Sernine."</p> + +<p>The drawing-room was near and he was shown straight in.</p> + +<p>"Ah, there you are, my dear prince!" said the baron, coming toward him. +"Well, will you believe—Dominique, lunch in twenty minutes. Until then, +don't let us be interrupted—will you believe, my dear prince, that I +hardly expected to see you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, really? Why?"</p> + +<p>"Well, your declaration of war, this morning, is so plain that an +interview becomes superfluous."</p> + +<p>"My declaration of war?"</p> + +<p>The baron unfolded a copy of the <i>Grand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> Journal</i> and pointed to a +paragraph which ran as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We are authoritatively informed that M. Lenormand's +disappearance has roused Arsène Lupin into taking +action. After a brief enquiry and following on his +proposal to clear up the Kesselbach case, Arsène Lupin +has decided that he will find M. Lenormand, alive or +dead, and that he will deliver the author or authors +of that heinous series of crimes to justice."</p></div> + +<p>"This authoritative pronouncement comes from you, my dear prince, of +course?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, it comes from me."</p> + +<p>"Therefore, I was right: it means war."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Altenheim gave Sernine a chair, sat down himself and said, in a +conciliatory tone:</p> + +<p>"Well, no, I cannot allow that. It is impossible that two men like +ourselves should fight and injure each other. We have only to come to an +explanation, to seek the means: you and I were made to understand each +other."</p> + +<p>"I think, on the contrary, that two men like ourselves are not made to +understand each other."</p> + +<p>The baron suppressed a movement of impatience and continued:</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Lupin. . . . By the way, do you mind my calling you +Lupin?"</p> + +<p>"What shall I call you? Altenheim, Ribeira, or Parbury?"</p> + +<p>"Oho! I see that you are even better posted than I thought! . . . Hang +it all, but you're jolly smart! . . . All the more reason why we should +agree."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> And, bending toward him, "Listen, Lupin, and ponder my words +well; I have weighed them carefully, every one. Look here. . . . We two +are evenly matched. . . . Does that make you smile? You are wrong: it +may be that you possess resources which I do not; but I have others of +which you know nothing. Moreover, as you are aware, I have few scruples, +some skill and a capacity for changing my personality which an expert +like yourself ought to appreciate. In short, the two adversaries are +each as good as the other. But one question remains unanswered: why are +we adversaries? We are pursuing the same object, you will say? And what +then? Do you know what will come of our rivalry? Each of us will +paralyze the efforts and destroy the work of the other; and we shall +both miss our aim! And for whose benefit? Some Lenormand or other, a +third rogue! . . . It's really too silly."</p> + +<p>"It's really too silly, as you say," Sernine admitted. "But there is a +remedy."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"For you to withdraw."</p> + +<p>"Don't chaff. I am serious. The proposal which I am going to make is not +one to be rejected without examination. Here it is, in two words: let's +be partners!"</p> + +<p>"I say!"</p> + +<p>"Of course, each of us will continue free where his own affairs are +concerned. But, for the business in question, let us combine our +efforts. Does that suit you? Hand in hand and share alike."</p> + +<p>"What do you bring?"</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you know what I'm worth; I've delivered my proofs. In the alliance +which you are proposing, you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> know the figure, so to speak of my +marriage-portion. What's yours?"</p> + +<p>"Steinweg."</p> + +<p>"That's not much."</p> + +<p>"It's immense. Through Steinweg, we learn the truth about Pierre Leduc. +Through Steinweg, we get to know what the famous Kesselbach plan is all +about."</p> + +<p>Sernine burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"And you need me for that?"</p> + +<p>"I don't understand."</p> + +<p>"Come, old chap, your offer is childish. You have Steinweg in your +hands. If you wish for my collaboration, it is because you have not +succeeded in making him speak. But for that fact, you would do without +my services."</p> + +<p>"Well, what of it?"</p> + +<p>"I refuse."</p> + +<p>The two men stood up to each other once more, violent and implacable.</p> + +<p>"I refuse," said Sernine. "Lupin requires nobody, in order to act. I am +one of those who walk alone. If you were my equal, as you pretend, the +idea of a partnership would never have entered your head. The man who +has the stature of a leader commands. Union implies obedience. I do not +obey."</p> + +<p>"You refuse? You refuse?" repeated Altenheim, turning pale under the +insult.</p> + +<p>"All that I can do for you, old chap, is to offer you a place in my +band. You'll be a private soldier, to begin with. Under my orders, you +shall see how a general wins a battle . . . and how he pockets the +booty, by himself and for himself. Does that suit you . . . Tommy?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span>Altenheim was beside himself with fury. He gnashed his teeth:</p> + +<p>"You are making a mistake, Lupin," he mumbled, "you are making a +mistake. . . . I don't want anybody either; and this business gives me +no more difficulty than plenty of others which I have pulled off. . . . +What I said was said in order to effect our object more quickly and +without inconveniencing each other."</p> + +<p>"You're not inconveniencing me," said Lupin, scornfully.</p> + +<p>"Look here! If we don't combine, only one of us will succeed."</p> + +<p>"That's good enough for me."</p> + +<p>"And he will only succeed by passing over the other's body. Are you +prepared for that sort of duel, Lupin? A duel to the death, do you +understand? . . . The knife is a method which you despise; but suppose +you received one, Lupin, right in the throat?"</p> + +<p>"Aha! So, when all is said, that's what you propose?"</p> + +<p>"No, I am not very fond of shedding blood. . . . Look at my fists: I +strike . . . and my man falls. . . . I have special blows of my own. +. . . But <i>the other one</i> kills . . . remember . . . the little wound in +the throat. . . . Ah, Lupin, beware of him, beware of that one! . . . He +is terrible, he is implacable. . . . Nothing stops him."</p> + +<p>He spoke these words in a low voice and with such excitement that +Sernine shuddered at the hideous thought of the unknown murderer:</p> + +<p>"Baron," he sneered, "one would think you were afraid of your +accomplice!"</p> + +<p>"I am afraid for the others, for those who bar our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> road, for you, +Lupin. Accept, or you are lost. I shall act myself, if necessary. The +goal is too near . . . I have my hand on it. . . . Get out of my way, +Lupin!"</p> + +<p>He was all energy and exasperated will. He spoke forcibly and so +brutally that he seemed ready to strike his enemy then and there.</p> + +<p>Sernine shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"Lord, how hungry I am!" he said, yawning. "What a time to lunch at!"</p> + +<p>The door opened.</p> + +<p>"Lunch is served, sir," said the butler.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that's good hearing!"</p> + +<p>In the doorway, Altenheim caught Sernine by the arm and, disregarding +the servant's presence:</p> + +<p>"If you take my advice . . . accept. This is a serious moment in your +life . . . and you will do better, I swear to you, you will do better +. . . to accept. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Caviare!" cried Sernine. "Now, that's too sweet of you. . . . You +remembered that you were entertaining a Russian prince!"</p> + +<p>They sat down facing each other, with the baron's greyhound, a large +animal with long, silver hair, between them.</p> + +<p>"Let me introduce Sirius, my most faithful friend."</p> + +<p>"A fellow-countryman," said Sernine. "I shall never forget the one which +the Tsar was good enough to give me when I had the honor to save his +life."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you had that honor . . . a terrorist conspiracy, no doubt?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a conspiracy got up by myself. You must know, this dog—its name, +by the way, was Sebastopol. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span>The lunch continued merrily. Altenheim had recovered his good humor and +the two men vied with each other in wit and politeness. Sernine told +anecdotes which the baron capped with others; and it was a succession of +stories of hunting, sport and travel, in which the oldest names in +Europe were constantly cropping up: Spanish grandees, English lords, +Hungarian magyars, Austrian archdukes.</p> + +<p>"Ah," said Sernine, "what a fine profession is ours! It brings us into +touch with all the best people. Here, Sirius, a bit of this truffled +chicken!"</p> + +<p>The dog did not take his eyes off him, and snapped at everything that +Sernine gave it.</p> + +<p>"A glass of Chambertin, prince?"</p> + +<p>"With pleasure, baron."</p> + +<p>"I can recommend it. It comes from King Leopold's cellar."</p> + +<p>"A present?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a present I made myself."</p> + +<p>"It's delicious. . . . What a bouquet! . . . With this <i>pâté de foie +gras</i>, it's simply wonderful! . . . I must congratulate you, baron; you +have a first-rate chef."</p> + +<p>"My chef is a woman-cook, prince. I bribed her with untold gold to leave +Levraud, the socialist deputy. I say, try this hot chocolate-ice; and +let me call your special attention to the little dry cakes that go with +it. They're an invention of genius, those cakes."</p> + +<p>"The shape is charming, in any case," said Sernine, helping himself. "If +they taste as good as they look. . . . Here, Sirius, you're sure to like +this. Locusta herself could not have done better."</p> + +<p>He took one of the cakes and gave it to the dog. Sirius swallowed it at +a gulp, stood motionless for two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> or three seconds, as though dazed, +then turned in a circle and fell to the floor dead.</p> + +<p>Sernine started back from his chair, lest one of the footmen should fall +upon him unawares. Then he burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"Look here, baron, next time you want to poison one of your friends, try +to steady your voice and to keep your hands from shaking. . . . +Otherwise, people suspect you. . . . But I thought you disliked murder?"</p> + +<p>"With the knife, yes," said Altenheim, quite unperturbed. "But I have +always had a wish to poison some one. I wanted to see what it was like."</p> + +<p>"By Jove, old chap, you choose your subjects well! A Russian prince!"</p> + +<p>He walked up to Altenheim and, in a confidential tone, said:</p> + +<p>"Do you know what would have happened if you had succeeded, that is to +say, if my friends had not seen me return at three o'clock at the +latest? Well, at half-past three the prefect of police would have known +exactly all that there was to know about the so-called Baron Altenheim; +and the said baron would have been copped before the day was out and +clapped into jail."</p> + +<p>"Pooh!" said Altenheim. "Prison one escapes from . . . whereas one does +not come back from the kingdom where I was sending you."</p> + +<p>"True, but you would have to send me there first; and that's not so +easy."</p> + +<p>"I only wanted a mouthful of one of those cakes."</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure?"</p> + +<p>"Try."</p> + +<p>"One thing's certain, my lad: you haven't the stuff yet which great +adventurers are made of; and I doubt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> if you'll ever have it, +considering the sort of traps you lay for me. A man who thinks himself +worthy of leading the life which you and I have the honor to lead must +also be fit to lead it, and, for that, must be prepared for every +eventuality: he must even be prepared not to die if some ragamuffin or +other tries to poison him. . . . An undaunted soul in an unassailable +body: that is the ideal which he must set before himself . . . and +attain. Try away, old chap. As for me, I am undaunted and unassailable. +Remember King Mithridates!"</p> + +<p>He went back to his chair:</p> + +<p>"Let's finish our lunch. But as I like proving the virtues to which I +lay claim, and as, on the other hand, I don't want to hurt your cook's +feelings, just pass me that plate of cakes."</p> + +<p>He took one of them, broke it in two and held out one half to the baron:</p> + +<p>"Eat that!"</p> + +<p>The other gave a movement of recoil.</p> + +<p>"Funk!" said Sernine.</p> + +<p>And, before the wondering eyes of the baron and his satellites, he began +to eat the first and then the second half of the cake, quietly, +conscientiously, as a man eats a dainty of which he would hate to miss +the smallest morsel.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>They met again.</p> + +<p>That same evening, Prince Sernine invited Baron Altenheim to dinner at +the Cabaret Vatel, with a party consisting of a poet, a musician, a +financier and two pretty actresses, members of the Théâtre Français.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span>The next day, they lunched together in the Bois and, at night, they met +at the Opéra.</p> + +<p>They saw each other every day for a week. One would have thought that +they could not do without each other and that they were united by a +great friendship, built up of mutual confidence, sympathy and esteem.</p> + +<p>They had a capital time, drinking good wine, smoking excellent cigars, +and laughing like two madmen.</p> + +<p>In reality, they were watching each other fiercely. Mortal enemies, +separated by a merciless hatred, each feeling sure of winning and +longing for victory with an unbridled will, they waited for the +propitious moment: Altenheim to do away with Sernine; and Sernine to +hurl Altenheim into the pit which he was digging for him.</p> + +<p>Each knew that the catastrophe could not be long delayed. One or other +of them must meet with his doom; and it was a question of hours, or, at +most, of days.</p> + +<p>It was an exciting tragedy, and one of which a man like Sernine was +bound to relish the strange and powerful zest. To know your adversary +and to live by his side; to feel that death is waiting for you at the +least false step, at the least act of thoughtlessness: what a joy, what +a delight!</p> + +<p>One evening, they were alone together in the garden of the Rue Cambon +Club, to which Altenheim also belonged. It was the hour before dusk, in +the month of June, at which men begin to dine before the members come in +for the evening's card-play. They were strolling round a little lawn, +along which ran a wall lined with shrubs. Beyond the shrubs was a small +door. Suddenly, while Altenheim was speaking, Ser<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span>nine received the +impression that his voice became less steady, that it was almost +trembling. He watched him out of the corner of his eye. Altenheim had +his hand in the pocket of his jacket; and Sernine <i>saw</i> that hand, +through the cloth, clutch the handle of a dagger, hesitating, wavering, +resolute and weak by turns.</p> + +<p>O exquisite moment! Was he going to strike? Which would gain the day: +the timid instinct that dare not, or the conscious will, intense upon +the act of killing?</p> + +<p>His chest flung out, his arms behind his back, Sernine waited, with +alternate thrills of pleasure and of pain. The baron had ceased talking; +and they now walked on in silence, side by side.</p> + +<p>"Well, why don't you strike?" cried the prince, impatiently. He had +stopped and, turning to his companion: "Strike!" he said. "This is the +time or never. There is no one to see you. You can slip out through that +little door; the key happens to be hanging on the wall; and good-bye, +baron . . . unseen and unknown! . . . But, of course, all this was +arranged . . . you brought me here. . . . And you're hesitating! Why on +earth don't you strike?"</p> + +<p>He looked him straight in the eyes. The other was livid, quivering with +impotent strength.</p> + +<p>"You milksop!" Sernine sneered. "I shall never make anything of you. +Shall I tell you the truth? Well, you're afraid of me. Yes, old chap, +you never feel quite sure what may happen to you when you're face to +face with me. You want to act, whereas it's my acts, my possible acts +that govern the situation. No, it's quite clear that you're not the man +yet to put out my star!"</p> + +<p>He had not finished speaking when he felt himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> seized round the +throat and dragged backward. Some one hiding in the shrubbery, near the +little door, had caught him by the head. He saw a hand raised, armed +with a knife with a gleaming blade. The hand fell; the point of the +knife caught him right in the throat.</p> + +<p>At the same moment Altenheim sprang upon him to finish him off; and they +rolled over into the flower-borders. It was a matter of twenty or thirty +seconds at most. Powerful and experienced wrestler as he was, Altenheim +yielded almost immediately, uttering a cry of pain. Sernine rose and ran +to the little door, which had just closed upon a dark form. It was too +late. He heard the key turn in the lock. He was unable to open it.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you scoundrel!" he said. "The day on which I catch you will be the +day on which I shed my first blood! That I swear to God! . . ."</p> + +<p>He went back, stooped and picked up the pieces of the knife, which had +broken as it struck him.</p> + +<p>Altenheim was beginning to move. Sernine asked:</p> + +<p>"Well, baron, feeling better? You didn't know that blow, eh? It's what I +call the direct blow in the solar plexus; that is to say, it snuffs out +your vital sun like a candle. It's clean, quick, painless . . . and +infallible. Whereas a blow with a dagger . . . ? Pooh! A man has only to +wear a little steel-wove gorget, as I do, and he can set the whole world +at defiance, especially your little pal in black, seeing that he always +strikes at the throat, the silly monster! . . . Here, look at his +favorite plaything . . . smashed to atoms!"</p> + +<p>He offered him his hand:</p> + +<p>"Come, get up, baron. You shall dine with me.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> And do please remember +the secret of my superiority: an undaunted soul in an unassailable +body."</p> + +<p>He went back to the club rooms, reserved a table for two, sat down on a +sofa, and while waiting for dinner, soliloquized, under his breath:</p> + +<p>"It's certainly an amusing game, but it's becoming dangerous. I must get +it over . . . otherwise those beggars will send me to Paradise earlier +than I want to go. The nuisance is that I can't do anything before I +find old Steinweg, for, when all is said, old Steinweg is the only +interesting factor in the whole business; and my one reason for sticking +to the baron is that I keep on hoping to pick up some clue or other. +What the devil have they done with him? Altenheim is in daily +communication with him: that is beyond a doubt; it is equally beyond a +doubt that he is doing his utmost to drag out of him what he knows about +the Kesselbach scheme. But where does he see him? Where has he got him +shut up? With friends? In his own house, at 29, Villa Dupont?"</p> + +<p>He reflected for some time, then lit a cigarette, took three puffs at it +and threw it away. This was evidently a signal, for two young men came +and sat down beside him. He did not seem to know them, but he conversed +with them by stealth. It was the brothers Doudeville, got up that day +like men of fashion.</p> + +<p>"What is it, governor?"</p> + +<p>"Take six of our men, go to 29, Villa Dupont and make your way in."</p> + +<p>"The devil! How?"</p> + +<p>"In the name of the law. Are you not detective-inspectors? A search. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"But we haven't the right. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Take it."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>"And the servants? If they resist?"</p> + +<p>"There are only four of them."</p> + +<p>"If they call out?"</p> + +<p>"They won't call out."</p> + +<p>"If Altenheim returns?"</p> + +<p>"He won't return before ten o'clock. I'll see to it. That gives you two +hours and a half, which is more than you require to explore the house +from top to bottom. If you find old Steinweg, come and tell me."</p> + +<p>Baron Altenheim came up. Sernine went to meet him:</p> + +<p>"Let's have some dinner, shall we? That little incident in the garden +has made me feel hungry. By the way, my dear baron, I have a few bits of +advice to give you. . . ."</p> + +<p>They sat down to table.</p> + +<p>After dinner, Sernine suggested a game of billiards. Altenheim accepted. +When the game was over, they went to the baccarat-room. The croupier was +just shouting:</p> + +<p>"There are fifty louis in the bank. Any bids?"</p> + +<p>"A hundred louis," said Altenheim.</p> + +<p>Sernine looked at his watch. Ten o'clock. The Doudevilles had not +returned. The search, therefore, had been fruitless.</p> + +<p>"Banco," he said.</p> + +<p>Altenheim sat down and dealt the cards:</p> + +<p>"I give."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Seven."</p> + +<p>"Six. I lose," said Sernine. "Shall I double the stakes?"</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the baron.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span>He dealt out the cards.</p> + +<p>"Eight," said Sernine.</p> + +<p>"Nine," said the baron, laying his cards down.</p> + +<p>Sernine turned on his heels, muttering:</p> + +<p>"That costs me three hundred louis, but I don't mind; it fixes him +here."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later his motor set him down in front of 29, Villa Dupont; +and he found the Doudevilles and their men collected in the hall:</p> + +<p>"Have you hunted out the old boy?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Dash it! But he must be somewhere or other. Where are the four +servants?"</p> + +<p>"Over there, in the pantry, tied up, with the cook as well."</p> + +<p>"Good. I would as soon they did not see me. Go all you others. Jean, +stay outside and keep watch: Jacques, show me over the house."</p> + +<p>He quickly ran through the cellar, the ground floor, the first and +second floors and the attic. He practically stopped nowhere, knowing +that he would not discover in a few minutes what his men had not been +able to discover in three hours. But he carefully noted the shape and +the arrangement of the rooms, and looked for some little detail which +would put him on the scent.</p> + +<p>When he had finished, he returned to a bedroom which Doudeville had told +him was Altenheim's, and examined it attentively:</p> + +<p>"This will do," he said, raising a curtain that concealed a dark closet, +full of clothes. "From here I can see the whole of the room."</p> + +<p>"But if the baron searches the house?"</p> + +<p>"Why should he?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span>"He will know that we have been here, through his servants."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but he will never dream that one of us is putting up here for the +night. He will think that the attempt failed, that is all, so I shall +stay."</p> + +<p>"And how will you get out?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's asking me more than I can tell you! The great thing was to +get in. Here I am, and here I stay. Go, Doudeville, and shut the doors +as you go."</p> + +<p>He sat down on a little box at the back of the cupboard. Four rows of +hanging clothes protected him. Except in the case of a close +investigation, he was evidently quite safe.</p> + +<p>Two hours passed. He heard the dull sound of a horse's hoofs and the +tinkling of a collar-bell. A carriage stopped, the front door slammed +and almost immediately he heard voices, exclamations, a regular outcry +that increased, probably, as each of the prisoners was released from his +gag.</p> + +<p>"They are explaining the thing to him," he thought. "The baron must be +in a tearing rage. He now understands the reason for my conduct at the +club to-night and sees that I have dished him nicely. . . . Dished? That +depends. . . . After all, I haven't got Steinweg yet. . . . That is the +first thing that he will want to know: did they get Steinweg? To find +this out, he will go straight to the hiding-place. If he goes up, it +means that the hiding-place is upstairs. If he goes down, then it is in +the basement."</p> + +<p>He listened. The sound of voices continued in the rooms on the ground +floor, but it did not seem as if any one were moving. Altenheim must be +cross-examining his confederates. It was half an hour before Sernine +heard steps mounting the staircase.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span>"Then it must be upstairs," he said to himself. "But why did they wait +so long?"</p> + +<p>"Go to bed, all of you," said Altenheim's voice.</p> + +<p>The baron entered his room with one of his men and shut the door:</p> + +<p>"And I am going to bed, too, Dominique. We should be no further if we +sat arguing all night."</p> + +<p>"My opinion is," said the other, "that he came to fetch Steinweg."</p> + +<p>"That is my opinion, too; and that's why I'm really enjoying myself, +seeing that Steinweg isn't here."</p> + +<p>"But where is he, after all? What have you done with him?"</p> + +<p>"That's my secret; and you know I keep my secrets to myself. All that I +can tell you is that he is in safe keeping, and that he won't get out +before he has spoken."</p> + +<p>"So the prince is sold?"</p> + +<p>"Sold is the word. And he has had to fork out to attain this fine +result! Oh, I've had a good time to-night! . . . Poor prince!"</p> + +<p>"For all that," said the other, "we shall have to get rid of him."</p> + +<p>"Make your mind easy, old man; that won't take long. Before a week's out +you shall have a present of a pocket-book made out of Lupin-skin. But +let me go to bed now. I'm dropping with sleep."</p> + +<p>There was a sound of the door closing. Then Sernine heard the baron push +the bolt, empty his pockets, wind up his watch and undress. He seemed in +a gay mood, whistling and singing, and even talking aloud:</p> + +<p>"Yes, a Lupin-skin pocket-book . . . in less than a week . . . in less +than four days! . . . Otherwise he'll eat us up, the bully! . . . No +matter, he missed his shot to-night. . . . His<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> calculation was right +enough, though . . . Steinweg was bound to be here. . . . Only, there +you are! . . ."</p> + +<p>He got into bed and at once switched off the light.</p> + +<p>Sernine had come forward as far as the dividing curtain, which he now +lifted slightly, and he saw the vague light of the night filtering +through the windows, leaving the bed in profound darkness.</p> + +<p>He hesitated. Should he leap out upon the baron, take him by the throat +and obtain from him by force and threats what he had not been able to +obtain by craft? Absurd? Altenheim would never allow himself to be +intimidated.</p> + +<p>"I say, he's snoring now," muttered Sernine. "Well, I'm off. At the +worst, I shall have wasted a night."</p> + +<p>He did not go. He felt that it would be impossible for him to go, that +he must wait, that chance might yet serve his turn.</p> + +<p>With infinite precautions, he took four or five coats and great-coats +from their hooks, laid them on the floor, made himself comfortable and, +with his back to the wall, went peacefully to sleep.</p> + +<p>The baron was not an early riser. A clock outside was striking nine when +he got out of bed and rang for his servant.</p> + +<p>He read the letters which his man brought him, splashed about in his +tub, dressed without saying a word and sat down to his table to write, +while Dominique was carefully hanging up the clothes of the previous day +in the cupboard and Sernine asking himself, with his fists ready to +strike:</p> + +<p>"I wonder if I shall have to stave in this fellow's solar plexus?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>At ten o'clock the baron was ready:</p> + +<p>"Leave me," said he to the servant.</p> + +<p>"There's just this waistcoat. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Leave me, I say. Come back when I ring . . . not before."</p> + +<p>He shut the door himself, like a man who does not trust others, went to +a table on which a telephone was standing and took down the receiver:</p> + +<p>"Hullo! . . . Put me on to Garches, please, mademoiselle. . . . Very +well, I'll wait till you ring me up. . . ."</p> + +<p>He sat down to the instrument.</p> + +<p>The telephone-bell rang.</p> + +<p>"Hullo!" said Altenheim. "Is that Garches? . . . Yes, that's right. +. . . Give me number 38, please, mademoiselle. . . ."</p> + +<p>A few seconds later, in a lower voice, as low and as distinct as he +could make it, he began:</p> + +<p>"Are you 38? . . . It's I speaking; no useless words. . . . Yesterday? +. . . Yes, you missed him in the garden. . . . Another time, of course; +but the thing's becoming urgent. . . . He had the house searched last +night. . . . I'll tell you about it. . . . Found nothing, of course. +. . . What? . . . Hullo! . . . No, old Steinweg refuses to speak. . . . +Threats, promises, nothing's any good. . . . Hullo! . . . Yes, of +course, he sees that we can do nothing. . . . We know just a part of the +Kesselbach scheme and of the story of Pierre Leduc. . . . He's the only +one who has the answer to the riddle. . . . Oh, he'll speak all right; +that I'll answer for . . . this very night, too . . . If not . . . What? +. . . Well, what can we do? Anything rather than let him escape! Do you +want<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> the prince to bag him from us? As for the prince, we shall have to +cook his goose in three days from now. . . . You have an idea? . . . +Yes, that's a good idea. . . . Oh, oh, excellent! I'll see to it. . . . +When shall we meet? Will Tuesday do? Right you are. I'll come on Tuesday +. . . at two o'clock. . . . Good-bye."</p> + +<p>He replaced the receiver and went out.</p> + +<p>A few hours later, while the servants were at lunch, Prince Sernine +strolled quietly out of the Villa Dupont, feeling rather faint in the +head and weak in the knees, and, while making for the nearest +restaurant, he thus summed up the situation:</p> + +<p>"So, on Tuesday next, Altenheim and the Palace Hotel murderer have an +appointment at Garches, in a house with the telephone number 38. On +Tuesday, therefore, I shall hand over the two criminals to the police +and set M. Lenormand at liberty. In the evening, it will be old +Steinweg's turn; and I shall learn, at last, whether Pierre Leduc is the +son of a pork-butcher or not and whether he will make a suitable husband +for Geneviève. So be it!"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>At eleven o'clock on Tuesday morning Valenglay, the prime minister, sent +for the prefect of police and M. Weber, the deputy-chief of the +detective-service, and showed them an express letter which he had just +received:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Monsieur le Président du Conseil</span>,</p> + +<p>"Knowing the interest which you take in M. Lenormand, +I am writing to inform you of certain facts which +chance has revealed to me.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>"M. Lenormand is locked up in the cellars of the Villa +des Glycines at Garches, near the House of Retreat.</p> + +<p>"The ruffians of the Palace Hotel have resolved to +murder him at two o'clock to-day.</p> + +<p>"If the police require my assistance, they will find +me at half-past one in the garden of the House of +Retreat, or at the garden-house occupied by Mrs. +Kesselbach, whose friend I have the honor to be.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"I am, Monsieur le Président du Conseil,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Your obedient servant,</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Prince Sernine.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>"This is an exceedingly grave matter, my dear M. Weber," said Valenglay. +"I may add that we can have every confidence in the accuracy of Prince +Sernine's statements. I have often met him at dinner. He is a serious, +intelligent man. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Will you allow me, Monsieur le Président," asked the deputy-chief +detective, "to show you another letter which I also received this +morning?"</p> + +<p>"About the same case?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Let me see it."</p> + +<p>He took the letter and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>"This is to inform you that Prince Paul Sernine, who +calls himself Mrs. Kesselbach's friend, is really +Arsène Lupin.</p> + +<p>"One proof will be sufficient: <i>Paul Sernine</i> is the +anagram of <i>Arsène Lupin</i>. Not a letter more, not a +letter less.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"L. M."</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>And M. Weber added, while Valenglay stood amazed:</p> + +<p>"This time, our friend Lupin has found an adversary who is a match for +him. While he denounces the other, the other betrays him to us. And the +fox is caught in the trap."</p> + +<p>"What do you propose to do?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Président, I shall take two hundred men with me!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE OLIVE-GREEN FROCK-COAT</span></h2> + + +<p>A quarter past twelve, in a restaurant near the Madeleine. The prince is +at lunch. Two young men sit down at the next table. He bows to them and +begins to speak to them, as to friends whom he has met by chance.</p> + +<p>"Are you going on the expedition, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"How many men altogether?"</p> + +<p>"Six, I think. Each goes down by himself. We're to meet M. Weber at a +quarter to two, near the House of Retreat."</p> + +<p>"Very well, I shall be there."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Am I not leading the expedition? And isn't it my business to find M. +Lenormand, seeing that I've announced it publicly?"</p> + +<p>"Then you believe that M. Lenormand is not dead, governor?"</p> + +<p>"I'm sure of it."</p> + +<p>"Do you know anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, since yesterday I know for certain that Altenheim and his gang +took M. Lenormand and Gourel to the bridge at Bougival and heaved them +overboard. Gourel sank, but M. Lenormand managed to save himself. I +shall furnish all the necessary proofs when the time comes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>"But, then, if he's alive, why doesn't he show himself?"</p> + +<p>"Because he's not free."</p> + +<p>"Is what you said true, then? Is he in the cellars of the Villa des +Glycines?"</p> + +<p>"I have every reason to think so."</p> + +<p>"But how do you know? . . . What clue? . . ."</p> + +<p>"That's my secret. I can tell you one thing: the revelation will +be—what shall I say—sensational. Have you finished?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"My car is behind the Madeleine. Join me there."</p> + +<p>At Garches, Sernine sent the motor away, and they walked to the path +that led to Geneviève's school. There he stopped:</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, lads. This is of the highest importance. You will ring at +the House of Retreat. As inspectors, you have your right of entry, have +you not? You will then go to the Pavillon Hortense, the empty one. There +you will run down to the basement and you will find an old shutter, +which you have only to lift to see the opening of a tunnel which I +discovered lately and which forms a direct communication with the Villa +des Glycines. It was by means of this that Gertrude and Baron Altenheim +used to meet. And it was this way that M. Lenormand passed, only to end +by falling into the hands of his enemies."</p> + +<p>"You think so, governor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so. And now the point is this: you must go and make sure +that the tunnel is exactly in the condition in which I left it last +night; that the two doors which bar it are open; and that there is +still, in a hole near the second door, a parcel wrapped in a piece of +black cloth which I put there myself."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>"Are we to undo the parcel?"</p> + +<p>"No, that's not necessary. It's a change of clothes. Go; and don't let +yourselves be seen more than you can help. I will wait for you."</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later, they were back:</p> + +<p>"The two doors are open," said one of the Doudevilles.</p> + +<p>"And the black cloth parcel?"</p> + +<p>"In its place near the second door."</p> + +<p>"Capital! It is twenty-five past one. Weber will be arriving with his +champions. They are to watch the villa. They will surround it as soon as +Altenheim is inside. I have arranged with Weber that I shall ring the +bell; the door will be opened; and I shall have my foot inside the +citadel. Once there, I have my plan. Come, I've an idea that we shall +see some fun."</p> + +<p>And Sernine, after dismissing them, walked down the path to the school, +soliloquizing as he went:</p> + +<p>"All bodes well. The battle will be fought on the ground chosen by +myself. I am bound to win. I shall get rid of my two adversaries and I +shall find myself alone engaged in the Kesselbach case . . . alone, with +two whacking trump-cards: Pierre Leduc and Steinweg. . . . Besides the +king . . . that is to say, Bibi. Only, there's one thing: what is +Altenheim up to? Obviously, he has a plan of attack of his own. On which +side does he mean to attack me? And how does it come that he has not +attacked me yet? It's rather startling. Can he have denounced me to the +police?"</p> + +<p>He went along the little playground of the school. The pupils were at +their lessons. He knocked at the door.</p> + +<p>"Ah, is that you?" said Mme. Ernemont, opening the door. "So you have +left Geneviève in Paris?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span>"For me to do that, Geneviève would have to be in Paris," he replied.</p> + +<p>"So she has been, seeing that you sent for her."</p> + +<p>"What's that?" he exclaimed catching hold of her arm.</p> + +<p>"Why, you know better than I!"</p> + +<p>"I know nothing. . . . I know nothing. . . . Speak! . . ."</p> + +<p>"Didn't you write to Geneviève to meet you at the Gare Saint-Lazare?"</p> + +<p>"And did she go?"</p> + +<p>"Why, of course. . . . You were to lunch together at the Hôtel Ritz."</p> + +<p>"The letter. . . . Show me the letter."</p> + +<p>She went to fetch it and gave it to him.</p> + +<p>"But, wretched woman, couldn't you see that it was a forgery? The +handwriting is a good imitation . . . but it's a forgery. . . . Any one +can see that." He pressed his clenched hands to his temples with rage. +"That's the move I was wondering about. Oh, the dirty scoundrel! He's +attacking me through her . . . . But how does he know? No, he does not +know. . . . He's tried it on twice now . . . and it's because of +Geneviève, because he's taken a fancy to her. . . . Oh, not that! Never! +Listen, Victoire, are you sure that she doesn't love him? . . . Oh, I'm +losing my head! . . . Wait . . . wait! . . . I must think . . . this +isn't the moment. . . ."</p> + +<p>He looked at his watch:</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five minutes to two. . . . I have time. . . . Idiot that I am! +Time to do what? How do I know where she is?"</p> + +<p>He walked up and down like a madman; and his old nurse seemed astounded +at seeing him so excited, with so little control of himself:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>"After all," she said, "there is nothing to prove that she did not +suspect the trap at the last moment. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Where could she be?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know . . . perhaps at Mrs. Kesselbach's."</p> + +<p>"That's true . . . that's true. . . . You're right," he cried, filled +with sudden hope.</p> + +<p>And he set out at a run for the House of Retreat.</p> + +<p>On the way, near the gate, he met the brothers Doudeville, who were +entering the porter's lodge. The lodge looked out on the road; and this +enabled them to watch the approaches to the Villa des Glycines. Without +stopping, he went straight to the Pavillon de l'Impératrice, called +Suzanne and told her to take him to Mrs. Kesselbach.</p> + +<p>"Geneviève?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; hasn't she been here?"</p> + +<p>"No, not for several days. . . ."</p> + +<p>"But she is to come, is she not?"</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I'm certain of it. Where do you think she is? Can you remember? +. . ."</p> + +<p>"It's no use my trying. I assure you that Geneviève and I had made no +arrangement to see each other." And, suddenly alarmed: "But you're not +anxious, are you? Has anything happened to Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>"No, nothing."</p> + +<p>He had already left the room. An idea had occurred to him. Suppose +Altenheim were not at the Villa des Glycines? Suppose the hour of the +meeting had been changed!</p> + +<p>"I must see him," he said to himself. "I must, at all costs."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>And he ran along with a disordered air, indifferent to everything. But, +in front of the lodge, he at once recovered his composure: he had caught +sight of the deputy-chief of the detective-service talking to the +brothers Doudeville in the garden.</p> + +<p>Had he commanded his usual acute discernment, he would have perceived +the little start which M. Weber gave as he approached; but he saw +nothing:</p> + +<p>"M. Weber, I believe?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes. . . . To whom have I the honor . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Prince Sernine."</p> + +<p>"Ah, very good! Monsieur le Préfet de Police has told me of the great +service which you are doing us, monsieur."</p> + +<p>"That service will not be complete until I have handed the ruffians over +to you."</p> + +<p>"That won't take long. I believe that one of those ruffians has just +gone in; a powerful-looking man, with a swarthy complexion. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, that's Baron Altenheim. Are your men here, M. Weber?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, concealed along the road, at two hundred yards from this."</p> + +<p>"Well, M. Weber, it seems to me that you might collect them and bring +them to this lodge. From here we will go to the villa. As Baron +Altenheim knows me, I presume they will open the door to me and I will +go in . . . with you."</p> + +<p>"It is an excellent plan," said M. Weber. "I shall come back at once."</p> + +<p>He left the garden and walked down the road, in the opposite direction +to the Villa des Glycines.</p> + +<p>Sernine quickly took one of the brothers Doudeville by the arm:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>"Run after him, Jacques . . . keep him engaged . . . long enough for me +to get inside the Glycines. . . . And then delay the attack as long as +you can. . . . Invent pretexts. . . . I shall want ten minutes. . . . +Let the villa be surrounded . . . but not entered. And you, Jean, go and +post yourself in the Pavillon Hortense, at the entrance to the +underground passage. If the baron tries to go out that way, break his +head."</p> + +<p>The Doudevilles moved away, as ordered. The prince slipped out and ran +to a tall gate, barred with iron, which was the entrance to the +Glycines.</p> + +<p>Should he ring? . . .</p> + +<p>There was no one in sight. With one bound, he leapt upon the gate, +placing his foot on the lock; and, hanging on to the bars, getting a +purchase with his knees and hoisting himself up with his wrists, he +managed, at the risk of falling on the sharp points of the bars, to +climb over the gate and jump down.</p> + +<p>He found a paved courtyard, which he crossed briskly, and mounted the +steps of a pillared peristyle, on which the windows looked out. These +were all closed to the very top, with full shutters. As he stood +thinking how he should make his way into the house, the door was half +opened, with a noise of iron that reminded him of the door in the Villa +Dupont, and Altenheim appeared:</p> + +<p>"I say, prince, is that the way you trespass on private property? I +shall be forced to call in the gendarmes, my dear fellow!"</p> + +<p>Sernine caught him by the throat and, throwing him down on a bench:</p> + +<p>"Geneviève? . . . Where is Geneviève? If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> you don't tell me what you've +done with her, you villain. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Please observe," stammered the baron, "that you are making it +impossible for me to speak."</p> + +<p>Sernine released his hold of him:</p> + +<p>"To the point! . . . And look sharp! . . . Answer. . . . Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>"There is one thing," replied the baron, "which is much more urgent, +especially where fellows like you and me are concerned, and that is to +feel one's self at home. . . ."</p> + +<p>And he carefully closed the front door, which he barricaded with bolts. +Then, leading Sernine to the adjoining drawing-room, a room without +furniture or curtains, he said:</p> + +<p>"Now I'm your man. What can I do for you, prince?"</p> + +<p>"Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>"She is in perfect health."</p> + +<p>"Ah, so you confess . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Of course! I may even tell you that your imprudence in this respect +surprised me. Why didn't you take a few precautions? It was inevitable. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"Enough! Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"You are not very polite."</p> + +<p>"Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"Between four walls, free. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Free?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, free to go from one wall to another."</p> + +<p>"Where? Where?"</p> + +<p>"Come, prince, do you think I should be fool enough to tell you the +secret by which I hold you? You love the little girl . . ."</p> + +<p>"Hold your tongue!" shouted Sernine, beside himself. "I forbid you. +. . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>"What next? Is there anything to be ashamed of? I love her myself and I +have risked . . ."</p> + +<p>He did not complete his sentence, frightened by the terrific anger of +Sernine, a restrained, dumb anger that distorted the prince's features.</p> + +<p>They looked at each other for a long time, each of them seeking for the +adversary's weak point. At last, Sernine stepped forward and, speaking +very distinctly, like a man who is threatening rather than proposing a +compact:</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," he said. "You remember the offer of partnership which +you made me? The Kesselbach business for the two of us . . . we were to +act together . . . we were to share the profits. . . . I refused. . . . +To-day, I accept. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Too late."</p> + +<p>"Wait! I accept more than that: I give the whole business up. . . . I +shall take no further part in it. . . . You shall have it all. . . . If +necessary, I'll help you."</p> + +<p>"What is the condition?"</p> + +<p>"Tell me where Geneviève is."</p> + +<p>The baron shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"You're driveling, Lupin. I'm sorry for you . . . at your age. . . ."</p> + +<p>There was a fresh silence between the two enemies, a terrible silence. +Then the baron sneered:</p> + +<p>"All the same, it's a holy joy to see you like that, sniveling and +begging. I say, it seems to me that the private soldier is giving his +general a sound beating!"</p> + +<p>"You ass!" muttered Sernine.</p> + +<p>"Prince, I shall send you my seconds this evening . . . if you are still +in this world."</p> + +<p>"You ass!" repeated Sernine, with infinite contempt.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>"You would rather settle the matter here and now? As you please, prince: +your last hour has struck. You can commend your soul to God. You smile! +That's a mistake. I have one immense advantage over you! I kill . . . +when it's necessary. . . ."</p> + +<p>"You ass!" said Sernine once more. He took out his watch. "It is two +o'clock, baron. You have only a few minutes left. At five past two, ten +past at the very latest, M. Weber and half-a-dozen sturdy men, without a +scruple amongst them, will lay hands on you. . . . Don't you smile, +either. The outlet on which you're reckoning is discovered; I know it: +it is guarded. So you are thoroughly caught. It means the scaffold, old +chap."</p> + +<p>Altenheim turned livid. He stammered:</p> + +<p>"You did this? . . . You have had the infamy . . ."</p> + +<p>"The house is surrounded. The assault is at hand. Speak . . . and I will +save you."</p> + +<p>"How?"</p> + +<p>"The men watching the outlet in the Pavillon Hortense belong to me. I +have only to give you a word for them and you are saved. Speak!"</p> + +<p>Altenheim reflected for a few seconds and seemed to hesitate; but, +suddenly, resolutely, declared:</p> + +<p>"This is all bluff. You would never have been simple enough to rush into +the lion's mouth."</p> + +<p>"You're forgetting Geneviève. But for her, do you think I should be +here? Speak!"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Let us wait," said Sernine. "A cigarette?"</p> + +<p>"Thank you."</p> + +<p>A few seconds passed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>"Do you hear?" asked Sernine.</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes . . ." said Altenheim, rising.</p> + +<p>Blows rang against the gate. Sernine observed:</p> + +<p>"Not even the usual summons . . . no preliminaries. . . . Your mind is +still made up?"</p> + +<p>"More so than ever."</p> + +<p>"You know that, with the tools they carry, they won't take long?"</p> + +<p>"If they were inside this room I should still refuse."</p> + +<p>The gate yielded. They heard it creak on its hinges.</p> + +<p>"To allow one's self to get nabbed," said Sernine, "is admissible. But +to hold out one's own hands to the handcuffs is too silly. Come, don't +be obstinate. Speak . . . and bolt!"</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>"I shall remain. What have I to be afraid of?"</p> + +<p>"Look!"</p> + +<p>The baron pointed to a chink between the shutters. Sernine put his eye +to it and jumped back with a start:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you scoundrel, so you have denounced me, too! It's not ten men that +Weber's bringing, but fifty men, a hundred, two hundred. . . ."</p> + +<p>The baron laughed open-heartedly:</p> + +<p>"And, if there are so many of them, it's because they're after Lupin; +that's obvious! Half-a-dozen would have been enough for me."</p> + +<p>"You informed the police?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What proof did you give?"</p> + +<p>"Your name: <i>Paul Sernine</i>, that is to say, <i>Arsène Lupin</i>."</p> + +<p>"And you found that out all by yourself, did you? . . . A thing which +nobody else thought of? . . . Nonsense! It was the other one. Admit +it!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span>He looked out through the chink. Swarms of policemen were spreading +round the villa; and the blows were now sounding on the door. He must, +however, think of one of two things: either his escape, or else the +execution of the plan which he had contrived. But to go away, even for a +moment, meant leaving Altenheim; and who could guarantee that the baron +had not another outlet at his disposal to escape by? This thought +paralyzed Sernine. The baron free! The baron at liberty to go back to +Geneviève and torture her and make her subservient to his odious love!</p> + +<p>Thwarted in his designs, obliged to improvise a new plan on the very +second, while subordinating everything to the danger which Geneviève was +running, Sernine passed through a moment of cruel indecision. With his +eyes fixed on the baron's eyes, he would have liked to tear his secret +from him and to go away; and he no longer even tried to convince him, so +useless did all words seem to him. And, while pursuing his own thoughts, +he asked himself what the baron's thoughts could be, what his weapons, +what his hope of safety?</p> + +<p>The hall-door, though strongly bolted, though sheeted with iron, was +beginning to give way.</p> + +<p>The two men stood behind that door, motionless. The sound of voices, the +sense of words reached them.</p> + +<p>"You seem very sure of yourself," said Sernine.</p> + +<p>"I should think so!" cried the other, suddenly tripping him to the floor +and running away.</p> + +<p>Sernine sprang up at once, dived through a little door under the +staircase, through which Altenheim had disappeared, and ran down the +stone steps to the basement. . . .</p> + +<p>A passage led to a large, low, almost pitch-dark room,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> where he found +the baron on his knees, lifting the flap of a trap-door.</p> + +<p>"Idiot!" shouted Sernine, flinging himself upon him. "You know that you +will find my men at the end of this tunnel and that they have orders to +kill you like a dog. . . . Unless . . . unless you have an outlet that +joins on to this. . . . Ah, there, of course, I've guessed it! . . . And +you imagine . . ."</p> + +<p>The fight was a desperate one. Altenheim, a real colossus, endowed with +exceptional muscular force, had caught his adversary round the arms and +body and was pressing him against his own chest, numbing his arms and +trying to smother him.</p> + +<p>"Of course . . . of course," Sernine panted, with difficulty, "of course +. . . that's well thought out. . . . As long as I can't use my arms to +break some part of you, you will have the advantage . . . Only . . . can +you . . . ?"</p> + +<p>He gave a shudder. The trap-door, which had closed again and on the flap +of which they were bearing down with all their weight, the trap-door +seemed to move beneath them. He felt the efforts that were being made to +raise it; and the baron must have felt them too, for he desperately +tried to shift the ground of the contest so that the trap-door might +open.</p> + +<p>"It's 'the other one'!" thought Sernine, with the sort of unreasoning +terror which that mysterious being caused him. "It's the other one. +. . . If he gets through, I'm done for."</p> + +<p>By dint of imperceptible movements, Altenheim had succeeded in shifting +his own position; and he tried to drag his adversary after him. But +Sernine clung with his legs to the baron's legs and, at the same time, +very gradually, tried to release one of his hands.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>Above their heads great blows resounded, like the blows of a +battering-ram. . . .</p> + +<p>"I have five minutes," thought Sernine. "In one minute this fellow will +have to . . ." Then, speaking aloud, "Look out, old chap. Stand tight!"</p> + +<p>He brought his two knees together with incredible force. The baron +yelled, with a twisted thigh. Then Sernine, taking advantage of his +adversary's pain, made an effort, freed his right arm and seized him by +the throat:</p> + +<p>"That's capital! . . . We shall be more comfortable like this. . . . No, +it's not worth while getting out your knife. . . . If you do, I'll wring +your neck like a chicken's. You see, I'm polite and considerate. . . . +I'm not pressing too hard . . . just enough to keep you from even +wanting to kick about."</p> + +<p>While speaking he took from his pocket a very thin cord and, with one +hand, with extreme skill, fastened his wrists. For that matter, the +baron, now at his last gasp, offered not the least resistance. With a +few accurate movements, Sernine tied him up firmly:</p> + +<p>"How well you're behaving! What a good thing! I should hardly know you. +Here, in case you were thinking of escaping, I have a roll of wire that +will finish off my little work. . . . The wrists first. . . . Now the +ankles. . . . That's it! . . . By Jove, how nice you look!"</p> + +<p>The baron had gradually come to himself again. He spluttered:</p> + +<p>"If you give me up, Geneviève will die."</p> + +<p>"Really? . . . And how? . . . Explain yourself."</p> + +<p>"She is locked up. No one knows where she is. If I'm put away, she will +die of starvation."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>Sernine shuddered. He retorted:</p> + +<p>"Yes, but you will speak."</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you will speak. Not now; it's too late. But to-night." He bent +down over him and, whispering in his ear, said, "Listen, Altenheim, and +understand what I say. You'll be caught presently. To-night, you'll +sleep at the Dépôt. That is fatal, irrevocable. I myself can do nothing +to prevent it now. And, to-morrow, they will take you to the Santé; and +later, you know where. . . . Well, I'm giving you one more chance of +safety. To-night, you understand, I shall come to your cell, at the +Dépôt, and you shall tell me where Geneviève is. Two hours later, if you +have told the truth, you shall be free. If not . . . it means that you +don't attach much value to your head."</p> + +<p>The other made no reply. Sernine stood up and listened. There was a +great crash overhead. The entrance-door yielded. Footsteps beat the +flags of the hall and the floor of the drawing room. M. Weber and his +men were searching.</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, baron. Think it over until this evening. The prison-cell is a +good counsellor."</p> + +<p>He pushed his prisoner aside, so as to uncover the trap-door, and lifted +it. As he expected, there was no longer any one below on the steps of +the staircase.</p> + +<p>He went down, taking care to leave the trap-door open behind him, as +though he meant to come back.</p> + +<p>There were twenty steps, at the bottom of which began the passage +through which M. Lenormand and Gourel had come in the opposite +direction. He entered it and gave an exclamation. He thought he felt +somebody's presence there.</p> + +<p>He lit his pocket-lantern. The passage was empty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span>.</p> + +<p>Then he cocked his revolver and said aloud:</p> + +<p>"All right. . . . I'm going to fire."</p> + +<p>No reply. Not a sound.</p> + +<p>"It's an illusion, no doubt," he thought. "That creature is becoming an +obsession. . . . Come, if I want to pull off my stroke and win the game, +I must hurry. . . . The hole in which I hid the parcel of clothes is not +far off. I shall take the parcel . . . and the trick is done. . . . And +what a trick! One of Lupin's best! . . ."</p> + +<p>He came to a door that stood open and at once stopped. To the right was +an excavation, the one which M. Lenormand had made to escape from the +rising water. He stooped and threw his light into the opening:</p> + +<p>"Oh!" he said, with a start. "No, it's not possible . . . Doudeville +must have pushed the parcel farther along."</p> + +<p>But, search and pry into the darkness as he might, the parcel was gone; +and he had no doubt but that it was once more the mysterious being who +had taken it.</p> + +<p>"What a pity! The thing was so neatly arranged! The adventure would have +resumed its natural course, and I should have achieved my aim with +greater certainty. . . . As it is, I must push along as fast as I can. +. . . Doudeville is at the Pavillon Hortense. . . . My retreat is +insured. . . . No more nonsense. . . . I must hurry and set things +straight again, if I can. . . . And we'll attend to 'him' afterward. +. . . Oh, he'd better keep clear of my claws, that one!"</p> + +<p>But an exclamation of stupor escaped his lips; he had come to the other +door; and this door, the last before the garden-house, was shut. He +flung himself upon it. What was the good? What could he do?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span>"This time," he muttered, "I'm badly done!"</p> + +<p>And, seized with a sort of lassitude, he sat down. He had a sense of his +weakness in the face of the mysterious being. Altenheim hardly counted. +But the other, that person of darkness and silence, the other loomed up +before him, upset all his plans and exhausted him with his cunning and +infernal attacks.</p> + +<p>He was beaten.</p> + +<p>Weber would find him there, like an animal run to earth, at the bottom +of his cave.</p> + +<p>"Ah, no!" he cried, springing up with a bound. "No! If there were only +myself, well and good! . . . But there is Geneviève, Geneviève, who must +be saved to-night. . . . After all, the game is not yet lost. . . . If +the other one vanished just now, it proves that there is a second outlet +somewhere near. . . . Come, come, Weber and his merry men haven't got me +yet. . . ."</p> + +<p>He had already begun to explore the tunnel and, lantern in hand, was +examining the bricks of which the horrible walls were formed, when a +yell reached his ears, a dreadful yell that made his flesh creep with +anguish.</p> + +<p>It came from the direction of the trap-door. And he suddenly remembered +that he had left the trap-door open, at the time when he intended to +return to the Villa des Glycines.</p> + +<p>He hurried back and passed through the first door. His lantern went out +on the road; and he felt something, or rather somebody, brush past his +knees, somebody crawl along the wall. And, at that same moment, he had a +feeling that this being was disappearing, vanishing, he knew not which +way.</p> + +<p>Just then his foot knocked against a step.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span>"This is the outlet," he thought, "the second outlet through which 'he' +passes."</p> + +<p>Overhead, the cry sounded again, less loud, followed by moans, by a +hoarse gurgling. . . .</p> + +<p>He ran up the stairs, came out in the basement room, and rushed to the +baron.</p> + +<p>Altenheim lay dying, with the blood streaming from his throat! His bonds +were cut, but the wire that fastened his wrists and ankles was intact. +<i>His accomplice, being unable to release him, had cut his throat.</i></p> + +<p>Sernine gazed upon the sight with horror. An icy perspiration covered +his whole body. He thought of Geneviève, imprisoned, helpless, abandoned +to the most awful of deaths, because the baron alone knew where she was +hidden.</p> + +<p>He distinctly heard the policemen open the little back door in the hall. +He distinctly heard them come down the kitchen stairs.</p> + +<p>There was nothing between him and them save one door, that of the +basement room in which he was. He bolted the door at the very moment +when the aggressors were laying hold of the handle.</p> + +<p>The trap-door was open beside him; it meant possible safety, because +there remained the second outlet.</p> + +<p>"No," he said to himself, "Geneviève first. Afterward, if I have time, I +will think of myself."</p> + +<p>He knelt down and put his hand on the baron's breast. The heart was +still beating.</p> + +<p>He stooped lower still:</p> + +<p>"You can hear me, can't you?"</p> + +<p>The eyelids flickered feebly.</p> + +<p>The dying man was just breathing. Was there anything to be obtained from +this faint semblance of life?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>The policemen were attacking the door, the last rampart.</p> + +<p>Sernine whispered.</p> + +<p>"I will save you. . . . I have infallible remedies. . . . One word only +. . . Geneviève? . . ."</p> + +<p>It was as though this word of hope revived the man's strength. Altenheim +tried to utter articulate sounds.</p> + +<p>"Answer," said Sernine, persisting. "Answer, and I will save you. . . . +Answer. . . . It means your life to-day . . . your liberty to-morrow. +. . . Answer! . . ."</p> + +<p>The door shook under the blows that rained upon it.</p> + +<p>The baron gasped out unintelligible syllables. Leaning over him, +affrighted, straining all his energy, all his will to the utmost, +Sernine panted with anguish. He no longer gave a thought to the +policemen, his inevitable capture, prison. . . . But Geneviève. . . . +Geneviève dying of hunger, whom one word from that villain could set +free! . . .</p> + +<p>"Answer! . . . You must! . . ."</p> + +<p>He ordered and entreated by turns. Altenheim stammered, as though +hypnotized and defeated by that indomitable imperiousness:</p> + +<p>"Ri . . . Rivoli. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Rue de Rivoli, is that it? You have locked her up in a house in that +street . . . eh? Which number?"</p> + +<p>A loud din . . . followed by shouts of triumph. . . . The door was down.</p> + +<p>"Jump on him, lads!" cried M. Weber. "Seize him . . . seize both of +them!"</p> + +<p>And Sernine, on his knees:</p> + +<p>"The number . . . answer. . . . If you love her, answer. . . . Why keep +silence now?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>"Twenty . . . twenty-seven," whispered the baron.</p> + +<p>Hands were laid on Sernine. Ten revolvers were pointed at him.</p> + +<p>He rose and faced the policemen, who fell back with instinctive dread.</p> + +<p>"If you stir, Lupin," cried M. Weber, with his revolver leveled at him, +"I'll blow out your brains."'</p> + +<p>"Don't shoot." said Sernine, solemnly. "It's not necessary. I +surrender."</p> + +<p>"Humbug! This is another of your tricks!"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Sernine, "the battle is lost. You have no right to shoot. +I am not defending myself."</p> + +<p>He took out two revolvers and threw them on the floor.</p> + +<p>"Humbug!" M. Weber repeated, implacably. "Aim straight at his heart, +lads! At the least movement, fire! At the least word, fire!"</p> + +<p>There were ten men there. He placed five more in position. He pointed +their fifteen right arms at the mark. And, raging, shaking with joy and +fear, he snarled:</p> + +<p>"At his heart! At his head! And no pity! If he stirs, if he speaks . . . +shoot him where he stands!"</p> + +<p>Sernine smiled, impassively, with his hands in his pockets. Death was +there, waiting for him, at two inches from his chest, at two inches from +his temples. Fifteen fingers were curled round the triggers.</p> + +<p>"Ah," chuckled M. Weber, "this is nice, this is very nice! . . . And I +think that this time we've scored . . . and it's a nasty look-out for +you, Master Lupin! . . ."</p> + +<p>He made one of his men draw back the shutters of a large air-hole, which +admitted a sudden burst of day<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span>light, and he turned toward Altenheim. +But, to his great amazement, the baron, whom he thought dead, opened his +eyes, glazed, awful eyes, already filled with all the signs of the +coming dissolution. He stared at M. Weber. Then he seemed to look for +somebody and, catching sight of Sernine, had a convulsion of anger. He +seemed to be waking from his torpor; and his suddenly reviving hatred +restored a part of his strength.</p> + +<p>He raised himself on his two wrists and tried to speak.</p> + +<p>"You know him, eh?" asked M. Weber.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"It's Lupin, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. . . . Lupin. . . ."</p> + +<p>Sernine, still smiling, listened:</p> + +<p>"Heavens, how I'm amusing myself!" he declared.</p> + +<p>"Have you anything more to say?" asked M. Weber, who saw the baron's +lips making desperate attempts to move.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"About M. Lenormand, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Have you shut him up? Where? Answer! . . ."</p> + +<p>With all his heaving body, with all his tense glance, Altenheim pointed +to a cupboard in the corner of the room.</p> + +<p>"There . . . there . . ." he said.</p> + +<p>"Ah, we're burning!" chuckled Lupin.</p> + +<p>M. Weber opened the cupboard. On one of the shelves was a parcel wrapped +in black cloth. He opened it and found a hat, a little box, some +clothes. . . . He gave a start. He had recognized M. Lenormand's +olive-green frock-coat.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the villains!" he cried. "They have murdered him!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>"No," said Altenheim, shaking his head.</p> + +<p>"Then . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"It's he . . . he . . ."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by 'he'? . . . Did Lupin kill the chief?"</p> + +<p>"No. . . ."</p> + +<p>Altenheim was clinging to existence with fierce obstinacy, eager to +speak and to accuse. . . . The secret which he wished to reveal was at +the tip of his tongue and he was not able, did not know how to translate +it into words.</p> + +<p>"Come," the deputy-chief insisted. "M. Lenormand is dead, surely?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"He's alive?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I don't understand. . . . Look here, these clothes? This frock-coat? +. . ."</p> + +<p>Altenheim turned his eyes toward Sernine. An idea struck M. Weber:</p> + +<p>"Ah, I see! Lupin stole M. Lenormand's clothes and reckoned upon using +them to escape with. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Not bad," cried the deputy-chief. "It's quite a trick in his style. In +this room, we should have found Lupin disguised as M. Lenormand, chained +up, no doubt. It would have meant his safety; only he hadn't time. +That's it, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes . . ."</p> + +<p>But, by the appearance of the dying man's eyes, M. Weber felt that there +was more, and that the secret was not exactly that. What was it, then? +What was the strange and unintelligible puzzle which Altenheim wanted to +explain before dying?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span>He questioned him again:</p> + +<p>"And where is M. Lenormand himself?"</p> + +<p>"There. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean? Here?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But there are only ourselves here!"</p> + +<p>"There's . . . there's . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, speak!"</p> + +<p>"There's . . . Ser . . . Sernine."</p> + +<p>"Sernine! . . . Eh, what?"</p> + +<p>"Sernine . . . Lenormand. . . ."</p> + +<p>M. Weber gave a jump. A sudden light flashed across him.</p> + +<p>"No, no, it's not possible," he muttered. "This is madness."</p> + +<p>He gave a side-glance at his prisoner. Sernine seemed to be greatly +diverted and to be watching the scene with the air of a playgoer who is +thoroughly amused and very anxious to know how the piece is going to +end.</p> + +<p>Altenheim, exhausted by his efforts, had fallen back at full length. +Would he die before revealing the solution of the riddle which his +strange words had propounded? M. Weber, shaken by an absurd, incredible +surmise, which he did not wish to entertain and which persisted in his +mind in spite of him, made a fresh, determined attempt:</p> + +<p>"Explain the thing to us. . . . What's at the bottom of it? What +mystery?"</p> + +<p>The other seemed not to hear and lay lifeless, with staring eyes.</p> + +<p>M. Weber lay down beside him, with his body touching him, and, putting +great stress upon his words, so that each syllable should sink down to +the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> depths of that brain already merged in darkness, said:</p> + +<p>"Listen. . . . I have understood you correctly, have I not? Lupin and M. +Lenormand. . . ."</p> + +<p>He needed an effort to continue, so monstrous did the words appear to +him. Nevertheless, the baron's dimmed eyes seemed to contemplate him +with anguish. He finished the sentence, shaking with excitement, as +though he were speaking blasphemy:</p> + +<p>"That's it, isn't it? You're sure? The two are one and the same? . . ."</p> + +<p>The eyes did not move. A little blood trickled from one corner of the +man's mouth. . . . He gave two or three sobs. . . . A last spasm; and +all was over . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A long silence reigned in that basement room filled with people.</p> + +<p>Almost all the policemen guarding Sernine had turned round and, +stupefied, not understanding or not willing to understand, they still +listened to the incredible accusation which the dying scoundrel had been +unable to put into words.</p> + +<p>M. Weber took the little box which was in the parcel and opened it. It +contained a gray wig, a pair of spectacles, a maroon-colored neckerchief +and, in a false bottom, a pot or two of make-up and a case containing +some tiny tufts of gray hair: in short, all that was needed to complete +a perfect disguise in the character of M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>He went up to Sernine and, looking at him for a few seconds without +speaking, thoughtfully reconstructing all the phases of the adventure, +he muttered:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>"So it's true?"</p> + +<p>Sernine, who had retained his smiling calmness, replied:</p> + +<p>"The suggestion is a pretty one and a bold one. But, before I answer, +tell your men to stop worrying me with those toys of theirs."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said M. Weber, making a sign to his men. "And now answer."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Are you M. Lenormand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>Exclamations arose. Jean Doudeville, who was there, while his brother +was watching the secret outlet, Jean Doudeville, Sernine's own +accomplice, looked at him in dismay. M. Weber stood undecided.</p> + +<p>"That takes your breath away, eh?" said Sernine. "I admit that it's +rather droll. . . . Lord, how you used to make me laugh sometimes, when +we were working together, you and I, the chief and the deputy-chief! +. . . And the funniest thing is that you thought our worthy M. Lenormand +dead . . . as well as poor Gourel. But no, no, old chap: there's life in +the old dog yet!" He pointed to Altenheim's corpse. "There, it was that +scoundrel who pitched me into the water, in a sack, with a paving-stone +round my waist. Only, he forgot to take away my knife. And with a knife +one rips open sacks and cuts ropes. So you see, you unfortunate +Altenheim: if you had thought of that, you wouldn't be where you are! +. . . But enough said. . . . Peace to your ashes!"</p> + +<p>M. Weber listened, not knowing what to think. At last, he made a gesture +of despair, as though he gave up the idea of forming a reasonable +opinion.</p> + +<p>"The handcuffs," he said, suddenly alarmed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>"If it amuses you," said Sernine.</p> + +<p>And, picking out Doudeville in the front row of his assailants, he put +out his wrists:</p> + +<p>"There, my friend, you shall have the honour . . . and don't trouble to +exert yourself. . . . I'm playing square . . . as it's no use doing +anything else. . . ."</p> + +<p>He said this in a tone that gave Doudeville to understand that the +struggle was finished for the moment and that there was nothing to do +but submit.</p> + +<p>Doudeville fastened the handcuffs.</p> + +<p>Without moving his lips or contracting a muscle of his face, Sernine +whispered:</p> + +<p>"27, Rue de Rivoli . . . Geneviève. . . ."</p> + +<p>M. Weber could not suppress a movement of satisfaction at the sight:</p> + +<p>"Come along!" he said. "To the detective-office!"</p> + +<p>"That's it, to the detective-office!" cried Sernine. "M. Lenormand will +enter Arsène Lupin in the jail-book; and Arsène Lupin will enter Prince +Sernine."</p> + +<p>"You're too clever, Lupin."</p> + +<p>"That's true, Weber; we shall never get on, you and I."</p> + +<p>During the drive in the motor-car, escorted by three other cars filled +with policemen, he did not utter a word.</p> + +<p>They did not stay long at the detective office. M. Weber, remembering +the escapes effected by Lupin, sent him up at once to the finger-print +department and then took him to the Dépôt, whence he was sent on to the +Santé Prison.</p> + +<p>The governor had been warned by telephone and was waiting for him. The +formalities of the entry of commitment and of the searching were soon +got over; and, at seven o'clock in the evening, Prince Paul Ser<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>nine +crossed the threshold of cell 14 in the second division:</p> + +<p>"Not half bad, your rooms," he declared, "not bad at all! . . . Electric +light, central heating, every requisite . . . capital! Mr. Governor, +I'll take this room."</p> + +<p>He flung himself on the bed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mr. Governor, I have one little favor to ask of you!"</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"Tell them not to bring me my chocolate before ten o'clock in the +morning. . . . I'm awfully sleepy."</p> + +<p>He turned his face to the wall. Five minutes later he was sound asleep.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> +<span class="smalltext">"SANTÉ PALACE"</span></h2> + + +<p>There was one wild burst of laughter over the whole face of the world.</p> + +<p>True, the capture of Arsène Lupin made a big sensation; and the public +did not grudge the police the praise which they deserved for this +revenge so long hoped-for and now so fully obtained. The great +adventurer was caught. That extraordinary, genial, invisible hero was +shivering, like any ordinary criminal, between the four walls of a +prison cell, crushed in his turn by that formidable power which is +called the law and which, sooner or later, by inevitable necessity +shatters the obstacles opposed to it and destroys the work of its +adversaries.</p> + +<p>All this was said, printed, repeated and discussed <i>ad nauseam</i>. The +prefect of police was created a commander, M. Weber an officer of the +Legion of Honor. The skill and courage of their humblest coadjutors were +extolled to the skies. Cheers were raised and pæans of victory struck +up. Articles were written and speeches made.</p> + +<p>Very well. But one thing, nevertheless, rose above the wonderful concert +of praise, these noisy demonstrations of satisfaction; and that was an +immense, spontaneous, inextinguishable and tumultuous roar of laughter.</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin had been chief of the detective-service for four years!!!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>He had been chief detective for four years and, really, legally, he was +chief detective still, with all the rights which the title confers, +enjoying the esteem of his chiefs, the favor of the government and the +admiration of the public.</p> + +<p>For four years, the public peace and the defence of property had been +entrusted to Arsène Lupin. He saw that the law was carried out. He +protected the innocent and pursued the guilty.</p> + +<p>And what services he had rendered! Never was order less disturbed, never +was crime discovered with greater certainty and rapidity. The reader +need but take back his mind to the Denizou case, the robbery at the +Crédit Lyonnais, the attack on the Orléans express, the murder of Baron +Dorf, forming a series of unforeseen and overwhelming triumphs, of +magnificent feats of prowess fit to compare with the most famous +victories of the most renowned detectives.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The murder of Baron Dorf, that mysterious and disconcerting +affair, will one day be the subject of a story which will give an idea +of Arsène Lupin's astonishing qualities as a detective.</p></div> + +<p>Not so very long before, in a speech delivered at the time of the fire +at the Louvre and the capture of the incendiaries, Valenglay, the prime +minister, had said, speaking in defence of the somewhat arbitrary manner +in which M. Lenormand had acted on that occasion:</p> + +<p>"With his great powers of discernment, his energy, his qualities of +decision and execution, his unexpected methods, his inexhaustible +resources, M. Lenormand reminds us of the only man who, if he were still +alive, could hope to hold his own against him: I mean Arsène Lupin. M. +Lenormand is an Arsène Lupin in the service of society."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span>And, lo and behold, M. Lenormand was none other than Arsène Lupin!</p> + +<p>That he was a Russian prince, who cared! Lupin was an old hand at such +changes of personality as that. But chief detective! What a delicious +irony! What a whimsical humor in the conduct of that extraordinary life!</p> + +<p>M. Lenormand! . . . Arsène Lupin! . . .</p> + +<p>People were now able to explain to themselves the apparently miraculous +feats of intelligence which had quite recently bewildered the crowd and +baffled the police. They understood how his accomplice had been juggled +away in the middle of the Palais de Justice itself, in broad daylight +and on the appointed day. Had he himself not said:</p> + +<p>"My process is so ingenious and so simple. . . . How surprised people +will be on the day when I am free to speak! 'Is that all?' I shall be +asked. That is all; but it had to be thought of."</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, childishly simple: all you had to do was to be chief of +the detective-service.</p> + +<p>Well, Lupin was chief of the detective-service; and every police-officer +obeying his orders had made himself the involuntary and unconscious +accomplice of Arsène Lupin.</p> + +<p>What a comedy! What admirable bluff! It was the monumental and consoling +farce of these drab times of ours. Lupin in prison, Lupin irretrievably +conquered was, in spite of himself, the great conqueror. From his cell +he shone over Paris. He was more than ever the idol, more than ever the +master.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>When Arsène Lupin awoke next morning, in his room at the "Santé Palace," +as he at once nicknamed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> it, he had a very clear vision of the enormous +sensation which would be produced by his arrest under the double name of +Sernine and Lenormand and the double title of prince and chief of the +detective-service.</p> + +<p>He rubbed his hands and gave vent to his thoughts:</p> + +<p>"A man can have no better companion in his loneliness than the approval +of his contemporaries. O fame! The sun of all living men! . . ."</p> + +<p>Seen by daylight, his cell pleased him even better than at night. The +window, placed high up in the wall, afforded a glimpse of the branches +of a tree, through which peeped the blue of the sky above. The walls +were white. There was only one table and one chair, both fastened to the +floor. But everything was quite nice and clean.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said, "a little rest-cure here will be rather charming. . . . +But let us see to our toilet. . . . Have I all I want? . . . No. . . . +In that case, ring twice for the chambermaid."</p> + +<p>He pressed the button of an apparatus beside the door, which released a +signaling-disc in the corridor.</p> + +<p>After a moment, bolts and bars were drawn outside, a key turned in the +lock and a warder appeared.</p> + +<p>"Hot water, please," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>The other looked at him with an air of mingled amazement and rage.</p> + +<p>"Oh," said Lupin, "and a bath-towel! By Jove, there's no bath-towel!"</p> + +<p>The man growled:</p> + +<p>"You're getting at me, aren't you? You'd better be careful!"</p> + +<p>He was going away, when Lupin caught him roughly by the arm:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>"Here! A hundred francs if you'll post a letter for me."</p> + +<p>He took out a hundred-franc note, which he had concealed during the +search, and offered it to him.</p> + +<p>"Where's the letter?" said the warder, taking the money.</p> + +<p>"Just give me a moment to write it."</p> + +<p>He sat down at the table, scribbled a few words in pencil on a sheet of +paper, put it in an envelope and addressed the letter:</p> + +<p class="center nobottom"><i>"To Monsieur S. B. 42,</i></p> +<p class="halfleft notop nobottom"><i>"Poste Restante,</i></p> +<p class="halfleft notop padfour smcap">"Paris."</p> + +<p>The warder took the letter and walked away.</p> + +<p>"That letter," said Lupin to himself, "will reach destination as safely +as if I delivered it myself. I shall have the reply in an hour at +latest: just the time I want to take a good look into my position."</p> + +<p>He sat down on his chair and, in an undertone, summed up the situation +as follows:</p> + +<p>"When all is said and done, I have two adversaries to fight at the +present moment. There is, first, society, which holds me and which I can +afford to laugh at. Secondly, there is a person unknown, who does not +hold me, but whom I am not inclined to laugh at in the very least. It is +he who told the police that I was Sernine. It was he who guessed that I +was M. Lenormand. It was he who locked the door of the underground +passage and it was he who had me clapped into prison."</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin reflected for a second and then continued:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span>"So, at long last, the struggle lies between him and me. And, to keep up +that struggle, that is to say, to discover and get to the bottom of the +Kesselbach case, here am I, a prisoner, while he is free, unknown, and +inaccessible, and holds the two trump-cards which I considered mine: +Pierre Leduc and old Steinweg. . . . In short, he is near the goal, +after finally pushing me back."</p> + +<p>A fresh contemplative pause, followed by a fresh soliloquy:</p> + +<p>"The position is far from brilliant. On the one side, everything; on the +other, nothing. Opposite me, a man of my own strength, or stronger, +because he has not the same scruples that hamper me. And I am without +weapons to attack him with."</p> + +<p>He repeated the last sentence several times, in a mechanical voice, and +then stopped and, taking his forehead between his hands, sat for a long +time wrapped in thought.</p> + +<p>"Come in, Mr. Governor," he said, seeing the door open.</p> + +<p>"Were you expecting me?"</p> + +<p>"Why, I wrote to you, Mr. Governor, asking you to come! I felt certain +that the warder would give you my letter. I was so certain of it that I +put your initials, S. B., and your age, forty-two, on the envelope!"</p> + +<p>The governor's name, in point of fact, was Stanislas Borély, and he was +forty-two years of age. He was a pleasant-looking man, with a very +gentle character, who treated the prisoners with all the indulgence +possible.</p> + +<p>He said to Lupin:</p> + +<p>"Your opinion of my subordinate's integrity was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> quite correct. Here is +your money. It shall be handed to you at your release. . . . You will +now go through the searching-room again."</p> + +<p>Lupin went with M. Borély to the little room reserved for this purpose, +undressed and, while his clothes were inspected with justifiable +suspicion, himself underwent a most fastidious examination.</p> + +<p>He was then taken back to his cell and M. Borély said:</p> + +<p>"I feel easier. That's done."</p> + +<p>"And very well done, Mr. Governor. Your men perform this sort of duty +with a delicacy for which I should like to thank them by giving them a +small token of my satisfaction."</p> + +<p>He handed a hundred-franc note to M. Borély, who jumped as though he had +been shot:</p> + +<p>"Oh! . . . But . . . where does that come from?"</p> + +<p>"No need to rack your brains, Mr. Governor. A man like myself, leading +the life that I do, is always prepared for any eventuality: and no +mishap, however painful—not even imprisonment—can take him unawares."</p> + +<p>Seizing the middle finger of his left hand between the thumb and +forefinger of the right, he pulled it off smartly and presented it +calmly to M. Borély:</p> + +<p>"Don't start like that, Mr. Governor. This is not my finger, but just a +tube, made of gold-beater's skin and cleverly colored, which fits +exactly over my middle finger and gives the illusion of a real finger." +And he added, with a laugh, "In such a way, of course, as to conceal a +third hundred-franc note. . . . What is a poor man to do? He must carry +the best purse he can . . . and must needs make use of it on occasions. +. . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span>He stopped at the sight of M. Borély's startled face:</p> + +<p>"Please don't think, Mr. Governor, that I wish to dazzle you with my +little parlor-tricks. I only wanted to show you that you have to do with +a . . . client of a rather . . . special nature and to tell you that you +must not be surprised if I venture, now and again, to break the ordinary +rules and regulations of your establishment."</p> + +<p>The governor had recovered himself. He said plainly:</p> + +<p>"I prefer to think that you will conform to the rules and not compel me +to resort to harsh measures. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Which you would regret to have to enforce: isn't that it, Mr. Governor? +That's just what I should like to spare you, by proving to you in +advance that they would not prevent me from doing as I please: from +corresponding with my friends, from defending the grave interests +confided to me outside these walls, from writing to the newspapers that +accept my inspiration, from pursuing the fulfilment of my plans and, +lastly, from preparing my escape."</p> + +<p>"Your escape!"</p> + +<p>Lupin began to laugh heartily:</p> + +<p>"But think, Mr. Governor, my only excuse for being in prison is . . . to +leave it!"</p> + +<p>The argument did not appear to satisfy M. Borély. He made an effort to +laugh in his turn:</p> + +<p>"Forewarned is forearmed," he said.</p> + +<p>"That's what I wanted," Lupin replied. "Take all your precautions, Mr. +Governor, neglect nothing, so that later they may have nothing to +reproach you with. On the other hand, I shall arrange things in such a +way that, whatever annoyance you may have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> to bear in consequence of my +escape, your career, at least, shall not suffer. That is all I had to +say to you, Mr. Governor. You can go."</p> + +<p>And, while M. Borély walked away, greatly perturbed by his singular +charge and very anxious about the events in preparation, the prisoner +threw himself on his bed, muttering:</p> + +<p>"What cheek, Lupin, old fellow, what cheek! Really, any one would think +that you had some idea as to how you were going to get out of this!"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The Santé prison is built on the star plan. In the centre of the main +portion is a round hall, upon which all the corridors converge, so that +no prisoner is able to leave his cell without being at once perceived by +the overseers posted in the glass box which occupies the middle of that +central hall.</p> + +<p>The thing that most surprises the visitor who goes over the prison is +that, at every moment, he will meet prisoners without a guard of any +kind, who seem to move about as though they were absolutely free. In +reality, in order to go from one point to another—for instance, from +their cell to the van waiting in the yard to take them to the Palais de +Justice for the magistrate's examination—they pass along straight lines +each of which ends in a door that is opened to them by a warder. The +sole duty of the warder is to open and shut this door and to watch the +two straight lines which it commands. And thus the prisoners, while +apparently at liberty to come and go as they please, are sent from door +to door, from eye to eye, like so many parcels passed from hand to hand.</p> + +<p>Outside, municipal guards receive the object and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> pack it into one of +the compartments of the "salad-basket."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> The French slang expression for its prison-van or "black +Maria."—<i>Translator's Note.</i></p></div> + +<p>This is the ordinary routine.</p> + +<p>In Lupin's case it was disregarded entirely. The police were afraid of +that walk along the corridors. They were afraid of the prison-van. They +were afraid of everything.</p> + +<p>M. Weber came in person, accompanied by twelve constables—the best he +had, picked men, armed to the teeth—fetched the formidable prisoner at +the door of his cell and took him in a cab, the driver of which was one +of his own men, with mounted municipal guards trotting on each side, in +front and behind.</p> + +<p>"Bravo!" cried Lupin. "I am quite touched by the compliment paid me. A +guard of honor. By Jove, Weber, you have the proper hierarchical +instinct! You don't forget what is due to your immediate chief." And, +tapping him on the shoulder: "Weber, I intend to send in my resignation. +I shall name you as my successor."</p> + +<p>"It's almost done," said Weber.</p> + +<p>"That's good news! I was a little anxious about my escape. Now I am easy +in my mind. From the moment when Weber is chief of the detective-service +. . . !"</p> + +<p>M. Weber did not reply to the gibe. At heart, he had a queer, complex +feeling in the presence of his adversary, a feeling made up of the fear +with which Lupin inspired him, the deference which he entertained for +Prince Sernine and the respectful admiration which he had always shown +to M. Lenormand. All this was mingled with spite, envy and satisfied +hatred.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span>They arrived at the Palais de Justice. At the foot of the "mouse-trap," +a number of detectives were waiting, among whom M. Weber rejoiced to see +his best two lieutenants, the brothers Doudeville.</p> + +<p>"Has M. Formerie come?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, chief, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction is in his room."</p> + +<p>M. Weber went up the stairs, followed by Lupin, who had the Doudevilles +on either side of him.</p> + +<p>"Geneviève?" whispered the prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Saved. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"With her grandmother."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>"In Paris, at the Bristol."</p> + +<p>"Suzanne?"</p> + +<p>"Disappeared."</p> + +<p>"Steinweg?"</p> + +<p>"Released."</p> + +<p>"What has he told you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. Won't make any revelations except to you."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"We told him he owed his release to you."</p> + +<p>"Newspapers good this morning?"</p> + +<p>"Excellent."</p> + +<p>"Good. If you want to write to me, here are my instructions."</p> + +<p>They had reached the inner corridor on the first floor and Lupin slipped +a pellet of paper into the hand of one of the brothers.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>M. Formerie uttered a delicious phrase when Lupin entered his room +accompanied by the deputy-chief:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span>"Ah, there you are! I knew we should lay hands on you some day or +other!"</p> + +<p>"So did I, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction," said Lupin, "and I am glad +that you have been marked out by fate to do justice to the honest man +that I am."</p> + +<p>"He's getting at me," thought M. Formerie. And, in the same ironical and +serious tone as Lupin, he retorted, "The honest man that you are, sir, +will be asked what he has to say about three hundred and forty-four +separate cases of larceny, burglary, swindling and forgery, blackmail, +receiving and so on. Three hundred and forty-four!"</p> + +<p>"What! Is that all?" cried Lupin. "I really feel quite ashamed."</p> + +<p>"Don't distress yourself! I shall discover more. But let us proceed in +order. Arsène Lupin, in spite of all our inquiries, we have no definite +information as to your real name."</p> + +<p>"How odd! No more have I!"</p> + +<p>"We are not even in a position to declare that you are the same Arsène +Lupin who was confined in the Santé a few years back, and from there +made his first escape."</p> + +<p>"'His first escape' is good, and does you credit."</p> + +<p>"It so happens, in fact," continued M. Formerie, "that the Arsène Lupin +card in the measuring department gives a description of Arsène Lupin +which differs at all points from your real description."</p> + +<p>"How more and more odd!"</p> + +<p>"Different marks, different measurements, different finger-prints. . . . +The two photographs even are quite unlike. I will therefore ask you to +satisfy us as to your exact identity."</p> + +<p>"That's just what I was going to ask you. I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> lived under so many +distinct names that I have ended by forgetting my own. I don't know +where I am."</p> + +<p>"So I must enter a refusal to answer?"</p> + +<p>"An inability."</p> + +<p>"Is this a thought-out plan? Am I to expect the same silence in reply to +all my questions?"</p> + +<p>"Very nearly."</p> + +<p>"And why?"</p> + +<p>Lupin struck a solemn attitude and said:</p> + +<p>"M. le Juge d'Instruction, my life belongs to history. You have only to +turn over the annals of the past fifteen years and your curiosity will +be satisfied. So much for my part. As to the rest, it does not concern +me: it is an affair between you and the murderers at the Palace Hotel."</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin, the honest man that you are will have to-day to explain +the murder of Master Altenheim."</p> + +<p>"Hullo, this is new! Is the idea yours, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"Very clever! Upon my word, M. Formerie, you're getting on!"</p> + +<p>"The position in which you were captured leaves no doubt."</p> + +<p>"None at all; only, I will venture to ask you this: what sort of wound +did Altenheim die of?"</p> + +<p>"Of a wound in the throat caused by a knife."</p> + +<p>"And where is the knife?"</p> + +<p>"It has not been found."</p> + +<p>"How could it not have been found, if I had been the assassin, +considering that I was captured beside the very man whom I am supposed +to have killed?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>"Who killed him, according to you?"</p> + +<p>"The same man that killed Mr. Kesselbach, Chapman, and Beudot. The +nature of the wound is a sufficient proof."</p> + +<p>"How did he get away?"</p> + +<p>"Through a trap-door, which you will discover in the room where the +tragedy took place."</p> + +<p>M. Formerie assumed an air of slyness:</p> + +<p>"And how was it that you did not follow that useful example?"</p> + +<p>"I tried to follow it. But the outlet was blocked by a door which I +could not open. It was during this attempt that 'the other one' came +back to the room and killed his accomplice for fear of the revelations +which he would have been sure to make. At the same time, he hid in a +cupboard, where it was subsequently found, the parcel of clothes which I +had prepared."</p> + +<p>"What were those clothes for?"</p> + +<p>"To disguise myself. When I went to the Glycines my plan was this: to +hand Altenheim over to the police, to suppress my own identity as Prince +Sernine and to reappear under the features. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Of M. Lenormand, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What!"</p> + +<p>M. Formerie gave a knowing smile and wagged his forefinger from left to +right and right to left:</p> + +<p>"No," he repeated.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by 'no'?"</p> + +<p>"That story about M. Lenormand. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Will do for the public, my friend. But you won't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> make M. Formerie +swallow that Lupin and Lenormand were one and the same man." He burst +out laughing. "Lupin, chief of the detective-service! No, anything you +like, but not that! . . . There are limits. . . . I am an easy-going +fellow. . . . I'll believe anything . . . but still. . . . Come, between +ourselves, what was the reason of this fresh hoax? . . . I confess I +can't see . . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at him in astonishment. In spite of all that he knew of M. +Formerie, he could not conceive such a degree of infatuation and +blindness. There was at that moment only one person in the world who +refused to believe in Prince Sernine's double personality; and that was +M. Formerie! . . .</p> + +<p>Lupin turned to the deputy-chief, who stood listening open-mouthed:</p> + +<p>"My dear Weber, I fear your promotion is not so certain as I thought. +For, you see, if M. Lenormand is not myself, then he exists . . . and, +if he exists, I have no doubt that M. Formerie, with all his acumen, +will end by discovering him . . . in which case . . ."</p> + +<p>"We shall discover him all right, M. Lupin," cried the +examining-magistrate. "I'll undertake that, and I tell you that, when +you and he are confronted, we shall see some fun." He chuckled and +drummed with his fingers on the table. "How amusing! Oh, one's never +bored when you're there, that I'll say for you! So you're M. Lenormand, +and it's you who arrested your accomplice Marco!"</p> + +<p>"Just so! Wasn't it my duty to please the prime minister and save the +cabinet? The fact is historical."</p> + +<p>M. Formerie held his sides:</p> + +<p>"Oh, I shall die of laughing, I know I shall! Lord,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> what a joke! That +answer will travel round the world. So, according to your theory, it was +with you that I made the first enquiries at the Palace Hotel after the +murder of Mr. Kesselbach? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Surely it was with me that you investigated the case of the stolen +coronet when I was Duc de Chamerace,"<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> retorted Lupin, in a sarcastic +voice.</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> See <i>Arsène Lupin</i> by Edgar Jepson and Maurice Leblanc.</p></div> + +<p>M. Formerie gave a start. All his merriment was dispelled by that odious +recollection. Turning suddenly grave, he asked:</p> + +<p>"So you persist in that absurd theory?"</p> + +<p>"I must, because it is the truth. It would be easy for you to take a +steamer to Cochin-China and to find at Saigon the proofs of the death of +the real M. Lenormand, the worthy man whom I replaced and whose +death-certificate I can show you."</p> + +<p>"Humbug!"</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction, I don't care one way or +the other. If it annoys you that I should be M. Lenormand, don't let's +talk about it. We won't talk about myself; we won't talk about anything +at all, if you prefer. Besides, of what use can it be to you? The +Kesselbach case is such a tangled affair that I myself don't know where +I stand. There's only one man who might help you. I have not succeeded +in discovering him. And I don't think that you . . ."</p> + +<p>"What's the man's name?"</p> + +<p>"He's an old man, a German called Steinweg. . . . But, of course, you've +heard about him, Weber, and the way in which he was carried off in the +middle of the Palais de Justice?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>M. Formerie threw an inquiring glance at the deputy-chief. M. Weber +said:</p> + +<p>"I undertake to bring that person to you, Monsieur le Juge +d'Instruction."</p> + +<p>"So that's done," said M. Formerie, rising from his chair. "As you see, +Lupin, this was merely a formal examination to bring the two duelists +together. Now that we have crossed swords, all that we need is the +necessary witness of our fencing-match, your counsel."</p> + +<p>"Tut! Is it indispensable?"</p> + +<p>"Indispensable."</p> + +<p>"Employ counsel in view of such an unlikely trial?"</p> + +<p>"You must."</p> + +<p>"In that case, I'll choose Maître Quimbel."</p> + +<p>"The president of the corporation of the bar. You are wise, you will be +well defended."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The first sitting was over. M. Weber led the prisoner away.</p> + +<p>As he went down the stairs of the "mouse-trap," between the two +Doudevilles, Lupin said, in short, imperative sentences:</p> + +<p>"Watch Steinweg. . . . Don't let him speak to anybody. . . . Be there +to-morrow. . . . I'll give you some letters . . . one for you . . . +important."</p> + +<p>Downstairs, he walked up to the municipal guards surrounding the +taxi-cab:</p> + +<p>"Home, boys," he exclaimed, "and quick about it! I have an appointment +with myself for two o'clock precisely."</p> + +<p>There were no incidents during the drive. On returning to his cell, +Lupin wrote a long letter, full of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> detailed instructions, to the +brothers Doudeville and, two other letters.</p> + +<p>One was for Geneviève:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Geneviève, you now know who I am and you will +understand why I concealed from you the name of him +who twice carried you away in his arms when you were a +little girl.</p> + +<p>"Geneviève, I was your mother's friend, a distant +friend, of whose double life she knew nothing, but +upon whom she thought that she could rely. And that is +why, before dying, she wrote me a few lines asking me +to watch over you.</p> + +<p>"Unworthy as I am of your esteem, Geneviève, I shall +continue faithful to that trust. Do not drive me from +your heart entirely.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>The other letter was addressed to Dolores Kesselbach:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Prince Sernine was led to seek Mrs. Kesselbach's +acquaintance by motives of self-interest alone. But a +great longing to devote himself to her was the cause +of his continuing it.</p> + +<p>"Now that Prince Sernine has become merely Arsène +Lupin, he begs Mrs. Kesselbach not to deprive him of +the right of protecting her, at a distance and as a +man protects one whom he will never see again."</p></div> + +<p>There were some envelopes on the table. He took up one and took up a +second; then, when he took up the third, he noticed a sheet of white +paper, the presence of which surprised him and which had words<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> stuck +upon it, evidently cut out of a newspaper. He read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"You have failed in your fight with the baron. Give up +interesting yourself in the case, and I will not +oppose your escape.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"L. M."</p></div> + +<p>Once more, Lupin had that sense of repulsion and terror with which this +nameless and fabulous being always inspired him, a sense of disgust +which one feels at touching a venomous animal, a reptile:</p> + +<p>"He again," he said. "Even here!"</p> + +<p>That also scared him, the sudden vision which he at times received of +this hostile power, a power as great as his own and disposing of +formidable means, the extent of which he himself was unable to realize.</p> + +<p>He at once suspected his warder. But how had it been possible to corrupt +that hard-featured, stern-eyed man?</p> + +<p>"Well, so much the better, after all!" he cried. "I have never had to do +except with dullards. . . . In order to fight myself, I had to chuck +myself into the command of the detective-service. . . . This time, I +have some one to deal with! . . . Here's a man who puts me in his pocket +. . . by sleight of hand, one might say. . . . If I succeed, from my +prison cell, in avoiding his blows and smashing him, in seeing old +Steinweg and dragging his confession from him, in setting the Kesselbach +case on its legs and turning the whole of it into cash, in defending +Mrs. Kesselbach and winning fortune and happiness for Geneviève . . . +well, then Lupin will be Lupin still! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>Eleven days passed. On the twelfth day, Lupin woke very early and +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Let me see, if my calculations are correct and if the gods are on my +side, there will be some news to-day. I have had four interviews with +Formerie. The fellow must be worked up to the right point now. And the +Doudevilles, on their side, must have been busy. . . . We shall have +some fun!"</p> + +<p>He flung out his fists to right and left, brought them back to his +chest, then flung them out again and brought them back again.</p> + +<p>This movement, which executed thirty times in succession, was followed +by a bending of his body backwards and forwards. Next came an alternate +lifting of the legs and then an alternate swinging of the arms.</p> + +<p>The whole performance occupied a quarter of an hour, the quarter of an +hour which he devoted every morning to Swedish exercises to keep his +muscles in condition.</p> + +<p>Then he sat down to his table, took up some sheets of white paper, which +were arranged in numbered packets, and, folding one of them, made it +into an envelope, a work which he continued to do with a series of +successive sheets. It was the task which he had accepted and which he +forced himself to do daily, the prisoners having the right to choose the +labor which they preferred: sticking envelopes, making paper fans, metal +purses, and so on. . . .</p> + +<p>And, in this way, while occupying his hands with an automatic exercise +and keeping his muscles supple with mechanical bendings, Lupin was able +to have his thoughts constantly fixed on his affairs. . . .</p> + +<p>And his affairs were complicated enough, in all conscience!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span>There was one, for instance, which surpassed all the others in +importance, and for which he had to employ all the resources of his +genius. How was he to have a long, quiet conversation with old Steinweg? +The necessity was immediate. In a few days, Steinweg would have +recovered from his imprisonment, would receive interviews, might blab +. . . to say nothing of the inevitable interference of the enemy, 'the +other one.' And it was essential that Steinweg's secret, Pierre Leduc's +secret, should be revealed to no one but Lupin. Once published, the +secret lost all its value. . . .</p> + +<p>The bolts grated, the key turned noisily in the lock.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's you, most excellent of jailers! Has the moment come for the +last toilet? The hair-cut that precedes the great final cut of all?"</p> + +<p>"Magistrate's examination," said the man, laconically.</p> + +<p>Lupin walked through the corridors of the prison and was received by the +municipal guards, who locked him into the prison-van.</p> + +<p>He reached the Palais de Justice twenty minutes later. One of the +Doudevilles was waiting near the stairs. As they went up, he said to +Lupin:</p> + +<p>"You'll be confronted to-day."</p> + +<p>"Everything settled?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Weber?"</p> + +<p>"Busy elsewhere."</p> + +<p>Lupin walked into M. Formerie's room and at once recognized old +Steinweg, sitting on a chair, looking ill and wretched. A municipal +guard was standing behind him.</p> + +<p>M. Formerie scrutinized the prisoner attentively, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> though he hoped to +draw important conclusions from his contemplation of him, and said:</p> + +<p>"You know who this gentleman is?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Steinweg, of course! . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, thanks to the active inquiries of M. Weber and of his two +officers, the brothers Doudeville, we have found Mr. Steinweg, who, +according to you, knows the ins and outs of the Kesselbach case, the +name of the murderer and all the rest of it."</p> + +<p>"I congratulate you, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction. Your examination +will go swimmingly."</p> + +<p>"I think so. There is only one 'but': Mr. Steinweg refuses to reveal +anything, except in your presence."</p> + +<p>"Well, I never! How odd of him! Does Arsène Lupin inspire him with so +much affection and esteem?"</p> + +<p>"Not Arsène Lupin, but Prince Sernine, who, he says, saved his life, and +M. Lenormand, with whom, he says, he began a conversation. . . ."</p> + +<p>"At the time when I was chief of the detective-service," Lupin broke in. +"So you consent to admit."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Steinweg," said the magistrate, "do you recognize M. Lenormand?"</p> + +<p>"No, but I know that Arsène Lupin and he are one."</p> + +<p>"So you consent to speak?"</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . but . . . we are not alone."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean? There is only my clerk here . . . and the guard . . ."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction, the secret which I am about to reveal +is so important that you yourself would be sorry . . ."</p> + +<p>"Guard, go outside, please," said M. Formerie. "Come back at once, if I +call. Do you object to my clerk, Steinweg?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span>"No, no . . . it might be better . . . but, however . . ."</p> + +<p>"Then speak. For that matter, nothing that you reveal will be put down +in black on white. One word more, though: I ask you for the last time, +is it indispensable that the prisoner should be present at this +interview?"</p> + +<p>"Quite indispensable. You will see the reason for yourself."</p> + +<p>He drew the chair up to the magistrate's desk, Lupin remained standing, +near the clerk. And the old man, speaking in a loud voice, said:</p> + +<p>"It is now ten years since a series of circumstances, which I need not +enter into, made me acquainted with an extraordinary story in which two +persons are concerned."</p> + +<p>"Their names, please."</p> + +<p>"I will give the names presently. For the moment, let me say that one of +these persons occupies an exceptional position in France, and that the +other, an Italian, or rather a Spaniard . . . yes, a Spaniard . . ."</p> + +<p>A bound across the room, followed by two formidable blows of the fist. +. . . Lupin's two arms had darted out to right and left, as though +impelled by springs and his two fists, hard as cannon balls, caught the +magistrate and his clerk on the jaw, just below the ear.</p> + +<p>The magistrate and the clerk collapsed over their tables, in two lumps, +without a moan.</p> + +<p>"Well hit!" said Lupin. "That was a neat bit of work."</p> + +<p>He went to the door and locked it softly. Then returning:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span>"Steinweg, have you the chloroform?"</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure that they have fainted?" asks the old man, trembling +with fear.</p> + +<p>"What do you think! But it will only last for three or four minutes. +. . . And that is not long enough."</p> + +<p>The German produced from his pocket a bottle and two pads of +cotton-wool, ready prepared.</p> + +<p>Lupin uncorked the bottle, poured a few drops of the chloroform on the +two pads and held them to the noses of the magistrate and his clerk.</p> + +<p>"Capital! We have ten minutes of peace and quiet before us. That will +do, but let's make haste, all the same; and not a word too much, old +man, do you hear?" He took him by the arm. "You see what I am able to +do. Here we are, alone in the very heart of the Palais de Justice, +because I wished it."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the old man.</p> + +<p>"So you are going to tell me your secret?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I told it to Kesselbach, because he was rich and could turn it to +better account than anybody I knew; but, prisoner and absolutely +powerless though you are, I consider you a hundred times as strong as +Kesselbach with his hundred millions."</p> + +<p>"In that case, speak; and let us take things in their proper order. The +name of the murderer?"</p> + +<p>"That's impossible."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, impossible? I thought you knew it and were going to +tell me everything!"</p> + +<p>"Everything, but not that."</p> + +<p>"But . . ."</p> + +<p>"Later on."</p> + +<p>"You're mad! Why?"</p> + +<p>"I have no proofs. Later, when you are free, we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> will hunt together. +Besides, what's the good? And then, really, I can't tell you."</p> + +<p>"You're afraid of him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Very well," said Lupin. "After all, that's not the most urgent matter. +As to the rest, you've made up your mind to speak?"</p> + +<p>"Without reserve."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, answer. Who is Pierre Leduc?"</p> + +<p>"Hermann IV., Grand Duke of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, Prince of Berncastel, +Count of Fistingen, Lord of Wiesbaden and other places."</p> + +<p>Lupin felt a thrill of joy at learning that his <i>protégé</i> was definitely +not the son of a pork-butcher!</p> + +<p>"The devil!" he muttered. "So we have a handle to our name! . . . As far +as I remember, the Grand-duchy of Zweibrucken-Veldenz is in Prussia?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, on the Moselle. The house of Veldenz is a branch of the Palatine +house of Zweibrucken. The grand-duchy was occupied by the French after +the peace of Luneville and formed part of the department of +Mont-Tonnerre. In 1814, it was restored in favor of Hermann I., the +great grandfather of Pierre Leduc. His son, Hermann II., spent a riotous +youth, ruined himself, squandered the finances of his country and made +himself impossible to his subjects, who ended by partly burning the old +castle at Veldenz and driving their sovereign out of his dominions. The +grand-duchy was then administered and governed by three regents, in the +name of Hermann II., who, by a curious anomaly, did not abdicate, but +retained his title as reigning grand-duke. He lived, rather short of +cash, in Berlin; later, he fought in the French war, by the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> side of +Bismarck, of whom he was a friend. He was killed by a shell at the siege +of Paris and, in dying, entrusted Bismarck with the charge of his son +Hermann, that is, Hermann III."</p> + +<p>"The father, therefore, of our Leduc," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Yes. The chancellor took a liking to Hermann III., and used often to +employ him as a secret envoy to persons of distinction abroad. At the +fall of his patron Hermann III., left Berlin, travelled about and +returned and settled in Dresden. When Bismarck died, Hermann III., was +there. He himself died two years later. These are public facts, known to +everybody in Germany; and that is the story of the three Hermanns, +Grand-dukes of Zweibrucken-Veldenz in the nineteenth century."</p> + +<p>"But the fourth, Hermann IV., the one in whom we are interested?"</p> + +<p>"We will speak of him presently. Let us now pass on to unknown facts."</p> + +<p>"Facts known to you alone," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"To me alone and to a few others."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, a few others? Hasn't the secret been kept?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, the secret has been well kept by all who know it. Have no +fear; it is very much to their interest, I assure you, not to divulge +it."</p> + +<p>"Then how do you know it?"</p> + +<p>"Through an old servant and private secretary of the Grand-duke Hermann, +the last of the name. This servant, who died in my arms in South Africa, +began by confiding to me that his master was secretly married and had +left a son behind him. Then he told me the great secret."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>"The one which you afterwards revealed to Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"One second . . . Will you excuse me? . . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin bent over M. Formerie, satisfied himself that all was well and the +heart beating normally, and said:</p> + +<p>"Go on."</p> + +<p>Steinweg resumed:</p> + +<p>"On the evening of the day on which Bismarck died, the Grand-duke +Hermann III. and his faithful manservant—my South African friend—took +a train which brought them to Munich in time to catch the express for +Vienna. From Vienna, they went to Constantinople, then to Cairo, then to +Naples, then to Tunis, then to Spain, then to Paris, then to London, to +St. Petersburg, to Warsaw . . . and in none of these towns did they +stop. They took a cab, had their two bags put on the top, rushed through +the streets, hurried to another station or to the landing-stage, and +once more took the train or the steamer."</p> + +<p>"In short, they were being followed and were trying to put their +pursuers off the scent," Arsène Lupin concluded.</p> + +<p>"One evening, they left the city of Treves, dressed in workmen's caps +and linen jackets, each with a bundle slung over his shoulder at the end +of a stick. They covered on foot the twenty-two miles to Veldenz, where +the old Castle of Zweibrucken stands, or rather the ruins of the old +castle."</p> + +<p>"No descriptions, please."</p> + +<p>"All day long, they remained hidden in a neighboring forest. At night, +they went up to the old walls. Hermann ordered his servant to wait for +him and himself scaled the wall at a breach known as the Wolf's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> Gap. He +returned in an hour's time. In the following week, after more +peregrinations, he went back home to Dresden. The expedition was over."</p> + +<p>"And what was the object of the expedition?"</p> + +<p>"The grand-duke never breathed a word about it to his servant. But +certain particulars and the coincidence of facts that ensued enabled the +man to build up the truth, at least, in part."</p> + +<p>"Quick, Steinweg, time is running short now: and I am eager to know."</p> + +<p>"A fortnight after the expedition, Count von Waldemar, an officer in the +Emperor's body-guard and one of his personal friends, called on the +grand-duke, accompanied by six men. He was there all day, locked up with +the grand-duke in his study. There were repeated sounds of altercations, +of violent disputes. One phrase even was overheard by the servant, who +was passing through the garden, under the windows: 'Those papers were +handed to you; His imperial Majesty is sure of it. If you refuse to give +them to me of your own free will . . .' The rest of the sentence, the +meaning of the threat and, for that matter, the whole scene can be +easily guessed by what followed; Hermann's house was ransacked from top +to bottom."</p> + +<p>"But that is against the law."</p> + +<p>"It would have been against the law if the grand-duke had objected; but +he himself accompanied the count in his search."</p> + +<p>"And what were they looking for? The chancellor's memoirs?"</p> + +<p>"Something better than that. They were looking for a parcel of secret +documents which were known to exist, owing to indiscretions that had +been committed, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> which were known for certain to have been entrusted +to the Grand-duke Hermann's keeping."</p> + +<p>Lupin muttered, excitedly:</p> + +<p>"Secret documents . . . and very important ones, no doubt?"</p> + +<p>"Of the highest importance. The publication of those papers would lead +to results which it would be impossible to foresee, not only from the +point of view of home politics, but also from that of Germany's +relations with the foreign powers."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" said Lupin, throbbing with emotion. "Oh, can it be possible? What +proof have you?"</p> + +<p>"What proof? The evidence of the grand-duke's wife, the confidences +which she made to the servant after her husband's death."</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes . . ." stammered Lupin. "We have the evidence of the +grand-duke himself."</p> + +<p>"Better still," said Steinweg.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"A document, a document written in his own hand, signed by him and +containing . . ."</p> + +<p>"Containing what?"</p> + +<p>"A list of the secret papers confided to his charge."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, in two words. . . ."</p> + +<p>"In two words? That can't be done. The document is a very long one, +scattered all over with annotations and remarks which are sometimes +impossible to understand. Let me mention just two titles which obviously +refer to two bundles of secret papers: <i>Original letters of the Crown +Prince to Bismarck</i> is one. The dates show that these letters were +written during the three months of the reign of Frederick III. To +picture what the letters may contain, you have only to think<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> of the +Emperor Frederick's illness, his quarrels with his son . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I know. . . . And the other title?"</p> + +<p>"<i>Photographs of the letters of Frederick III., and the Empress Victoria +to the Queen of England.</i>"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that that's there?" asked Lupin, in a choking voice.</p> + +<p>"Listen to the grand-duke's notes: <i>Text of the treaty with Great +Britain and France.</i> And these rather obscure words: 'Alsace-Lorraine. +. . . Colonies. . . . Limitation of naval armaments. . . ."</p> + +<p>"It says that?" blurted Lupin. "And you call that obscure? . . . Why, +the words are dazzling with light! . . . Oh, can it be possible? . . . +And what next, what next?"</p> + +<p>As he spoke there was a noise at the door. Some one was knocking.</p> + +<p>"You can't come in," said Lupin. "I am busy. . . . Go on, Steinweg."</p> + +<p>"But . . ." said the old man, in a great state of alarm.</p> + +<p>The door was shaken violently and Lupin recognized Weber's voice. He +shouted:</p> + +<p>"A little patience, Weber. I shall have done in five minutes."</p> + +<p>He gripped the old man's arm and, in a tone of command:</p> + +<p>"Be easy and go on with your story. So, according to you, the expedition +of the grand duke and his servant to Veldenz Castle had no other object +than to hide those papers?"</p> + +<p>"There can be no question about that."</p> + +<p>"Very well. But the grand-duke may have taken them away since."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span>"No, he did not leave Dresden until his death."</p> + +<p>"But the grand-duke's enemies, the men who had everything to gain by +recovering them and destroying them: can't they have tried to find out +where the papers were?"</p> + +<p>"They have tried."</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"You can understand that I did not remain inactive and that my first +care, after receiving those revelations, was to go to Veldenz and make +inquiries for myself in the neighboring villages. Well, I learnt that, +on two separate occasions, the castle was invaded by a dozen men, who +came from Berlin furnished with credentials to the regents."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, they found nothing, for, since that time, the castle has been +found closed to the public."</p> + +<p>"But what prevents anybody from getting in?"</p> + +<p>"A garrison of fifty soldiers, who keep watch day and night."</p> + +<p>"Soldiers of the grand-duchy?"</p> + +<p>"No, soldiers drafted from the Emperor's own body-guard."</p> + +<p>The din in the passage increased:</p> + +<p>"Open the door!" a voice cried. "I order you to open the door!"</p> + +<p>"I can't. Weber, old chap; the lock has stuck. If you take my advice, +you had better cut the door all round the lock."</p> + +<p>"Open the door!"</p> + +<p>"And what about the fate of Europe, which we are discussing?"</p> + +<p>He turned to the old man:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span>"So you were not able to enter the castle?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But you are persuaded that the papers in question are hidden there?"</p> + +<p>"Look here, haven't I given you proofs enough? Aren't you convinced?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," muttered Lupin, "that's where they are hidden . . . there's +no doubt about it . . . that's where they are hidden. . . ."</p> + +<p>He seemed to see the castle. He seemed to conjure up the mysterious +hiding-place. And the vision of an inexhaustible treasure, the dream of +chests filled with riches and precious stones could not have excited him +more than the idea of those few scraps of paper watched over by the +Kaiser's guards. What a wonderful conquest to embark upon! And how +worthy of his powers! And what a proof of perspicacity and intuition he +had once more given by throwing himself at a venture upon that unknown +track!</p> + +<p>Outside, the men were "working" at the lock.</p> + +<p>Lupin asked of old Steinweg:</p> + +<p>"What did the grand-duke die of?"</p> + +<p>"An attack of pleurisy, which carried him off in a few days. He hardly +recovered consciousness before the end; and the horrible thing appears +to have been that he was seen to make violent efforts, between his fits +of delirium, to collect his thoughts and utter connected words. From +time to time, he called his wife, looked at her in a desperate way and +vainly moved his lips."</p> + +<p>"In a word, he spoke?" said Lupin, cutting him short, for the "working" +at the lock was beginning to make him anxious.</p> + +<p>"No, he did not speak. But, in a comparatively lucid moment, he summoned +up the energy to make<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> some marks on a piece of paper which his wife +gave him."</p> + +<p>"Well, those marks . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"They were illegible, for the most part."</p> + +<p>"For the most part? But the others?" asked Lupin, greedily. "The +others?"</p> + +<p>"There were, first, three perfectly distinct figures: an 8, a 1, and a +3. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, 813, I know . . . and next?"</p> + +<p>"And next, there were some letters . . . several letters, of which all +that can be made out for certain are a group of three followed, +immediately after, by a group of two letters."</p> + +<p>"'APO ON,' is that it?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, so you know! . . ."</p> + +<p>The lock was yielding; almost all the screws had been taken out. Lupin, +suddenly alarmed at the thought of being interrupted, asked:</p> + +<p>"So that this incomplete word 'APO ON' and the number 813 are the +formulas which the grand-duke bequeathed to his wife and son to enable +them to find the secret papers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"What became of the grand-duke's wife?"</p> + +<p>"She died soon after her husband, of grief, one might say."</p> + +<p>"And was the child looked after by the family?"</p> + +<p>"What family? The grand-duke had no brothers or sisters. Moreover, he +was only morganatically and secretly married. No, the child was taken +away by Hermann's old man-servant, who brought him up under the name of +Pierre Leduc. He was a bad type of boy, self-willed, capricious and +troublesome. One day, he went off and was never seen again."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span>"Did he know the secret of his birth?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and he was shown the sheet of paper on which Hermann III. had +written the letters and figures."</p> + +<p>"And after that this revelation was made to no one but yourself?"</p> + +<p>"That's all."</p> + +<p>"And you confided only in Mr. Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. But, out of prudence, while showing him the sheet of letters and +figures and the list of which I spoke to you, I kept both those +documents in my own possession. Events have proved that I was right."</p> + +<p>Lupin was now clinging to the door with both hands:</p> + +<p>"Weber," he roared, "you're very indiscreet! I shall report you! . . . +Steinweg, have you those documents?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Are they in a safe place?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely."</p> + +<p>"In Paris?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"So much the better. Don't forget that your life is in danger and that +you have people after you."</p> + +<p>"I know. The least false step and I am done for."</p> + +<p>"Exactly. So take your precautions, throw the enemy off the scent, go +and fetch your papers and await my instructions. The thing is cut and +dried. In a month, at latest, we will go to Veldenz Castle together."</p> + +<p>"Suppose I'm in prison?"</p> + +<p>"I will take you out."</p> + +<p>"Can you?"</p> + +<p>"The very day after I come out myself. No, I'm wrong: the same evening +. . . an hour later."</p> + +<p>"You have the means?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span>"Since the last ten minutes, an infallible means. You have nothing more +to say to me?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll open the door."</p> + +<p>He pulled back the door, and bowing to M. Weber:</p> + +<p>"My poor old Weber, I don't know what excuse to make . . ."</p> + +<p>He did not finish his sentence. The sudden inrush of the deputy-chief +and three policeman left him no time.</p> + +<p>M. Weber was white with rage and indignation. The sight of the two men +lying outstretched quite unsettled him.</p> + +<p>"Dead!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Not a bit of it, not a bit of it," chuckled Lupin, "only asleep! +Formerie was tired out . . . so I allowed him a few moments' rest."</p> + +<p>"Enough of this humbug!" shouted M. Weber. And, turning to the +policemen, "Take him back to the Santé. And keep your eyes open, damn +it! As for this visitor . . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin learnt nothing more as to Weber's intentions with regard to old +Steinweg. A crowd of municipal guards and police constables hustled him +down to the prison-van.</p> + +<p>On the stairs Doudeville whispered:</p> + +<p>"Weber had a line to warn him. It told him to mind the confrontation and +to be on his guard with Steinweg. The note was signed 'L. M.'"</p> + +<p>But Lupin hardly bothered his head about all this. What did he care for +the murderer's hatred or old Steinweg's fate? He possessed Rudolf +Kesselbach's secret!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> +<span class="smalltext">LUPIN'S GREAT SCHEME</span></h2> + + +<p>Contrary to his expectations, Lupin had no sort of annoyance to undergo +in consequence of his assault on M. Formerie.</p> + +<p>The examining-magistrate came to the Santé in person, two days later, +and told him, with some embarrassment and with an affectation of +kindness, that he did not intend to pursue the matter further.</p> + +<p>"Nor I, either," retorted Lupin.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I mean that I shall send no communication to the press about this +particular matter nor do anything that might expose you to ridicule, +Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction. The scandal shall not be made public, I +promise. That is what you want, is it not?"</p> + +<p>M. Formerie blushed and, without replying, continued:</p> + +<p>"Only, henceforth, your examinations will take place here."</p> + +<p>"It's quite right that the law should put itself out for Lupin!" said +that gentleman.</p> + +<p>The announcement of this decision, which interrupted his almost daily +meetings with the Doudevilles, did not disturb Lupin. He had taken his +precautions from the first day, by giving the Doudevilles all the +necessary instructions and, now that the preparations were nearly +completed, reckoned upon being able to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> turn old Steinweg's confidences +to the best account without delay and to obtain his liberty by one of +the most extraordinary and ingenious schemes that had ever entered his +brain.</p> + +<p>His method of correspondence was a simple one; and he had devised it at +once. Every morning he was supplied with sheets of paper in numbered +packets. He made these into envelopes; and, every evening, the +envelopes, duly folded and gummed, were fetched away. Now Lupin, +noticing that his packet always bore the same number, had drawn the +inference that the distribution of the numbered packets was always +affected in the same order among the prisoners who had chosen that +particular kind of work. Experience showed that he was right.</p> + +<p>It only remained for the Doudevilles to bribe one of the employees of +the private firm entrusted with the supply and dispatch of the +envelopes. This was easily done; and, thenceforward, Lupin, sure of +success, had only to wait quietly until the sign agreed upon between him +and his friends appeared upon the top sheet of the packet.</p> + +<p>On the sixth day, he gave an exclamation of delight:</p> + +<p>"At last!" he said.</p> + +<p>He took a tiny bottle from a hiding-place, uncorked it, moistened the +tip of his forefinger with the liquid which it contained and passed his +finger over the third sheet in the packet.</p> + +<p>In a moment, strokes appeared, then letters, then words and sentences.</p> + +<p>He read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"All well. Steinweg free. Hiding in country. Geneviève +Ernemont good health. Often goes Hôtel<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> Bristol to see +Mrs. Kesselbach, who is ill. Meets Pierre Leduc there +every time. Answer by same means. No danger."</p></div> + +<p>So communications were established with the outside. Once more, Lupin's +efforts were crowned with success. All that he had to do now was to +execute his plan and lead the press campaign which he had prepared in +the peaceful solitude of his prison.</p> + +<p>Three days later, these few lines appeared in the <i>Grand Journal</i>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Quite apart from Prince Bismarck's <i>Memoirs</i>, which, +according to well-informed people, contain merely the +official history of the events in which the great +chancellor was concerned, there exists a series of +confidential letters of no little interest.</p> + +<p>"These letters have been recently discovered. We hear, +on good authority, that they will be published almost +immediately."</p></div> + +<p>My readers will remember the noise which these mysterious sentences made +throughout the civilized world, the comments in which people indulged, +the suggestions put forward and, in particular, the controversy that +followed in the German press. Who had inspired those lines? What were +the letters in question? Who had written them to the chancellor or who +had received them from him? Was it an act of posthumous revenge? Or was +it an indiscretion committed by one of Bismarck's correspondents?</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span>A second note settled public opinion as to certain points, but, at the +same time, worked it up to a strange pitch of excitement. It ran as +follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center nobottom">"<i>To the Editor of the</i> Grand Journal,</p> + +<p class="halfleft padtwo notop nobottom">"<span class="smcap">Santé Palace</span>,</p> + +<p class="halfleft notop">"Cell 14, Second Division.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>"You inserted in your issue of Tuesday last a +paragraph based upon a few words which I let fall, the +other evening, in the course of a lecture, which I was +delivering at the Santé on foreign politics. Your +correspondent's paragraph, although accurate in all +essential particulars, requires a slight correction. +The letters exist, as stated, and it is impossible to +deny their exceptional importance, seeing that, for +ten years, they have been the object of an +uninterrupted search on the part of the government +interested. But nobody knows where they are hidden and +nobody knows a single word of what they contain.</p> + +<p>"The public, I am convinced, will bear me no ill-will +if I keep it waiting for some time before satisfying +its legitimate curiosity. Apart from the fact that I +am not in possession of all the elements necessary for +the pursuit of the truth, my present occupation does +not allow me to devote so much time as I could wish to +this matter.</p> + +<p>"All that I can say for the moment is that the letters +were entrusted by the dying statesman to one of his +most faithful friends and that this friend had +eventually to suffer the serious consequences of his +loyalty. Constant spying, domiciliary visits, nothing +was spared him.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>"I have given orders to two of the best agents of my +secret police to take up this scent from the start in +a position to get to the bottom of this exciting +mystery.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"I have the honor to be Sir,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Your obedient servant,</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin</span>."</p></div> + +<p>So it was Arsène Lupin who was conducting the case! It was he who, from +his prison cell, was stage-managing the comedy or the tragedy announced +in the first note. What luck! Everybody was delighted. With an artist +like Lupin, the spectacle could not fail to be both picturesque and +startling.</p> + +<p>Three days later the <i>Grand Journal</i> contained the following letter from +Arsène Lupin:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The name of the devoted friend to whom I referred has +been imparted to me. It was the Grand-Duke Hermann +III., reigning (although dispossessed) sovereign of +the Grand-duchy of Zweibrucken-Veldenz and a confidant +of Prince Bismarck, whose entire friendship he +enjoyed.</p> + +<p>"A thorough search was made of his house by Count von +W——, at the head of twelve men. The result of this +search was purely negative, but the grand-duke was +nevertheless proved to be in possession of the papers.</p> + +<p>"Where had he hidden them? This was a problem which +probably nobody in the world would be able to solve at +the present moment.</p> + +<p>"I must ask for twenty-four hours in which to solve +it.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin.</span>"</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span>And, twenty-four hours later, the promised note appeared:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The famous letters are hidden in the feudal castle of +Veldenz, the capital of the Grand-duchy of +Zweibrucken. The castle was partly destroyed in the +course of the nineteenth century.</p> + +<p>"Where exactly are they hidden? And what are the +letters precisely? These are the two problems which I +am now engaged in unravelling; and I shall publish the +solution in four days' time.</p> + +<p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>On the day stated, men scrambled to obtain copies of the <i>Grand +Journal</i>. To the general disappointment, the promised information was +not given. The same silence followed on the next day and the day after.</p> + +<p>What had happened?</p> + +<p>It leaked out through an indiscretion at the Prefecture of Police. The +governor of the Santé, it appeared, had been warned that Lupin was +communicating with his accomplices by means of the packets of envelopes +which he made. Nothing had been discovered; but it was thought best, in +any case, to forbid all work to the insufferable prisoner.</p> + +<p>To this the insufferable prisoner replied:</p> + +<p>"As I have nothing to do now, I may as well attend to my trial. Please +let my counsel, Maître Quimbel, know."</p> + +<p>It was true. Lupin, who, hitherto, had refused to hold any intercourse +with Maître Quimbel, now consented to see him and to prepare his +defence.</p> + +<p>On the next day Maître Quimbel, in cheery tones,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> asked for Lupin to be +brought to the barristers' room. He was an elderly man, wearing a pair +of very powerful spectacles, which made his eyes seem enormous. He put +his hat on the table, spread out his brief-case and at once began to put +a series of questions which he had carefully prepared.</p> + +<p>Lupin replied with extreme readiness and even volunteered a host of +particulars, which Maître Quimbel took down, as he spoke, on slips +pinned one to the other.</p> + +<p>"And so you say," continued the barrister, with his head over his +papers, "that, at that time . . ."</p> + +<p>"I say that, at that time . . ." Lupin answered.</p> + +<p>Little by little, with a series of natural and hardly perceptible +movements, he leant elbows on the table. He gradually lowered his arms, +slipped his hand under Maître Quimbel's hat, put his finger into the +leather band and took out one of those strips of paper, folded +lengthwise, which the hatter inserts between the leather and the lining +when the hat is a trifle too large.</p> + +<p>He unfolded the paper. It was a message from Doudeville, written in a +cipher agreed upon beforehand:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I am engaged as indoor servant at Maître Quimbel's. +You can answer by the same means without fear.</p> + +<p>"It was L. M., the murderer, who gave away the +envelope trick. A good thing that you foresaw this +move!"</p></div> + +<p>Hereupon followed a minute report of all the facts and comments caused +by Lupin's revelations.</p> + +<p>Lupin took from his pocket a similar strip of paper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> containing his +instructions, quietly substituted it in the place of the other and drew +his hand back again. The trick was played.</p> + +<p>And Lupin's correspondence with the <i>Grand Journal</i> was resumed without +further delay.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I apologize to the public for not keeping my promise. +The postal arrangements at the Santé Palace are +woefully inadequate.</p> + +<p>"However, we are near the end. I have in hand all the +documents that establish the truth upon an +indisputable basis. I shall not publish them for the +moment. Nevertheless, I will say this: among the +letters are some that were addressed to the chancellor +by one who, at that time, declared himself his +disciple and his admirer and who was destined, several +years after, to rid himself of that irksome tutor and +to govern alone.</p> + +<p>"I trust that I make myself sufficiently clear."</p></div> + +<p>And, on the next day:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"The letters were written during the late Emperor's +illness. I need hardly add more to prove their +importance."</p></div> + +<p>Four days of silence, and then this final note, which caused a stir that +has not yet been forgotten:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"My investigation is finished. I now know everything.</p> + +<p>"By dint of reflection, I have guessed the secret of +the hiding-place.</p> + +<p>"My friends are going to Veldenz and, in spite of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> +every obstacle, will enter the castle by a way which I +am pointing out to them.</p> + +<p>"The newspapers will then publish photographs of the +letters, of which I already know the tenor; but I +prefer to reproduce the whole text.</p> + +<p>"This certain, inevitable publication will take place +in a fortnight from to-day precisely, on the 22nd of +August next.</p> + +<p>"Between this and then I will keep silence . . . and +wait."</p></div> + +<p>The communications to the <i>Grand Journal</i> did, in fact, stop for a time, +but Lupin never ceased corresponding with his friends, "<i>via</i> the hat," +as they said among themselves. It was so simple! There was no danger. +Who could ever suspect that Maître Quimbel's hat served Lupin as a +letter-box?</p> + +<p>Every two or three mornings, whenever he called, in fact, the celebrated +advocate faithfully brought his client's letters: letters from Paris, +letters from the country, letters from Germany; all reduced and +condensed by Doudeville into a brief form and cipher language. And, an +hour later, Maître Quimbel solemnly walked away, carrying Lupin's +orders.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Now, one day, the governor of the Santé received a telephone message, +signed, "L. M.," informing him that Maître Quimbel was, in all +probability, serving Lupin as his unwitting postman and that it would be +advisable to keep an eye upon the worthy man's visits. The governor told +Maître Quimbel, who thereupon resolved to bring his junior with him.</p> + +<p>So, once again, in spite of all Lupin's efforts, in spite of his fertile +powers of invention, in spite of the marvels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> of ingenuity which he +renewed after each defeat, once again Lupin found himself cut off from +communication with the outside world by the infernal genius of his +formidable adversary. And he found himself thus cut off at the most +critical moment, at the solemn minute when, from his cell, he was +playing his last trump-card against the coalesced forces that were +overwhelming him so terribly.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>On the 13th of August, as he sat facing the two counsels, his attention +was attracted by a newspaper in which some of Maître Quimbel's papers +were wrapped up.</p> + +<p>He saw a heading in very large type</p> + +<p class="center bigtext"><b>"813"</b></p> + +<p>The sub-headings were:</p> + +<p class="center">"A FRESH MURDER</p> + +<p class="center">"THE EXCITEMENT IN GERMANY</p> + +<p class="center">"HAS THE SECRET OF THE 'APOON' BEEN DISCOVERED?"</p> + +<p>Lupin turned pale with anguish. Below he read the words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Two sensational telegrams reach us at the moment of +going to press.</p> + +<p>"The body of an old man has been found near Augsburg, +with his throat cut with a knife. The police have +succeeded in identifying the victim: it is Steinweg, +the man mentioned in the Kesselbach case.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span>"On the other hand, a correspondent telegraphs that +the famous English detective, Holmlock Shears, has +been hurriedly summoned to Cologne. He will there meet +the Emperor; and they will both proceed to Veldenz +Castle.</p> + +<p>"Holmlock Shears is said to have undertaken to +discover the secret of the 'APOON.'</p> + +<p>"If he succeeds, it will mean the pitiful failure of +the incomprehensible campaign which Arsène Lupin has +been conducting for the past month in so strange a +fashion."</p></div> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Perhaps public curiosity was never so much stirred as by the duel +announced to take place between Shears and Lupin, an invisible duel in +the circumstances, an anonymous duel, one might say, in which everything +would happen in the dark, in which people would be able to judge only by +the final results, and yet an impressive duel, because of all the +scandal that circled around the adventure and because of the stakes in +dispute between the two irreconcilable enemies, now once more opposed to +each other.</p> + +<p>And it was a question not of small private interests, of insignificant +burglaries, of trumpery individual passions, but of a matter of really +world-wide importance, involving the politics of the three great western +nations and capable of disturbing the peace of the world.</p> + +<p>People waited anxiously; and no one knew exactly what he was waiting +for. For, after all, if the detective came out victorious in the duel, +if he found the letters, who would ever know? What proof would any one +have of his triumph?</p> + +<p>In the main, all hopes were centred on Lupin, on his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> well-known habit +of calling the public to witness his acts. What was he going to do? How +could he avert the frightful danger that threatened him? Was he even +aware of it?</p> + +<p>Those were the questions which men asked themselves.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Between the four walls of his cell, prisoner 14 asked himself pretty +nearly the same questions; and he for his part, was not stimulated by +idle curiosity, but by real uneasiness, by constant anxiety. He felt +himself irrevocably alone, with impotent hands, an impotent will, an +impotent brain. It availed him nothing that he was able, ingenious, +fearless, heroic. The struggle was being carried on without him. His +part was now finished. He had joined all the pieces and set all the +springs of the great machine that was to produce, that was, in a manner +of speaking, automatically to manufacture his liberty; and it was +impossible for him to make a single movement to improve and supervise +his handiwork.</p> + +<p>At the date fixed, the machine would start working. Between now and +then, a thousand adverse incidents might spring up, a thousand obstacles +arise, without his having the means to combat those incidents or remove +those obstacles.</p> + +<p>Lupin spent the unhappiest hours of his life at that time. He doubted +himself. He wondered whether his existence would be buried for good in +the horror of a jail. Had he not made a mistake in his calculations? Was +it not childish to believe that the event that was to set him free would +happen on the appointed date?</p> + +<p>"Madness!" he cried. "My argument is false. . . . How can I expect such +a concurrence of circumstances?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> There will be some little fact that +will destroy all . . . the inevitable grain of sand. . . ."</p> + +<p>Steinweg's death and the disappearance of the documents which the old +man was to make over to him did not trouble him greatly. The documents +he could have done without in case of need; and, with the few words +which Steinweg had told him, he was able, by dint of guess-work and his +native genius, to reconstruct what the Emperor's letters contained and +to draw up the plan of battle that would lead to victory. But he thought +of Holmlock Shears, who was over there now, in the very centre of the +battlefield, and who was seeking and who would find the letters, thus +demolishing the edifice so patiently built up.</p> + +<p>And he thought of "the other one," the implacable enemy, lurking round +the prison, hidden in the prison, perhaps, who guessed his most secret +plans even before they were hatched in the mystery of his thought.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The 17th of August! . . . The 18th of August! . . . The 19th! . . . Two +more days. . . . Two centuries rather! Oh, the interminable minutes! +. . .</p> + +<p>Lupin, usually so calm, so entirely master of himself, so ingenious at +providing matter for his own amusement, was feverish, exultant and +depressed by turns, powerless against the enemy, mistrusting everything +and everybody, morose.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The 20th of August! . . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He would have wished to act and he could not. Whatever he did, it was +impossible for him to hasten the hour of the catastrophe. This +catastrophe would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> take place or would not take place; but Lupin would +not know for certain until the last hour of the last day was spent to +the last minute. Then—and then alone—he would know of the definite +failure of his scheme.</p> + +<p>"The inevitable failure," he kept on repeating to himself. "Success +depends upon circumstances far too subtle and can be obtained only by +methods far too psychological. . . . There is no doubt that I am +deceiving myself as to the value and the range of my weapons. . . . And +yet . . ."</p> + +<p>Hope returned to him. He weighed his chances. They suddenly seemed to +him real and formidable. The fact was going to happen as he had foreseen +it happening and for the very reasons which he had expected. It was +inevitable. . . .</p> + +<p>Yes, inevitable. Unless, indeed, Shears discovered the hiding-place. +. . .</p> + +<p>And again he thought of Shears; and again an immense sense of +discouragement overwhelmed him.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The last day. . . .</p> + +<p>He woke late, after a night of bad dreams.</p> + +<p>He saw nobody that day, neither the examining magistrate nor his +counsel.</p> + +<p>The afternoon dragged along slowly and dismally, and the evening came, +the murky evening of the cells. . . . He was in a fever. His heart beat +in his chest like the clapper of a bell.</p> + +<p>And the minutes passed, irretrievably. . . .</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock, nothing. At ten o'clock, nothing.</p> + +<p>With all his nerves tense as the string of a bow, he listened to the +vague prison sounds, tried to catch through those inexorable walls all +that might trickle in from the life outside.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span>Oh, how he would have liked to stay the march of time and to give +destiny a little more leisure!</p> + +<p>But what was the good? Was everything not finished? . . .</p> + +<p>"Oh," he cried, "I am going mad! If all this were only over . . . that +would be better. I can begin again, differently. . . . I shall try +something else . . . but I can't go on like this, I can't go on. . . ."</p> + +<p>He held his head in his hands, pressing it with all his might, locking +himself within himself and concentrating his whole mind upon one +subject, as though he wished to provoke, as though he wished to create +the formidable, stupefying, inadmissible event to which he had attached +his independence and his fortune:</p> + +<p>"It must happen," he muttered, "it must; and it must, not because I wish +it, but because it is logical. And it shall happen . . . it shall +happen. . . ."</p> + +<p>He beat his skull with his fists; and delirious words rose to his lips. +. . .</p> + +<p>The key grated in the lock. In his frenzy, he had not heard the sound of +footsteps in the corridor; and now, suddenly, a ray of light penetrated +into his cell and the door opened.</p> + +<p>Three men entered.</p> + +<p>Lupin had not a moment of surprise.</p> + +<p>The unheard-of miracle was being worked; and this at once seemed to him +natural and normal, in perfect agreement with truth and justice.</p> + +<p>But a rush of pride flooded his whole being. At this minute he really +received a clear sensation of his own strength and intelligence. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>"Shall I switch on the light?" asked one of the three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> men, in whom +Lupin recognized the governor of the prison.</p> + +<p>"No," replied the taller of his companions, speaking in a foreign +accent. "This lantern will do."</p> + +<p>"Shall I go?"</p> + +<p>"Act according to your duty, sir," said the same individual.</p> + +<p>"My instructions from the prefect of police are to comply entirely with +your wishes."</p> + +<p>"In that case, sir, it would be preferable that you should withdraw."</p> + +<p>M. Borély went away, leaving the door half open, and remained outside, +within call.</p> + +<p>The visitor exchanged a few words with the one who had not yet spoken; +and Lupin vainly tried to distinguish his features in the shade. He saw +only two dark forms, clad in wide motoring-cloaks and wearing caps with +the flaps lowered.</p> + +<p>"Are you Arsène Lupin?" asked the man, turning the light of the lantern +full on his face.</p> + +<p>He smiled:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am the person known as Arsène Lupin, at present a prisoner in +the Santé, cell 14, second division."</p> + +<p>"Was it you," continued the visitor, "who published in the <i>Grand +Journal</i> a series of more or less fanciful notes, in which there is a +question of a so-called collection of letters . . . ?"</p> + +<p>Lupin interrupted him.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, sir, but, before pursuing this conversation, the +object of which, between ourselves, is none too clear to me, I should be +much obliged if you would tell me to whom I have the honour of +speaking."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span>"Absolutely unnecessary," replied the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely essential," declared Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"For reasons of politeness, sir. You know my name and I do not know +yours; this implies a disregard of good form which I cannot suffer."</p> + +<p>The stranger lost patience:</p> + +<p>"The mere fact that the governor of the prison brought us here shows +. . ."</p> + +<p>"That M. Borély does not know his manners," said Lupin. "M. Borély +should have introduced us to each other. We are equals here, sir: it is +no case of a superior and an inferior, of a prisoner and a visitor who +condescends to come and see him. There are two men here; and one of +those two men has a hat on his head, which he ought not to have."</p> + +<p>"Now look here . . ."</p> + +<p>"Take the lesson as you please, sir," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>The stranger came closer to him and tried to speak.</p> + +<p>"The hat first," said Lupin, "the hat. . . ."</p> + +<p>"You shall listen to me!"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Matters were becoming virulent, stupidly. The second stranger, the one +who had kept silent, placed his hand on his companion's shoulder and +said, in German:</p> + +<p>"Leave him to me."</p> + +<p>"Why, it was understood . . ."</p> + +<p>"Hush . . . and go away!"</p> + +<p>"Leaving you alone?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But the door?"</p> + +<p>"Shut it and walk away."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>"But this man . . . you know who he is. . . . Arsène Lupin. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Go away!"</p> + +<p>The other went out, cursing under his breath.</p> + +<p>"Pull the door!" cried the second visitor. "Harder than that. . . . +Altogether! . . . That's right. . . ."</p> + +<p>Then he turned, took the lantern and raised it slowly:</p> + +<p>"Shall I tell you who I am?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No," replied Lupin.</p> + +<p>"And why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I know."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>"You are the visitor I was expecting."</p> + +<p>"I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">CHARLEMAGNE</span></h2> + + +<p>"Silence!" said the stranger, sharply. "Don't use that word."</p> + +<p>"Then what shall I call Your . . ."</p> + +<p>"Call me nothing."</p> + +<p>They were both silent; and this moment of respite was not one of those +which go before the struggle of two adversaries ready for the fray. The +stranger strode to and fro with the air of a master accustomed to +command and to be obeyed. Lupin stood motionless. He had abandoned his +usual provocative attitude and his sarcastic smile. He waited, gravely +and deferentially. But, down in the depths of his being, he revelled, +eagerly, madly, in the marvellous situation in which he found himself +placed: here, in his cell, he, a prisoner; he, the adventurer; he, the +swindler, the burglar; he, Arsène Lupin . . . face to face with that +demi-god of the modern world, that formidable entity, the heir of Cæsar +and of Charlemagne.</p> + +<p>He was intoxicated for a moment with the sense of his own power. The +tears came to his eyes when he thought of his triumph. . . .</p> + +<p>The stranger stood still.</p> + +<p>And at once, with the very first sentence, they came to the immediate +point:</p> + +<p>"To-morrow is the 22nd of August. The letters are to be published +to-morrow, are they not?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span>"To-night, in two hours from now, my friends are to hand in to the +<i>Grand Journal</i>, not the letters themselves, but an exact list of the +letters, with the Grand-duke Hermann's annotations."</p> + +<p>"That list shall not be handed in."</p> + +<p>"It shall not be."</p> + +<p>"You will give it to me."</p> + +<p>"It shall be placed in the hands of Your . . . in your hands."</p> + +<p>"Likewise, all the letters?"</p> + +<p>"Likewise, all the letters."</p> + +<p>"Without any of them being photographed?"</p> + +<p>"Without any of them being photographed."</p> + +<p>The stranger spoke in a very calm voice, containing not the least accent +of entreaty nor the least inflection of authority. He neither ordered +nor requested; he stated the inevitable actions of Arsène Lupin. Things +would happen as he said. And they would happen, whatever Arsène Lupin's +demands should be, at whatever price he might value the performance of +those actions. The conditions were accepted beforehand.</p> + +<p>"By Jove," said Lupin to himself, "that's jolly clever of him! If he +leaves it to my generosity, I am a ruined man!"</p> + +<p>The very way in which the conversation opened, the frankness of the +words employed, the charm of voice and manner all pleased him +infinitely.</p> + +<p>He pulled himself together, lest he should relent and abandon all the +advantages which he had conquered so fiercely.</p> + +<p>And the stranger continued:</p> + +<p>"Have you read the letters?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span>"But some one you know has read them?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"In that case . . ."</p> + +<p>"I have the grand-duke's list and his notes. Moreover, I know the +hiding-place where he put all his papers."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not take them before this?"</p> + +<p>"I did not know the secret of the hiding-place until I came here. My +friends are on the way there now."</p> + +<p>"The castle is guarded. It is occupied by two hundred of my most trusty +men."</p> + +<p>"Ten thousand would not be sufficient."</p> + +<p>After a minute's reflection, the visitor asked:</p> + +<p>"How do you know the secret?"</p> + +<p>"I guessed it."</p> + +<p>"But you had other elements of information which the papers did not +publish?"</p> + +<p>"No, none at all."</p> + +<p>"And yet I had the castle searched for four days."</p> + +<p>"Holmlock Shears looked in the wrong place."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" said the stranger to himself. "It's an odd thing, an odd thing! +. . ." And, to Lupin, "You are sure that your supposition is correct?"</p> + +<p>"It is not a supposition: it is a certainty."</p> + +<p>"So much the better," muttered the visitor. "There will be no rest until +those papers cease to exist."</p> + +<p>And, placing himself in front of Arsène Lupin:</p> + +<p>"How much?"</p> + +<p>"What?" said Lupin, taken aback.</p> + +<p>"How much for the papers? How much do you ask to reveal the secret?"</p> + +<p>He waited for Lupin to name a figure. He suggested one himself:</p> + +<p>"Fifty thousand? . . . A hundred thousand?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span>And, when Lupin did not reply, he said, with a little hesitation:</p> + +<p>"More? Two hundred thousand? Very well! I agree."</p> + +<p>Lupin smiled and, in a low voice, said:</p> + +<p>"It is a handsome figure. But is it not likely that some sovereign, let +us say, the King of England, would give as much as a million? In all +sincerity?"</p> + +<p>"I believe so."</p> + +<p>"And that those letters are priceless to the Emperor, that they are +worth two million quite as easily as two hundred thousand francs . . . +three million as easily as two?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"And, if necessary, the Emperor would give that three million francs?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then it will not be difficult to come to an arrangement."</p> + +<p>"On that basis?" cried the stranger, not without some alarm.</p> + +<p>Lupin smiled again:</p> + +<p>"On that basis, no. . . . I am not looking for money. I want something +else, something that is worth more to me than any number of millions."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"My liberty."</p> + +<p>"What! Your liberty. . . . But I can do nothing. . . . That concerns +your country . . . the law. . . . I have no power."</p> + +<p>Lupin went up to him and, lowering his voice still more:</p> + +<p>"You have every power, Sire. . . . My liberty is not such an exceptional +event that they are likely to refuse you."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>"Then I should have to ask for it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Of whom?"</p> + +<p>"Of Valenglay, the prime minister."</p> + +<p>"But M. Valenglay himself can do no more than I."</p> + +<p>"He can open the doors of this prison for me."</p> + +<p>"It would cause a public outcry."</p> + +<p>"When I say, open . . . half-open would be enough . . . We should +counterfeit an escape. . . . The public so thoroughly expects it that it +would not so much as ask for an explanation."</p> + +<p>"Very well . . . but M. Valenglay will never consent. . . ."</p> + +<p>"He will consent."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because you will express the wish."</p> + +<p>"My wishes are not commands . . . to him!"</p> + +<p>"No . . . but an opportunity of making himself agreeable to the Emperor +by fulfilling them. And Valenglay is too shrewd a politician. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! Do you imagine that the French government will commit so +illegal an act for the sole pleasure of making itself agreeable to me?"</p> + +<p>"That pleasure will not be the sole one."</p> + +<p>"What will be the other?"</p> + +<p>"The pleasure of serving France by accepting the proposal which will +accompany the request for my release."</p> + +<p>"I am to make a proposal? I?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> + +<p>"What proposal?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know, but it seems to me that there is always a favorable +ground on which to come to an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> understanding . . . there are +possibilities of agreement. . . ."</p> + +<p>The stranger looked at him, without grasping his meaning. Lupin leant +forward and, as though seeking his words, as though putting an imaginary +case, said:</p> + +<p>"Let me suppose that two great countries are divided by some +insignificant question . . . that they have different points of view on +a matter of secondary importance . . . a colonial matter, for instance, +in which their self-esteem is at stake rather than their interest. . . . +Is it inconceivable that the ruler of one of those countries might come +of his own accord to treat this matter in a new spirit of conciliation +. . . and give the necessary instructions . . . so that . . ."</p> + +<p>"So that I might leave Morocco to France?" said the stranger, with a +burst of laughter.</p> + +<p>The idea which Lupin was suggesting struck him as the most comical thing +that he had ever heard; and he laughed heartily. The disparity was so +great between the object aimed at and the means proposed!</p> + +<p>"Of course, of course!" he resumed, with a vain attempt to recover his +seriousness. "Of course, it's a very original idea: the whole of modern +politics upset so that Arsène Lupin may be free! . . . The plans of the +Empire destroyed so that Arsène Lupin may continue his exploits! . . . +Why not ask me for Alsace and Lorraine at once?"</p> + +<p>"I did think of it, Sire," replied Lupin, calmly. The stranger's +merriment increased:</p> + +<p>"Splendid! And you let me off?"</p> + +<p>"This time, yes."</p> + +<p>Lupin had crossed his arms. He, too, was amusing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> himself by +exaggerating the part which he was playing; and he continued, with +affected seriousness:</p> + +<p>"A series of circumstances might one day arise which would put in my +hands the power of <i>demanding</i> and <i>obtaining</i> that restitution. When +that day comes, I shall certainly not fail to do so. For the moment, the +weapons at my disposal oblige me to be more modest. Peace in Morocco +will satisfy me."</p> + +<p>"Just that?"</p> + +<p>"Just that."</p> + +<p>"Morocco against your liberty!"</p> + +<p>"Nothing more . . . or, rather—for we must not lose sight entirely of +the main object of this conversation—or, rather, a little good will on +the part of one of the countries in question . . . and, in exchange, the +surrender of the letters which are in my power."</p> + +<p>"Those letters, those letters!" muttered the stranger irritably. "After +all, perhaps they are not so valuable. . . ."</p> + +<p>"There are some in your own hand, Sire; and you considered them valuable +enough to come to this cell. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well, what does it matter?"</p> + +<p>"But there are others of which you do not know the authorship and about +which I can give you a few particulars."</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed!" said the stranger, rather anxiously.</p> + +<p>Lupin hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Speak, speak plainly," said the stranger. "Say what you have in your +mind."</p> + +<p>In the profound silence of the cell, Lupin declared, with a certain +solemnity:</p> + +<p>"Twenty years ago a draft treaty was prepared between Germany, Great +Britain, and France."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>"That's not true! It's impossible! Who could have done such a thing?"</p> + +<p>"The Emperor's father and the Queen of England, his grandmother, both +acting under the influence of the Empress Frederick."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! I repeat, it is impossible!"</p> + +<p>"The correspondence is in the hiding-place at Veldenz Castle; and I +alone know the secret of the hiding-place."</p> + +<p>The stranger walked up and down with an agitated step. Then he stopped +short:</p> + +<p>"Is the text of the treaty included in that correspondence?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire. It is in your father's own hand."</p> + +<p>"And what does it say?"</p> + +<p>"By that treaty, France and Great Britain granted and promised Germany +an immense colonial empire, the empire which she does not at present +possess and which has become a necessity to her, in these times, to +ensure her greatness."</p> + +<p>"And what did England demand as a set-off against that empire?"</p> + +<p>"The limitation of the German fleet."</p> + +<p>"And France?"</p> + +<p>"Alsace and Lorraine."</p> + +<p>The Emperor leant against the table in silent thought. Lupin continued:</p> + +<p>"Everything was ready. The cabinets of Paris and London had been sounded +and had consented. The thing was practically done. The great treaty of +alliance was on the point of being concluded. It would have laid the +foundations of a definite and universal peace. The death of your father +destroyed that sublime dream. But I ask Your Imperial Majesty, what<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +will your people think, what will the world think, when it knows that +Frederick III., one of the heroes of 1870, a German, a pure and loyal +German, respected by all, generally admired for his nobility of +character, agreed to the restitution of Alsace-Lorraine and therefore +considered that restitution just?"</p> + +<p>He was silent for an instant leaving the problem to fix itself in its +precise terms before the Emperor's conscience, before his conscience as +a man, a son and a sovereign. Then he concluded:</p> + +<p>"Your Imperial Majesty yourself must know whether you wish or do not +wish history to record the existence of that treaty. As for me, Sire, +you can see that my humble personality counts for very little in the +discussion."</p> + +<p>A long pause followed upon Lupin's words. He waited, with his soul torn +with anguish. His whole destiny was at stake, in this minute which he +had conceived and, in a manner, produced with such effort and such +stubbornness, an historic minute, born of his brain, in which "his +humble personality," for all that he might say, weighed heavily upon the +fate of empires and the peace of the world.</p> + +<p>Opposite him, in the shadow, Cæsar stood meditating.</p> + +<p>What answer would he make? What solution would he give to the problem?</p> + +<p>He walked across the cell for a few moments, which to Lupin seemed +interminable. Then he stopped and asked:</p> + +<p>"Are there any other conditions?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire, but they are insignificant."</p> + +<p>"Name them."</p> + +<p>"I have found the son of the Grand-duke of Zwei<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span>brucken-Veldenz. The +grand-duchy must be restored to him."</p> + +<p>"Anything else?"</p> + +<p>"He loves a young girl, who loves him in her turn. She is the fairest +and the most virtuous of her sex. He must marry her."</p> + +<p>"Anything else?"</p> + +<p>"That is all."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing more?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing. Your majesty need only have this letter delivered to the +editor of the <i>Grand Journal</i>, who will then destroy, unread, the +article which he may now receive at any moment."</p> + +<p>Lupin held out the letter, with a heavy heart and a trembling hand. If +the Emperor took it, that would be a sign of his acceptance.</p> + +<p>The Emperor hesitated and then, with an abrupt movement, took the +letter, put on his hat, wrapped his cloak round him and walked out +without a word.</p> + +<p>Lupin remained for a few seconds, staggering, as though dazed. . . .</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, he fell into his chair, shouting with joy and pride. +. . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>"Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction, I am sorry to say good-bye to you +to-day."</p> + +<p>"Why, M. Lupin, are you thinking of leaving us?"</p> + +<p>"With the greatest reluctance, I assure you, Monsieur le Juge +d'Instruction. Our relations have been so very pleasant and cordial! But +all good things must come to an end. My cure at the Santé Palace is +finished. Other duties call me. I have resolved to make my escape +to-night."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span>"Then I wish you good luck, M. Lupin."</p> + +<p>"A thousand thanks, M. le Juge d'Instruction."</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin waited patiently for the hour of his escape, not without +asking himself how it would be contrived and by what means France and +Germany, uniting for the joint performance of this deserving work, would +succeed in effecting it without creating too great a scandal.</p> + +<p>Late in the afternoon, the warder told him to go to the entrance-yard. +He hurried out and was met by the governor, who handed him over to M. +Weber. M. Weber made him step into a motor-car in which somebody was +already seated.</p> + +<p>Lupin had a violent fit of laughter:</p> + +<p>"What, you, my poor old Weber! Have they let you in for this tiresome +job? Are you to be responsible for my escape? Upon my word, you are an +unlucky beggar! Oh, my poor old chap, what hard lines! First made famous +through my arrest, you are now to become immortal through my escape!"</p> + +<p>He looked at the other man:</p> + +<p>"Well, well, Monsieur le Préfet de Police, so you are in the business +too! That's a nasty thing for you, what? If you take my advice, you'll +stay in the background and leave the honor and glory to Weber! It's his +by right! . . . And he can stand a lot, the rascal!"</p> + +<p>The car travelled at a fast pace, along the Seine and through Boulogne. +At Saint-Cloud, they crossed the river.</p> + +<p>"Splendid!" cried Lupin. "We're going to Garches! You want me there, in +order to reënact the death of Altenheim. We shall go down into the +underground passage, I shall disappear and people will say that I got<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> +through another outlet, known to myself alone! Lord, how idiotic!"</p> + +<p>He seemed quite unhappy about it:</p> + +<p>"Idiotic! Idiotic in the highest degree! I blush for shame! . . . And +those are the people who govern us! . . . What an age to live in! . . . +But, you poor devils, why didn't you come to me? I'd have invented a +beautiful little escape for you, something of a miraculous nature. I had +it all ready pigeon-holed in my mind! The public would have yelled with +wonder and danced with delight. Instead of which . . . However, it's +quite true that you were given rather short notice . . . but all the +same . . ."</p> + +<p>The programme was exactly as Lupin had foreseen. They walked through the +grounds of the House of Retreat to the Pavillon Hortense. Lupin and his +two companions went down the stairs and along the underground passage. +At the end of the tunnel, the deputy-chief said:</p> + +<p>"You are free."</p> + +<p>"And there you are!" said Lupin. "Is that all? Well, my dear Weber, +thank you very much and sorry to have given you so much trouble. +Good-bye, Monsieur le Préfet; kind regards to the missus!"</p> + +<p>He climbed the stairs that led to the Villa des Glycines, raised the +trap-door and sprang into the room.</p> + +<p>A hand fell on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>Opposite him stood his first visitor of the day before, the one who had +accompanied the Emperor. There were four men with him, two on either +side.</p> + +<p>"Look here," said Lupin, "what's the meaning of this joke? I thought I +was free!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes," growled the German, in his rough voice,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> "you are free . . . +free to travel with the five of us . . . if that suits you."</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at him, for a second, with a mad longing to hit him on the +nose, just to teach him. But the five men looked devilish determined. +Their leader did not betray any exaggerated fondness for him; and it +seemed to him that the fellow would be only too pleased to resort to +extreme measures. Besides, after all, what did he care?</p> + +<p>He chuckled:</p> + +<p>"If it suits me? Why, it's the dream of my life!"</p> + +<p>A powerful covered car was waiting in the paved yard outside the villa. +Two men got into the driver's seat, two others inside, with their backs +to the motor. Lupin and the stranger sat down on the front seat.</p> + +<p>"<i>Vorwarts!</i>" cried Lupin, in German. "<i>Vorwarts nach Veldenz!</i>"</p> + +<p>The stranger said:</p> + +<p>"Silence! Those men must know nothing. Speak French. They don't know +French. But why speak at all?"</p> + +<p>"Quite right," said Lupin to himself. "Why speak at all?"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The car travelled all the evening and all night, without any incident. +Twice they stopped to take in petrol at some sleepy little town.</p> + +<p>The Germans took it in turns to watch their prisoner, who did not open +his eyes until the early morning.</p> + +<p>They stopped for breakfast at an inn on a hillside, near which stood a +sign-post. Lupin saw that they were at an equal distance from Metz and +Luxemburg.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> From there, they took a road that slanted north-east, in the +direction of Treves.</p> + +<p>Lupin said to his travelling-companion:</p> + +<p>"Am I right in believing that I have the honor of speaking to Count von +Waldemar, the Emperor's confidential friend, the one who searched +Hermann III.'s house in Dresden?"</p> + +<p>The stranger remained silent.</p> + +<p>"You're the sort of chap I can't stand at any price," muttered Lupin. +"I'll have some fun with you, one of these days. You're ugly, you're +fat, you're heavy; in short, I don't like you." And he added, aloud, +"You are wrong not to answer me, Monsieur le Comte. I was speaking in +your own interest: just as we were stepping in, I saw a motor come into +sight, behind us, on the horizon. Did you see it?"</p> + +<p>"No, why?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"Still. . . ."</p> + +<p>"No, nothing at all . . . a mere remark. . . . Besides, we are ten +minutes ahead . . . and our car is at least a forty-horse-power."</p> + +<p>"It's a sixty," said the German, looking at him uneasily from the corner +of his eye.</p> + +<p>"Oh, then we're all right!"</p> + +<p>They were climbing a little slope. When they reached the top, the count +leant out of the window:</p> + +<p>"Damn it all!" he swore.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter?" asked Lupin.</p> + +<p>The count turned to him and, in a threatening voice:</p> + +<p>"Take care! If anything happens, it will be so much the worse for you."</p> + +<p>"Oho! It seems the other's gaining on us! . . . But what are you afraid +of, my dear count? It's no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> doubt a traveller . . . perhaps even some +one they are sending to help us."</p> + +<p>"I don't want any help," growled the German.</p> + +<p>He leant out again. The car was only two or three hundred yards behind.</p> + +<p>He said to his men, pointing to Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Bind him. If he resists. . . ."</p> + +<p>He drew his revolver.</p> + +<p>"Why should I resist, O gentle Teuton?" chuckled Lupin. And he added, +while they were fastening his hands, "It is really curious to see how +people take precautions when they need not and don't when they ought to. +What the devil do you care about that motor? Accomplices of mine? What +an idea!"</p> + +<p>Without replying, the German gave orders to the driver:</p> + +<p>"To the right! . . . Slow down! . . . Let them pass. . . . If they slow +down also, stop!"</p> + +<p>But, to his great surprise, the motor seemed, on the contrary, to +increase its speed. It passed in front of the car like a whirlwind, in a +cloud of dust. Standing up at the back, leaning over the hood, which was +lowered, was a man dressed in black.</p> + +<p>He raised his arm.</p> + +<p>Two shots rang out.</p> + +<p>The count, who was blocking the whole of the left window, fell back into +the car.</p> + +<p>Before even attending to him, the two men leapt upon Lupin and finished +securing him.</p> + +<p>"Jackasses! Blockheads!" shouted Lupin, shaking with rage. "Let me go, +on the contrary! There now, we're stopping! But go after him, you silly +fools, catch him up! . . . It's the man in black, I tell you, the +murderer! . . . Oh, the idiots! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span>They gagged him. Then they attended to the count. The wound did not +appear to be serious and was soon dressed. But the patient, who was in a +very excited state, had an attack of fever and became delirious.</p> + +<p>It was eight o'clock in the morning. They were in the open country, far +from any village. The men had no information as to the exact object of +the journey. Where were they to go? Whom were they to send to?</p> + +<p>They drew up the motor beside a wood and waited. The whole day went by +in this way. It was evening before a squad of cavalry arrived, +dispatched from Treves in search of the motor-car.</p> + +<p>Two hours later, Lupin stepped out of the car, and still escorted by his +two Germans, by the light of a lantern climbed the steps of a staircase +that led to a small room with iron-barred windows.</p> + +<p>Here he spent the night.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The next morning, an officer led him, through a courtyard filled with +soldiers, to the centre of a long row of buildings that ran round the +foot of a mound covered with monumental ruins.</p> + +<p>He was shown into a large, hastily-furnished room. His visitor of two +days back was sitting at a writing-table, reading newspapers and +reports, which he marked with great strokes of red pencil:</p> + +<p>"Leave us," he said to the officer.</p> + +<p>And, going up to Lupin:</p> + +<p>"The papers."</p> + +<p>The tone was no longer the same. It was now the harsh and imperious tone +of the master who is at home and addressing an inferior . . . and such +an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> inferior! A rogue, an adventurer of the worst type, before whom he +had been obliged to humiliate himself!</p> + +<p>"The papers," he repeated.</p> + +<p>Lupin was not put out of countenance. He said, quite calmly:</p> + +<p>"They are in Veldenz Castle."</p> + +<p>"We are in the out-buildings of the castle. Those are the ruins of +Veldenz, over there."</p> + +<p>"The papers are in the ruins."</p> + +<p>"Let us go to them. Show me the way."</p> + +<p>Lupin did not budge.</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Sire, it is not as simple as you think. It takes some time to +bring into play the elements which are needed to open that +hiding-place."</p> + +<p>"How long do you want?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-four hours."</p> + +<p>An angry movement, quickly suppressed:</p> + +<p>"Oh, there was no question of that between us!"</p> + +<p>"Nothing was specified, neither that nor the little trip which Your +Imperial Majesty made me take in the charge of half a dozen of your +body-guard. I am to hand over the papers, that is all."</p> + +<p>"And I am not to give you your liberty until you do hand over those +papers."</p> + +<p>"It is a question of confidence, Sire. I should have considered myself +quite as much bound to produce the papers if I had been free on leaving +prison; and Your Imperial Majesty may be sure that I should not have +walked off with them. The only difference is that they would now be in +your possession. For we have lost a day, Sire. And a day, in this +business<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> . . . is a day too much. . . . Only, there it is, you should +have had confidence."</p> + +<p>The Emperor gazed with a certain amazement at that outcast, that +vagabond, who seemed vexed that any one should doubt his word.</p> + +<p>He did not reply, but rang the bell:</p> + +<p>"The officer on duty," he commanded.</p> + +<p>Count von Waldemar appeared, looking very white.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's you, Waldemar? So you're all right again?"</p> + +<p>"At your service, Sire."</p> + +<p>"Take five men with you . . . the same men, as you're sure of them. +Don't leave this . . . gentleman until to-morrow morning." He looked at +his watch. "Until to-morrow morning at ten o'clock. No, I will give him +till twelve. You will go wherever he thinks fit to go, you will do +whatever he tells you to do. In short, you are at his disposal. At +twelve o'clock, I will join you. If, at the last stroke of twelve, he +has not handed me the bundle of letters, you will put him back in your +car and, without losing a second, take him straight to the Santé +Prison."</p> + +<p>"If he tries to escape. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Take your own course."</p> + +<p>He went out.</p> + +<p>Lupin helped himself to a cigar from the table and threw himself into an +easy chair:</p> + +<p>"Good! I just love that way of going to work. It is frank and explicit."</p> + +<p>The count had brought in his men. He said to Lupin:</p> + +<p>"March!"</p> + +<p>Lupin lit his cigar and did not move.</p> + +<p>"Bind his hands," said the count.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span>And, when the order was executed, he repeated:</p> + +<p>"Now then, march!"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean by no?"</p> + +<p>"I'm wondering."</p> + +<p>"What about?"</p> + +<p>"Where on earth that hiding-place can be!"</p> + +<p>The count gave a start and Lupin chuckled:</p> + +<p>"For the best part of the story is that I have not the remotest idea +where that famous hiding-place is nor how to set about discovering it. +What do you say to that, my dear Waldemar, eh? Funny, isn't it? . . . +Not the very remotest idea! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE EMPEROR'S LETTERS</span></h2> + + +<p>The ruins of Veldenz are well known to all who visit the banks of the +Rhine and the Moselle. They comprise the remains of the old feudal +castle, built in 1377 by the Archbishop of Fistingen, an enormous +dungeon-keep, gutted by Turenne's troops, and the walls, left standing +in their entirety, of a large Renascence palace, in which the +grand-dukes of Zweibrucken lived for three centuries.</p> + +<p>It was this palace that was sacked by Hermann II.'s rebellious subjects. +The empty windows display two hundred yawning cavities on the four +frontages. All the wainscoting, the hangings and most of the furniture +were burnt. You walk on the scorched girders of the floors; and the sky +can be seen at intervals through the ruined ceilings.</p> + +<p>Lupin, accompanied by his escort, went over the whole building in two +hours' time:</p> + +<p>"I am very pleased with you, my dear count. I don't think I ever came +across a guide so well posted in his subject, nor—which is rare—so +silent. And now, if you don't mind, we will go to lunch."</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, Lupin knew no more than at the first moment and his +perplexity did nothing but increase. To obtain his release from prison +and to strike the imagination of his visitor, he had bluffed, pretending +to know everything; and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> was still seeking for the best place at +which to begin to seek.</p> + +<p>"Things look bad," he said to himself, from time to time. "Things are +looking about as bad as they can look."</p> + +<p>His brain, moreover, was not as clear as usual. He was obsessed by an +idea, the idea of "the other one," the murderer, the assassin, whom he +knew to be still clinging to his footsteps.</p> + +<p>How did that mysterious personality come to be on his tracks? How had he +heard of Lupin's leaving prison and of his rush to Luxemburg and +Germany? Was it a miraculous intuition? Or was it the outcome of +definite information? But, if so, at what price, by means of what +promises or threats was he able to obtain it?</p> + +<p>All these questions haunted Lupin's mind.</p> + +<p>At about four o'clock, however, after a fresh walk through the ruins, in +the course of which he had examined the stones, measured the thickness +of the walls, investigated the shape and appearance of things, all to no +purpose, he asked the count:</p> + +<p>"Is there no one left who was in the service of the last grand-duke who +lived in the castle?"</p> + +<p>"All the servants of that time went different ways. Only one of them +continued to live in the district."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"He died two years ago."</p> + +<p>"Any children?"</p> + +<p>"He had a son, who married and who was dismissed, with his wife, for +disgraceful conduct. They left their youngest child behind, a little +girl, Isilda."</p> + +<p>"Where does she live?"</p> + +<p>"She lives here, at the end of these buildings. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> old grandfather +used to act as a guide to visitors, in the days when the castle was +still open to the public. Little Isilda has lived in the ruins ever +since. She was allowed to remain out of pity. She is a poor innocent, +who is hardly able to talk and does not know what she says."</p> + +<p>"Was she always like that?"</p> + +<p>"It seems not. Her reason went gradually, when she was about ten years +old."</p> + +<p>"In consequence of a sorrow, of a fright?"</p> + +<p>"No, for no direct cause, I am told. The father was a drunkard and the +mother committed suicide in a fit of madness."</p> + +<p>Lupin reflected and said:</p> + +<p>"I should like to see her."</p> + +<p>The count gave a rather curious smile:</p> + +<p>"You can see her, by all means."</p> + +<p>She happened to be in one of the rooms which had been set apart for her. +Lupin was surprised to find an attractive little creature, too thin, too +pale, but almost pretty, with her fair hair and her delicate face. Her +sea-green eyes had the vague, dreamy look of the eyes of blind people.</p> + +<p>He put a few questions to which Isilda gave no answer and others to +which she replied with incoherent sentences, as though she understood +neither the meaning of the words addressed to her nor those which she +herself uttered.</p> + +<p>He persisted, taking her very gently by the hand and asking her in an +affectionate tone about the time when she still had her reason, about +her grandfather, about the memories which might be called up by her life +as a child playing freely among the majestic ruins of the castle.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span>She stood silent, with staring eyes; impassive, any emotion which she +might have felt was not enough to rouse her slumbering intelligence.</p> + +<p>Lupin asked for a pencil and paper and wrote down the number 813.</p> + +<p>The count smiled again.</p> + +<p>"Look here, what are you laughing at?" cried Lupin, irritably.</p> + +<p>"Nothing . . . nothing. . . . I'm very much interested, that's all. +. . ."</p> + +<p>Isilda looked at the sheet of paper, when he showed it to her, and +turned away her head, with a vacant air.</p> + +<p>"No bite!" said the count, satirically.</p> + +<p>Lupin wrote the letters "APOON."</p> + +<p>Isilda paid no more attention than before.</p> + +<p>He did not give up the experiment, but kept on writing the same letters, +each time watching the girl's face.</p> + +<p>She did not stir, but kept her eyes fixed on the paper with an +indifference which nothing seemed to disturb. Then, all at once, she +seized the pencil, snatched the last sheet out of Lupin's hands and, as +though acting under a sudden inspiration, wrote two "L's" in the middle +of a space left open by Lupin.</p> + +<p>He felt a thrill.</p> + +<p>A word had been formed: "APOLLON."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Isilda clung to both pencil and paper and, with clutching +fingers and a strained face, was struggling to make her hand submit to +the hesitating orders of her poor little brain.</p> + +<p>Lupin waited, feverishly.</p> + +<p>She rapidly wrote another word, the word "DIANE."</p> + +<p>"Another word! . . . Another word!" shouted Lupin.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span>She twisted her fingers round the pencil, broke the lead, made a big "J" +with the stump and, now utterly exhausted, dropped the pencil.</p> + +<p>"Another word! I must have another word!" said Lupin, in a tone of +command, catching her by the arm.</p> + +<p>But he saw by her eyes, which had once more become indifferent, that +that fleeting gleam of intelligence could not shine out again.</p> + +<p>"Let us go," he said.</p> + +<p>He was walking away, when she ran after him and stood in his path. He +stopped:</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>She held out the palm of her hand.</p> + +<p>"What? Money? . . . Is she in the habit of begging?" he asked the count.</p> + +<p>"No," said Waldemar, "and I can't understand."</p> + +<p>Isilda took two gold coins from her pocket and chinked them together, +gleefully.</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at them. They were French coins, quite new, bearing the +date of that year.</p> + +<p>"Where did you get these?" asked Lupin, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"French money! . . . Who gave it you? . . . And when? . . . Was it +to-day? Speak! . . . Answer! . . ." He shrugged his shoulders. "Fool +that I am! As though she could answer! . . . My dear count, would you +mind lending me forty marks? . . . Thanks . . . Here, Isilda, that's for +you."</p> + +<p>She took the two coins, jingled them with the others in the palm of her +hand and then, putting out her arm, pointed to the ruins of the +Renascence palace, with a gesture that seemed to call attention more +particularly to the left wing and to the top of that wing.</p> + +<p>Was it a mechanical movement? Or must it be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> looked upon as a grateful +acknowledgment for the two gold coins?</p> + +<p>He glanced at the count. Waldemar was smiling again.</p> + +<p>"What makes the brute keep on grinning like that?" said Lupin to +himself. "Any one would think that he was having a game with me."</p> + +<p>He went to the palace on the off-chance, attended by his escort.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The ground-floor consisted of a number of large reception-rooms, running +one into the other and containing the few pieces of furniture that had +escaped the fire.</p> + +<p>On the first floor, on the north side, was a long gallery, out of which +twelve handsome rooms opened all exactly alike.</p> + +<p>There was a similar gallery on the second floor, but with twenty-four +smaller rooms, also resembling one another. All these apartments were +empty, dilapidated, wretched to look at.</p> + +<p>Above, there was nothing. The attics had been burnt down.</p> + +<p>For an hour, Lupin walked, ran, rushed about indefatigably, with his +eyes on the look-out.</p> + +<p>When it began to grow dusk, he hurried to one of his twelve rooms on the +first floor, as if he were selecting it for special reasons known to +himself alone. He was rather surprised to find the Emperor there, +smoking and seated in an arm-chair which he had sent for.</p> + +<p>Taking no notice of his presence, Lupin began an inspection of the room, +according to the methods which he was accustomed to employ in such +cases, dividing the room into sections, each of which he examined in +turn.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>After twenty minutes of this work, he said:</p> + +<p>"I must beg you, Sire, to be good enough to move. There is a fireplace +here. . . ."</p> + +<p>The Emperor tossed his head:</p> + +<p>"Is it really necessary for me to move?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire, this fireplace . . ."</p> + +<p>"The fireplace is just the same as the others and the room is no +different from its fellows."</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at the Emperor without understanding. The Emperor rose and +said, with a laugh:</p> + +<p>"I think, M. Lupin, that you have been making just a little fun of me."</p> + +<p>"How do you mean, Sire?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it's hardly worth mentioning! You obtained your release on the +condition of handing me certain papers in which I am interested and you +have not the smallest notion as to where they are. I have been +thoroughly—what do you call it, in French?—<i>roulé</i> 'done'!"</p> + +<p>"Do you think so, Sire?"</p> + +<p>"Why, what a man knows he doesn't have to hunt for! And you have been +hunting for ten good hours! Doesn't it strike you as a case for an +immediate return to prison?"</p> + +<p>Lupin seemed thunderstruck:</p> + +<p>"Did not Your Imperial Majesty fix twelve o'clock to-morrow as the last +limit?"</p> + +<p>"Why wait?"</p> + +<p>"Why? Well, to allow me to complete my work!"</p> + +<p>"Your work? But it's not even begun, M. Lupin."</p> + +<p>"There Your Imperial Majesty is mistaken."</p> + +<p>"Prove it . . . and I will wait until to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Lupin reflected and, speaking in a serious tone:</p> + +<p>"Since Your Imperial Majesty requires proofs in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> order to have +confidence in me, I will furnish them. The twelve rooms leading out of +this gallery each bear a different name, which is inscribed in +French—obviously by a French decorative artist—over the various doors. +One of the inscriptions, less damaged by the fire than the others, +caught my eye as I was passing along the gallery. I examined the other +doors: all of them bore hardly legible traces of names caned over the +pediments. Thus I found a 'D' and an 'E' the first and last letters of +'Diane.' I found an 'A' and 'LON' which pointed to 'Apollon.' These are +the French equivalents of Diana and Apollo, both of them mythological +deities. The other inscriptions presented similar characteristics. I +discovered traces of such names as Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Saturn and +so on. This part of the problem was solved: each of the twelve rooms +bears the name of an Olympian god or goddess; and the letters APOON, +completed by Isilda, point to the Apollo Room or Salle d'Apollon. So it +is here, in the room in which we now are, that the letters are hidden. A +few minutes, perhaps, will suffice in which to discover them."</p> + +<p>"A few minutes or a few years . . . or even longer!" said the Emperor, +laughing.</p> + +<p>He seemed greatly amused; and the count also displayed a coarse +merriment.</p> + +<p>Lupin asked:</p> + +<p>"Would Your Imperial Majesty be good enough to explain?"</p> + +<p>"M. Lupin, the exciting investigation which you have conducted to-day +and of which you are telling us the brilliant results has already been +made by me . . . yes, a fortnight ago, in the company of your friend +Holmlock Shears. Together we questioned little Isilda;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> together, we +employed the same method in dealing with her that you did; and together +we observed the names in the gallery and got as far as this room, the +Apollo Room."</p> + +<p>Lupin turned livid. He spluttered:</p> + +<p>"Oh, did Shears get . . . as far as . . . this?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, after four days' searching. True, it did not help us, for we found +nothing. All the same, I know that the letters are not here."</p> + +<p>Trembling with rage, wounded in his innermost pride, Lupin fired up +under the gibe, as though he had been lashed with a whip. He had never +felt humiliated to such a degree as this. In this fury, he could have +strangled the fat Waldemar, whose laughter incensed him. Containing +himself with an effort, he said:</p> + +<p>"It took Shears four days, Sire, and me only four hours. And I should +have required even less, if I had not been thwarted in my search."</p> + +<p>"And by whom, bless my soul? By my faithful count? I hope he did not +dare . . . !"</p> + +<p>"No, Sire, but by the most terrible and powerful of my enemies, by that +infernal being who killed his own accomplice Altenheim."</p> + +<p>"Is he here? Do you think so?" exclaimed the Emperor, with an agitation +which showed that he was familiar with every detail of the dramatic +story.</p> + +<p>"He is wherever I am. He threatens me with his constant hatred. It was +he who guessed that I was M. Lenormand, the chief of the +detective-service; it was he who had me put in prison; it was he, again, +who pursued me, on the day when I came out. Yesterday<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span>, aiming at me in +the motor, he wounded Count von Waldemar."</p> + +<p>"But how do you know, how can you be sure that he is at Veldenz?"</p> + +<p>"Isilda has received two gold coins, two French coins!"</p> + +<p>"And what is he here for? With what object?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know, Sire, but he is the very spirit of evil. Your Imperial +Majesty must be on your guard: he is capable of anything and +everything."</p> + +<p>"It is impossible! I have two hundred men in the ruins. He cannot have +entered. He would have been seen."</p> + +<p>"Some one has seen him, beyond a doubt."</p> + +<p>"Who?"</p> + +<p>"Isilda."</p> + +<p>"Let her be questioned! Waldemar, take your prisoner to where the girl +is."</p> + +<p>Lupin showed his bound hands:</p> + +<p>"It will be a tough battle. Can I fight like this?"</p> + +<p>The Emperor said to the count:</p> + +<p>"Unfasten him. . . . And keep me informed."</p> + +<p>In this way, by a sudden effort, bringing the hateful vision of the +murder into the discussion, boldly, without evidence, Arsène Lupin +gained time and resumed the direction of the search:</p> + +<p>"Sixteen hours still," he said to himself, "it's more than I want."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He reached the premises occupied by Isilda, at the end of the old +out-buildings. These buildings served as barracks for the two hundred +soldiers guarding the ruins; and the whole of this, the left wing, was +reserved for the officers.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span>Isilda was not there. The count sent two of his men to look for her. +They came back. No one had seen the girl.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, she could not have left the precincts of the ruins. As for +the Renascence palace, it was, so to speak, invested by one-half of the +troops; and no one was able to obtain admittance.</p> + +<p>At last, the wife of a subaltern who lived in the next house declared +that she had been sitting at her window all day and that the girl had +not been out.</p> + +<p>"If she hadn't gone out," said Waldemar, "she would be here now: and she +is not here."</p> + +<p>Lupin observed:</p> + +<p>"Is there a floor above?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, but from this room to the upper floor there is no staircase."</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is."</p> + +<p>He pointed to a little door opening on a dark recess. In the shadow, he +saw the first treads of a staircase as steep as a ladder.</p> + +<p>"Please, my dear count," he said to Waldemar, who wanted to go up, "let +me have the honor."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"There's danger."</p> + +<p>He ran up and at once sprang into a low and narrow loft. A cry escaped +him:</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the count, emerging in his turn.</p> + +<p>"Here . . . on the floor. . . . Isilda. . . ."</p> + +<p>He knelt down beside the girl, but, at the first glance, saw that she +was simply stunned and that she bore no trace of a wound, except a few +scratches on the wrists and hands. A handkerchief was stuffed into her +mouth by way of a gag.</p> + +<p>"That's it," he said. "The murderer was here with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> her. When we came, he +struck her a blow with his fist and gagged her so that we should not +hear her moans."</p> + +<p>"But how did he get away?"</p> + +<p>"Through here . . . look . . . there is a passage connecting all the +attics on the first floor."</p> + +<p>"And from there?"</p> + +<p>"From there, he went down the stairs of one of the other dwellings."</p> + +<p>"But he would have been seen!"</p> + +<p>"Pooh, who knows? The creature's invisible. Never mind! Send your men to +look. Tell them to search all the attics and all the ground-floor +lodgings."</p> + +<p>He hesitated. Should he also go in pursuit of the murderer?</p> + +<p>But a sound brought him back to the girl's side. She had got up from the +floor and a dozen pieces of gold money had dropped from her hands. He +examined them. They were all French.</p> + +<p>"Ah," he said, "I was right! Only, why so much gold? In reward for +what?"</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he caught sight of a book on the floor and stooped to pick it +up. But the girl darted forward with a quicker movement, seized the book +and pressed it to her bosom with a fierce energy, as though prepared to +defend it against any attempt to take hold of it.</p> + +<p>"That's it," he said. "The money was offered her for the book, but she +refused to part with it. Hence the scratches on the hands. The +interesting thing would be to know why the murderer wished to possess +the book. Was he able to look through it first?"</p> + +<p>He said to Waldemar:</p> + +<p>"My dear count, please give the order."</p> + +<p>Waldemar made a sign to his men. Three of them threw themselves on the +girl and, after a hard tussle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> in which the poor thing stamped, writhed +and screamed with rage, they took the volume from her.</p> + +<p>"Gently, child," said Lupin, "be calm. . . . It's all in a good cause. +. . . Keep an eye on her, will you? Meanwhile, I will have a look at the +object in dispute."</p> + +<p>It was an odd volume of Montesquieu's <i>Voyage au temple de Guide</i>, in a +binding at least a century old. But Lupin had hardly opened it before he +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I say, I say, this is queer! There is a sheet of parchment stuck on +each right hand page; and those sheets are covered with a very close, +small handwriting."</p> + +<p>He read, at the beginning:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i>Diary of the Chevalier <span class="smcap">Gilles de Malrêche</span>, French +servant to His Royal Highness the Prince of +<span class="smcap">Zweibruckenveldenz</span>, begun in the Year of Our Lord +<span class="upright">1794</span>.</i>"</p></div> + +<p>"What! Does it say that?" asked the count.</p> + +<p>"What surprises you?"</p> + +<p>"Isilda's grandfather, the old man who died two years ago, was called +Malreich, which is the German form of the same name."</p> + +<p>"Capital! Isilda's grandfather must have been the son or the grandson of +the French servant who wrote his diary in an odd volume of Montesquieu's +works. And that is how the diary came into Isilda's hands."</p> + +<p>He turned the pages at random:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i><span class="upright">15</span> September, <span class="upright">1796</span>.</i> His Royal Highness went +hunting.</p> + +<p>"<i><span class="upright">20</span> September, <span class="upright">1796</span>.</i> His Royal Highness went out +riding. He was mounted on Cupidon."</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span>"By Jove!" muttered Lupin. "So far, it's not very exciting."</p> + +<p>He turned over a number of pages and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i><span class="upright">12</span> March, <span class="upright">1803</span>.</i> I have remitted ten crowns to +Hermann. He is giving music-lessons in London."</p></div> + +<p>Lupin gave a laugh:</p> + +<p>"Oho! Hermann is dethroned and our respect comes down with a rush!"</p> + +<p>"Yes," observed Waldemar, "the reigning grand-duke was driven from his +dominions by the French troops."</p> + +<p>Lupin continued:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i><span class="upright">1809</span>. Tuesday.</i> Napoleon slept at Veldenz last +night. I made His Majesty's bed and this morning I +emptied his slops."</p></div> + +<p>"Oh, did Napoleon stop at Veldenz?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, on his way back to the army, at the time of the Austrian +campaign, which ended with the battle of Wagram. It was an honor of +which the grand-duchal family were very proud afterwards."</p> + +<p>Lupin went on reading:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<i><span class="upright">28</span> October, <span class="upright">1814</span>.</i> His Royal Highness returned to +his dominions.</p> + +<p>"<i><span class="upright">29</span> October, <span class="upright">1814</span>.</i> I accompanied His Royal Highness +to the hiding-place last night and was happy to be +able to show him that no one had guessed its +existence. For that matter, who would have suspected +that a hiding-place could be contrived in . . ."</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span>Lupin stopped, with a shout. Isilda had suddenly escaped from the men +guarding her, made a grab at him and taken to flight, carrying the book +with her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, the little mischief! Quick, you! . . . Go round by the stairs +below. I'll run after her by the passage."</p> + +<p>But she had slammed the door behind her and bolted it. He had to go down +and run along the buildings with the others, looking for a staircase +which would take them to the first floor.</p> + +<p>The fourth house was the only one open. He went upstairs. But the +passage was empty and he had to knock at doors, force locks and make his +way into unoccupied rooms, while Waldemar, showing as much ardor in the +pursuit as himself, pricked the curtains and hangings with the point of +his sword.</p> + +<p>A voice called out from the ground-floor, towards the right wing. They +rushed in that direction. It was one of the officers' wives, who +beckoned to them at the end of a passage and told them that the girl +must be in her lodging.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?" asked Lupin.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to go to my room. The door was shut and I could not get in."</p> + +<p>Lupin tried and found the door locked:</p> + +<p>"The window!" he cried. "There must be a window!"</p> + +<p>He went outside, took the count's sword and smashed the panes. Then, +helped up by two men, he hung on to the wall, passed his arm through the +broken glass, turned the latch and stumbled into the room.</p> + +<p>He saw Isilda huddled before the fireplace, almost in the midst of the +flames:</p> + +<p>"The little beast!" he said. "She has thrown it into the fire!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span>He pushed her back savagely, tried to take the book and burnt his hands +in the attempt. Then, with the tongs, he pulled it out of the grate and +threw the table cloth over it to stifle the blaze.</p> + +<p>But it was too late. The pages of the old manuscript, all burnt up, were +falling into ashes.</p> + +<p>Lupin gazed at her in silence. The count said:</p> + +<p>"One would think that she knew what she was doing."</p> + +<p>"No, she does not know. Only, her grandfather must have entrusted her +with that book as a sort of treasure, a treasure which no one was ever +to set eyes on, and, with her stupid instinct, she preferred to throw it +into the fire rather than part with it."</p> + +<p>"Well then. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well then what?"</p> + +<p>"You won't find the hiding-place."</p> + +<p>"Aha, my dear count, so you did, for a moment, look upon my success as +possible? And Lupin does not strike you as quite a charlatan? Make your +mind easy, Waldemar: Lupin has more than one string to his bow. I shall +succeed."</p> + +<p>"Before twelve o'clock to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"Before twelve o'clock to-night. But, for the moment, I am starving with +hunger. And, if your kindness would go so far. . . ."</p> + +<p>He was taken to the sergeants' mess and a substantial meal prepared for +him, while the count went to make his report to the Emperor.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Twenty minutes later, Waldemar returned and they sat down and dined +together, opposite each other, silent and pensive.</p> + +<p>"Waldemar, a good cigar would be a treat. . . . I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> thank you. . . . Ah, +this one crackles as a self-respecting Havana should!"</p> + +<p>He lit his cigar and, after a minute or two:</p> + +<p>"You can smoke, count; I don't mind in the least; in fact, I rather like +it."</p> + +<p>An hour passed. Waldemar dozed and, from time to time, swallowed a glass +of brandy to wake himself up.</p> + +<p>Soldiers passed in and out, waiting on them.</p> + +<p>"Coffee," asked Lupin.</p> + +<p>They brought him some coffee.</p> + +<p>"What bad stuff!" he grumbled. "If that's what Cæsar drinks! . . . Give +me another cup all the same, Waldemar. We may have a long night before +us. Oh, what vile coffee!"</p> + +<p>He lit a second cigar and did not say another word. Ten minutes passed. +He continued not to move or speak.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, Waldemar sprang to his feet and said to Lupin, angrily:</p> + +<p>"Hi! Stand up, there!"</p> + +<p>Lupin was whistling a tune at the moment. He kept on whistling, +peacefully.</p> + +<p>"Stand up, I say!"</p> + +<p>Lupin turned round. His Imperial Majesty had just entered. Lupin rose +from his chair.</p> + +<p>"How far are we?" asked the Emperor.</p> + +<p>"I think, Sire, that I shall be able to satisfy Your Imperial Majesty +soon."</p> + +<p>"What? Do you know . . ."</p> + +<p>"The hiding-place? Very nearly, Sire. . . . A few details still escape +me . . . but everything will be cleared up, once we are on the spot: I +have no doubt of it."</p> + +<p>"Are we to stay here?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span>"No, Sire, I will beg you to go with me to the Renascence palace. But we +have plenty of time; and, if Your Imperial Majesty will permit me, I +should like first to think over two or three points."</p> + +<p>Without waiting for the reply, he sat down, to Waldemar's great +indignation.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, the Emperor, who had walked away and was talking to +the count, came up to him:</p> + +<p>"Are you ready now, M. Lupin?"</p> + +<p>Lupin kept silence. A fresh question. His head fell on his chest.</p> + +<p>"But he's asleep; I really believe that he's asleep!"</p> + +<p>Waldemar, beside himself with rage, shook him violently by the shoulder. +Lupin fell from his chair, sank to the floor, gave two or three +convulsive movements and then lay quite still.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with him?" exclaimed the Emperor. "He's not dead, I +hope!"</p> + +<p>He took a lamp and bent over him:</p> + +<p>"How pale he is! A face like wax! . . . Look, Waldemar. . . . Feel his +heart. . . . He's alive, is he not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire," said the count, after a moment, "the heart is beating quite +regularly."</p> + +<p>"Then what is it? I don't understand. . . . What happened?"</p> + +<p>"Shall I go and fetch the doctor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, run. . . ."</p> + +<p>The doctor found Lupin in the same state, lying inert and quiet. He had +him put on a bed, subjected him to a long examination and asked what he +had had to eat.</p> + +<p>"Do you suspect a case of poisoning, doctor?"</p> + +<p>"No, Sire, there are no traces of poisoning. But I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> am thinking . . . +what's on that tray and in that cup?"</p> + +<p>"Coffee," said the count.</p> + +<p>"For you?"</p> + +<p>"No, for him. I did not have any."</p> + +<p>The doctor poured out some coffee, tasted it and said:</p> + +<p>"I was right. He has been put to sleep with a narcotic."</p> + +<p>"But by whom?" cried the Emperor, angrily. "Look here, Waldemar; it's +exasperating, the way things happen in this place!"</p> + +<p>"Sire? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Well, yes, I've had enough of it! . . . I am really beginning to +believe that the man's right and that there is some one in the castle. +. . . That French money, that narcotic. . . ."</p> + +<p>"If any one had got into this enclosure, Sire, it would be known by this +time. . . . We've been hunting in every direction for three hours."</p> + +<p>"Still, I didn't make the coffee, I assure you. . . . And, unless you +did. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Sire!"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, hunt about . . . search. . . . You have two hundred men at +your disposal; and the out-houses are not so large as all that! For, +after all, the ruffian is prowling round here, round these buildings +. . . near the kitchen . . . somewhere or other! Go and bustle about!"</p> + +<p>The fat Waldemar bustled about all night, conscientiously, because it +was the master's order, but without conviction, because it was +impossible for a stranger to hide among ruins which were so +well-watched. And, as a matter of fact, the event proved<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span> that he was +right: the investigations were fruitless; and no one was able to +discover the mysterious hand that had prepared the narcotic drink.</p> + +<p>Lupin spent the night lifeless on his bed. In the morning, the doctor, +who had not left his side, told a messenger of the Emperor's that he was +still asleep.</p> + +<p>At nine o'clock, however, he made his first movement, a sort of effort +to wake up.</p> + +<p>Later on, he stammered:</p> + +<p>"What time is it?"</p> + +<p>"Twenty-five to ten."</p> + +<p>He made a fresh effort; and it was evident that, in the midst of his +torpor, his whole being was intent upon returning to life.</p> + +<p>A clock struck ten.</p> + +<p>He started and said:</p> + +<p>"Let them carry me; let them carry me to the palace."</p> + +<p>With the doctor's approval, Waldemar called his men and sent word to the +Emperor. They laid Lupin on a stretcher and set out for the palace.</p> + +<p>"The first floor," he muttered.</p> + +<p>They carried him up.</p> + +<p>"At the end of the corridor," he said. "The last room on the left."</p> + +<p>They carried him to the last room, which was the twelfth, and gave him a +chair, on which he sat down, exhausted.</p> + +<p>The Emperor arrived: Lupin did not stir, sat looking, unconscious, with +no expression in his eyes.</p> + +<p>Then, in a few minutes, he seemed to wake, looked round him, at the +walls, the ceilings, the people, and said:</p> + +<p>"A narcotic, I suppose?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span>"Yes," said the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Have they found . . . the man?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>He seemed to be meditating and several times jerked his head with a +thoughtful air: but they soon saw that he was asleep.</p> + +<p>The Emperor went up to Waldemar:</p> + +<p>"Order your car round."</p> + +<p>"Oh? . . . But then, Sire . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Well, what? I am beginning to think that he is taking us in and that +all this is merely play-acting, to gain time."</p> + +<p>"Possibly . . . yes . . ." said Waldemar, agreeing.</p> + +<p>"It's quite obvious! He is making the most of certain curious +coincidences, but he knows nothing; and his story about gold coins and +his narcotic are so many inventions! If we lend ourselves to his little +game any longer, he'll slip out of your fingers. Your car, Waldemar."</p> + +<p>The count gave his orders and returned. Lupin had not woke up. The +Emperor, who was looking round the room, said to Waldemar:</p> + +<p>"This is the Minerva room, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> + +<p>"But then why is there an 'N' in two places?"</p> + +<p>There were, in fact, two "N's," one over the chimneypiece, the other +over an old dilapidated clock fitted into the wall and displaying a +complicated set of works, with weights hanging lifeless at the end of +their cords.</p> + +<p>"The two 'N's' . . ." said Waldemar.</p> + +<p>The Emperor did not listen to the answer. Lupin had moved again, opening +his eyes and uttering indis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span>tinct syllables. He stood up, walked across +the room and fell down from sheer weakness.</p> + +<p>Then came the struggle, the desperate struggle of his brain, his nerves, +his will against that hideous, paralyzing torpor, the struggle of a +dying man against death, the struggle of life against extinction. And +the sight was one of infinite sadness.</p> + +<p>"He is suffering," muttered Waldemar.</p> + +<p>"Or at least, he is pretending to suffer," declared the Emperor, "and +pretending very cleverly at that. What an actor!"</p> + +<p>Lupin stammered:</p> + +<p>"An injection, doctor, an injection of caffeine . . . at once. . . ."</p> + +<p>"May I, Sire?" asked the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Certainly. . . . Until twelve o'clock, do all that he asks. He has my +promise."</p> + +<p>"How many minutes . . . before twelve o'clock?" asked Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Forty," said somebody.</p> + +<p>"Forty? . . . I shall do it. . . . I am sure to do it. . . . I've got to +do it. . . ." He took his head in his two hands. "Oh, if I had my brain, +the real brain, the brain that thinks! It would be a matter of a second! +There is only one dark spot left . . . but I cannot . . . my thoughts +escape me. . . . I can't grasp it . . . it's awful."</p> + +<p>His shoulders shook. Was he crying?</p> + +<p>They heard him repeating:</p> + +<p>"813 . . . 813. . . ." And, in a lower voice, "813 . . . an '8' . . . a +'1' . . . a '3' . . . yes, of course. . . . But why? . . . That's not +enough. . . ."</p> + +<p>The Emperor muttered:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span>"He impresses me. I find it difficult to believe that a man can play a +part like that. . . ."</p> + +<p>Half-past eleven struck . . . a quarter to twelve. . . .</p> + +<p>Lupin remained motionless, with his fists glued to his temples.</p> + +<p>The Emperor waited, with his eyes fixed on a chronometer which Waldemar +held in his hand.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes more . . . five minutes more . . .</p> + +<p>"Is the car there, Waldemar? . . . Are your men ready?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> + +<p>"Is that watch of yours a repeater, Waldemar?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> + +<p>"At the last stroke of twelve, then. . . ."</p> + +<p>"But . . ."</p> + +<p>"At the last stroke of twelve, Waldemar."</p> + +<p>There was really something tragic about the scene, that sort of grandeur +and solemnity which the hours assume at the approach of a possible +miracle, when it seems as though the voice of fate itself were about to +find utterance.</p> + +<p>The Emperor did not conceal his anguish. This fantastic adventurer who +was called Arsène Lupin and whose amazing life he knew, this man +troubled him . . . and, although he was resolved to make an end of all +this dubious story, he could not help waiting . . . and hoping.</p> + +<p>Two minutes more . . . one minute more . . .</p> + +<p>Then they counted by seconds.</p> + +<p>Lupin seemed asleep.</p> + +<p>"Come, get ready," said the Emperor to the count.</p> + +<p>The count went up to Lupin and placed his hand on his shoulder.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span>The silvery chime of the repeater quivered and struck . . . one, two, +three, four, five . . .</p> + +<p>"Waldemar, old chap, pull the weights of the old clock."</p> + +<p>A moment of stupefaction. It was Lupin's voice, speaking very calmly.</p> + +<p>Waldemar, annoyed at the familiarity of the address, shrugged his +shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Do as he says, Waldemar," said the Emperor.</p> + +<p>"Yes, do as I say, my dear count," echoed Lupin, recovering his powers +of chaff. "You know the ropes so well . . . all you have to do is to +pull those of the clock . . . in turns . . . one, two . . . capital! +. . . That's how they used to wind it up in the old days."</p> + +<p>The pendulum, in fact, was started; and they heard its regular ticking.</p> + +<p>"Now the hands," said Lupin. "Set them at a little before twelve . . . +Don't move . . . Let me . . ."</p> + +<p>He rose and walked to the face of the clock, standing two feet away, at +most, with his eyes fixed, with every nerve attentive.</p> + +<p>The twelve strokes sounded, twelve heavy, deep strokes.</p> + +<p>A long silence. Nothing happened. Nevertheless, the Emperor waited, as +though he were sure that something was going to happen. And Waldemar did +not move, stood with wide-open eyes.</p> + +<p>Lupin, who had stooped over the clock-face, now drew himself up, +muttering:</p> + +<p>"That's it . . . I have it. . . ."</p> + +<p>He went back to his chair and commanded:</p> + +<p>"Waldemar, set the hands at two minutes to twelve<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> again. Oh, no, old +chap, not backwards! The way the hands go! . . . Yes, I know, it will +take rather long . . . but it can't be helped."</p> + +<p>All the hours struck and the half hours, up to half-past eleven.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Waldemar," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>And he spoke seriously, without jesting, as though himself excited and +anxious:</p> + +<p>"Listen, Waldemar. Do you see on the face of the clock a little round +dot marking the first hour? That dot is loose, isn't it? Put the +fore-finger of your left hand on it and press. Good. Do the same with +your thumb on the dot marking the third hour. Good. With your right +hand, push in the dot at the eighth hour. Good. Thank you. Go and sit +down, my dear fellow."</p> + +<p>The minute-hand shifted, moved to the twelfth dot and the clock struck +again.</p> + +<p>Lupin was silent and very white. The twelve strokes rang out in the +silence.</p> + +<p>At the twelfth stroke, there was a sound as of a spring being set free. +The clock stopped dead. The pendulum ceased swinging.</p> + +<p>And suddenly, the bronze ornament representing a ram's head, which +crowned the dial, fell forwards, uncovering a sort of little recess cut +out of the stone wall.</p> + +<p>In this recess was a chased silver casket.</p> + +<p>Lupin took it and carried it to the Emperor:</p> + +<p>"Would Your Imperial Majesty be so good as to open it yourself? The +letters which you instructed me to look for are inside."</p> + +<p>The Emperor raised the lid and seemed greatly astonished.</p> + +<p><i>The casket was empty.</i></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span>The casket was empty.</p> + +<p>It was an enormous, unforeseen sensation. After the success of the +calculation made by Lupin, after the ingenious discovery of the secret +of the clock, the Emperor, who had no doubt left as to the ultimate +success, appeared utterly confounded.</p> + +<p>Opposite him was Lupin, pallid and wan, with drawn jaws and bloodshot +eyes, gnashing his teeth with rage and impotent hate.</p> + +<p>He wiped the perspiration from his forehead, then snatched up the +casket, turned it over, examined it, as though he hoped to find a false +bottom. At last, for greater certainty, in a fit of fury, he crushed it, +with an irresistible grip.</p> + +<p>That relieved him. He breathed more easily.</p> + +<p>The Emperor said:</p> + +<p>"Who has done this?"</p> + +<p>"Still the same man, Sire, the one who is following the same road as I +and pursuing the same aim: Mr. Kesselbach's murderer."</p> + +<p>"When?"</p> + +<p>"Last night. Ah, Sire, why did you not leave me free when I came out of +prison! Had I been free, I should have come here without losing an hour. +I should have arrived before him! I should have given Isilda money +before he did! I should have read Malreich, the old French servant's +diary, before he did!"</p> + +<p>"So you think that it was through the revelations in the diary . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, Sire! He had time to read them. And, lurking I don't know +where, kept informed of all our movements by I don't know whom, he put +me to sleep last night, in order to get rid of me."</p> + +<p>"But the palace was guarded."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span>"Guarded by your soldiers, Sire. Does that count with a man like him? +Besides, I have no doubt that Waldemar concentrated his search upon the +out-buildings, thus thinning the posts in the palace."</p> + +<p>"But the sound of the clock! Those twelve strokes in the night!"</p> + +<p>"It was mere child's play, Sire, mere child's play, to him, to prevent +the clock from striking!"</p> + +<p>"All this seems very impossible to my mind."</p> + +<p>"It all seems monstrous clear to mine, Sire! If it were possible to feel +in every one of your soldiers' pockets here and now, or to know how much +money they will each of them spend during the next twelve months, we +should be sure to find two or three who are, at this moment, in +possession of a few bank-notes: French bank-notes, of course."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" protested Waldemar.</p> + +<p>"But yes, my dear count, it is a question of price; and that makes no +difference to 'him.' If 'he' wished, I am sure that you yourself . . ."</p> + +<p>The Emperor, wrapped up in his own thoughts, was not listening. He +walked across the room from left to right and right to left, then +beckoned to one of the officers standing in the gallery:</p> + +<p>"My car. . . . And tell them to get ready. . . . We're starting."</p> + +<p>He stopped, watched Lupin for a moment and, going up to the count:</p> + +<p>"You too, Waldemar, be off . . . Straight to Paris, without a break +. . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin pricked up his ears. He heard Waldemar reply:</p> + +<p>"I should like to have a dozen additional guards. . . . With that devil +of a man. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span>"Take them. And look sharp. You must get there to-night."</p> + +<p>Lupin stamped his foot violently on the floor:</p> + +<p>"Well, no, Sire! No, no, no! It shan't be, I swear it shan't! No, no +never!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"And the letters, Sire? The stolen letters?"</p> + +<p>"Upon my word! . . ."</p> + +<p>"So!" cried Lupin, indignantly folding his arms. "So your Imperial +Majesty gives up the struggle? You look upon the defeat as +irretrievable? You declare yourself beaten? Well, I do not, Sire. I have +begun and I mean to finish."</p> + +<p>The Emperor smiled at this display of mettle:</p> + +<p>"I do not give up, but my police will set to work."</p> + +<p>Lupin burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, Sire! It is so funny! Your police! Your Imperial Majesty's +police! Why, they're worth just about as much as any other police, that +is to say, nothing, nothing at all! No, Sire, I will not return to the +Santé! Prison I can afford to laugh at. But time enough has been wasted +as it is. I need my freedom against that man and I mean to keep it."</p> + +<p>The Emperor shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"You don't even know who the man is."</p> + +<p>"I shall know, Sire. And I alone can know. And he knows that I am the +only one who can know. I am his only enemy. I am the only one whom he +attacks. It was I whom he meant to hit, the other day, when he fired his +revolver. He considered it enough to put me and me only to sleep, last +night, to be free to do as he pleased. The fight lies between him and +me. The outside world has nothing to say to it. No one can help me and +no one can help him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> There are two of us; and that is all. So far, +chance has favored him. But, in the long run, it is inevitable, it is +doomed that I should gain the day."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I am the better man."</p> + +<p>"Suppose he kills you?"</p> + +<p>"He will not kill me. I shall draw his claws, I shall make him perfectly +harmless. And you shall have the letters, Sire. They are yours. There is +no power on earth than can prevent me from restoring them to you."</p> + +<p>He spoke with a violent conviction and a tone of certainty that gave to +the things which he foretold the real appearance of things already +accomplished.</p> + +<p>The Emperor could not help undergoing a vague, inexplicable feeling in +which there was a sort of admiration combined with a good deal of that +confidence which Lupin was demanding in so masterful a manner. In +reality, he was hesitating only because of his scruples against +employing this man and making him, so to speak, his ally. And, +anxiously, not knowing what decision to take, he walked from the gallery +to the windows without saying a word.</p> + +<p>At last, he asked:</p> + +<p>"And who says that the letters were stolen last night?"</p> + +<p>"The theft is dated, Sire."</p> + +<p>"What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"Look at the inner side of the pediment which concealed the +hiding-place. The date is written in white chalk: 'Midnight, 24 August.' +. . ."</p> + +<p>"So it is," muttered the Emperor, nonplussed. "How was it that I did not +see?" And he added, betraying his curiosity, "Just as with those two +'N's'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> painted on the wall. . . . I can't understand. This is the +Minerva Room."</p> + +<p>"This is the room in which Napoleon, the Emperor of the French slept," +said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"How do you know?"</p> + +<p>"Ask Waldemar, Sire. As for myself, when I was turning over the old +servants' diary, it came upon me as a flash of light. I understood that +Shears and I had been on the wrong scent. APOON, the imperfect word +written by the Grand-duke Hermann on his death-bed, is a contraction not +of Apollon, but of Napoleon."</p> + +<p>"That's true . . . you are right," said the Emperor. "The same letters +occur in both words and in the same order. The grand-duke evidently +meant to write 'Napoleon.' But that figure 813? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Ah, that was the point that gave me most trouble. I always had an idea +that we must add up the three figures 8, 1 and 3; and the number 12, +thus obtained, seemed to me at once to apply to this room, which is the +twelfth leading out of the gallery. But that was not enough for me. +There must be something else, something which my enfeebled brain could +not succeed in translating into words. The sight of that clock, situated +precisely in the Napoleon Room, was a revelation to me. The number 12 +evidently meant twelve o'clock. The hour of noon! The hour of midnight! +Is this not the solemn moment which a man most readily selects? But why +those three figures 8, 1 and 3, rather than any others which would have +given the same total? . . . It was then that I thought of making the +clock strike for the first time, by way of experiment. And it was while +making it strike that I saw the dots of the first, third and eighth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> +hour were movable and that they alone were movable. I therefore obtained +three figures, 1, 3 and 8, which, placed in a more prophetic order, gave +the number 813. Waldemar pushed the three dots, the spring was released +and Your Imperial Majesty knows the result. . . . This, Sire, is the +explanation of that mysterious word and of those three figures 8, 1, 3 +which the grand-duke wrote with his dying hand and by the aid of which +he hoped that his son would one day recover the secret of Veldenz and +become the possessor of the famous letters which he had hidden there."</p> + +<p>The Emperor listened with eager attention, more and more surprised at +the ingenuity, perspicacity, shrewdness and intelligent will which he +observed in the man.</p> + +<p>"Waldemar," he said, when Lupin had finished.</p> + +<p>"Sire?"</p> + +<p>But, just as he was about to speak, shouts were heard in the gallery +outside.</p> + +<p>Waldemar left the room and returned:</p> + +<p>"It's the mad girl, Sire. They won't let her pass."</p> + +<p>"Let her come in." cried Lupin, eagerly. "She must come in, Sire."</p> + +<p>At a sign from the Emperor, Waldemar went out to fetch Isilda.</p> + +<p>Her entrance caused a general stupefaction. Her pale face was covered +with dark blotches. Her distorted features bore signs of the keenest +suffering. She panted for breath, with her two hands clutched against +her breast.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Lupin, struck with horror.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" asked the Emperor.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span>"Your doctor, Sire. There is not a moment to lose."</p> + +<p>He went up to her:</p> + +<p>"Speak, Isilda. . . . Have you seen anything? Have you anything to say?"</p> + +<p>The girl had stopped; her eyes were less vacant, as though lighted up by +the pain. She uttered sounds. . . . but not a word.</p> + +<p>"Listen," said Lupin. "Answer yes or no . . . make a movement of the +head . . . Have you seen him? Do you know where he is? . . . You know +who he is. . . . Listen! if you don't answer. . . ."</p> + +<p>He suppressed a gesture of anger. But, suddenly, remembering the +experiment of the day before and that she seemed rather to have retained +a certain optical memory of the time when she enjoyed her full reason, +he wrote on the white wall a capital "L" and "M."</p> + +<p>She stretched out her arm toward the letters and nodded her head as +though in assent.</p> + +<p>"And then?" said Lupin. "What then? . . . Write something yourself."</p> + +<p>But she gave a fearful scream and flung herself to the ground, yelling.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, came silence, immobility. One last convulsive spasm. And +she moved no more.</p> + +<p>"Dead?" asked the Emperor.</p> + +<p>"Poisoned, Sire."</p> + +<p>"Oh, the poor thing! . . . And by whom?"</p> + +<p>"By 'him,' Sire. She knew him, no doubt. He must have been afraid of +what she might tell."</p> + +<p>The doctor arrived. The Emperor pointed to the girl. Then, addressing +Waldemar:</p> + +<p>"All your men to turn out . . . Make them go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span> through the houses . . . +telegraph to the stations on the frontier. . . ."</p> + +<p>He went up to Lupin:</p> + +<p>"How long do you want to recover the letters?"</p> + +<p>"A month, Sire . . . two months at most."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Waldemar will wait for you here. He shall have my orders and +full powers to grant you anything you wish."</p> + +<p>"What I should like, Sire, is my freedom."</p> + +<p>"You are free."</p> + +<p>Lupin watched him walk away and said, between his teeth:</p> + +<p>"My freedom first. . . . And afterward, when I have given you back the +letters, O Majesty, one little shake of the hand! Then we shall be +quits! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE SEVEN SCOUNDRELS</span></h2> + + +<p>"Will you see this gentleman, ma'am?"</p> + +<p>Dolores Kesselbach took the card from the footman and read:</p> + +<p>"André Beauny. . . . No," she said, "I don't know him."</p> + +<p>"The gentleman seems very anxious to see you, ma'am. He says that you +are expecting him."</p> + +<p>"Oh . . . possibly. . . . Yes, bring him here."</p> + +<p>Since the events which had upset her life and pursued her with +relentless animosity, Dolores, after staying at the Hôtel Bristol had +taken up her abode in a quiet house in the Rue des Vignes, down at +Passy. A pretty garden lay at the back of the house and was surrounded +by other leafy gardens. On days when attacks more painful than usual did +not keep her from morning till night behind the closed shutters of her +bedroom, she made her servants carry her under the trees, where she lay +stretched at full length, a victim to melancholy, incapable of fighting +against her hard fate.</p> + +<p>Footsteps sounded on the gravel-path and the footman returned, followed +by a young man, smart in appearance and very simply dressed, in the +rather out-of-date fashion adopted by some of our painters, with a +turn-down collar and a flowing necktie of white spots on a blue ground.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>The footman withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Your name is André Beauny, I believe?" said Dolores.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame."</p> + +<p>"I have not the honor . . ."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, madame. Knowing that I was a friend of Mme. +Ernemont, Geneviève's grandmother, you wrote to her, at Garches, saying +that you wished to speak to me. I have come."</p> + +<p>Dolores rose in her seat, very excitedly:</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>She stammered:</p> + +<p>"Really? . . . Is it you? . . . I do not recognize you."</p> + +<p>"You don't recognize Prince Paul Sernine?"</p> + +<p>"No . . . everything is different . . . the forehead . . . the eyes. +. . . And that is not how the . . ."</p> + +<p>"How the newspapers represented the prisoner at the Santé?" he said, +with a smile. "And yet it is I, really."</p> + +<p>A long silence followed, during which they remained embarrassed and ill +at ease.</p> + +<p>At last, he asked:</p> + +<p>"May I know the reason . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Did not Geneviève tell you? . . ."</p> + +<p>"I have not seen her . . . but her grandmother seemed to think that you +required my services . . ."</p> + +<p>"That's right . . . that's right. . . ."</p> + +<p>"And in what way . . . ? I am so pleased . . ."</p> + +<p>She hesitated a second and then whispered:</p> + +<p>"I am afraid."</p> + +<p>"Afraid?" he cried.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span>"Yes," she said, speaking in a low voice, "I am afraid, afraid of +everything, afraid of to-day and of to-morrow . . . and of the day after +. . . afraid of life. I have suffered so much. . . . I can bear no +more."</p> + +<p>He looked at her with great pity in his eyes. The vague feeling that had +always drawn him to this woman took a more precise character now that +she was asking for his protection. He felt an eager need to devote +himself to her, wholly, without hope of reward.</p> + +<p>She continued:</p> + +<p>"I am alone now, quite alone, with servants whom I have picked up on +chance, and I am afraid. . . . I feel that people are moving about me."</p> + +<p>"But with what object?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. But the enemy is hovering around and coming closer."</p> + +<p>"Have you seen him? Have you noticed anything?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the other day two men passed several times in the street and +stopped in front of the house."</p> + +<p>"Can you describe them?"</p> + +<p>"I saw one of them better than the other. He was tall and powerful, +clean-shaven and wore a little black cloth jacket, cut quite short."</p> + +<p>"A waiter at a café, perhaps?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, a head-waiter. I had him followed by one of my servants. He went +down the Rue de la Pompe and entered a common-looking house. The +ground-floor is occupied by a wine-shop: it is the first house in the +street, on the left. Then, a night or two ago, I saw a shadow in the +garden from my bedroom window."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>He thought and then made a suggestion:</p> + +<p>"Would you allow two of my men to sleep downstairs, in one of the +ground-floor rooms?"</p> + +<p>"Two of your men? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you need not be afraid! They are decent men, old Charolais and his +son,<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> and they don't look in the least like what they are. . . . You +will be quite safe with them. . . . As for me . . ."</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> See <i>Arsène Lupin</i>, by Edgar Jepson and Maurice Leblanc.</p></div> + +<p>He hesitated. He was waiting for her to ask him to come again. As she +was silent, he said:</p> + +<p>"As for me, it is better that I should not be seen here. . . . Yes, it +is better . . . for your sake. My men will let me know how things go on. +. . ."</p> + +<p>He would have liked to say more and to remain and to sit down beside her +and comfort her. But he had a feeling that they had said all that they +had to say and that a single word more, on his side, would be an insult.</p> + +<p>Then he made her a very low bow and went away.</p> + +<p>He went up the garden, walking quickly, in his haste to be outside and +master his emotion. The footman was waiting for him at the hall-door. As +he passed out into the street, somebody rang, a young woman.</p> + +<p>He gave a start:</p> + +<p>"Geneviève!"</p> + +<p>She fixed a pair of astonished eyes upon him and at once recognized him, +although bewildered by the extreme youthfulness of his appearance; and +this gave her such a shock that she staggered and had to lean against +the door for support. He had taken off his hat and was looking at her +without daring to put out his hand. Would she put out hers? He was no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> +longer Prince Sernine: he was Arsène Lupin. And she knew that he was +Arsène Lupin and that he had just come out of prison.</p> + +<p>It was raining outside. She gave her umbrella to the footman and said:</p> + +<p>"Please open it and put it somewhere to dry."</p> + +<p>Then she walked straight in.</p> + +<p>"My poor old chap!" said Lupin to himself, as he walked away. "What a +series of blows for a sensitive and highly-strung creature like +yourself! You must keep a watch on your heart or . . . Ah, what next? +Here are my eyes beginning to water now! That's a bad sign. M. Lupin: +you're growing old!"</p> + +<p>He gave a tap on the shoulder to a young man who was crossing the +Chaussee de la Muette and going toward the Rue des Vignes. The young man +stopped, stared at him and said:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but I don't think I have the honor . . ."</p> + +<p>"Think again, my dear M. Leduc. Or has your memory quite gone? Don't you +remember Versailles? And the little room at the Hôtel des +Trois-Empereurs?"</p> + +<p>The young man bounded backwards:</p> + +<p>"You!"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, I! Prince Sernine, or rather Lupin, since you know my real +name! Did you think that Lupin had departed this life? . . . Oh, yes, I +see, prison. . . . You were hoping . . . Get out, you baby!" He patted +him gently on the shoulder. "There, there, young fellow, don't be +frightened: you have still a few nice quiet days left to write your +poems in. The time has not yet come. Write your verses . . . poet!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>Then he gripped Leduc's arm violently and, looking him full in the face, +said:</p> + +<p>"But the time is drawing near . . . poet! Don't forget that you belong +to me, body and soul. And prepare to play your part. It will be a hard +and magnificent part. And, as I live, I believe you're the man to play +it!"</p> + +<p>He burst out laughing, turned on one foot and left young Leduc +astounded.</p> + +<p>A little further, at the corner of the Rue de la Pompe, stood the +wine-shop of which Mrs. Kesselbach had spoken to him. He went in and had +a long talk with the proprietor.</p> + +<p>Then he took a taxi and drove to the Grand Hotel, where he was staying +under the name of André Beauny, and found the brothers Doudeville +waiting for him.</p> + +<p>Lupin, though used to that sort of pleasure, nevertheless enjoyed the +marks of admiration and devotion with which his friends overwhelmed him:</p> + +<p>"But, governor, tell us . . . what happened? We're accustomed to all +sorts of wonders with you; but still, there are limits. . . . So you are +free? And here you are, in the heart of Paris, scarcely disguised. +. . . !"</p> + +<p>"Have a cigar," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, no."</p> + +<p>"You're wrong, Doudeville. These are worth smoking. I have them from a +great connoisseur, who is good enough to call himself my friend."</p> + +<p>"Oh, may one ask . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"The Kaiser! Come, don't look so flabbergasted, the two of you! And tell +me things: I haven't seen the papers. What effect did my escape have on +the public?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span>"Tremendous, governor!"</p> + +<p>"What was the police version?"</p> + +<p>"Your flight took place at Garches, during an attempt to reënact the +murder of Altenheim. Unfortunately, the journalists have proved that it +was impossible."</p> + +<p>"After that?"</p> + +<p>"After that, a general fluster. People wondering, laughing and enjoying +themselves like mad."</p> + +<p>"Weber?"</p> + +<p>"Weber is badly let in."</p> + +<p>"Apart from that, no news at the detective-office? Nothing discovered +about the murderer? No clue to help us to establish Altenheim's +identity?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"What fools they are! And to think that we pay millions a year to keep +those people. If this sort of thing goes on, I shall refuse to pay my +rates. Take a seat and a pen. I will dictate a letter which you must +hand in to the <i>Grand Journal</i> this evening. The world has been waiting +for news of me long enough. It must be gasping with impatience. Write."</p> + +<p>He dictated:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">"To the Editor of the <i>Grand Journal:</i></p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sir</span>,</p> + +<p>"I must apologize to your readers for disappointing +their legitimate impatience.</p> + +<p>"I have escaped from prison and I cannot possibly +reveal how I escaped. In the same way, since my +escape, I have discovered the famous secret and I +cannot possibly disclose what the secret is nor how I +discovered it.</p> + +<p>"All this will, some day or other, form the subject<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> +of a rather original story which my +biographer-in-ordinary will publish from my notes. It +will form a page of the history of France which our +grandchildren will read with interest.</p> + +<p>"For the moment, I have more important matters to +attend to. Disgusted at seeing into what hands the +functions which I once exercised have fallen, tired of +finding the Kesselbach-Altenheim case still dragging +along, I am discharging M. Weber and resuming the post +of honor which I occupied with such distinction and to +the general satisfaction under the name of M. +Lenormand.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"I am, Sir,</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Your obedient servant.</p> + +<p class="sig3 nobottom">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin</span>,</p> + +<p class="sig4">"<i>Chief of the Detective-service</i>."</p></div> + +<p>At eight o'clock in the evening, Arsène Lupin and Jean Doudeville walked +into Caillard's, the fashionable restaurant, Lupin in evening-clothes, +but dressed like an artist, with rather wide trousers and a rather loose +tie, and Doudeville in a frock-coat, with the serious air and appearance +of a magistrate.</p> + +<p>They sat down in that part of the restaurant which is set back and +divided from the big room by two columns.</p> + +<p>A head-waiter, perfectly dressed and supercilious in manner, came to +take their orders, note-book in hand. Lupin selected the dinner with the +nice thought of an accomplished epicure:</p> + +<p>"Certainly," he said, "the prison ordinary was quite acceptable; but, +all the same, it is nice to have a carefully-ordered meal."</p> + +<p>He ate with a good appetite and silently, contenting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> himself with +uttering, from time to time, a short sentence that marked his train of +thought:</p> + +<p>"Of course, I shall manage . . . but it will be a hard job. . . . Such +an adversary! . . . What staggers me is that, after six months' +fighting, I don't even know what he wants! . . . His chief accomplice is +dead, we are near the end of the battle and yet, even now, I can't +understand his game. . . . What is the wretch after? . . . My own plan +is quite clear: to lay hands on the grand-duchy, to shove a grand-duke +of my own making on the throne, to give him Geneviève for a wife . . . +and to reign. That is what I call lucid, honest and fair. But he, the +low fellow, the ghost in the dark: what is he aiming at?"</p> + +<p>He called:</p> + +<p>"Waiter!"</p> + +<p>The head-waiter came up:</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Cigars."</p> + +<p>The head-waiter stalked away, returned and opened a number of boxes.</p> + +<p>"Which do you recommend?"</p> + +<p>"These Upmanns are very good, sir."</p> + +<p>Lupin gave Doudeville an Upmann, took one for himself and cut it. The +head-waiter struck a match and held if for him. With a sudden movement, +Lupin caught him by the wrist:</p> + +<p>"Not a word. . . . I know you. . . . Your real name is Dominique Lecas!"</p> + +<p>The man, who was big and strong, tried to struggle away. He stifled a +cry of pain: Lupin had twisted his wrist.</p> + +<p>"Your name is Dominique . . . you live in the Rue de la Pompe, on the +fourth floor, where you re<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span>tired with a small fortune acquired in the +service—listen to me, you fool, will you, or I'll break every bone in +your body!—acquired in the service of Baron Altenheim, at whose house +you were butler."</p> + +<p>The other stood motionless, his face pallid with fear. Around them, the +small room was empty. In the restaurant beside it, three gentlemen sat +smoking and two couples were chatting over their liquors.</p> + +<p>"You see, we are quiet . . . we can talk."</p> + +<p>"Who are you? Who are you?"</p> + +<p>"Don't you recollect me? Why, think of that famous luncheon in the Villa +Dupont! . . . You yourself, you old flunkey, handed me the plate of +cakes . . . and such cakes!"</p> + +<p>"Prince. . . . Prince. . . ." stammered the other.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, Prince Arsène, Prince Lupin in person. . . . Aha, you breathe +again! . . . You're saying to yourself that you have nothing to fear +from Lupin, isn't that it? Well, you're wrong, old chap, you have +everything to fear." He took a card from his pocket and showed it to +him. "There, look, I belong to the police now. Can't be helped: that's +what we all come to in the end, all of us robber-kings and emperors of +crime."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said the head-waiter, still greatly alarmed.</p> + +<p>"Well, go to that customer over there, who's calling you, get him what +he wants and come back to me. And no nonsense, mind you: don't go trying +to get away. I have ten men outside, with orders to keep their eyes on +you. Be off."</p> + +<p>The head-waiter obeyed. Five minutes after, he returned and, standing in +front of the table, with his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> back to the restaurant, as though +discussing the quality of the cigars with his customers, he said:</p> + +<p>"Well? What is it?"</p> + +<p>Lupin laid a number of hundred-franc notes in a row on the table:</p> + +<p>"One note for each definite answer to my questions."</p> + +<p>"Done!"</p> + +<p>"Now then. How many of you were there with Baron Altenheim?"</p> + +<p>"Seven, without counting myself."</p> + +<p>"No more?"</p> + +<p>"No. Once only, we picked up some workmen in Italy to make the +underground passage from the Villa des Glycines, at Garches."</p> + +<p>"Were there two underground passages?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, one led to the Pavillon Hortense and the other branched off from +the first and ran under Mrs. Kesselbach's house."</p> + +<p>"What was the object?"</p> + +<p>"To carry off Mrs. Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>"Were the two maids, Suzanne and Gertrude, accomplices?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Where are they?"</p> + +<p>"Abroad."</p> + +<p>"And your seven pals, those of the Altenheim gang?"</p> + +<p>"I have left them. They are still going on."</p> + +<p>"Where can I find them?"</p> + +<p>Dominique hesitated. Lupin unfolded two notes of a thousand francs each +and said:</p> + +<p>"Your scruples do you honor, Dominique. There's nothing for it but to +swallow them like a man and answer."</p> + +<p>Dominique replied:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>"You will find them at No. 3, Route de la Revolte, Neuilly. One of them +is called the Broker."</p> + +<p>"Capital. And now the name, the real name of Altenheim. Do you know it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ribeira."</p> + +<p>"Dominique, Dominique, you're asking for trouble. Ribeira was only an +assumed name. I asked you the real name."</p> + +<p>"Parbury."</p> + +<p>"That's another assumed name."</p> + +<p>The head-waiter hesitated. Lupin unfolded three hundred franc notes.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw, what do I care!" said the man. "After all, he's dead, isn't he? +Quite dead."</p> + +<p>"His name," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"His name? The Chevalier de Malreich."</p> + +<p>Lupin gave a jump in his chair:</p> + +<p>"What? What do you say? The Chevalier—say it again—the Chevalier +. . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Raoul de Malreich."</p> + +<p>A long pause. Lupin, with his eyes fixed before him, thought of the mad +girl at Veldenz, who had died by poison: Isilda bore the same name, +Malreich. And it was the name borne by the small French noble who came +to the court of Veldenz in the eighteenth century.</p> + +<p>He resumed his questions:</p> + +<p>"What country did this Malreich belong to?"</p> + +<p>"He was of French origin, but born in Germany . . . I saw some papers +once . . . that was how I came to know his name. . . . Oh, if he had +found it out, he would have wrung my neck, I believe!"</p> + +<p>Lupin reflected and said:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span>"Did he command the lot of you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But he had an accomplice, a partner?"</p> + +<p>"Oh hush . . . hush . . . !"</p> + +<p>The head-waiter's face suddenly expressed the most intense alarm. Lupin +noticed the same sort of terror and repulsion which he himself felt when +he thought of the murderer.</p> + +<p>"Who is he? Have you seen him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't let us talk of that one . . . it doesn't do to talk of him."</p> + +<p>"Who is he, I'm asking you."</p> + +<p>"He is the master . . . the chief. . . . Nobody knows him."</p> + +<p>"But you've seen him, you. Answer me. Have you seen him?"</p> + +<p>"Sometimes, in the dark . . . at night. Never by daylight. His orders +come on little scraps of paper . . . or by telephone."</p> + +<p>"His name?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know it. We never used to speak of him. It was unlucky."</p> + +<p>"He dresses in black, doesn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, in black. He is short and slender . . . with fair hair. . . ."</p> + +<p>"And he kills, doesn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he kills . . . he kills where another might steal a bit of bread."</p> + +<p>His voice shook. He entreated:</p> + +<p>"Let us stop this . . . it won't do to talk of him. . . . I tell you +. . . it's unlucky."</p> + +<p>Lupin was silent, impressed, in spite of himself, by the man's anguish. +He sat long thinking and then rose and said to the head-waiter:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>"Here, here's your money; but, if you want to live in peace, you will do +well not to breathe a word of our conversation to anybody."</p> + +<p>He left the restaurant with Doudeville and walked to the Porte +Saint-Denis without speaking, absorbed in all that he had heard. At +last, he seized his companion's arm and said:</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, Doudeville, carefully. Go to the Gare du Nord. You will +get there in time to catch the Luxemburg express. Go to Veldenz, the +capital of the grand-duchy of Zweibrucken-Veldenz. At the town-hall, you +will easily obtain the birth-certificate of the Chevalier de Malreich +and further information about the family. You will be back on the day +after to-morrow: that will be Saturday."</p> + +<p>"Am I to let them know at the detective-office?"</p> + +<p>"I'll see to that. I shall telephone that you are ill. Oh, one word +more: on Saturday, meet me at twelve o'clock in a little café on the +Route de la Revolte, called the Restaurant Buffalo. Come dressed as a +workman."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The next day, Lupin, wearing a short smock and a cap, went down to +Neuilly and began his investigations at No. 3, Route de la Revolte. A +gateway opened into an outer yard; and here he found a huge block of +workmen's dwellings, a whole series of passages and workshops, with a +swarming population of artisans, women and brats. In a few minutes, he +had won the good-will of the portress, with whom he chatted for an hour +on the most varied topics. During this hour, he saw three men pass, one +after the other, whose manner struck him:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span>"That's game," he thought, "and gamy game at that! . . . They follow one +another by scent! . . . Look quite respectable, of course, but with the +eye of the hunted deer which knows that the enemy is all around and that +every tuft, every blade of grass may conceal an ambush."</p> + +<p>That afternoon and on the Saturday morning, he pursued his inquiries and +made certain that Altenheim's seven accomplices all lived on the +premises. Four of them openly followed the trade of second-hand +clothes-dealers. Two of the others sold newspapers; and the third +described himself as a broker and was nicknamed accordingly.</p> + +<p>They went in and out, one after the other, without appearing to know one +another. But, in the evening, Lupin discovered that they met in a sort +of coach-house situated right at the back of the last of the yards, a +place in which the Broker kept his wares piled up: old iron, broken +kitchen-ranges, rusty stove-pipes . . . and also, no doubt, the best +part of the stolen goods.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said, "the work is shaping nicely. I asked my cousin of +Germany for a month and I believe a fortnight will be enough for my +purpose. And what I like about it is that I shall start operations with +the scoundrels who made me take a header in the Seine. My poor old +Gourel, I shall revenge you at last. And high time too!"</p> + +<p>At twelve o'clock on Saturday, he went to the Restaurant Buffalo, a +little low-ceilinged room to which brick-layers and cab-drivers resorted +for their mid-day meal. Some one came and sat down beside him:</p> + +<p>"It's done, governor."</p> + +<p>"Ah, is it you, Doudeville? That's right! I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> dying to know. Have you +the particulars? The birth-certificate? Quick, tell me."</p> + +<p>"Well, it's like this: Altenheim's father and mother died abroad."</p> + +<p>"Never mind about them."</p> + +<p>"They left three children."</p> + +<p>"Three?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. The eldest would have been thirty years old by now. His name was +Raoul de Malreich."</p> + +<p>"That's our man, Altenheim. Next?"</p> + +<p>"The youngest of the children was a girl, Isilda. The register has an +entry, in fresh ink, 'Deceased.'"</p> + +<p>"Isilda. . . . Isilda," repeated Lupin. "That's just what I thought: +Isilda was Altenheim's sister. . . . I saw a look in her face which I +seemed to recognize. . . . So that was the link between them. . . . But +the other, the third child, or rather the second?"</p> + +<p>"A son. He would be twenty-six by now."</p> + +<p>"His name?"</p> + +<p>"Louis de Malreich."</p> + +<p>Lupin gave a little start:</p> + +<p>"That's it! Louis de Malreich. . . . The initials L. M. . . . The awful +and terrifying signature! . . . The murderer's name is Louis de +Malreich. . . . He was the brother of Altenheim and the brother of +Isilda and he killed both of them for fear of what they might reveal."</p> + +<p>Lupin sat long, silent and gloomy, under the obsession, no doubt, of the +mysterious being.</p> + +<p>Doudeville objected:</p> + +<p>"What had he to fear from his sister Isilda? She was mad, they told me."</p> + +<p>"Mad, yes, but capable of remembering certain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> details of her childhood. +She must have recognized the brother with whom she grew up . . . and +that recollection cost her her life." And he added, "Mad! But all those +people were mad. . . . The mother was mad. . . . The father a +dipsomaniac. . . . Altenheim a regular brute beast. . . . Isilda, a poor +innocent . . . . As for the other, the murderer, he is the monster, the +crazy lunatic. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Crazy? Do you think so, governor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, crazy! With flashes of genius, of devilish cunning and intuition, +but a crack-brained fool, a madman, like all that Malreich family. Only +madmen kill and especially madmen of his stamp. For, after all . . ."</p> + +<p>He interrupted himself; and his face underwent so great a change that +Doudeville was struck by it:</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, governor?"</p> + +<p>"Look."</p> + +<p>A man had entered and hung his hat—a soft, black felt hat—on a peg. He +sat down at a little table, examined the bill of fare which a waiter +brought him, gave his order and waited motionless, with his body stiff +and erect and his two arms crossed over the table-cloth.</p> + +<p>And Lupin saw him full-face.</p> + +<p>He had a lean, hard visage, absolutely smooth and pierced with two +sockets in the depths of which appeared a pair of steel-gray eyes. The +skin seemed stretched from bone to bone, like a sheet of parchment, so +stiff and so thick that not a hair could have penetrated through it.</p> + +<p>And the face was dismal and dull. No expression enlivened it. No thought +seemed to abide under that ivory forehead; and the eye-lids, entirely +devoid of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> lashes, never flickered, which gave the eyes the fixed look +of the eyes in a statue.</p> + +<p>Lupin beckoned to one of the waiters:</p> + +<p>"Who is that gentleman?"</p> + +<p>"The one eating his lunch over there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"He is a customer. He comes here two or three times a week."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me his name?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes . . . Leon Massier."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" blurted Lupin, very excitedly. "L. M. . . . the same two letters +. . . could it be Louis de Malreich?"</p> + +<p>He watched him eagerly. Indeed, the man's appearance agreed with Lupin's +conjectures, with what he knew of him and of his hideous mode of +existence. But what puzzled him was that look of death about him: where +he anticipated life and fire, where he would have expected to find the +torment, the disorder, the violent facial distortion of the great +accursed, he beheld sheer impassiveness.</p> + +<p>He asked the waiter:</p> + +<p>"What does he do?"</p> + +<p>"I really can't say. He's a rum cove . . . He's always quite alone. +. . . He never talks to anybody . . . We here don't even know the sound +of his voice. . . . He points his finger at the dishes on the bill of +fare which he wants. . . . He has finished in twenty minutes; then he +pays and goes. . . ."</p> + +<p>"And he comes back again?"</p> + +<p>"Every three or four days. He's not regular."</p> + +<p>"It's he, it cannot be any one else," said Lupin to himself. "It's +Malreich. There he is . . . breathing . . . at four steps from me. There +are the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> hands that kill. There is the brain that gloats upon the smell +of blood. There is the monster, the vampire! . . ."</p> + +<p>And, yet, was it possible? Lupin had ended by looking upon Malreich as +so fantastic a being that he was disconcerted at seeing him in the +flesh, coming, going, moving. He could not explain to himself how the +man could eat bread and meat like other men, drink beer like any one +else: this man whom he had pictured as a foul beast, feeding on live +flesh and sucking the blood of his victims.</p> + +<p>"Come away, Doudeville."</p> + +<p>"What's the matter with you, governor? You look quite white!"</p> + +<p>"I want air. Come out."</p> + +<p>Outside, he drew a deep breath, wiped the perspiration from his forehead +and muttered:</p> + +<p>"That's better. I was stifling." And, mastering himself, he added, "Now +we must play our game cautiously and not lose sight of his tracks."</p> + +<p>"Hadn't we better separate, governor? Our man saw us together. He will +take less notice of us singly."</p> + +<p>"Did he see us?" said Lupin, pensively. "He seems to me to see nothing, +to hear nothing and to look at nothing. What a bewildering specimen!"</p> + +<p>And, in fact, ten minutes later, Leon Massier appeared and walked away, +without even looking to see if he was followed. He had lit a cigarette +and smoked, with one of his hands behind his back, strolling along like +a saunterer enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air and never suspecting +that his movements could possibly be watched.</p> + +<p>He passed through the toll-gates, skirted the forti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span>fications, went out +again through the Porte Champerret and retraced his steps along the +Route de la Revolte.</p> + +<p>Would he enter the buildings at No. 3? Lupin eagerly hoped that he +would, for that would have been a certain proof of his complicity with +the Altenheim gang; but the man turned round and made for the Rue +Delaizement, which he followed until he passed the Velodrome Buffalo.</p> + +<p>On the left, opposite the cycling-track, between the public tennis-court +and the booths that line the Rue Delaizement, stood a small detached +villa, surrounded by a scanty garden. Leon Massier stopped, took out his +keys, opened first the gate of the garden and then the door of the house +and disappeared.</p> + +<p>Lupin crept forward cautiously. He at once noticed that the block in the +Route de la Revolte stretched back as far as the garden-wall. Coming +still nearer, he saw that the wall was very high and that a coach-house +rested against it at the bottom of the garden. The position of the +buildings was such as to give him the certainty that his coach-house +stood back to back with the coach-house in the inner yard of No. 3, +which served as a lumber-room for the Broker.</p> + +<p>Leon Massier, therefore, occupied a house adjoining the place in which +the seven members of the Altenheim gang held their meetings. +Consequently, Leon Massier was, in point of fact, the supreme leader who +commanded that gang; and there was evidently a passage between the two +coach-houses through which he communicated with his followers.</p> + +<p>"I was right," said Lupin. "Leon Massier and Louis de Malreich are one +and the same man. The situation is much simpler than it was."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span>"There is no doubt about that," said Doudeville, "and everything will be +settled in a few days."</p> + +<p>"That is to say, I shall have been stabbed in the throat."</p> + +<p>"What are you saying, governor? There's an idea!"</p> + +<p>"Pooh, who knows? I have always had a presentiment that that monster +would bring me ill-luck."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Thenceforth it became a matter of watching Malreich's life in such a way +that none of his movements went unobserved. This life was of the oddest, +if one could believe the people of the neighborhood whom Doudeville +questioned. "The bloke from the villa," as they called him, had been +living there for a few months only. He saw and received nobody. He was +not known to keep a servant of any kind. And the windows, though they +were left wide open, even at night, always remained dark and were never +lit with the glow of a lamp or candle.</p> + +<p>Moreover, Leon Massier most often went out at the close of day and did +not come in again until very late . . . at dawn, said people who had +come upon him at sunrise.</p> + +<p>"And does any one know what he does?" asked Lupin of his companion, when +they next met.</p> + +<p>"No, he leads an absolutely irregular existence. He sometimes disappears +for several days together . . . or, rather, he remains indoors. When all +is said, nobody knows anything."</p> + +<p>"Well, we shall know; and that soon."</p> + +<p>He was wrong. After a week of continuous efforts and investigations, he +had learnt no more than before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> about that strange individual. The +extraordinary thing that constantly happened was this, that, suddenly, +while Lupin was following him, the man, who was ambling with short steps +along the streets, without ever turning round or ever stopping, the man +would vanish as if by a miracle. True, he sometimes went through houses +with two entrances. But, at other times, he seemed to fade away in the +midst of the crowd, like a ghost. And Lupin was left behind, petrified, +astounded, filled with rage and confusion.</p> + +<p>He at once hurried to the Rue Delaizement and stood on guard outside the +villa. Minutes followed upon minutes, half-hour upon half-hour. A part +of the night slipped away. Then, suddenly, the mysterious man hove in +sight. What could he have been doing?</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>"An express message for you, governor," said Doudeville, at eight +o'clock one evening, as he joined him in the Rue Delaizement.</p> + +<p>Lupin opened the envelope. Mrs. Kesselbach implored him to come to her +aid. It appeared that two men had taken up their stand under her +windows, at night, and one of them had said:</p> + +<p>"What luck, we've dazzled them completely this time! So it's understood; +we shall strike the blow to-night."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Kesselbach thereupon went downstairs and discovered that the +shutter in the pantry did not fasten, or, at least, that it could be +opened from the outside.</p> + +<p>"At last," said Lupin, "it's the enemy himself who offers to give +battle. That's a good thing! I am tired of marching up and down under +Malreich's windows."</p> + +<p>"Is he there at this moment?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span>"No, he played me one of his tricks again in Paris, just as I was about +to play him one of mine. But, first of all, listen to me, Doudeville. Go +and collect ten of our men and bring them to the Rue des Vignes. Look +here, bring Marco and Jérôme, the messenger. I have given them a holiday +since the business at the Palace Hotel: let them come this time. Daddy +Charolais and his son ought to be mounting guard by now. Make your +arrangements with them, and at half-past eleven, come and join me at the +corner of the Rue des Vignes and the Rue Raynouard. From there we will +watch the house."</p> + +<p>Doudeville went away. Lupin waited for an hour longer, until that quiet +thoroughfare, the Rue Delaizement, was quite deserted, and then, seeing +that Leon Massier did not return, he made up his mind and went up to the +villa.</p> + +<p>There was no one in sight. . . . He took a run and jumped on the stone +ledge that supported the railings of the garden. A few minutes later, he +was inside.</p> + +<p>His plan was to force the door of the house and search the rooms in +order to find the Emperor's letters which Malreich had stolen from +Veldenz. But he thought a visit to the coach-house of more immediate +importance.</p> + +<p>He was much surprised to see that it was open and, next, to find, by the +light of his electric lantern, that it was absolutely empty and that +there was no door in the back wall. He hunted about for a long time, but +met with no more success. Outside, however, he saw a ladder standing +against the coach-house and obviously serving as a means of reaching a +sort of loft contrived under the slate roof.</p> + +<p>The loft was blocked with old packing-cases, trusses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> of straw and +gardener's frames, or rather it seemed to be blocked, for he very soon +discovered a gangway that took him to the wall. Here, he knocked up +against a cucumber-frame, which he tried to move. Failing to effect his +purpose, he examined the frame more closely and found, first, that it +was fixed to the wall and, secondly, that one of the panes was missing. +He passed his arm through and encountered space. He cast the bright +light of the lantern through the aperture and saw a big shed, a +coach-house larger than that of the villa and filled with old iron-work +and objects of every kind.</p> + +<p>"That's it," said Lupin to himself. "This window has been contrived in +the Broker's lumber-room, right up at the top, and from here Louis de +Malreich sees, hears and watches his accomplices, without being seen or +heard by them. I now understand how it is that they do not know their +leader."</p> + +<p>Having found out what he wanted, he put out his light and was on the +point of leaving, when a door opened opposite him, down below. Some one +came in and lit a lamp. He recognized the Broker. He thereupon resolved +to stay where he was, since the expedition, after all, could not be done +so long as that man was there.</p> + +<p>The Broker took two revolvers from his pocket. He tested the triggers +and changed the cartridges, whistling a music-hall tune as he did so.</p> + +<p>An hour elapsed in this way. Lupin was beginning to grow restless, +without, however, making up his mind to go.</p> + +<p>More minutes passed, half an hour, an hour. . . .</p> + +<p>At last, the man said aloud:</p> + +<p>"Come in."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span>One of the scoundrels slipped into the shed; and, one after the other, a +third arrived and a fourth. . . .</p> + +<p>"We are all here," said the Broker. "Dieudonne and Chubby will meet us +down there. Come, we've no time to lose. . . . Are you armed?"</p> + +<p>"To the teeth."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. It'll be hot work."</p> + +<p>"How do you know, Broker?"</p> + +<p>"I've seen the chief. . . . When I say that I've seen him, no . . . but +he spoke to me. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said one of the men, "in the dark, at a street-corner, as usual. +Ah, Altenheim's ways were better than that. At least, one knew what one +was doing."</p> + +<p>"And don't you know?" retorted the Broker. "We're breaking in at the +Kesselbach woman's."</p> + +<p>"And what about the two watchers? The two coves whom Lupin posted +there?"</p> + +<p>"That's their look-out: there's seven of us. They had better give us as +little trouble as possible."</p> + +<p>"What about the Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p>"Gag her first, then bind her and bring her here. . . . There, on that +old sofa. . . . And then wait for orders."</p> + +<p>"Is the job well paid?"</p> + +<p>"The Kesselbach's jewels to begin with."</p> + +<p>"Yes, if it comes off . . . but I'm speaking of the certainty."</p> + +<p>"Three hundred-franc notes apiece, beforehand, and twice as much again +afterwards."</p> + +<p>"Have you the money?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"That's all right. You can say what you like, but, as far as paying +goes, there's no one to equal that bloke." And, in a voice so low that +Lupin could hardly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> hear, "I say, Broker, if we're obliged to use the +knife, is there a reward?"</p> + +<p>"The same as usual, two thousand."</p> + +<p>"If it's Lupin?"</p> + +<p>"Three thousand."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if we could only get him!"</p> + +<p>One after the other, they left the lumber-room. Lupin heard the Broker's +parting words:</p> + +<p>"This is the plan of attack. We divide into three lots. A whistle; and +every one runs forward. . . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin hurriedly left his hiding-place, went down the ladder, ran round +the house, without going in, and climbed back over the railings:</p> + +<p>"The Broker's right; it'll be hot work. . . . Ah, it's my skin they're +after! A reward for Lupin! The rascals!"</p> + +<p>He passed through the toll-gate and jumped into a taxi:</p> + +<p>"Rue Raynouard."</p> + +<p>He stopped the cab at two hundred yards from the Rue des Vignes and +walked to the corner of the two streets. To his great surprise, +Doudeville was not there.</p> + +<p>"That's funny," said Lupin. "It's past twelve. . . . This business looks +suspicious to me."</p> + +<p>He waited ten minutes, twenty minutes. At half-past twelve, nobody had +arrived. Further delay was dangerous. After all, if Doudeville and his +men were prevented from coming, Charolais, his son and he, Lupin, +himself were enough to repel the attack, without counting the assistance +of the servants.</p> + +<p>He therefore went ahead. But he caught sight of two men who tried to +hide in the shadow of a corner wall.</p> + +<p>"Hang it!" he said. "That's the vanguard of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> gang, Dieudonne and +Chubby. I've allowed myself to be out-distanced, like a fool."</p> + +<p>Here he lost more time. Should he go straight up to them, disable them +and then climb into the house through the pantry-window, which he knew +to be unlocked? That would be the most prudent course and would enable +him, moreover, to take Mrs. Kesselbach away at once and to remove her to +a place of safety.</p> + +<p>Yes, but it also meant the failure of his plan; it meant missing this +glorious opportunity of trapping the whole gang, including Louis de +Malreich himself, without doubt.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a whistle sounded from somewhere on the other side of the +house. Was it the rest of the gang, so soon? And was an offensive +movement to be made from the garden?</p> + +<p>But, at the preconcerted signal, the two men climbed through the window +and disappeared from view.</p> + +<p>Lupin scaled the balcony at a bound and jumped into the pantry. By the +sound of their footsteps, he judged that the assailants had gone into +the garden; and the sound was so distinct that he felt easy in his mind: +Charolais and his son could not fail to hear the noise.</p> + +<p>He therefore went upstairs. Mrs. Kesselbach's bedroom was on the first +landing. He walked in without knocking.</p> + +<p>A night-light was burning in the room; and he saw Dolores, on a sofa, +fainting. He ran up to her, lifted her and, in a voice of command, +forcing her to answer:</p> + +<p>"Listen. . . . Charolais? His son . . . Where are they?"</p> + +<p>She stammered:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>"Why, what do you mean? . . . They're gone, of course! . . ."</p> + +<p>"What, gone?"</p> + +<p>"You sent me word . . . an hour ago . . . a telephone-message. . . ."</p> + +<p>He picked up a piece of blue paper lying beside her and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Send the two watchers away at once . . . and all my +men. . . . Tell them to meet me at the Grand Hotel. +Have no fear."</p></div> + +<p>"Thunder! And you believed it? . . . But your servants?"</p> + +<p>"Gone."</p> + +<p>He went up to the window. Outside, three men were coming from the other +end of the garden.</p> + +<p>From the window in the next room, which looked out on the street, he saw +two others, on the pavement.</p> + +<p>And he thought of Dieudonne, of Chubby, of Louis de Malreich, above all, +who must now be prowling around, invisible and formidable.</p> + +<p>"Hang it!" he muttered. "I half believe they've done me this time!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE MAN IN BLACK</span></h2> + + +<p>At that moment, Arsène Lupin felt the impression, the certainty, that he +had been drawn into an ambush, by means which he had not the time to +perceive, but of which he guessed the prodigious skill and address. +Everything had been calculated, everything ordained; the dismissal of +his men, the disappearance or treachery of the servants, his own +presence in Mrs. Kesselbach's house.</p> + +<p>Clearly, the whole thing had succeeded, exactly as the enemy wished, +thanks to circumstances almost miraculously fortunate; for, after all, +he might have arrived before the false message had sent his friends +away. But then there would have been a battle between his own gang and +the Altenheim gang. And Lupin, remembering Malreich's conduct, the +murder of Altenheim, the poisoning of the mad girl at Veldenz, Lupin +asked himself whether the ambush was aimed at him alone or whether +Malreich had not contemplated the possibility of a general scuffle, +involving the killing of accomplices who had by this time become irksome +to him.</p> + +<p>It was an intuition, rather, a fleeting idea, that just passed through +his mind. The hour was one for action. He must defend Dolores, the +abduction of whom was, in all likelihood, the first and foremost reason +of the attack.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span>He half-opened the casement window on the street and levelled his +revolver. A shot, rousing and alarming the neighborhood, and the +scoundrels would take to their heels.</p> + +<p>"Well, no," he muttered, "no! It shall not be said that I shirked the +fight. The opportunity is too good. . . . And, then, who says that they +would run away! . . . There are too many of them to care about the +neighbors."</p> + +<p>He returned to Dolores' room. There was a noise downstairs. He listened +and, finding that it came from the staircase, he locked the door.</p> + +<p>Dolores was crying and throwing herself about the sofa.</p> + +<p>He implored her:</p> + +<p>"Are you strong enough? We are on the first floor. I could help you +down. We can lower the sheets from the window. . . ."</p> + +<p>"No, no, don't leave me. . . . I am frightened. . . . I haven't the +strength . . . they will kill me. . . . Oh, protect me!"</p> + +<p>He took her in his arms and carried her to the next room. And, bending +over her:</p> + +<p>"Don't move; and keep calm. I swear to you that not one of those men +shall touch you, as long as I am alive."</p> + +<p>The door of the first room was tried. Dolores, clinging to him with all +her might, cried:</p> + +<p>"Oh, there they are! There they are! . . . They will kill you . . . you +are alone! . . ."</p> + +<p>Eagerly, he said:</p> + +<p>"No, I am not alone. . . . You are here. . . . You are here beside me. +. . ."</p> + +<p>He tried to release himself. She took his head in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span> her two hands, looked +him deep in the eyes and whispered:</p> + +<p>"Where are you going? What are you going to do? No . . . you must not +die. . . . I won't have it . . . you must live . . . you must."</p> + +<p>She stammered words which he did not catch and which she seemed to +stifle between her lips lest he should hear them; and, having spent all +her energy, exhausted, she fell back unconscious.</p> + +<p>He leant over her and gazed at her for a moment. Softly, lightly, he +pressed a kiss upon her hair.</p> + +<p>Then he went back to the first room, carefully closed the door between +the two and switched on the electric light.</p> + +<p>"One second, my lads!" he cried. "You seem in a great hurry to get +yourselves smashed to pieces! . . . Don't you know that Lupin's here? +I'll make you dance!"</p> + +<p>While speaking, he unfolded a screen in such a way as to hide the sofa +on which Mrs. Kesselbach had been lying; and he now spread dresses and +coverings over it. The door was on the point of giving way under the +blows of the men outside.</p> + +<p>"Here I am! Coming! Are you ready? Now, gentlemen, one at a time! . . ."</p> + +<p>He briskly turned the key and drew the bolt.</p> + +<p>Shouts, threats, a roar of infuriated animals came through the open +doorway.</p> + +<p>Yet none of them dared come forward. Before rushing at Lupin, they +hesitated, seized with alarm, with fear. . . .</p> + +<p>This was what he had reckoned on.</p> + +<p>Standing in the middle of the room, full in the light, with outstretched +arm, he held between his fingers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> a sheaf of bank-notes, which he +divided, counting them one by one, into seven equal shares. And he +calmly said:</p> + +<p>"Three thousand francs' reward for each of you, if Lupin is sent to his +last account? That's what you were promised, isn't it? Here's double the +money!"</p> + +<p>He laid the bundles on the table, within reach of the scoundrels.</p> + +<p>The Broker roared:</p> + +<p>"Humbug! He's trying to gain time. Shoot him down!"</p> + +<p>He raised his arm. His companions held him back.</p> + +<p>And Lupin continued:</p> + +<p>"Of course, this need not affect your plan of campaign. You came here, +first, to kidnap Mrs. Kesselbach and, secondly, to lay hands on her +jewels. Far be it from me to interfere with your laudable intentions!"</p> + +<p>"Look here, what are you driving at?" growled the Broker, listening in +spite of himself.</p> + +<p>"Aha, Broker, I'm beginning to interest you, am I? . . . Come in, old +chap. . . . Come in, all of you. . . . There's a draught at the top of +those stairs . . . and such pretty fellows as you mustn't run the risk +of catching cold. . . . What, are we afraid? Why, I'm all by myself! +. . . Come, pull yourselves together, my lambs!"</p> + +<p>They entered the room, puzzled and suspicious.</p> + +<p>"Shut the door, Broker . . . we shall be more comfortable. Thanks, old +man. Oh, by the way, I see the notes are gone. Therefore we're agreed. +How easy it is for honest men to come to terms!"</p> + +<p>"Well . . . and next?"</p> + +<p>"Next? Well, as we're partners . . ."</p> + +<p>"Partners?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span>"Why, haven't you accepted my money? We're working together, old man, +and we will carry off the young woman together first and carry off the +jewels after."</p> + +<p>The Broker grinned:</p> + +<p>"Don't want you for that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you do, old man."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because you don't know where the jewels are hidden and I do."</p> + +<p>"We'll find out."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow. Not to-night."</p> + +<p>"Well, let's hear. What do you want?"</p> + +<p>"My share of the jewels."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you take the lot, as you know where they are?"</p> + +<p>"Can't get at them by myself. There's a way of doing it, but I don't +know it. You're here, so I'm making use of you."</p> + +<p>The Broker hesitated:</p> + +<p>"Share the jewels. . . . Share the jewels. . . . A few bits of glass and +brass, most likely. . . ."</p> + +<p>"You fool! . . . There's more than a million's worth."</p> + +<p>The men quivered under the impression made upon them.</p> + +<p>"Very well," said the Broker. "But suppose the Kesselbach gets away? +She's in the next room, isn't she?"</p> + +<p>"No, she's in here."</p> + +<p>Lupin for a moment pulled back one of the leaves of the screen, +revealing the heap of dresses and bed-clothes which he had laid out on +the sofa:</p> + +<p>"She's here, fainting. But I shan't give her up till we've divided."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>"Still . . ."</p> + +<p>"You can take it or leave it. I don't care if I am alone. You know what +I'm good for. So please yourselves. . . ."</p> + +<p>The men consulted with one another and the Broker said:</p> + +<p>"Where is the hiding-place you're talking of?"</p> + +<p>"Under the fireplace. But, when you don't know the secret, you must +first lift up the whole chimneypiece, looking-glass, marble and all in a +lump, it seems. It's no easy job."</p> + +<p>"Pooh, we're a smart lot, we are! Just you wait and see. In five minutes +. . ."</p> + +<p>He gave his orders and his pals at once set to work with admirable vigor +and discipline. Two of them, standing on chairs, tried to lift the +mirror. The four others attacked the fireplace itself. The Broker, on +his knees, kept his eyes on the hearth and gave the word of command:</p> + +<p>"Cheerily, lads! . . . Altogether, if you please! . . . Look out! . . . +One, two . . . ah, there, it's moving! . . ."</p> + +<p>Standing behind them, with his hands in his pockets, Lupin watched them +affectionately and, at the same time, revelled with all his pride, as an +artist and master, in this striking proof of his authority, of his +might, of the incredible sway which he wielded over others. How could +those scoundrels for a second accept that improbable story and lose all +sense of things, to the point of relinquishing every chance of the fight +in his favor?</p> + +<p>He took from his pockets two great massive and formidable revolvers and, +calmly, choosing the first two men whom he would bring down and the two +who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> would fall next, he aimed as he might have aimed at a pair of +targets in a rifle-gallery.</p> + +<p>Two shots together and two more. . . .</p> + +<p>Loud yells of pain. . . . Four men came tumbling down, one after the +other, like dolls at a cockshy.</p> + +<p>"Four from seven leaves three," said Lupin. "Shall I go on?"</p> + +<p>His arms remained outstretched, levelled at the Broker and his two pals.</p> + +<p>"You swine!" growled the Broker, feeling for a weapon.</p> + +<p>"Hands up," cried Lupin, "or I fire! . . . That's it. . . . Now, you +two, take away his toys. . . . If not . . . !"</p> + +<p>The two scoundrels, shaking with fear, caught hold of their leader and +compelled him to submit.</p> + +<p>"Bind him! . . . Bind him, confound it! . . . What difference does it +make to you? . . . Once I'm gone, you're all free. . . . Come along, +have you finished? The wrists first . . . with your belts. . . . And the +ankles. . . . Hurry up! . . ."</p> + +<p>The Broker, beaten and disabled, made no further resistance. While his +pals were binding him, Lupin stooped over them and dealt them two +terrific blows on the head with the butt-end of his revolver. They sank +down in a heap.</p> + +<p>"That's a good piece of work," he said, taking breath. "Pity there are +not another fifty of them. I was just in the mood. . . . And all so +easily done . . . with a smile on one's face. . . . What do you think of +it, Broker?"</p> + +<p>The scoundrel lay cursing. Lupin said:</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, old man! Console yourself with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> thought that you are +helping in a good action, the rescue of Mrs. Kesselbach. She will thank +you in person for your gallantry."</p> + +<p>He went to the door of the second room and opened it:</p> + +<p>"What's this?" he said, stopping on the threshold, taken aback, +dumfounded.</p> + +<p>The room was empty.</p> + +<p>He went to the window, saw a ladder leaning against the balcony, a +telescopic steel ladder, and muttered:</p> + +<p>"Kidnapped . . . kidnapped . . . Louis de Malreich. . . . Oh, the +villain! . . ."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He reflected for a minute, trying to master his anguish of mind, and +said to himself that, after all, as Mrs. Kesselbach seemed to be in no +immediate danger, there was no cause for alarm.</p> + +<p>But he was seized with a sudden fit of rage and flew at the seven +scoundrels, gave a kick or two to those of the wounded who stirred, felt +for his bank-notes and put them back in his pocket, then gagged the +men's mouths and tied their hands with anything that he could +find—blind-cords, curtain-loops, blankets and sheets reduced to +strips—and, lastly, laid in a row on the carpet, in front of the sofa, +seven bundles of humanity, packed tight together and tied up like so +many parcels:</p> + +<p>"Mummies on toast!" he chuckled. "A dainty dish for those who like that +sort of thing! . . . You pack of fools, how does this suit you, eh? +There you are, like corpses at the Morgue. . . . Serves you right for +attacking Lupin, Lupin the protector of the widow and orphan! . . . Are +you trembling? Quite unnecessary, my lambs! Lupin never hurt a fly yet! +. . . Only, Lupin is a decent man, he can't stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> vermin; and the Lupin +knows his duty. I ask you, is life possible with a lot of scamps like +you about? Think of it: no respect for other people's lives; no respect +for property, for laws, for society; no conscience; no anything! What +are we coming to? Lord, what are we coming to?"</p> + +<p>Without even taking the trouble to lock them in, he left the room, went +down the street and walked until he came to his taxi. He sent the driver +in search of another and brought both cabs back to Mrs. Kesselbach's +house.</p> + +<p>A good tip, paid in advance, avoided all tedious explanations. With the +help of the two men, he carried the seven prisoners down and plumped +them anyhow, on one another's knees, into the cabs. The wounded men +yelled and moaned. He shut the doors, shouting:</p> + +<p>"Mind your hands!"</p> + +<p>He got up beside the driver of the front cab.</p> + +<p>"Where to?" asked the man.</p> + +<p>"36, Quai des Orfevers: the detective-office."</p> + +<p>The motors throbbed, the drivers started the gear and the strange +procession went scooting down the slopes of the Trocadero.</p> + +<p>In the streets, they passed a few vegetable-carts. Men carrying long +poles were turning out the street-lamps.</p> + +<p>There were stars in the sky. A cool breeze was wafted through the air.</p> + +<p>Lupin sang aloud:</p> + +<p>The Place de la Concorde, the Louvre. . . . In the distance, the dark +bulk of Notre Dame. . . .</p> + +<p>He turned round and half opened the door:</p> + +<p>"Having a good time, mates? So am I, thank you. It's a grand night for a +drive and the air's delicious! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>They were now bumping over the ill-paved quays. And soon they arrived at +the Palais de Justice and the door of the detective-office.</p> + +<p>"Wait here," said Lupin to the two drivers, "and be sure you look after +your seven fares."</p> + +<p>He crossed the outer yard and went down the passage on the right leading +to the rooms of the central office. He found the night inspectors on +duty.</p> + +<p>"A bag, gentlemen," he said, as he entered, "a fine bag too. Is M. Weber +here? I am the new commissary of police for Auteuil."</p> + +<p>"M. Weber is in his flat. Do you want him sent for?"</p> + +<p>"Just one second. I'm in a hurry. I'll leave a line for him."</p> + +<p>He sat down at a table and wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Weber</span>,</p> + +<p>"I am bringing you the seven scoundrels composing +Altenheim's gang, the men who killed Gourel (and +plenty of others) and who killed me as well, under the +name of M. Lenormand.</p> + +<p>"That only leaves their leader unaccounted for. I am +going to effect his arrest this minute. Come and join +me. He lives in the Rue Delaizement, at Neuilly and +goes by the name of Leon Massier.</p> + +<p class="sig1">"Kind regards.</p> + +<p class="sig2">"Yours,</p> + +<p class="sig3 nobottom">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin</span>,</p> + +<p class="sig4">"<i>Chief of the Detective-service</i>."</p></div> + +<p>He sealed the letter:</p> + +<p>"Give that to M. Weber. It's urgent. Now I want seven men to receive the +goods. I left them on the quay."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span>On going back to the taxis, he was met by a chief inspector:</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's you M. Lebœuf!" he said. "I've made a fine haul. . . . The +whole of Altenheim's gang. . . . They're there in the taxi-cabs."</p> + +<p>"Where did you find them?"</p> + +<p>"Hard at work kidnapping Mrs. Kesselbach and robbing her house. But I'll +tell you all about it when the time comes."</p> + +<p>The chief inspector took him aside and, with the air of surprise:</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, monsieur, but I was sent for to see the commissary +of police for Auteuil. And I don't seem to . . . Whom have I the honor +of addressing?"</p> + +<p>"Somebody who is making you a handsome present of seven hooligans of the +finest quality."</p> + +<p>"Still, I should like to know. . . ."</p> + +<p>"My name?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Arsène Lupin."</p> + +<p>He nimbly tripped the chief inspector up, ran to the Rue de Rivoli, +jumped into a passing taxi-cab and drove to the Porte des Ternes.</p> + +<p>The Route de la Revolte was close by. He went to No. 3.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>For all his coolness and self-command, Arsène Lupin was unable to +control his excitement. Would he find Dolores Kesselbach? Had Louis de +Malreich taken her either to his own place or to the Broker's shed?</p> + +<p>Lupin had taken the key of the shed from the Broker, so that it was easy +for him, after ringing and walking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span> across the different yards, to open +the door and enter the lumber-shop.</p> + +<p>He switched on his lantern and took his bearings. A little to the right +was the free space in which he had seen the accomplices hold their last +confabulation. On the sofa mentioned by the Broker he saw a black +figure, Dolores lay wrapped in blankets and gagged.</p> + +<p>He helped her up.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's you, it's you!" she stammered. "They haven't touched you!"</p> + +<p>And, rising and pointing to the back of the shop:</p> + +<p>"There . . . he went out that side . . . I heard him. . . . I am sure. +. . . You must go . . . please!"</p> + +<p>"I must get you away first," he said.</p> + +<p>"No, never mind me . . . go after him. . . . I entreat you. . . . Strike +him!"</p> + +<p>Fear, this time, instead of dejecting her, seemed to be giving her +unwonted strength; and she repeated, with an immense longing to place +her terrible enemy in his power:</p> + +<p>"Go after him first. . . . I can't go on living like this. . . . You +must save me from him. . . . I can't go on living. . . ."</p> + +<p>He unfastened her bonds, laid her carefully on the sofa and said:</p> + +<p>"You are right. . . . Besides, you have nothing to fear here. . . . Wait +for me, I shall come back."</p> + +<p>As he was going away, she caught hold of his hand:</p> + +<p>"But you yourself?"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"If that man . . ."</p> + +<p>It was as though she dreaded for Lupin the great, final contest to which +she was exposing him and as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> though, at the last moment, she would have +been glad to hold him back.</p> + +<p>He said:</p> + +<p>"Thank you, have no fear. What have I to be afraid of? He is alone."</p> + +<p>And, leaving her, he went to the back of the shed. As he expected, he +found a ladder standing against the wall which brought him to the level +of the little window through which he had watched the scoundrels hold +their meeting. It was the way by which Malreich had returned to his +house in the Rue Delaizement.</p> + +<p>He, therefore, took the same road, just as he had done a few hours +earlier, climbed into the loft of the other coach-house and down into +the garden. He found himself at the back of the villa occupied by +Malreich.</p> + +<p>Strange to say, he did not doubt, for a moment that Malreich was there. +He would meet him inevitably; the formidable battle which they were +waging against each other was nearing its end. A few minutes more and, +one way or another, all would be over.</p> + +<p>He was amazed, on grasping the handle of a door, to find that the handle +turned and the door opened under his pressure. The villa was not even +locked.</p> + +<p>He passed through a kitchen, a hall and up a staircase; and he walked +deliberately, without seeking to deaden the sound of his footsteps.</p> + +<p>On the landing, he stopped. The perspiration streamed from his forehead; +and his temples throbbed under the rush of his blood. Nevertheless, he +remained calm, master of himself and conscious of his least thoughts. He +laid two revolvers on a stair:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span>"No weapons," he said to himself. "My hands only, just the effort of my +two hands. . . . That's quite enough. . . . That will be better. . . ."</p> + +<p>Opposite him were three doors. He chose the middle one, turned the +handle and encountered no obstacle. He went in. There was no light in +the room, but the rays of the night entered through the wide-open window +and, amid the darkness, he saw the sheets and the white curtains of the +bed.</p> + +<p>And somebody was standing beside it.</p> + +<p>He savagely cast the gleam of his lantern upon that form.</p> + +<p>Malreich!</p> + +<p>The pallid face of Malreich, his dim eyes, his cadaverous cheek-bones, +his scraggy neck. . . .</p> + +<p>And all this stood motionless, opposite him, at five steps' distance; +and he could not have said whether that dull face, that death-face, +expressed the least terror or even a grain of anxiety.</p> + +<p>Lupin took a step forward . . . and a second . . . and a third. . . .</p> + +<p>The man did not move.</p> + +<p>Did he see? Did he understand? It was as though the man's eyes were +gazing into space and that he thought himself possessed by an +hallucination, rather than looking upon a real image.</p> + +<p>One more step. . . .</p> + +<p>"He will defend himself," thought Lupin, "he is bound to defend +himself."</p> + +<p>And Lupin thrust out his arms.</p> + +<p>The man did not make a movement. He did not retreat; his eyelids did not +blink.</p> + +<p>The contact took place.</p> + +<p>And it was Lupin, scared and bewildered, who lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> his head. He knocked +the man back upon his bed, stretched him at full length, rolled him in +the sheets, bound him in the blankets and held him under his knee, like +a prey . . . whereas the man had not made the slightest movement of +resistance.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" shouted Lupin, drunk with delight and satisfied hatred. "At last I +have crushed you, you odious brute! At last I am the master!"</p> + +<p>He heard a noise outside, in the Rue Delaizement; men knocking at the +gate. He ran to the window and cried:</p> + +<p>"Is that you, Weber? Already? Well done! You are a model servant! Break +down the gate, old chap, and come up here; delighted to see you!"</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, he searched his prisoner's clothes, got hold of his +pocket-book, cleared the papers out of the drawers of the desk and the +davenport, flung them on the table and went through them.</p> + +<p>He gave a shout of joy: the bundle of letters was there, the famous +bundle of letters which he had promised to restore to the Emperor.</p> + +<p>He put back the papers in their place and went to the window:</p> + +<p>"It's all finished, Weber! You can come in! You will find Mr. +Kesselbach's murderer in his bed, all ready tied up. . . . Good-bye, +Weber!"</p> + +<p>And Lupin, tearing down the stairs, ran to the coach-house and went back +to Dolores Kesselbach, while Weber was breaking into the villa.</p> + +<p>Single-handed, he had arrested Altenheim's seven companions!</p> + +<p>And he had delivered to justice the mysterious leader of the gang, the +infamous monster, Louis de Malreich!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span>A young man sat writing at a table on a wide wooden balcony.</p> + +<p>From time to time, he raised his head and cast a vague glance toward the +horizon of hills, where the trees, stripped by the autumn, were shedding +their last leaves over the red roofs of the villas and the lawns of the +gardens. Then he went on writing.</p> + +<p>Presently he took up his paper and read aloud:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Nos jours s'en vont à la dérive,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Comme emportés par un courant<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Qui les pousse vers une rive<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Où l'on n'aborde qu'en mourant.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<div class="footnote"> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a><span class="i0">Our days go by, adrift, adrift,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Borne along by current swift<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That urges them toward the strand<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where not until we die, we land.<br /></span> +</div></div></div> + +<p>"Not so bad," said a voice behind him. "Mme. Amable Tastu might have +written that, or Mrs. Felicia Hemans. However, we can't all be Byrons or +Lamartines!"</p> + +<p>"You! . . . You! . . ." stammered the young man, in dismay.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I, poet, I myself, Arsène Lupin come to see his dear friend Pierre +Leduc."</p> + +<p>Pierre Leduc began to shake, as though shivering with fever. He asked, +in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"Has the hour come?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear Pierre Leduc: the hour has come for you to give up, or +rather to interrupt the slack poet's life which you have been leading +for months at the feet of Geneviève Ernemont and Mrs. Kesselbach and to +perform the part which I have allotted to you in my play . . . oh, a +fine play, I assure you, thoroughly well-constructed, according to all +the canons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg 368]</a></span> of art, with top notes, comic relief and gnashing of teeth +galore! We have reached the fifth act; the grand finale is at hand; and +you, Pierre Leduc, are the hero. There's fame for you!"</p> + +<p>The young man rose from his seat:</p> + +<p>"And suppose I refuse?"</p> + +<p>"Idiot!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, suppose I refuse? After all, what obliges me to submit to your +will? What obliges me to accept a part which I do not know, but which I +loathe in advance and feel ashamed of?"</p> + +<p>"Idiot!" repeated Lupin.</p> + +<p>And forcing Pierre Leduc back into his chair, he sat down beside him +and, in the gentlest of voices:</p> + +<p>"You quite forget, my dear young man, that you are not Pierre Leduc, but +Gérard Baupré. That you bear the beautiful name of Pierre Leduc is due +to the fact that you, Gérard Baupré, killed Pierre Leduc and robbed him +of his individuality."</p> + +<p>The young man bounded with indignation:</p> + +<p>"You are mad! You know as well as I do that you conceived the whole +plot. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know that, of course; but the law doesn't know it; and what will +the law say when I come forward with proof that the real Pierre Leduc +died a violent death and that you have taken his place?"</p> + +<p>The young man, overwhelmed with consternation, stammered:</p> + +<p>"No one will believe you. . . . Why should I have done that? With what +object?"</p> + +<p>"Idiot! The object is so self-evident that Weber himself could have +perceived it. You lie when you say that you will not accept a part which +you do not know. You know your part quite well. It is the part<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> which +Pierre Leduc would have played were he not dead."</p> + +<p>"But Pierre Leduc, to me, to everybody, was only a name. Who was he? Who +am I?"</p> + +<p>"What difference can that make to you?"</p> + +<p>"I want to know. I want to know what I am doing!"</p> + +<p>"And, if you know, will you go straight ahead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if the object of which you speak is worth it."</p> + +<p>"If it were not, do you think I would take all this trouble?"</p> + +<p>"Who am I? Whatever my destiny, you may be sure that I shall prove +worthy of it. But I want to know. Who am I?"</p> + +<p>Arsène Lupin took off his hat, bowed and said: "Hermann IV., Grand-duke +of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, Prince of Berncastel, Elector of Treves and lord +of all sorts of places."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Three days later, Arsène Lupin took Mrs. Kesselbach away in a motor-car +in the direction of the frontier. The journey was accomplished in +silence, Lupin remembered with emotion Dolores's terrified conduct and +the words which she spoke in the house in the Rue des Vignes, when he +was about to defend her against Altenheim's accomplices. And she must +have remembered also, for she remained embarrassed and evidently +perturbed in his presence.</p> + +<p>In the evening they reached a small castle, all covered with creepers +and flowers, roofed with an enormous slate cap and standing in a large +garden full of ancestral trees.</p> + +<p>Here Mrs. Kesselbach found Geneviève already installed, after a visit to +the neighboring town, where<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> she had engaged a staff of servants from +among the country-people.</p> + +<p>"This will be your residence, madame," said Lupin. "You are at Bruggen +Castle. You will be quite safe here, while waiting the outcome of these +events. I have written to Pierre Leduc and he will be your guest from +to-morrow."</p> + +<p>He started off again at once, drove to Veldenz and handed over to Count +von Waldemar the famous letters which he had recaptured:</p> + +<p>"You know my conditions, my dear Waldemar," said Lupin. "The first and +most important thing is to restore the House of Zweibrucken-Veldenz and +to reinstate the Grand-duke Hermann IV., in the grand-duchy."</p> + +<p>"I shall open negotiations with the Council of Regency to-day. According +to my information, it will not be a difficult matter. But this +Grand-duke Hermann. . . ."</p> + +<p>"His Royal Highness is at present staying at Bruggen Castle, under the +name of Pierre Leduc. I will supply all the necessary proofs of his +identity."</p> + +<p>That same evening, Lupin took the road back to Paris, with the intention +of actively hurrying on the trial of Malreich and the seven scoundrels.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>It would be wearisome to recapitulate the story of the case: the facts, +down to the smallest details, are in the memory of one and all. It was +one of those sensational events which still form a subject of +conversation and discussion among the weather-beaten laborers in the +remotest villages.</p> + +<p>But what I wish to recall is the enormous part played<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span> by Lupin in the +conduct of the case and in the incidents appertaining to the preliminary +inquiry. As a matter of fact, it was he who managed the inquiry. From +the very start, he took the place of the authorities, ordering +police-searches, directing the measures to be taken, prescribing the +questions to be put to the prisoners, assuming the responsibility for +everything.</p> + +<p>We can all remember the universal amazement when, morning after morning, +we read in the papers those letters, so irresistible in their masterly +logic, signed, by turns:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"ARSÈNE LUPIN, <i>Examining-magistrate</i>."</p> + +<p>"ARSÈNE LUPIN, <i>Public Prosecutor</i>."</p> + +<p>"ARSÈNE LUPIN, <i>Minister of Justice</i>."</p> + +<p>"ARSÈNE LUPIN, <i>Copper</i>."</p></div> + +<p>He flung himself into the business with a spirit, an ardor, a violence, +even, that was astonishing in one usually so full of light-hearted chaff +and, when all was said, so naturally disposed by temperament to display +a certain professional indulgence.</p> + +<p>No, this time he was prompted by hatred.</p> + +<p>He hated Louis de Malreich, that bloodthirsty scoundrel, that foul +brute, of whom he had always been afraid and who, even beaten, even in +prison, still gave him that sensation of dread and repugnance which one +feels at the sight of a reptile.</p> + +<p>Besides, had not Malreich had the audacity to persecute Dolores?</p> + +<p>"He has played and lost," said Lupin. "He shall pay for it with his +head."</p> + +<p>That was what he wanted for his terrible enemy: the scaffold, the bleak, +dull morning when the blade of the guillotine slides down and kills<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span>. +. . .</p> + +<p>It was a strange prisoner whom the examining-magistrate questioned for +months on end between the four walls of his room, a strange figure, that +bony man, with the skeleton face and the lifeless eyes!</p> + +<p>He seemed quite out of himself. His thoughts were not there, but +elsewhere. And he cared so little about answering!</p> + +<p>"My name is Leon Massier."</p> + +<p>That was the one sentence to which he confined himself.</p> + +<p>And Lupin retorted.</p> + +<p>"You lie. Leon Massier, born at Perigueux, left fatherless at the age of +ten, died seven years ago. You took his papers. But you forgot his +death-certificate. Here it is."</p> + +<p>And Lupin sent a copy of the document to the public prosecutor.</p> + +<p>"I am Leon Massier," declared the prisoner, once again.</p> + +<p>"You lie," replied Lupin. "You are Louis de Malreich, the last surviving +descendant of a small French noble who settled in Germany in the +eighteenth century. You had a brother who called himself Parbury, +Ribeira and Altenheim, by turns: you killed your brother. You had a +sister, Isilda de Malreich: you killed your sister."</p> + +<p>"I am Leon Massier."</p> + +<p>"You lie. You are Malreich. Here is your birth-certificate. Here are +your brother's and your sister's."</p> + +<p>And Lupin sent the three certificates.</p> + +<p>Apart from the question of his identity, Malreich, crushed, no doubt, by +the accumulation of proofs brought up against him, did not defend +himself. What could he say? They had forty notes written in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg 373]</a></span> own +hand—a comparison of the handwritings established the fact—written in +his own hand to the gang of his accomplices, forty notes which he had +omitted to tear up after taking them back. And all these notes were +orders relating to the Kesselbach case, the capture of M. Lenormand and +Gourel, the pursuit of old Steinweg, the construction of the underground +passages at Garches and so on. What possibility was there of a denial?</p> + +<p>One rather odd thing baffled the law officers. The seven scoundrels, +when confronted with their leader, all declared that they did not know +him, because they had never seen him. They received his instructions +either by telephone, or else in the dark, by means of those same little +notes which Malreich slipped into their hands without a word.</p> + +<p>But, for the rest, was not the existence of the communication between +the villa in the Rue Delaizement and the Broker's shed an ample proof of +complicity? From that spot, Malreich saw and heard. From that spot, the +leader watched his men.</p> + +<p>Discrepancies? Apparently irreconcilable facts? Lupin explained them all +away. In a celebrated article, published on the morning of the trial, he +took up the case from the start, revealed what lay beneath it, +unravelled its web, showed Malreich, unknown to all, living in the room +of his brother, the sham Major Parbury, passing unseen along the +passages of the Palace Hotel and murdering Mr. Kesselbach, murdering +Beudot the floor-waiter, murdering Chapman the secretary.</p> + +<p>The trial lingers in the memory. It was both terrifying and gloomy: +terrifying because of the atmosphere of anguish that hung over the crowd +of onlookers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span> and the recollection of crime and blood that obsessed +their minds: gloomy, heavy, darksome, stifling because of the tremendous +silence observed by the prisoner.</p> + +<p>Not a protest, not a movement, not a word. A face of wax that neither +saw nor heard. An awful vision of impassive calmness! The people in +court shuddered. Their distraught imaginations conjured up a sort of +supernatural being rather than a man, a sort of genie out of the Arabian +Nights, one of those Hindu gods who symbolize all that is ferocious, +cruel, sanguinary and pernicious.</p> + +<p>As for the other scoundrels, the people did not even look at them, +treated them as insignificant supers overshadowed by that stupendous +leader.</p> + +<p>The most sensational evidence was that given by Mrs. Kesselbach. To the +general astonishment and to Lupin's own surprise, Dolores, who had +answered none of the magistrate's summonses and who had retired to an +unknown spot, Dolores appeared, a sorrow-stricken widow, to give damning +evidence against her husband's murderer.</p> + +<p>She gazed at him for many seconds and then said, simply:</p> + +<p>"That is the man who entered my house in the Rue des Vignes, who carried +me off and who locked me up in the Broker's shed. I recognize him."</p> + +<p>"On your oath?"</p> + +<p>"I swear it before God and man."</p> + +<p>Two days later, Louis de Malreich, <i>alias</i> Leon Massier was sentenced to +death. And his overpowering personality may be said to have absorbed +that of his accomplices to such an extent that they received the benefit +of extenuating circumstances.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span>"Louis de Malreich have you nothing to say?" asked the presiding judge.</p> + +<p>He made no reply.</p> + +<p>One question alone remained undecided in Lupin's eyes: why had Malreich +committed all those crimes? What did he want? What was his object?</p> + +<p>Lupin was soon to understand; and the day was not far off when, gasping +with horror, struck, mortally smitten with despair, he would know the +awful truth.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>For the moment, although the thought of it constantly hovered over his +mind, he ceased to occupy himself with the Malreich case. Resolved to +get a new skin, as he put it; reassured, on the other hand, as to the +fate of Mrs. Kesselbach and Geneviève, over whose peaceful existence he +watched from afar; and, lastly, kept informed by Jean Doudeville, whom +he had sent to Veldenz, of all the negotiations that were being pursued +between the court of Berlin and the regent of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, he +employed all his time in winding up the past and preparing for the +future.</p> + +<p>The thought of the different life which he wished to lead under the eyes +of Mrs. Kesselbach filled him with new ambitions and unexpected +sentiments, in which the image of Dolores played a part, without his +being able to tell exactly how or why.</p> + +<p>In a few weeks, he got rid of all the proofs that could have compromised +him sooner or later, all the traces that could have led to his ruin. He +gave each of his old companions a sum of money sufficient to keep them +from want for the rest of their lives and said good-bye to them, saying +that he was going to South America.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span>One morning, after a night of careful thought and a deep study of the +situation, he cried:</p> + +<p>"It's done. There's nothing to fear now. The old Lupin is dead. Make way +for the young one."</p> + +<p>His man brought him a telegram from Germany. It contained the news for +which he had been waiting. The Council of Regency, greatly influenced by +the Court of Berlin, had referred the question to the electors; and the +electors, greatly influenced by the Council of Regency, had declared +their unshaken attachment to the old dynasty of the Veldenz. Count von +Waldemar was deputed, together with three delegates selected from the +nobility, the army and the law, to go to Bruggen Castle, carefully to +establish the identity of the Grand-duke Hermann IV. and to make all the +arrangements with His Royal Highness for his triumphal entry into the +principality of his fathers, which was to take place in the course of +the following month.</p> + +<p>"This time, I've pulled it off," said Lupin to himself. "Mr. +Kesselbach's great scheme is being realized. All that remains for me to +do is to make Waldemar swallow Pierre Leduc; and that is child's play. +The banns between Geneviève and Pierre shall be published to-morrow. And +it shall be the grand-duke's affianced bride that will be presented to +Waldemar."</p> + +<p>Full of glee, he started in his motor for Bruggen Castle.</p> + +<p>He sang in the car, he whistled, he chatted to his chauffeur:</p> + +<p>"Octave, do you know whom you have the honor of driving? The master of +the world! . . . Yes, old man, that staggers you, eh? Just so, but it's +the truth. I am the master of the world."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>He rubbed his hands and went on soliloquizing:</p> + +<p>"All the same, it was a long job. It's a year since the fight began. +True, it was the most formidable fight I ever stood to win or lose. +. . . By Jupiter, what a war of giants!" And he repeated, "But this +time, I've pulled it off! The enemies are in the water. There are no +obstacles left between the goal and me. The site is free: let us build +upon it! I have the materials at hand, I have the workmen: let us build, +Lupin! And let the palace be worthy of you!"</p> + +<p>He stopped the car at a few hundred yards from the castle, so that his +arrival might create as little fuss as possible, and said to Octave:</p> + +<p>"Wait here for twenty minutes, until four o'clock, and then drive in. +Take my bags to the little chalet at the end of the park. That's where I +shall sleep."</p> + +<p>At the first turn of the road, the castle appeared in sight, standing at +the end of a dark avenue of lime trees. From the distance, he saw +Geneviève passing on the terrace.</p> + +<p>His heart was softly stirred:</p> + +<p>"Geneviève, Geneviève," he said, fondly. "Geneviève . . . the vow which +I made to the dying mother is being fulfilled as well. . . . Geneviève a +grand-duchess! . . . And I, in the shade, watching over her happiness +. . . and pursuing the great schemes of Arsène Lupin!"</p> + +<p>He burst out laughing, sprang behind a cluster of trees that stood to +the left of the avenue and slipped along the thick shrubberies. In this +way, he reached the castle without the possibility of his being seen +from the windows of the drawing-room or the principal bedrooms.</p> + +<p>He wanted to see Dolores before she saw him and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> pronounced her name +several times, as he had pronounced Geneviève's, but with an emotion +that surprised himself:</p> + +<p>"Dolores. . . . Dolores. . . ."</p> + +<p>He stole along the passages and reached the dining-room. From this room, +through a glass panel, he could see half the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>He drew nearer.</p> + +<p>Dolores was lying on a couch; and Pierre Leduc, on his knees before her, +was gazing at her with eyes of ecstasy. . . .</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE MAP OF EUROPE</span></h2> + + +<p>Pierre Leduc loved Dolores!</p> + +<p>Lupin felt a keen, penetrating pain in the depths of his being, as +though he had been wounded in the very source of life; a pain so great +that, for the first time, he had a clear perception of what Dolores had +gradually, unknown to himself, become to him.</p> + +<p>Pierre Leduc loved Dolores! And he was looking at her as a man looks at +the woman he loves.</p> + +<p>Lupin felt a murderous instinct rise up within him, blindly and +furiously. That look, that look of love cast upon Dolores, maddened him. +He received an impression of the great silence that enveloped Dolores +and Pierre Leduc; and in silence, in the stillness of their attitude +there was nothing living but that look of love, that dumb and sensuous +hymn in which the eyes told all the passion, all the desire, all the +transport, all the yearning that one being can feel for another.</p> + +<p>And he saw Mrs. Kesselbach also. Dolores' eyes were invisible under +their lowered lids, the silky eyelids with the long black lashes. But +how she seemed to feel that look of love which sought for hers! How she +quivered under that impalpable caress!</p> + +<p>"She loves him . . . she loves him," thought Lupin, burning with +jealousy.</p> + +<p>And, when Pierre made a movement:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span>"Oh, the villain! If he dares to touch her, I will kill him!"</p> + +<p>Then, realizing the disorder of his reason and striving to combat it, he +said to himself:</p> + +<p>"What a fool I am! What, you, Lupin, letting your self go like this! +. . . Look here, it's only natural that she should love him. . . . Yes, +of course, you expected her to show a certain emotion at your arrival +. . . a certain agitation. . . . You silly idiot, you're only a thief, a +robber . . . whereas he is a prince and young. . . ."</p> + +<p>Pierre had not stirred further. But his lips moved and it seemed as +though Dolores were waking. Softly, slowly, she raised her lids, turned +her head a little and her eyes met the young man's eyes with the look +that offers itself and surrenders itself and is more intense than the +most intense of kisses.</p> + +<p>What followed came suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thunder-clap. In +three bounds, Lupin rushed into the drawing-room, sprang upon the young +man, flung him to the ground and, with one hand on his rival's chest, +beside himself with anger, turning to Mrs. Kesselbach, he cried:</p> + +<p>"But don't you know? Hasn't he told you, the cheat? . . . And you love +him, you love that! Does he look like a grand-duke? Oh, what a joke!"</p> + +<p>He grinned and chuckled like a madman, while Dolores gazed at him in +stupefaction:</p> + +<p>"He, a grand-duke! Hermann IV., Grand-duke of Zweibrucken-Veldenz! A +reigning sovereign! Elector of Treves! But it's enough to make one die +of laughing! He! Why, his name is Baupré, Gérard Baupré, the lowest of +ragamuffins . . . a beggar, whom I picked up in the gutter! . . . A +grand-duke? But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> it's I who made him a grand-duke! Ha, ha, ha, what a +joke! . . . If you had seen him cut his little finger . . . he fainted +three times . . . the milksop! . . . Ah, you allow yourself to lift your +eyes to ladies . . . and to rebel against the master! . . . Wait a bit, +Grand-duke of Zweibrucken-Veldenz, I'll show you!"</p> + +<p>He took him in his arms, like a bundle, swung him to and fro for a +moment and pitched him through the open window:</p> + +<p>"Mind the rose trees, grand-duke! There are thorns!"</p> + +<p>When he turned round, Dolores was close to him and looking at him with +eyes which he had never seen in her before, the eyes of a woman who +hates and who is incensed with rage. Could this possibly be Dolores, the +weak, ailing Dolores?</p> + +<p>She stammered:</p> + +<p>"What are you doing? . . . How dare you? . . . And he. . . . Then it's +true? . . . lied to me? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Lied to you?" cried Lupin, grasping the humiliation which she had +suffered as a woman. "Lied to you? He, a grand-duke! A puppet, that's +all, a puppet of which I pulled the string . . . an instrument which I +tuned, to play upon as I chose! Oh, the fool, the fool!"</p> + +<p>Overcome with renewed rage, he stamped his foot and shook his fist at +the open window. And he began to walk up and down the room, flinging out +phrases in which all the pent-up violence of his secret thought burst +forth:</p> + +<p>"The fool! Then he didn't see what I expected of him? He did not suspect +the greatness of the part he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> was to play? Oh, I shall have to drive it +into his noddle by force, I see! Lift up your head, you idiot! You shall +be grand-duke by the grace of Lupin! And a reigning sovereign! With a +civil list! And subjects to fleece! And a palace which Charlemagne shall +rebuild for you! And a master that shall be I, Lupin! Do you understand, +you numskull? Lift up your head, dash it! Higher than that! Look up at +the sky, remember that a Zweibrucken was hanged for cattle-lifting +before the Hohenzollerns were ever heard of. And you are a Zweibrucken, +by Jove, no less; and I am here, I, I, Lupin! And you shall be +grand-duke, I tell you! A paste-board grand-duke? Very well! But a +grand-duke all the same, quickened with my breath and glowing with my +ardor. A puppet? Very well. But a puppet that shall speak <i>my</i> words and +make <i>my</i> movements and perform <i>my</i> wishes and realize <i>my</i> dreams +. . . yes . . . my dreams."</p> + +<p>He stood motionless, as though dazzled by the glory of his conception. +Then he went up to Dolores and, sinking his voice, with a sort of mystic +exaltation, he said:</p> + +<p>"On my left, Alsace-Lorraine. . . . On my right, Baden, Wurtemburg, +Bavaria. . . . South Germany . . . all those disconnected, discontented +states, crushed under the heel of the Prussian Charlemagne, but restless +and ready to throw off the yoke at any moment. . . . Do you understand +all that a man like myself can do in the midst of that, all the +aspirations that he can kindle, all the hatred that he can produce, all +the angry rebellion that he can inspire?"</p> + +<p>In a still lower voice, he repeated:</p> + +<p>"And, on my left, Alsace-Lorraine! . . . Do you fully understand? . . . +Dreams? Not at all!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> It is the reality of the day after to-morrow, of +to-morrow! . . . Yes. . . . I wish it. . . . I wish it. . . . Oh, all +that I wish and all that I mean to do is unprecedented! . . . Only +think, at two steps from the Alsatian frontier! In the heart of German +territory! Close to the old Rhine! . . . A little intrigue, a little +genius will be enough to change the surface of the earth. Genius I have +. . . and to spare. . . . And I shall be the master! I shall be the man +who directs. The other, the puppet can have the title and the honors. +. . . I shall have the power! . . . I shall remain in the background. No +office: I will not be a minister, nor even a chamberlain. Nothing. I +shall be one of the servants in the palace, the gardener perhaps. . . . +Yes, the gardener. . . . Oh, what a tremendous life! To grow flowers and +alter the map of Europe!"</p> + +<p>She looked at him greedily, dominated, swayed by the strength of that +man. And her eyes expressed an admiration which she did not seek to +conceal.</p> + +<p>He put his hands on Dolores' shoulders and said:</p> + +<p>"That is my dream. Great as it is, it will be surpassed by the facts: +that I swear to you. The Kaiser has already seen what I am good for. One +day, he will find me installed in front of him, face to face. I hold all +the trumps. Valenglay will act at my bidding. . . . England also. . . . +The game is played and won. . . . That is my dream. . . . There is +another one. . . ."</p> + +<p>He stopped suddenly. Dolores did not take her eyes from him; and an +infinite emotion changed every feature of her face.</p> + +<p>A vast joy penetrated him as he once more felt, and clearly felt, that +woman's confusion in his presence.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> He no longer had the sense of being +to her . . . what he was, a thief, a robber; he was a man, a man who +loved and whose love roused unspoken feelings in the depths of a +friendly soul.</p> + +<p>Then he said no more, but he lavished upon her, unuttered, every known +word of love and admiration; and he thought of the life which he might +lead somewhere, not far from Veldenz, unknown and all-powerful. . . .</p> + +<p>A long silence united them. Then she rose and said, softly:</p> + +<p>"Go away, I entreat you to go. . . . Pierre shall marry Geneviève, I +promise you that, but it is better that you should go . . . that you +should not be here. . . . Go. Pierre shall marry Geneviève."</p> + +<p>He waited for a moment. Perhaps he would rather have had more definite +words, but he dared not ask for anything. And he withdrew, dazed, +intoxicated and happy to obey, to subject his destiny to hers!</p> + +<p>On his way to the door, he came upon a low chair, which he had to move. +But his foot knocked against something. He looked down. It was a little +pocket-mirror, in ebony, with a gold monogram.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he started and snatched up the mirror. The monogram consisted +of two letters interlaced, an "L" and an "M."</p> + +<p>An "L" and an "M!"</p> + +<p>"Louis de Malreich," he said to himself, with a shudder.</p> + +<p>He turned to Dolores:</p> + +<p>"Where does this mirror come from? Whose is it? It is important that I +should . . ."</p> + +<p>She took it from him and looked at it:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[Pg 385]</a></span>"I don't know. . . . I never saw it before . . . a servant, perhaps. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"A servant, no doubt," he said, "but it is very odd . . . it is one of +those coincidences. . . ."</p> + +<p>At that moment, Geneviève entered by the other door, and without seeing +Lupin, who was hidden by a screen, at once exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, there's your glass, Dolores! . . . So you have found it, after +making me hunt for it all this time! . . . Where was it?" And the girl +went away saying, "Oh, well, I'm very glad it's found! . . . How upset +you were! . . . I will go and tell them at once to stop looking for it. +. . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin had not moved. He was confused, and tried in vain to understand. +Why had Dolores not spoken the truth? Why had she not at once said whose +the mirror was?</p> + +<p>An idea flashed across his mind; and he asked, more or less at random:</p> + +<p>"Do you know Louis de Malreich?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said, watching him, as though striving to guess the thoughts +that beset him.</p> + +<p>He rushed toward her, in a state of intense excitement:</p> + +<p>"You know him? Who was he? Who is he? Who is he? And why did you not +tell me? Where have you known him? Speak . . . answer. . . . I implore +you. . . ."</p> + +<p>"No," she said.</p> + +<p>"But you must, you must. . . . Think! Louis de Malreich! The murderer! +The monster! . . . Why did you not tell me?"</p> + +<p>She, in turn, placed her hands on Lupin's shoulders and, in a firm +voice, declared:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[Pg 386]</a></span>"Listen, you must never ask me, because I shall never tell. . . . It is +a secret which I shall take with me to the grave. . . . Come what may, +no one will ever know, no one in the wide world, I swear it!"</p> + +<p>He stood before her for some minutes, anxiously, with a confused brain.</p> + +<p>He remembered Steinweg's silence and the old man's terror when Lupin +asked him to reveal the terrible secret. Dolores also knew and she also +refused to speak.</p> + +<p>He went out without a word.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The open air, the sense of space, did him good. He passed out through +the park-wall and wandered long over the country. And he soliloquized +aloud:</p> + +<p>"What does it mean? What is happening? For months and months, fighting +hard and acting, I have been pulling the strings of all the characters +that are to help me in the execution of my plans; and, during this time, +I have completely forgotten to stoop over them and see what is going on +in their hearts and brains. I do not know Pierre Leduc, I do not know +Geneviève, I do not know Dolores. . . . And I have treated them as so +many jumping-jacks, whereas they are live persons. And to-day I am +stumbling over obstacles."</p> + +<p>He stamped his foot and cried:</p> + +<p>"Over obstacles that do not exist! What do I care for the psychological +state of Geneviève, of Pierre? . . . I will study that later, at +Veldenz, when I have secured their happiness. But Dolores . . . she knew +Malreich and said nothing! . . . Why? What relation united them? Was she +afraid of him? Is she afraid that he will escape from prison and come to +revenge himself for an indiscretion on her part?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[Pg 387]</a></span>At night, he went to the chalet which he had allotted to his own use at +the end of the park and dined in a very bad temper, storming at Octave, +who waited on him and who was always either too slow or too fast:</p> + +<p>"I'm sick of it, leave me alone. . . . You're doing everything wrong +to-day. . . . And this coffee. . . . It's not fit to drink."</p> + +<p>He pushed back his cup half-full and, for two hours, walked about the +park, sifting the same ideas over and over again. At last, one +suggestion took definite shape within his mind:</p> + +<p>"Malreich has escaped from prison. He is terrifying Mrs. Kesselbach. By +this time, he already knows the story of the mirror from her. . . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin shrugged his shoulders:</p> + +<p>"And to-night he's coming to pull my leg, I suppose! I'm talking +nonsense. The best thing I can do is to go to bed."</p> + +<p>He went to his room, undressed and got into bed. He fell asleep at once, +with a heavy sleep disturbed by nightmares. Twice he woke and tried to +light his candle and twice fell back, as though stunned by a blow.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, he heard the hours strike on the village clock, or rather +he thought that he heard them strike, for he was plunged in a sort of +torpor in which he seemed to retain all his wits.</p> + +<p>And he was haunted by dreams, dreams of anguish and terror. He plainly +heard the sound of his window opening. He plainly, through his closed +eyelids, through the thick darkness, <i>saw</i> a form come toward the bed.</p> + +<p>And the form bent over him.</p> + +<p>He made the incredible effort needed to raise his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[Pg 388]</a></span> eyelids and look +. . . or, at least, he imagined that he did. Was he dreaming? Was he +awake? He asked himself the question in despair.</p> + +<p>A further sound. . . .</p> + +<p>He took up the box of matches by his bedside:</p> + +<p>"Let's have a light on it," he said, with a great sense of elation.</p> + +<p>He struck a match and lit the candle.</p> + +<p>Lupin felt the perspiration stream over his skin, from head to foot, +while his heart ceased beating, stopped with terror. <i>The man was +there.</i></p> + +<p>Was it possible? No, no . . . and yet he <i>saw</i>. . . . Oh, the fearsome +sight! . . . The man, the monster, was there. . . .</p> + +<p>"He shall not . . . he shall not," stammered Lupin madly.</p> + +<p>The man, the monster was there, dressed in black, with a mask on his +face and with his felt hat pulled down over his fair hair.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am dreaming. . . . I am dreaming!" said Lupin, laughing. "It's a +nightmare! . . ."</p> + +<p>Exerting all his strength and all his will-power, he tried to make a +movement, one movement, to drive away the vision.</p> + +<p>He could not.</p> + +<p>And, suddenly, he remembered: the coffee! The taste of it . . . similar +to the taste of the coffee which he had drunk at Veldenz!</p> + +<p>He gave a cry, made a last effort and fell back exhausted. But, in his +delirium, he felt that the man was unfastening the top button of his +pajama-jacket and baring his neck, felt that the man was raising his +arm, saw that the hand was clutching the handle of a dagger, a little +steel dagger similar to that which had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[Pg 389]</a></span> struck Kesselbach, Chapman, +Altenheim and so many others. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A few hours later, Lupin woke up, shattered with fatigue, with a +scorched palate.</p> + +<p>He lay for several minutes collecting his thoughts and, suddenly, +remembering, made an instinctive defensive movement, as though he were +being attacked:</p> + +<p>"Fool that I am!" he cried, jumping out of bed. "It was a nightmare, an +hallucination. It only needs a little reflection. Had it been 'he,' had +it really been a man, in flesh and blood, who lifted his hand against me +last night, he would have cut my throat like a rabbit's. 'He' doesn't +hesitate. Let's be logical. Why should he spare me? For the sake of my +good looks? No, I have been dreaming, that's all. . . ."</p> + +<p>He began to whistle and dressed himself, assuming the greatest calmness, +but his brain never ceased working and his eyes sought about. . . .</p> + +<p>On the floor, on the window-ledge, not a trace. As his room was on the +ground-floor and as he slept with his window open, it was evident that +his assailant would have entered that way.</p> + +<p>Well, he discovered nothing; and nothing either at the foot of the wall +outside, or on the gravel of the path that ran round the chalet.</p> + +<p>"Still . . . still . . ." he repeated, between his teeth. . . .</p> + +<p>He called Octave:</p> + +<p>"Where did you make the coffee which you gave me last night?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[Pg 390]</a></span>"At the castle, governor, like the rest of the things. There is no range +here."</p> + +<p>"Did you drink any of it?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Did you throw away what was left in the coffee-pot?"</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, governor. You said it was so bad. You only took a few +mouthfuls."</p> + +<p>"Very well. Get the motor ready. We're leaving."</p> + +<p>Lupin was not the man to remain in doubt. He wanted to have a decisive +explanation with Dolores. But, for this, he must first clear up certain +points that seemed to him obscure and see Jean Doudeville who had sent +him some rather curious information from Veldenz.</p> + +<p>He drove, without stopping, to the grand-duchy, which he reached at two +o'clock. He had an interview with Count de Waldemar, whom he asked, upon +some pretext, to delay the journey of the delegates of the Regency to +Bruggen. Then he went in search of Doudeville, in a tavern at Veldenz.</p> + +<p>Doudeville took him to another tavern, where he introduced him to a +shabbily-dressed little gentleman, Herr Stockli, a clerk in the +department of births, deaths and marriages. They had a long +conversation. They went out together and all three passed stealthily +through the offices of the town-hall. At seven o'clock, Lupin dined and +set out again. At ten o'clock he arrived at Bruggen Castle and asked for +Geneviève, so that she might take him to Mrs. Kesselbach's room.</p> + +<p>He was told that Mlle. Ernemont had been summoned back to Paris by a +telegram from her grandmother.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" he said. "Could I see Mrs. Kesselbach?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[Pg 391]</a></span>"Mrs. Kesselbach went straight to bed after dinner. She is sure to be +asleep."</p> + +<p>"No, I saw a light in her boudoir. She will see me."</p> + +<p>He did not even wait for Mrs. Kesselbach to send out an answer. He +walked into the boudoir almost upon the maid's heels, dismissed her and +said to Dolores:</p> + +<p>"I have to speak to you, madame, on an urgent matter. . . . Forgive me +. . . I confess that my behavior must seem importunate. . . . But you +will understand, I am sure. . . ."</p> + +<p>He was greatly excited and did not seem much disposed to put off the +explanation, especially as, before entering the room, he thought he +heard a sound.</p> + +<p>Yet Dolores was alone and lying down. And she said, in her tired voice:</p> + +<p>"Perhaps we might . . . to-morrow. . . ."</p> + +<p>He did not answer, suddenly struck by a smell that surprised him in that +boudoir, a smell of tobacco. And, at once, he had the intuition, the +certainty, that there was a man there, at the moment when he himself +arrived, and that perhaps the man was there still, hidden somewhere. +. . .</p> + +<p>Pierre Leduc? No, Pierre Leduc did not smoke. Then who?</p> + +<p>Dolores murmured:</p> + +<p>"Be quick, please."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, but first . . . would it be possible for you to tell me +. . . ?"</p> + +<p>He interrupted himself. What was the use of asking her? If there were +really a man in hiding, would she be likely to tell?</p> + +<p>Then he made up his mind and, trying to overcome the sort of timid +constraint that oppressed him at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[Pg 392]</a></span> sense of a strange presence, he +said, in a very low voice, so that Dolores alone should hear:</p> + +<p>"Listen, I have learnt something . . . which I do not understand . . . +and which perplexes me greatly. You will answer me, will you not, +Dolores?"</p> + +<p>He spoke her name with great gentleness and as though he were trying to +master her by the note of love and affection in his voice.</p> + +<p>"What have you learnt?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"The register of births at Veldenz contains three names which are those +of the last descendants of the family of Malreich, which settled in +Germany. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you have told me all that. . . ."</p> + +<p>"You remember, the first name is Raoul de Malreich, better known under +his <i>alias</i> of Altenheim, the scoundrel, the swell hooligan, now dead +. . . murdered."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Next comes Louis de Malreich, the monster, this one, the terrible +murderer who will be beheaded in a few days from now."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Then, lastly, Isilda, the mad daughter. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"So all that is quite positive, is it not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Well," said Lupin, leaning over her more closely than before, "I have +just made an investigation which showed to me that the second of the +three Christian names, or rather a part of the line on which it is +written, has at some time or other, been subjected to erasure. The line +is written over, in a new hand, with much fresher ink; but the writing +below is not quite effaced, so that. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[Pg 393]</a></span>"So that . . . ?" asked Mrs. Kesselbach, in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"So that, with a good lens and particularly with the special methods +which I have at my disposal, I was able to revive some of the +obliterated syllables and, without any possibility of a mistake, in all +certainty, to reconstruct the old writing. I then found not Louis de +Malreich, but . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't, don't! . . ."</p> + +<p>Suddenly shattered by the strain of her prolonged effort of resistance, +she lay bent in two and, with her head in her hands, her shoulders +shaken with convulsive sobs, she wept.</p> + +<p>Lupin looked for long seconds at this weak and listless creature, so +pitifully helpless. And he would have liked to stop, to cease the +torturing questions which he was inflicting upon her. But was it not to +save her that he was acting as he did? And, to save her, was it not +necessary that he should know the truth, however painful?</p> + +<p>He resumed:</p> + +<p>"Why that forgery?"</p> + +<p>"It was my husband," she stammered, "it was my husband who did it. With +his fortune, he could do everything; and he bribed a junior clerk to +have the Christian name of the second child altered for him on the +register."</p> + +<p>"The Christian name and the sex," said Lupin.</p> + +<p>"Yes," she said.</p> + +<p>"Then," he continued, "I am not mistaken: the original Christian name, +the real one, was Dolores?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"But why did your husband . . . ?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[Pg 394]</a></span>She whispered in a shame-faced manner, while the tears streamed down her +cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Don't you understand?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But think," she said, shuddering, "I was the sister of Isilda, the mad +woman, the sister of Altenheim, the ruffian. My husband—or rather my +affianced husband—would not have me remain that. He loved me. I loved +him too, and I consented. He suppressed Dolores de Malreich on the +register, he bought me other papers, another personality, another +birth-certificate; and I was married in Holland under another maiden +name, as Dolores Amonti."</p> + +<p>Lupin reflected for a moment and said, thoughtfully:</p> + +<p>"Yes . . . yes . . . I understand. . . . But then Louis de Malreich does +not exist; and the murderer of your husband, the murderer of your +brother and sister, does not bear that name. . . . His name. . . ."</p> + +<p>She sprang to a sitting posture and, eagerly:</p> + +<p>"His name! Yes, that is his name . . . yes, it is his name nevertheless. +. . . Louis de Malreich. . . . L. M. . . . Remember. . . . Oh, do not +try to find out . . . it is the terrible secret. . . . Besides, what +does it matter? . . . They have the criminal. . . . He is the criminal. +. . . I tell you he is. Did he defend himself when I accused him, face +to face? Could he defend himself, under that name or any other? It is he +. . . it is he . . . He committed the murders. . . . He struck the +blows. . . . The dagger. . . . The steel dagger. . . . Oh, if I could +only tell all I know! . . . Louis de Malreich. . . . If I could only +. . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[Pg 395]</a></span>She fell back on the sofa in a fit of hysterical sobbing; and her hand +clutched Lupin's and he heard her stammering, amid inarticulate words:</p> + +<p>"Protect me . . . protect me. . . . You alone, perhaps. . . . Oh, do not +forsake me. . . . I am so unhappy! . . . Oh, what torture . . . what +torture! . . . It is hell! . . ."</p> + +<p>With his free hand, he stroked her hair and forehead with infinite +gentleness; and, under his caress, she gradually relaxed her tense +nerves and became calmer and quieter.</p> + +<p>Then he looked at her again and long, long asked himself what there +could be behind that fair, white brow, what secret was ravaging that +mysterious soul. She also was afraid. But of whom? Against whom was she +imploring him to protect her?</p> + +<p>Once again, he was obsessed by the image of the man in black, by that +Louis de Malreich, the sinister and incomprehensible enemy, whose +attacks he had to ward off without knowing whence they came or even if +they were taking place.</p> + +<p>He was in prison, watched day and night. Tush! Did Lupin not know by his +own experience that there are beings for whom prison does not exist and +who throw off their chains at the given moment? And Louis de Malreich +was one of those.</p> + +<p>Yes, there was some one in the Santé prison, in the condemned man's +cell. But it might be an accomplice or some victim of Malreich . . . +while Malreich himself prowled around Bruggen Castle, slipped in under +cover of the darkness, like an invisible spectre, made his way into the +chalet in the park and, at night, raised his dagger against Lupin asleep +and helpless.</p> + +<p>And it was Louis de Malreich who terrorized Dolores,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[Pg 396]</a></span> who drove her mad +with his threats, who held her by some dreadful secret and forced her +into silence and submission.</p> + +<p>And Lupin imagined the enemy's plan: to throw Dolores, scared and +trembling, into Pierre Leduc's arms, to make away with him, Lupin, and +to reign in his place, over there, with the grand-duke's power and +Dolores's millions.</p> + +<p>It was a likely supposition, a certain supposition, which fitted in with +the facts and provided a solution of all the problems.</p> + +<p>"Of all?" thought Lupin. "Yes. . . . But then, why did he not kill me, +last night, in the chalet? He had but to wish . . . <i>and he did not +wish</i>. One movement and I was dead. He did not make that movement. Why?"</p> + +<p>Dolores opened her eyes, saw him and smiled, with a pale smile:</p> + +<p>"Leave me," she said:</p> + +<p>He rose, with some hesitation. Should he go and see if the enemy was +behind the curtain or hidden behind the dresses in a cupboard?</p> + +<p>She repeated, gently:</p> + +<p>"Go . . . I am so sleepy. . . ."</p> + +<p>He went away.</p> + +<p>But, outside, he stopped behind some trees that formed a dark cluster in +front of the castle. He saw a light in Dolores' boudoir. Then the light +passed into the bedroom. In a few minutes, all was darkness.</p> + +<p>He waited. If the enemy was there, perhaps he would come out of the +castle. . . .</p> + +<p>An hour elapsed. . . . Two hours. . . . Not a sound. . . .</p> + +<p>"There's nothing to be done," thought Lupin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[Pg 397]</a></span> "Either he is burrowing in +some corner of the castle . . . or else he has gone out by a door which +I cannot see from here. Unless the whole thing is the most ridiculous +supposition on my part. . . ."</p> + +<p>He lit a cigarette and walked back to the chalet.</p> + +<p>As he approached it, he saw, at some distance from him, a shadow that +appeared to be moving away.</p> + +<p>He did not stir, for fear of giving the alarm.</p> + +<p>The shadow crossed a path. By the light of the moon, he seemed to +recognize the black figure of Malreich.</p> + +<p>He rushed forward.</p> + +<p>The shadow fled and vanished from sight.</p> + +<p>"Come," he said, "it shall be for to-morrow. And, this time. . . ."</p> + +<p>Lupin went to Octave's, his chauffeur's, room, woke him and said:</p> + +<p>"Take the motor and go to Paris. You will be there by six o'clock in the +morning. See Jacques Doudeville and tell him two things: first, to give +me news of the man under sentence of death; and secondly, as soon as the +post-offices open, to send me a telegram which I will write down for you +now. . . ."</p> + +<p>He worded the telegram on a scrap of paper and added:</p> + +<p>"The moment you have done that, come back, but this way, along the wall +of the park. Go now. No one must suspect your absence."</p> + +<p>Lupin went to his own room, pressed the spring of his lantern and began +to make a minute inspection. "It's as I thought," he said presently. +"Some one came here to-night, while I was watching beneath the window. +And, if he came, I know what he came for. . . . I was certainly right: +things are getting warm.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[Pg 398]</a></span> . . . The first time, I was spared. This time, +I may be sure of my little stab."</p> + +<p>For prudence's sake, he took a blanket, chose a lonely spot in the park +and spent the night under the stars.</p> + +<p>Octave was back by ten o'clock in the morning:</p> + +<p>"It's all right, governor. The telegram has been sent."</p> + +<p>"Good. And is Louis de Malreich still in prison?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Doudeville passed his cell at the Santé last night as the warder +was coming out. They talked together. Malreich is just the same, it +appears: silent as the grave. He is waiting."</p> + +<p>"Waiting for what?"</p> + +<p>"The fatal hour of course. They are saying, at headquarters, that the +execution will take place on the day after to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"That's all right, that's all right," said Lupin. "And one thing is +quite plain: he has not escaped."</p> + +<p>He ceased to understand or even to look for the explanation of the +riddle, so clearly did he feel that the whole truth would soon be +revealed to him. He had only to prepare his plan, for the enemy to fall +into the trap.</p> + +<p>"Or for me to fall into it myself," he thought, laughing.</p> + +<p>He felt very gay, very free from care; and no fight had ever looked more +promising to him.</p> + +<p>A footman came from the castle with the telegram which he had told +Doudeville to send him and which the postman had just brought. He opened +it and put it in his pocket.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>A little before twelve o'clock, he met Pierre Leduc in one of the +avenues and said, off-hand:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[Pg 399]</a></span>"I am looking for you . . . things are serious. . . . You must answer me +frankly. Since you have been at the castle, have you ever seen a man +there, besides the two German servants whom I sent in?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Think carefully. I'm not referring to a casual visitor. I mean a man +who hides himself, a man whose presence you might have discovered or, +less than that, whose presence you might have suspected from some clue +or even by some intuition?"</p> + +<p>"No. . . . Have you . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Some one is hiding here . . . some one is prowling about. . . . +Where? And who is it? And what is his object? I don't know . . . but I +shall know. I already have a suspicion. Do you, on your side, keep your +eyes open and watch. And, above all, not a word to Mrs. Kesselbach. +. . . It is no use alarming her. . . ."</p> + +<p>He went away.</p> + +<p>Pierre Leduc, taken aback and upset, went back to the castle. On his +way, he saw a piece of blue paper on the edge of the lawn. He picked it +up. It was a telegram, not crumpled, like a piece of paper that had been +thrown away, but carefully folded: obviously lost.</p> + +<p>It was addressed to "Beauny," the name by which Lupin was known at +Bruggen. And it contained these words:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"We know the whole truth. Revelations impossible by +letter. Will take train to-night. Meet me eight +o'clock to-morrow morning Bruggen station."</p></div> + +<p>"Excellent!" said Lupin, who was watching Pierre Leduc's movements from +a neighboring coppice. "Ex<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[Pg 400]</a></span>cellent! In two minutes from now, the young +idiot will have shown Dolores the telegram and told her all my fears. +They will talk about it all day. And 'the other one' will hear, 'the +other one' will know, because he knows everything, because he lives in +Dolores' own shadow and because Dolores is like a fascinated prey in his +hands. . . . And, to-night. . . ."</p> + +<p>He walked away humming to himself:</p> + +<p>"To-night . . . to-night . . . we shall dance. . . . Such a waltz, my +boys! The waltz of blood, to the tune of the little nickel-plated +dagger! . . . We shall have some fun, at last! . . ."</p> + +<p>He reached the chalet, called to Octave, went to his room, flung himself +on his bed, and said to the chauffeur:</p> + +<p>"Sit down in that chair, Octave, and keep awake. Your master is going to +take forty winks. Watch over him, you faithful servant."</p> + +<p>He had a good sleep.</p> + +<p>"Like Napoleon on the morning of Austerlitz," he said, when he woke up.</p> + +<p>It was dinner-time. He made a hearty meal and then, while he smoked a +cigarette, inspected his weapons and renewed the charges of his two +revolvers:</p> + +<p>"Keep your powder dry and your sword sharpened, as my chum the Kaiser +says. Octave!"</p> + +<p>Octave appeared.</p> + +<p>"Go and have your dinner at the castle, with the servants. Tell them you +are going to Paris to-night, in the motor."</p> + +<p>"With you, governor?"</p> + +<p>"No, alone. And, as soon as dinner is over, make a start, ostensibly."</p> + +<p>"But I am not to go to Paris. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[Pg 401]</a></span>"No, remain outside the park, half a mile down the road, until I come. +You will have a long wait."</p> + +<p>He smoked another cigarette, went for a stroll, passed in front of the +castle, saw a light in Dolores' rooms and then returned to the chalet.</p> + +<p>There he took up a book. It was <i>The Lives of Illustrious Men</i>.</p> + +<p>"There is one missing: the most illustrious of all. But the future will +put that right; and I shall have my Plutarch some day or other."</p> + +<p>He read the life of Cæsar and jotted down a few reflections in the +margin.</p> + +<p>At half-past eleven, he went to his bedroom.</p> + +<p>Through the open window, he gazed into the immense, cool night, all +astir with indistinct sounds. Memories rose to his lips, memories of +fond phrases which he had read or uttered; and he repeatedly whispered +Dolores's name, with the fervor of a stripling who hardly dares confide +to the silence the name of his beloved.</p> + +<p>He left the window half open, pushed aside a table that blocked the way, +and put his revolvers under his pillow. Then, peacefully, without +evincing the least excitement, he got into bed, fully dressed as he was, +and blew out the candle.</p> + +<p><i>And his fear began.</i></p> + +<p>It was immediate. No sooner did he feel the darkness around him than his +fear began!</p> + +<p>"Damn it all!" he cried.</p> + +<p>He jumped out of bed, took his weapons and threw them into the passage:</p> + +<p>"My hands, my hands alone! Nothing comes up to the grip of my hands!"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[Pg 402]</a></span>He went to bed again. Darkness and silence, once more. And, once more, +his fear. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The village clock struck twelve. . . .</p> + +<p>Lupin thought of the foul monster who, outside, at a hundred yards, at +fifty yards from where he lay, was trying the sharp point of his dagger:</p> + +<p>"Let him come, let him come?" whispered Lupin, shuddering. "Then the +ghosts will vanish. . . ."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>One o'clock, in the village. . . .</p> + +<p>And minutes passed, endless minutes, minutes of fever and anguish. . . . +Beads of perspiration stood at the roots of his hair and trickled down +his forehead; and he felt as though his whole frame were bathed in a +sweat of blood. . . .</p> + +<p>Two o'clock. . . .</p> + +<p>And now, somewhere, quite close, a hardly perceptible sound stirred, a +sound of leaves moving . . . but different from the sound of leaves +moving in the night breeze. . . .</p> + +<p>As Lupin had foreseen, he was at once pervaded by an immense calm. All +his adventurous being quivered with delight. The struggle was at hand, +at last!</p> + +<p>Another sound grated under the window, more plainly this time, but still +so faint that it needed Lupin's trained ear to distinguish it.</p> + +<p>Minutes, terrifying minutes. . . . The darkness was impenetrable. No +light of star or moon relieved it.</p> + +<p>And, suddenly, without hearing anything, he <i>knew</i> that the man was in +the room.</p> + +<p>And the man walked toward the bed. He walked as a ghost walks, without +displacing the air of the room, without shaking the objects which he +touched.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[Pg 403]</a></span>But, with all his instinct, with all his nervous force, Lupin saw the +movements of the enemy and guessed the very sequence of his ideas.</p> + +<p>He himself did not budge, but remained propped against the wall, almost +on his knees, ready to spring.</p> + +<p>He felt that the figure was touching, feeling the bed-clothes, to find +the spot at which it must strike. Lupin heard its breath. He even +thought that he heard the beating of its heart. And he noticed with +pride that his own heart beat no louder than before . . . whereas the +heart of the other . . . oh, yes, he could hear it now, that disordered, +mad heart, knocking, like a clapper of a bell, against the cavity of the +chest!</p> + +<p>The hand of the other rose. . . .</p> + +<p>A second, two seconds. . . .</p> + +<p>Was he hesitating? Was he once more going to spare his adversary?</p> + +<p>And Lupin, in the great silence, said:</p> + +<p>"But strike! Why don't you strike?"</p> + +<p>A yell of rage. . . . The arm fell as though moved by a spring.</p> + +<p>Then came a moan.</p> + +<p>Lupin had caught the arm in mid-air at the level of the wrist. . . . +And, leaping out of bed, tremendous, irresistible, he clutched the man +by the throat and threw him.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>That was all. There was no struggle. There was no possibility even of a +struggle. The man lay on the floor, nailed, pinned by two steel rivets, +which were Lupin's hands. And there was not a man in the world strong +enough to release himself from that grip.</p> + +<p>And not a word. Lupin uttered none of those<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[Pg 404]</a></span> phrases in which his +mocking humor usually delighted. He had no inclination to speak. The +moment was too solemn.</p> + +<p>He felt no vain glee, no victorious exaltation. In reality, he had but +one longing, to know who was there: Louis de Malreich, the man sentenced +to death, or another? Which was it?</p> + +<p>At the risk of strangling the man, he squeezed the throat a little more +. . . and a little more . . . and a little more still. . . .</p> + +<p>And he felt that all the enemy's strength, all the strength that +remained to him, was leaving him. The muscles of the arm relaxed and +became lifeless. The hand opened and dropped the dagger.</p> + +<p>Then, free to move as he pleased, with his adversary's life hanging in +the terrible clutch of his fingers, he took his pocket-lantern with one +hand, laid his finger on the spring, without pressing, and brought it +close to the man's face.</p> + +<p>He had only to press the spring to wish to know and he would know.</p> + +<p>For a second, he enjoyed his power. A flood of emotion upheaved him. The +vision, of his triumph dazzled him. Once again, superbly, heroically, he +was the master.</p> + +<p>He switched on the light. The face of the monster came into view.</p> + +<p>Lupin gave a shriek of terror.</p> + +<p>Dolores Kesselbach!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[Pg 405]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> +<span class="smalltext">ARSÈNE LUPIN'S THREE MURDERS</span></h2> + + +<p>A cyclone passed through Lupin's brain, a hurricane in which roars of +thunder, gusts of wind, squalls of all the distraught elements were +tumultuously unchained in the chaotic night.</p> + +<p>And great flashes of lightning shot through the darkness. And, by the +dazzling gleam of those lightning-flashes, Lupin, scared, shaken with +thrills, convulsed with horror, saw and tried to understand.</p> + +<p>He did not move, clinging to the enemy's throat, as if his stiffened +fingers were no longer able to release their grip. Besides, although he +now <i>knew</i>, he had not, so to speak, the exact feeling that it was +Dolores. It was still the man in black, Louis de Malreich, the foul +brute of the darkness; and that brute he held and did not mean to let +go.</p> + +<p>But the truth rushed upon the attack of his mind and of his +consciousness; and, conquered, tortured with anguish, he muttered:</p> + +<p>"Oh, Dolores! . . . Dolores! . . ."</p> + +<p>He at once saw the excuse: it was madness. She was mad. The sister of +Altenheim and Isilda, the daughter of the last of the Malreichs, of the +demented mother, of the drunken father, was herself mad. A strange +madwoman, mad with every appearance of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[Pg 406]</a></span> sanity, but mad nevertheless, +unbalanced, brain-sick, unnatural, truly monstrous.</p> + +<p>That he most certainly understood! It was homicidal madness. Under the +obsession of an object toward which she was drawn automatically, she +killed, thirsting for blood, unconsciously, infernally.</p> + +<p>She killed because she wanted something, she killed in self-defence, she +killed because she had killed before. But she killed also and especially +for the sake of killing. Murder satisfied sudden and irresistible +appetites that arose in her. At certain seconds in her life, in certain +circumstances, face to face with this or that being who had suddenly +become the foe, her arm had to strike.</p> + +<p>And she struck, drunk with rage, ferociously, frenziedly.</p> + +<p>A strange madwoman, not answerable for her murders, and yet so lucid in +her blindness, so logical in her mental derangement, so intelligent in +her absurdity! What skill, what perseverance, what cunning contrivances, +at once abominable and admirable!</p> + +<p>And Lupin, in a rapid view, with prodigious keenness of outlook, saw the +long array of bloodthirsty adventures and guessed the mysterious paths +which Dolores had pursued.</p> + +<p>He saw her obsessed and possessed by her husband's scheme, a scheme +which she evidently understood only in part. He saw her, on her side, +looking for that same Pierre Leduc whom her husband was seeking, looking +for him in order to marry him and to return, as queen, to that little +realm of Veldenz from which her parents had been ignominiously driven.</p> + +<p>And he saw her at the Palace Hotel, in the room of her brother, +Altenheim, at the time when she was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[Pg 407]</a></span> supposed to be at Monte Carlo. He +saw her, for days together, spying upon her husband, creeping along the +walls, one with the darkness, undistinguishable and unseen in her +shadowy disguise.</p> + +<p>And, one night, she found Mr. Kesselbach fastened up . . . and she +stabbed him.</p> + +<p>And, in the morning, when on the point of being denounced by the +floor-waiter . . . she stabbed him.</p> + +<p>And, an hour later, when on the point of being denounced by Chapman, she +dragged him to her brother's room . . . and stabbed him.</p> + +<p>All this pitilessly, savagely, with diabolical skill.</p> + +<p>And, with the same skill, she communicated by telephone with her two +maids, Gertrude and Suzanne, both of whom had arrived from Monte Carlo, +where one of them had enacted the part of her mistress. And Dolores, +resuming her feminine attire, discarding the fair wig that altered her +appearance beyond recognition, went down to the ground-floor, joined +Gertrude at the moment when the maid entered the hotel and pretended +herself to have just arrived, all ignorant of the tragedy that awaited +her.</p> + +<p>An incomparable actress, she played the part of the wife whose life is +shattered. Every one pitied her. Every one wept for her. Who could have +suspected her?</p> + +<p>And then came the war with him, Lupin, that barbarous contest, that +unparalleled contest which she waged, by turns, against M. Lenormand and +Prince Sernine, spending her days stretched on her sofa, ill and +fainting, but her nights on foot, scouring the roads indefatigable and +terrible.</p> + +<p>And the diabolical contrivances: Gertrude and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[Pg 408]</a></span> Suzanne, frightened and +subdued accomplices, both of them serving her as emissaries, disguising +themselves to represent her, perhaps, as on the day when old Steinweg +was carried off by Baron Altenheim, in the middle of the Palais de +Justice.</p> + +<p>And the series of murders: Gourel drowned; Altenheim, her brother, +stabbed. Oh, the implacable struggle in the underground passages of the +Villa des Glycines, the invisible work performed by the monster in the +dark: how clear it all appeared to-day!</p> + +<p>And it was she who tore off his mask as Prince Sernine, she who betrayed +him to the police, she who sent him to prison, she who thwarted all his +plans, spending her millions to win the battle.</p> + +<p>And then events followed faster: Suzanne and Gertrude disappeared, dead, +no doubt! Steinweg, assassinated! Isilda, the sister, assassinated!</p> + +<p>"Oh, the ignominy, the horror of it!" stammered Lupin, with a start of +revulsion and hatred.</p> + +<p>He execrated her, the abominable creature. He would have liked to crush +her, to destroy her. And it was a stupefying sight, those two beings, +clinging to each other, lying motionless in the pale dawn that began to +mingle with the shades of the night.</p> + +<p>"Dolores. . . . Dolores. . . ." he muttered, in despair.</p> + +<p>He leapt back, terror-stricken, wild-eyed. What was it? What was that? +What was that hideous feeling of cold which froze his hands?</p> + +<p>"Octave! Octave?" he shouted, forgetting that the chauffeur was not +there.</p> + +<p>Help, he needed help, some one to reassure him and assist him. He +shivered with fright. Oh, that coldness, that coldness of death which he +had felt! Was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[Pg 409]</a></span> it possible? . . . Then, during those few tragic minutes, +with his clenched fingers, he had. . . .</p> + +<p>Violently, he forced himself to look. Dolores did not stir.</p> + +<p>He flung himself on his knees and drew her to him.</p> + +<p>She was dead.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He remained for some seconds a prey to a sort of numbness in which his +grief seemed to be swallowed up. He no longer suffered. He no longer +felt rage nor hatred nor emotion of any kind . . . nothing but a stupid +prostration, the sensation of a man who has received a blow with a club +and who does not know if he is still alive, if he is thinking, or if he +is the sport of a nightmare.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, it seemed to him that an act of justice had taken place, +and it did not for a second occur to him that it was he who had taken +life. No, it was not he. It was outside him and his will. It was +destiny, inexorable destiny that had accomplished the work of equity by +slaying the noxious beast.</p> + +<p>Outside, the birds were singing. Life was recommencing under the old +trees, which the spring was preparing to bring into bud. And Lupin, +waking from his torpor, felt gradually welling up within him an +indefinable and ridiculous compassion for the wretched woman, odious, +certainly, abject and twenty times criminal, but so young still and now +. . . dead.</p> + +<p>And he thought of the tortures which she must have undergone in her +lucid moments, when reason returned to the unspeakable madwoman and +brought the sinister vision of her deeds.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[Pg 410]</a></span>"Protect me. . . . I am so unhappy!" she used to beg.</p> + +<p>It was against herself that she asked to be protected, against her +wild-beast instincts, against the monster that dwelt within her and +forced her to kill, always to kill.</p> + +<p>"Always?" Lupin asked himself.</p> + +<p>And he remembered the night, two days since, when, standing over him, +with her dagger raised against the enemy who had been harassing her for +months, against the indefatigable enemy who had run her to earth after +each of her crimes, he remembered that, on that night, she had not +killed. And yet it would have been easy: the enemy lay lifeless and +powerless. One blow and the implacable struggle was over. No, she had +not killed, she too had given way to feelings stronger than her own +cruelty, to mysterious feelings of pity, of sympathy, of admiration for +the man who had so often mastered her.</p> + +<p>No, she had not killed, that time. And now, by a really terrifying +vicissitude of fate, it was he who had killed her.</p> + +<p>"I have taken life!" he thought, shuddering from head to foot. "These +hands have killed a living being; and that creature is Dolores! . . . +Dolores! . . . Dolores! . . ."</p> + +<p>He never ceased repeating her name, her name of sorrow, and he never +ceased staring at her, a sad, lifeless thing, harmless now, a poor hunk +of flesh, with no more consciousness than a little heap of withered +leaves or a little dead bird by the roadside.</p> + +<p>Oh! how could he do other than quiver with compassion, seeing that of +those two, face to face, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[Pg 411]</a></span> was the murderer, and she, who was no more, +the victim?</p> + +<p>"Dolores! . . . Dolores! . . . Dolores! . . ."</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The daylight found Lupin seated beside the dead woman, remembering and +thinking, while his lips, from time to time, uttered the disconsolate +syllables:</p> + +<p>"Dolores! . . . Dolores! . . ."</p> + +<p>He had to act, however, and, in the disorder of his ideas, he did not +know how to act nor with what act to begin:</p> + +<p>"I must close her eyes first," he said.</p> + +<p>The eyes, all empty, filled only with death, those beautiful +gold-spangled eyes, had still the melancholy softness that gave them +their charm. Was it possible that those eyes were the eyes of a monster? +In spite of himself and in the face of the implacable reality, Lupin was +not yet able to blend into one single being those two creatures whose +images remained so distinct at the back of his brain.</p> + +<p>He stooped swiftly, lowered the long, silky eyelids, and covered the +poor distorted face with a veil.</p> + +<p>Then it seemed to him that Dolores was farther away and that the man in +black was really there, this time, in his dark clothes, in his +murderer's disguise.</p> + +<p>He now ventured to touch her, to feel in her clothes. In an inside +pocket were two pocket-books. He took one of them and opened it. He +found first a letter signed by Steinweg, the old German. It contained +the following lines:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Should I die before being able to reveal the terrible +secret, let it be known that the murderer of my +friend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[Pg 412]</a></span> Kesselbach is his wife, whose real name is +Dolores de Malreich, sister to Altenheim and sister to +Isilda.</p> + +<p>"The initials L. and M. relate to her. Kesselbach +never, in their private life, called his wife Dolores, +which is the name of sorrow, but Letitia, which +denotes joy. L. M.—Letitia de Malreich—were the +initials inscribed on all the presents which he used +to give her, for instance, on the cigarette-case which +was found at the Palace Hotel and which belonged to +Mrs. Kesselbach. She had contracted the smoking-habit +on her travels.</p> + +<p>"Letitia! She was indeed the joy of his life for four +years, four years of lies and hypocrisy, in which she +prepared the death of the man who loved her so well +and who trusted her so whole-heartedly.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I ought to have spoken at once. I had not the +courage, in memory of my old friend Kesselbach, whose +name she bore.</p> + +<p>"And then I was afraid. . . . On the day when I +unmasked her, at the Palais de Justice, I read my doom +in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Will my weakness save me?"</p></div> + +<p>"Him also," thought Lupin, "him also she killed! . . . Why, of course, +he knew too much! . . . The initials . . . that name, Letitia . . . the +secret habit of smoking!"</p> + +<p>And he remembered the previous night, that smell of tobacco in her room.</p> + +<p>He continued his inspection of the first pocket-book. There were scraps +of letters, in cipher, no doubt handed to Dolores by her accomplices, in +the course of their nocturnal meetings. There were also addresses on +bits of paper, addresses of milliners and dressmakers, but addresses +also of low haunts, of common hotels<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[Pg 413]</a></span>. . . . And names . . . twenty, +thirty names . . . queer names: Hector the Butcher, Armand of Grenelle, +the Sick Man . . .</p> + +<p>But a photograph caught Lupin's eye. He looked at it. And, at once, as +though shot from a spring, dropping the pocket-book, he bolted out of +the room, out of the chalet and rushed into the park.</p> + +<p>He had recognized the portrait of Louis de Malreich, the prisoner at the +Santé!</p> + +<p>Not till then, not till that exact moment did he remember: the execution +was to take place next day.</p> + +<p>And, as the man in black, as the murderer was none other than Dolores +Kesselbach, Louis de Malreich's name was really and truly Leon Massier +and he was innocent!</p> + +<p>Innocent? But the evidence found in his house, the Emperor's letters, +all, all the things that accused him beyond hope of denial, all those +incontrovertible proofs?</p> + +<p>Lupin stopped for a second, with his brain on fire:</p> + +<p>"Oh," he cried, "I shall go mad, I, too! Come, though, I must act . . . +the sentence is to be executed . . . to-morrow . . . to-morrow at break +of day."</p> + +<p>He looked at his watch:</p> + +<p>"Ten o'clock. . . . How long will it take me to reach Paris? Well . . . +I shall be there presently . . . yes, presently, I must. . . . And this +very evening I shall take measures to prevent. . . . But what measures? +How can I prove his innocence? . . . How prevent the execution? Oh, +never mind! Once I am there, I shall find a way. My name is not Lupin +for nothing! . . . Come on! . . ."</p> + +<p>He set off again at a run, entered the castle and called out:</p> + +<p>"Pierre! Pierre! . . . Has any one seen M.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[Pg 414]</a></span> Pierre Leduc? . . . Oh, +there you are! . . . Listen. . . ."</p> + +<p>He took him on one side and jerked out, in imperious tones:</p> + +<p>"Listen, Dolores is not here. . . . Yes, she was called away on urgent +business . . . she left last night in my motor. . . . I am going too. +. . . Don't interrupt, not a word! . . . A second lost means irreparable +harm. . . . You, send away all the servants, without any explanation. +Here is money. In half an hour from now, the castle must be empty. And +let no one enter it until I return. . . . Not you either, do you +understand? . . . I forbid you to enter the castle. . . . I'll explain +later . . . serious reasons. Here, take the key with you. . . . Wait for +me in the village. . . ."</p> + +<p>And once more, he darted away.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later, he was with Octave. He jumped into the car:</p> + +<p>"Paris!"</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>The journey was a real race for life or death. Lupin, thinking that +Octave was not driving fast enough, took the steering-wheel himself and +drove at a furious, break-neck speed. On the road, through the villages, +along the crowded streets of the towns they rushed at sixty miles an +hour. People whom they nearly upset roared and yelled with rage: the +meteor was far away, was out of sight.</p> + +<p>"G—governor," stammered Octave, livid with dismay, "we shall be stuck!"</p> + +<p>"You, perhaps, the motor, perhaps; but I shall arrive!" said Lupin.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[Pg 415]</a></span>He had a feeling as though it were not the car that was carrying him, +but he carrying the car and as though he were cleaving space by dint of +his own strength, his own will-power. Then what miracle could prevent +his arriving, seeing that his strength was inexhaustible, his will-power +unbounded?</p> + +<p>"I shall arrive because I have got to arrive," he repeated.</p> + +<p>And he thought of the man who would die, if he did not arrive in time to +save him, of the mysterious Louis de Malreich, so disconcerting with his +stubborn silence and his expressionless face.</p> + +<p>And amid the roar of the road, under the trees whose branches made a +noise as of furious waves, amid the buzzing of his thoughts, Lupin, all +the same, strove to set up an hypothesis. And this hypothesis became +gradually more defined, logical, probable, certain, he said to himself, +now that he knew the hideous truth about Dolores and saw all the +resources and all the odious designs of that crazy mind:</p> + +<p>"Yes, it was she who contrived that most terrible plot against Malreich. +What was it she wanted? To marry Pierre Leduc, whom she had bewitched, +and to become the sovereign of the little principality from which she +had been banished. The object was attainable, within reach of her hand. +There was one sole obstacle. . . . I, Lupin, who, for weeks and weeks, +persistently barred her road; I, whom she encountered after every +murder; I, whose perspicacity she dreaded; I, who would never lay down +my arms before I had discovered the culprit and found the letters stolen +from the Emperor. . . . Well, the culprit should be Louis de Malreich, +or rather, Leon Massier. Who was this Leon Massier? Did she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[Pg 416]</a></span> know him +before her marriage? Had she been in love with him? It is probable; but +this, no doubt, we shall never know. One thing is certain, that she was +struck by the resemblance to Leon Massier in figure and stature which +she might attain by dressing up like him, in black clothes, and putting +on a fair wig. She must have noticed the eccentric life led by that +lonely man, his nocturnal expeditions, his manner of walking in the +streets and of throwing any who might follow him off the scent. And it +was in consequence of these observations and in anticipation of possible +eventualities that she advised Mr. Kesselbach to erase the name of +Dolores from the register of births and to replace it by the name of +Louis, so that the initials might correspond with those of Leon Massier. +. . . The moment arrived at which she must act; and thereupon she +concocted her plot and proceeded to put it into execution. Leon lived in +the Rue Delaizement. She ordered her accomplices to take up their +quarters in the street that backed on to it. And she herself told me the +address of Dominique the head-waiter, and put me on the track of the +seven scoundrels, knowing perfectly well that, once on the track, I was +bound to follow it to the end, that is to say, beyond the seven +scoundrels, till I came up with their leader, the man who watched them +and who commanded them, the man in black, Leon Massier, Louis de +Malreich. . . . As a matter of fact, I came up with the seven scoundrels +first. Then what would happen? Either I should be beaten or we should +all destroy one another, as she must have hoped, that night in the Rue +des Vignes. In either case Dolores would have been rid of me. But what +really happened was this: I captured the seven scoundrels. Dolores fled +from the Rue des Vignes. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[Pg 417]</a></span> found her in the Broker's shed. She sent me +after Leon Massier, that is to say, Louis de Malreich. I found in his +house the Emperor's letters, <i>which she herself had placed there</i>, and I +delivered him to justice and I revealed the secret communication, <i>which +she herself had caused to be made</i>, between the two coach-houses, and I +produced all the evidence <i>which she herself had prepared</i>, and I +proved, by means of documents <i>which she herself had forged</i>, that Leon +Massier had stolen the social status of Leon Massier and that his real +name was Louis de Malreich. . . . And Louis de Malreich was sentenced to +death. . . . And Dolores de Malreich, victorious at last, safe from all +suspicion once the culprit was discovered, released from her infamous +and criminal past, her husband dead, her brother dead, her sister dead, +her two maids dead, Steinweg dead, delivered by me from her accomplices, +whom I handed over to Weber all packed up, delivered, lastly, from +herself by me, who was sending the innocent man whom she had substituted +for herself to the scaffold, Dolores de Malreich, triumphant, rich with +the wealth of her millions and loved by Pierre Leduc, Dolores de +Malreich would sit upon the throne of her native grand-duchy. . . . Ah," +cried Lupin, beside himself with excitement, "that man shall not die! I +swear it as I live: he shall not die!"</p> + +<p>"Look out, governor," said Octave, scared, "we are near the town now. +. . . the outskirts . . . the suburbs. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What shall I care?"</p> + +<p>"But we shall topple over. . . . And the pavement is greasy . . . we are +skidding. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Never mind."</p> + +<p>"Take care. . . . Look ahead. . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[Pg 418]</a></span>"What?"</p> + +<p>"A tram-car, at the turn. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Let it stop!"</p> + +<p>"Do slow down, governor!"</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>"But we have no room to pass!"</p> + +<p>"We shall get through."</p> + +<p>"We can't get through."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we can."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Lord!"</p> + +<p>A crash . . . outcries. . . . The motor had run into the tram-car, +cannoned against a fence, torn down ten yards of planking and, lastly, +smashed itself against the corner of a slope.</p> + +<p>"Driver, are you disengaged?"</p> + +<p>Lupin, lying flat on the grass of the slope, had hailed a taxi-cab.</p> + +<p>He scrambled to his feet, gave a glance at his shattered car and the +people crowding round to Octave's assistance and jumped into the cab:</p> + +<p>"Go to the Ministry of the Interior, on the Place Beauvau . . . Twenty +francs for yourself. . . ."</p> + +<p>He settled himself in the taxi and continued:</p> + +<p>"No, no, he shall not die! No, a thousand times no, I will not have that +on my conscience! It is bad enough to have been tricked by a woman and +to have fallen into the snare like a schoolboy. . . . That will do! No +more blunders for me! I have had that poor wretch arrested. . . . I have +had him sentenced to death. . . . I have brought him to the foot of the +scaffold . . . but he shall not mount it! . . . Anything but that! If he +mounts the scaffold, there will be nothing left for me but to put a +bullet through my head."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[Pg 419]</a></span>They were approaching the toll-house. He leant out:</p> + +<p>"Twenty francs more, driver, if you don't stop."</p> + +<p>And he shouted to the officials:</p> + +<p>"Detective-service!"</p> + +<p>They passed through.</p> + +<p>"But don't slow down, don't slow down, hang it!" roared Lupin. "Faster! +. . . Faster still! Are you afraid of running over the old ladies? Never +mind about them! I'll pay the damage!"</p> + +<p>In a few minutes, they were at the Ministry of the Interior. Lupin +hurried across the courtyard and ran up the main staircase. The +waiting-room was full of people. He scribbled on a sheet of paper, +"Prince Sernine," and, hustling a messenger into a corner, said:</p> + +<p>"You know me, don't you? I'm Lupin. I procured you this berth; a snug +retreat for your old age, eh? Only, you've got to show me in at once. +There, take my name through. That's all I ask of you. The premier will +thank you, you may be sure of that . . . and so I will. . . . But, hurry +you fool! Valenglay is expecting me. . . ."</p> + +<p>Ten seconds later, Valenglay himself put his head through the door of +his room and said:</p> + +<p>"Show the prince in."</p> + +<p>Lupin rushed into the room, slammed the door and, interrupting the +premier, said:</p> + +<p>"No, no set phrases, you can't arrest me. . . . It would mean ruining +yourself and compromising the Emperor. . . . No, it's not a question of +that. Look here. Malreich is innocent. . . . I have discovered the real +criminal. . . . It's Dolores Kesselbach. She is dead. Her body is down +there.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[Pg 420]</a></span> I have undeniable proofs. There is no doubt possible. It was +she. . . ."</p> + +<p>He stopped. Valenglay seemed not to understand.</p> + +<p>"But, look here, Monsieur le President, we must save Malreich. . . . +Only think . . . a judicial error! . . . An innocent man guillotined! +. . . Give your orders . . . say you have fresh information . . . +anything you please . . . but, quick, there is no time to lose. . . ."</p> + +<p>Valenglay looked at him attentively, then went to a table, took up a +newspaper and handed it to him, pointing his finger at an article as he +did so.</p> + +<p>Lupin cast his eye at the head-line and read:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="center">"EXECUTION OF THE MONSTER"</p> + +<p>"Louis de Malreich underwent the death-penalty this +morning. . . ."</p></div> + +<p>He read no more. Thunderstruck, crushed, he fell into the premier's +chair with a moan of despair. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>How long he remained like that he could not say. When he was outside +again, he remembered a great silence and then Valenglay bending over him +and sprinkling water on his forehead. He remembered, above all, the +premier's hushed voice whispering:</p> + +<p>"Listen . . . you won't say anything about this will you? Innocent, +perhaps, I don't say not. . . . But what is the use of revelations, of a +scandal? A judicial error can have serious consequences. Is it worth +while? . . . A rehabilitation? For what purpose? He was not even +sentenced under his own name. It is the name of Malreich which is held +up to public<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[Pg 421]</a></span> execration . . . the name of the real criminal, as it +happens. . . . So . . ."</p> + +<p>And, pushing Lupin gradually toward the door, he said:</p> + +<p>"So go. . . . Go back there. . . . Get rid of the corpse. . . . And let +not a trace remain, eh? Not the slightest trace of all this business. +. . . I can rely on you, can I not?"</p> + +<p>And Lupin went back. He went back like a machine, because he had been +told to do so and because he had no will left of his own.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He waited for hours at the railway-station. Mechanically, he ate his +dinner, took a ticket and settled down in a compartment.</p> + +<p>He slept badly. His brain was on fire between nightmares and half-waking +intervals in which he tried to make out why Malreich had not defended +himself:</p> + +<p>"He was a madman . . . surely . . . half a madman. . . . He must have +known her formerly . . . and she poisoned his life . . . she drove him +crazy. . . . So he felt he might as well die. . . . Why defend himself?"</p> + +<p>The explanation only half satisfied him, and he promised himself sooner +or later to clear up the riddle and to discover the exact part which +Massier had played in Dolores' life. But what did it matter for the +moment? One fact alone stood out clearly, which was Massier's madness, +and he repeated, persistently:</p> + +<p>"He was a madman . . . Massier was undoubtedly mad. Besides, all those +Massiers . . . a family of madmen. . . ."</p> + +<p>He raved, mixing up names in his enfeebled brain.</p> + +<p>But, on alighting at Bruggen Station, in the cool,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[Pg 422]</a></span> moist air of the +morning, his consciousness revived. Things suddenly assumed a different +aspect. And he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Well, after all, it was his own look-out! He had only to protest. . . . +I accept no responsibility. . . . It was he who committed suicide. . . . +He was only a dumb actor in the play. . . . He has gone under. . . . I +am sorry. . . . But it can't be helped!"</p> + +<p>The necessity for action stimulated him afresh. Wounded, tortured by +that crime of which he knew himself to be the author for all that he +might say, he nevertheless looked to the future:</p> + +<p>"Those are the accidents of war," he said. "Don't let us think about it. +Nothing is lost. On the contrary! Dolores was the stumbling-block, since +Pierre Leduc loved her. Dolores is dead. Therefore Pierre Leduc belongs +to me. And he shall marry Geneviève, as I have arranged! And he shall +reign! And I shall be the master! And Europe, Europe is mine!"</p> + +<p>He worked himself up, reassured, full of sudden confidence, and made +feverish gestures as he walked along the road, whirling an imaginary +sword, the sword of the leader whose will is law, who commands and +triumphs:</p> + +<p>"Lupin, you shall be king! You shall be king, Arsène Lupin!"</p> + +<p>He inquired in the village of Bruggen and heard that Pierre Leduc had +lunched yesterday at the inn. Since then, he had not been seen.</p> + +<p>"Oh?" asked Lupin. "Didn't he sleep here?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"But where did he go after his lunch?"</p> + +<p>"He took the road to the castle."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[Pg 423]</a></span>Lupin walked away in some surprise. After all, he had told the young man +to lock the doors and not to return after the servants had gone.</p> + +<p>He at once received a proof that Pierre had disobeyed him: the park +gates were open.</p> + +<p>He went in, hunted all over the castle, called out. No reply.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, he thought of the chalet. Who could tell? Perhaps Pierre +Leduc, worrying about the woman he loved and driven by an intuition, had +gone to look for her in that direction. And Dolores' corpse was there!</p> + +<p>Greatly alarmed, Lupin began to run.</p> + +<p>At first sight, there seemed to be no one in the chalet.</p> + +<p>"Pierre! Pierre!" he cried.</p> + +<p>Hearing no sound, he entered the front passage and the room which he had +occupied.</p> + +<p>He stopped short, rooted to the threshold.</p> + +<p>Above Dolores' corpse, hung Pierre Leduc, with a rope round his neck, +dead.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Lupin impatiently pulled himself together from head to foot. He refused +to yield to a single gesture of despair. He refused to utter a single +violent word. After the cruel blows which fate had dealt him, after +Dolores' crimes and death, after Massier's execution, after all those +disturbances and catastrophes, he felt the absolute necessity of +retaining all his self-command. If not, his brain would undoubtedly give +way. . . .</p> + +<p>"Idiot!" he said, shaking his fist at Pierre Leduc. "You great idiot, +couldn't you wait? In ten years we should have had Alsace-Lorraine +again!"</p> + +<p>To relieve his mind, he sought for words to say, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[Pg 424]</a></span> attitudes; but his +ideas escaped him and his head seemed on the point of bursting.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no!" he cried. "None of that, thank you! Lupin mad too! No, old +chap! Put a bullet through your head, if you like; and, when all is +said, I don't see any other way out. But Lupin drivelling, wheeled about +in a bath-chair . . . no! Style, old fellow, finish in style!"</p> + +<p>He walked up and down, stamping his feet and lifting his knees very +high, as certain actors do when feigning madness. And he said:</p> + +<p>"Swagger, my lad, swagger! The eyes of the gods are upon you! Lift up +your head! Pull in your stomach, hang it! Throw out your chest! . . . +Everything is breaking up around you. What do you care? . . . It's the +final disaster, I've played my last card, a kingdom in the gutter, I've +lost Europe, the whole world ends in smoke. . . . Well . . . and what of +it? Laugh, laugh! Be Lupin, or you're in the soup. . . . Come, laugh! +Louder than that, louder, louder! That's right! . . . Lord, how funny it +all is! Dolores, old girl, a cigarette!"</p> + +<p>He bent down with a grin, touched the dead woman's face, tottered for a +second and fell to the ground unconscious.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>After lying for an hour, he came to himself and stood up. The fit of +madness was over; and, master of himself, with relaxed nerves, serious +and silent, he considered the position.</p> + +<p>He felt that the time had come for the irrevocable decisions that +involve a whole existence. His had been utterly shattered, in a few +days, under the assault<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[Pg 425]</a></span> of unforeseen catastrophes, rushing up, one +after the other, at the very moment when he thought his triumph assured. +What should he do? Begin again? Build up everything again? He had not +the courage for it. What then?</p> + +<p>The whole morning, he roamed tragically about the park and gradually +realized his position in all its slightest details. Little by little, +the thought of death enforced itself upon him with inflexible rigor.</p> + +<p>But, whether he decided to kill himself or to live, there was first of +all a series of definite acts which he was obliged to perform. And these +acts stood out clearly in his brain, which had suddenly become quite +cool.</p> + +<p>The mid-day Angelus rang from the church-steeple.</p> + +<p>"To work!" he said, firmly.</p> + +<p>He returned to the chalet in a very calm frame of mind, went to his +room, climbed on a stool, and cut the rope by which Pierre Leduc was +hanging:</p> + +<p>"You poor devil!" he said. "You were doomed to end like that, with a +hempen tie around your neck. Alas, you were not made for greatness: I +ought to have foreseen that and not hooked my fortune to a rhymester!"</p> + +<p>He felt in the young man's clothes and found nothing. But, remembering +Dolores' second pocket-book, he took it from the pocket where he had +left it.</p> + +<p>He gave a start of surprise. The pocket-book contained a bundle of +letters whose appearance was familiar to him; and he at once recognized +the different writings.</p> + +<p>"The Emperor's letters!" he muttered, slowly. "The old chancellor's +letters! The whole bundle which I myself found at Leon Massier's and +which I handed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[Pg 426]</a></span> to Count von Waldemar! . . . How did it happen? . . . +Did she take them in her turn from that blockhead of a Waldemar?" And, +suddenly, slapping his forehead, "Why, no, the blockhead is myself. +These are the real letters! She kept them to blackmail the Emperor when +the time came. And the others, the ones which I handed over, are copies, +forged by herself, of course, or by an accomplice, and placed where she +knew that I should find them. . . . And I played her game for her, like +a mug! By Jove, when women begin to interfere . . . !"</p> + +<p>There was only a piece of pasteboard left in the pocket-book, a +photograph. He looked at it. It was his own.</p> + +<p>"Two photographs . . . Massier and I . . . the two she loved best, no +doubt . . . For she loved me. . . . A strange love, built up of +admiration for the adventurer that I am, for the man who, by himself, +put away the seven scoundrels whom she had paid to break my head! A +strange love! I felt it throbbing in her the other day, when I told her +my great dream of omnipotence. Then, really, she had the idea of +sacrificing Pierre Leduc and subjecting her dream to mine. If the +incident of the mirror had not taken place, she would have been subdued. +But she was afraid. I had my hand upon the truth. My death was necessary +for her salvation and she decided upon it." He repeated several times, +pensively, "And yet she loved me. . . . Yes, she loved me, as others +have loved me . . . others to whom I have brought ill-luck also. . . . +Alas, all those who love me die! . . . And this one died too, strangled +by my hand. . . . What is the use of living? . . . What is the use of +living?" he asked again, in a low voice. "Is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[Pg 427]</a></span> it not better to join +them, all those women who have loved me . . . and who have died of their +love . . . Sonia, Raymonde, Clotilde, Destange, Miss Clarke? . . ."</p> + +<p>He laid the two corpses beside each other, covered them with the same +sheet, sat down at a table and wrote:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I have triumphed over everything and I am beaten. I +have reached the goal and I have fallen. Fate is too +strong for me. . . . And she whom I loved is no more. +I shall die also."</p></div> + +<p>And he signed his name:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p class="sig3">"<span class="smcap">Arsène Lupin.</span>"</p></div> + +<p>He sealed the letter and slipped it into a bottle which he flung through +the window, on the soft ground of a flower-border.</p> + +<p>Next, he made a great pile on the floor with old newspapers, straw and +shavings, which he went to fetch in the kitchen. On the top of it he +emptied a gallon of petrol. Then he lit a candle and threw it among the +shavings.</p> + +<p>A flame at once arose and other flames leapt forth, quick, glowing, +crackling.</p> + +<p>"Let's clear out," said Lupin. "The chalet is built of wood, it will all +flare up like a match. And, by the time they come from the village, +break down the gates and run to this end of the park, it will be too +late. They will find ashes, the remains of two charred corpses and, +close at hand, my farewell letter in a bottle. . . . Good-bye, Lupin! +Bury me simply, good people, without superfluous state . . . a poor +man's funeral . . . No flowers, no wreaths.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[Pg 428]</a></span> . . . Just a humble cross +and a plain epitaph; 'Here lies Arsène Lupin, adventurer.'"</p> + +<p>He made for the park wall, climbed over it, and turning round, saw the +flames soaring up to the sky. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>He wandered back toward Paris on foot, bowed down by destiny, with +despair in his heart. And the peasants were amazed at the sight of this +traveller who paid with bank-notes for his fifteen-penny meals.</p> + +<p>Three foot-pads attacked him one evening in the forest. He defended +himself with his stick and left them lying for dead. . . .</p> + +<p>He spent a week at an inn. He did not know where to go. . . . What was +he to do? What was there for him to cling to? He was tired of life. He +did not want to live. . . .</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>"Is that you?"</p> + +<p>Mme. Ernemont stood in her little sitting-room in the villa at Garches, +trembling, scared and livid, staring at the apparition that faced her.</p> + +<p>Lupin! . . . It was Lupin.</p> + +<p>"You!" she said. "You! . . . But the papers said . . ."</p> + +<p>He smiled sadly:</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am dead."</p> + +<p>"Well, then . . . well, then . . ." she said, naïvely.</p> + +<p>"You mean that, if I am dead, I have no business here. Believe me, I +have serious reasons, Victoire."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[Pg 429]</a></span>"How you have changed!" she said, in a voice full of pity.</p> + +<p>"A few little disappointments. . . . However, that's over. . . . Tell +me, is Geneviève in?"</p> + +<p>She flew at him, in a sudden rage:</p> + +<p>"You leave her alone, do you hear? Geneviève? You want to see Geneviève, +to take her back? Ah, this time I shall not let her out of my sight! She +came back tired, white as a sheet, nervous; and the color has hardly yet +returned to her cheeks. You shall leave her alone, I swear you shall."</p> + +<p>He pressed his hand hard on the old woman's shoulder:</p> + +<p>"I <i>will</i>—do you understand?—I <i>will</i> speak to her."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"I mean to speak to her."</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>He pushed her about. She drew herself up and, crossing her arms:</p> + +<p>"You shall pass over my dead body first, do you hear? The child's +happiness lies in this house and nowhere else. . . . With all your ideas +of money and rank, you would only make her miserable. Who is this Pierre +Leduc of yours? And that Veldenz of yours? Geneviève a grand-duchess! +You are mad. That's no life for her! . . . You see, after all, you have +thought only of yourself in this matter. It was your power, your fortune +you wanted. The child you don't care a rap about. Have you so much as +asked yourself if she loved your rascally grand-duke? Have you asked +yourself if she loved anybody? No, you just pursued your object, that is +all, at the risk of hurting Geneviève and making her unhappy for the +rest of her life. . . . Well, I won't have it! What<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[Pg 430]</a></span> she wants is a +simple, honest existence, led in the broad light of day; and that is +what you can't give her. Then what are you here for?"</p> + +<p>He seemed to waver, but, nevertheless, he murmured in a low voice and +very sadly:</p> + +<p>"It is impossible that I should never see her again, it is impossible +that I should not speak to her. . . ."</p> + +<p>"She believes you dead."</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what I do not want! I want her to know the truth. It is +a torture to me to think that she looks upon me as one who is no more. +Bring her to me, Victoire."</p> + +<p>He spoke in a voice so gentle and so distressed that she was utterly +moved, and said:</p> + +<p>"Listen. . . . First of all, I want to know. . . . It depends upon what +you intend to say to her. . . . Be frank, my boy. . . . What do you want +with Geneviève?"</p> + +<p>He said, gravely:</p> + +<p>"I want to say this: 'Geneviève, I promised your mother to give you +wealth, power, a fairy-like existence. And, on the day when I had +attained my aim, I would have asked you for a little place, not very far +from you. Rich and happy, you would have forgotten—yes, I am sure of +it—you would have forgotten who I am, or rather who I was. +Unfortunately, fate has been too strong for me. I bring you neither +wealth nor power. And it is I, on the contrary, who have need of you. +Geneviève, will you help me?'"</p> + +<p>"To do what?" asked the old woman, anxiously.</p> + +<p>"To live. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she said. "Has it come to that, my poor boy? . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes," he answered, simply, without any affecta<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[Pg 431]</a></span>tion of sorrow, "yes, it +has come to that. Three human beings are just dead, killed by me, killed +by my hands. The burden of the memory is more than I can bear. I am +alone. For the first time in my life, I need help. I have the right to +ask that help of Geneviève. And her duty is to give it to me. . . . If +not . . ."</p> + +<p>"If not . . . ?"</p> + +<p>"Then all is over."</p> + +<p>The old woman was silent, pale and quivering with emotion. She once more +felt all her affection for him whom she had fed at her breast and who +still and in spite of all remained "her boy." She asked:</p> + +<p>"What do you intend to do with her?"</p> + +<p>"We shall go abroad. We will take you with us, if you like to come. +. . ."</p> + +<p>"But you forget . . . you forget. . . ."</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Your past. . . ."</p> + +<p>"She will forget it too. She will understand that I am no longer the man +I was, that I do not wish to be."</p> + +<p>"Then, really, what you wish is that she should share your life, the +life of Lupin?"</p> + +<p>"The life of the man that I shall be, of the man who will work so that +she may be happy, so that she may marry according to her inclination. We +will settle down in some nook or other. We will struggle together, side +by side. And you know what I am capable of. . . ."</p> + +<p>She repeated, slowly, with her eyes fixed on his:</p> + +<p>"Then, really, you wish her to share Lupin's life?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[Pg 432]</a></span>He hesitated a second, hardly a second, and declared, plainly:</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I wish it, I have the right."</p> + +<p>"You wish her to abandon all the children to whom she has devoted +herself, all this life of work which she loves and which is essential to +her happiness?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I wish it, it is her duty."</p> + +<p>The old woman opened the window and said:</p> + +<p>"In that case, call her."</p> + +<p>Geneviève was in the garden, sitting on a bench. Four little girls were +crowding round her. Others were playing and running about.</p> + +<p>He saw her full-face. He saw her grave, smiling eyes. She held a flower +in her hand and plucked the petals one by one and gave explanations to +the attentive and eager children. Then she asked them questions. And +each answer was rewarded with a kiss to the pupil.</p> + +<p>Lupin looked at her long, with infinite emotion and anguish. A whole +leaven of unknown feelings fermented within him. He had a longing to +press that pretty girl to his breast, to kiss her and tell her how he +respected and loved her. He remembered the mother, who died in the +little village of Aspremont, who died of grief.</p> + +<p>"Call her," said Victoire. "Why don't you call her?"</p> + +<p>He sank into a chair and stammered:</p> + +<p>"I can't. . . . I can't do it. . . . I have not the right. . . . It is +impossible. . . . Let her believe me dead. . . . That is better. . . ."</p> + +<p>He wept, his shoulders shaking with sobs, his whole being overwhelmed +with despair, swollen with an affection that arose in him, like those +backward flowers which die on the very day of their blossoming.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[Pg 433]</a></span>The old woman knelt down beside him and, in a trembling voice, asked:</p> + +<p>"She is your daughter, is she not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, she is my daughter."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my poor boy!" she said, bursting into tears. "My poor boy! . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[Pg 434]</a></span></p> + +<h2 class="newchapter"><a name="EPILOGUE" id="EPILOGUE"></a>EPILOGUE<br /> +<span class="smalltext">THE SUICIDE</span></h2> + + +<p>"To horse!" said the Emperor.</p> + +<p>He corrected himself, on seeing the magnificent ass which they brought +him:</p> + +<p>"To donkey, rather! Waldemar, are you sure this animal is quiet to ride +and drive?"</p> + +<p>"I will answer for him as I would for myself, Sire," declared the count.</p> + +<p>"In that case, I feel safe," said the Emperor, laughing. And, turning to +the officers with him, "Gentlemen, to horse!"</p> + +<p>The market-place of the village of Capri was crowded with sight-seers, +kept back by a line of Italian carabiniers, and, in the middle, all the +donkeys of the place, which had been requisitioned to enable the Emperor +to go over that island of wonders.</p> + +<p>"Waldemar," said the Emperor, taking the head of the cavalcade, "what do +we begin with?"</p> + +<p>"With Tiberius's Villa, Sire."</p> + +<p>They rode under a gateway and then followed a roughly-paved path, rising +gradually to the eastern promontory of the island.</p> + +<p>The Emperor laughed and enjoyed himself and good-humoredly chaffed the +colossal Count von Waldemar, whose feet touched the ground on either +side of the unfortunate donkey borne down under his weight.</p> + +<p>In three-quarters of an hour, they arrived first at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[Pg 435]</a></span> Tiberius's Leap, an +enormous rock, a thousand feet high, from which the tyrant caused his +victims to be hurled into the sea. . . .</p> + +<p>The Emperor dismounted, walked up to the hand-rail and took a glance at +the abyss. Then he went on foot to the ruins of Tiberius's Villa, where +he strolled about among the crumbling halls and passages.</p> + +<p>He stopped for a moment.</p> + +<p>There was a glorious view of the point of Sorrento and over the whole +island of Capri. The glowing blue of the sea outlined the beautiful +curve of the bay; and cool perfumes mingled with the scent of the +citron-trees.</p> + +<p>"The view is finer still, Sire," said Waldemar, "from the hermit's +little chapel, at the summit."</p> + +<p>"Let us go to it."</p> + +<p>But the hermit himself descended by a steep path. He was an old man, +with a hesitating gait and a bent back. He carried the book in which +travellers usually write down their impressions.</p> + +<p>He placed the book on a stone seat.</p> + +<p>"What am I write?" asked the Emperor.</p> + +<p>"Your name, Sire, and the date of your visit . . . and anything you +please."</p> + +<p>The Emperor took the pen which the hermit handed him and bent down to +write.</p> + +<p>"Take care, Sire, take care!"</p> + +<p>Shouts of alarm . . . a great crash from the direction of the chapel. +. . . The Emperor turned round. He saw a huge rock come rolling down +upon him like a whirlwind.</p> + +<p>At the same moment, he was seized round the body by the hermit and flung +to a distance of ten yards away.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[Pg 436]</a></span>The rock struck against the stone seat where the Emperor had been +standing a quarter of a second before and smashed the seat into +fragments. But for the hermit, the Emperor would have been killed.</p> + +<p>He gave him his hand and said, simply:</p> + +<p>"Thank you."</p> + +<p>The officers flocked round him.</p> + +<p>"It's nothing, gentlemen. . . . We have escaped with a fright . . . +though it was a fine fright, I confess. . . . All the same, but for the +intervention of this worthy man . . ."</p> + +<p>And, going up to the hermit:</p> + +<p>"What is your name, my friend?"</p> + +<p>The hermit had kept his head concealed in his hood. He pushed it back an +inch or so and, in a very low voice, so as to be heard by none but the +Emperor, he said:</p> + +<p>"The name of a man, Sire, who is very pleased that you have shaken him +by the hand."</p> + +<p>The Emperor gave a start and stepped back. Then, at once controlling +himself:</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen," he said to the officers, "I will ask you to go up to the +chapel. More rocks can break loose; and it would perhaps be wise to warn +the authorities of the island. You will join me later. I want to thank +this good man."</p> + +<p>He walked away, accompanied by the hermit. When they were alone, he +said:</p> + +<p>"You! Why?"</p> + +<p>"I had to speak to you, Sire. If I had asked for an audience . . . would +you have granted my request? I preferred to act directly and I intended +to make myself known while Your Imperial Majesty was signing the book, +when that stupid accident . . ."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[Pg 437]</a></span>"Well?" said the Emperor.</p> + +<p>"The letters which I gave Waldemar to hand to you, Sire, are forgeries."</p> + +<p>The Emperor made a gesture of keen annoyance:</p> + +<p>"Forgeries? Are you sure?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely sure, Sire."</p> + +<p>"Yet that Malreich . . ."</p> + +<p>"Malreich was not the culprit."</p> + +<p>"Then who was?"</p> + +<p>"I must beg Your Imperial Majesty to treat my answer as secret and +confidential. The real culprit was Mrs. Kesselbach."</p> + +<p>"Kesselbach's own wife?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire. She is dead now. It was she who made or caused to be made +the copies which are in your possession. She kept the real letters."</p> + +<p>"But where are they?" exclaimed the Emperor. "That is the important +thing! They must be recovered at all costs! I attach the greatest value +to those letters. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Here they are, Sire."</p> + +<p>The Emperor had a moment of stupefaction. He looked at Lupin, looked at +the letters, then at Lupin again and pocketed the bundle without +examining it.</p> + +<p>Clearly, this man was puzzling him once more. Where did this scoundrel +spring from who, possessing so terrible a weapon, handed it over like +that, generously, unconditionally? It would have been so easy for him to +keep the letters and to make such use of them as he pleased! No, he had +given his promise and he was keeping his word.</p> + +<p>And the Emperor thought of all the astounding things which that man had +done.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[Pg 438]</a></span>"The papers said that you were dead," he said.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire. In reality, I am dead. And the police of my country, glad to +be rid of me, have buried the charred and unrecognizable remains of my +body."</p> + +<p>"Then you are free?"</p> + +<p>"As I always have been."</p> + +<p>"And nothing attaches you to anything?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, Sire."</p> + +<p>"In that case . . ."</p> + +<p>The Emperor hesitated and then, explicitly:</p> + +<p>"In that case, enter my service. I offer you the command of my private +police. You shall be the absolute master. You shall have full power, +even over the other police."</p> + +<p>"No, Sire."</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"I am a Frenchman."</p> + +<p>There was a pause. The Emperor was evidently pleased with the answer. He +said:</p> + +<p>"Still, as you say that no link attaches you . . ."</p> + +<p>"That is, one, Sire, which nothing can sever." And he added, laughing, +"I am dead as a man, but alive as a Frenchman. I am sure that Your +Imperial Majesty will understand."</p> + +<p>The Emperor took a few steps up and down. Then he said:</p> + +<p>"I should like to pay my debt, however. I heard that the negotiations +for the grand-duchy of Veldenz were broken off. . . ."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire, Pierre Leduc was an imposter. He is dead."</p> + +<p>"What can I do for you? You have given me back those letters. . . . You +have saved my life. . . . What can I do?"</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[Pg 439]</a></span>"Nothing, Sire."</p> + +<p>"You insist upon my remaining your debtor?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Sire."</p> + +<p>The Emperor gave a last glance at that strange man who set himself up in +his presence as his equal. Then he bowed his head slightly and walked +away without another word.</p> + +<p>"Aha, Majesty, I've caught you this time!" said Lupin, following him +with his eyes. And, philosophically, "No doubt it's a poor revenge . . . +and would rather have recovered Alsace-Lorraine. . . . But still . . ."</p> + +<p>He interrupted himself and stamped his foot on the ground:</p> + +<p>"You confounded Lupin! Will you never change, will you always remain +hateful and cynical to the last moment of your existence? Be serious, +hang it all! The time has come, now or never, to be serious!"</p> + +<p>He climbed the path that leads to the chapel and stopped at the place +where the rock had broken loose. He burst out laughing:</p> + +<p>"It was a good piece of work and His Imperial Majesty's officers did not +know what to make of it. But how could they guess that I myself loosened +that rock, that, at the last moment, I gave the decisive blow of the +pick-axe and that the aforesaid rock rolled down the path which I had +made between it and . . . an emperor whose life I was bent on saving?"</p> + +<p>He sighed:</p> + +<p>"Ah, Lupin, what a complex mind you have! All that trouble because you +had sworn that this particular Majesty should shake you by the hand! A +lot of good it has done you! 'An Emperor's hand five fingers has, no +more,' as Victor Hugo might have said.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[Pg 440]</a></span>"</p> + +<p>He entered the chapel and, with a special key, opened the low door of a +little sacristy. On a heap of straw, lay a man, with his hands and legs +bound and a gag in his mouth.</p> + +<p>"Well, my friend, the hermit," said Lupin, "it wasn't so very long, was +it? Twenty-four hours at the most. . . . But I have worked jolly hard on +your behalf! Just think, you have saved the Emperor's life! Yes, old +chap. You are the man who saved the Emperor's life. I have made your +fortune, that's what I've done. They'll build a cathedral for you and +put up a statue to you when you're dead and gone. Here, take your +things."</p> + +<p>The hermit, nearly dead with hunger, staggered to his feet. Lupin +quickly put on his own clothes and said:</p> + +<p>"Farewell, O worthy and venerable man. Forgive me for this little upset. +And pray for me. I shall need it. Eternity is opening its gate wide to +me. Farewell."</p> + +<p>He stood for a few moments on the threshold of the chapel. It was the +solemn moment at which one hesitates, in spite of everything, before the +terrible end of all things. But his resolution was irrevocable and, +without further reflection, he darted out, ran down the slope, crossed +the level ground of Tiberius's Leap and put one leg over the hand-rail:</p> + +<p>"Lupin, I give you three minutes for play-acting. 'What's the good?' you +will say. 'There is nobody here.' Well . . . and what about you? Can't +you act your last farce for yourself? By Jove, the performance is worth +it. . . . <i>Arsène Lupin</i>, heroic comedy in eighty scenes. . . . The +curtain rises on the death-scene . . . and the principal part is played +by Lupin in person. . . . 'Bravo, Lupin!' <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[Pg 441]</a></span>. . . Feel my heart, ladies +and gentlemen . . . seventy beats to the minute. . . . And a smile on my +lips. . . . 'Bravo, Lupin! Oh, the rogue, what cheek he has!' . . . +Well, jump, my lord. . . . Are you ready? It's the last adventure, old +fellow. No regrets? Regrets? What for, heavens above? My life was +splendid. Ah, Dolores, Dolores, if you had not come into it, abominable +monster that you were! . . . . . . And you, Malreich, why did you not +speak? . . . And you, Pierre Leduc. . . . Here I am! . . . My three dead +friends, I am about to join you. . . . Oh, Geneviève, my dear Geneviève! +. . . Here, have you done, you old play-actor? . . . Right you are! +Right you are! I'm coming. . . ."</p> + +<p>He pulled his other leg over, looked down the abyss at the dark and +motionless sea and, raising his head:</p> + +<p>"Farewell, immortal and thrice-blessed nature! <i>Moriturus te salutat!</i> +Farewell, all that is beautiful on earth! Farewell, splendor of things. +Farewell, life!"</p> + +<p>He flung kisses to space, to the sky, to the sun. . . . Then, folding +his arms, he took the leap.</p> + +<hr class="thin" /> + +<p>Sidi-bel-Abbes. The barracks of the Foreign Legion. An adjutant sat +smoking and reading his newspaper in a small, low-ceilinged room.</p> + +<p>Near him, close to the window opening on the yard, two great devils of +non-commissioned officers were jabbering in guttural French, mixed with +Teutonic phrases.</p> + +<p>The door opened. Some one entered. It was a slightly-built man, of +medium height, smartly-dressed.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[Pg 442]</a></span>The adjutant rose, glared angrily at the intruder and growled:</p> + +<p>"I say, what on earth is the orderly up to? . . . And you, sir, what do +you want?"</p> + +<p>"Service."</p> + +<p>This was said frankly, imperiously.</p> + +<p>The two non-coms burst into a silly laugh. The man looked at them +askance.</p> + +<p>"In other words, you wish to enlist in the Legion?" asked the adjutant.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but on one condition."</p> + +<p>"Conditions, by Jove! What conditions?"</p> + +<p>"That I am not left mouldering here. There is a company leaving for +Morocco. I'll join that."</p> + +<p>One of the non-coms gave a fresh chuckle and was heard to say:</p> + +<p>"The Moors are in for a bad time. The gentleman's enlisting."</p> + +<p>"Silence!" cried the man, "I don't stand being laughed at."</p> + +<p>His voice sounded harsh and masterful.</p> + +<p>The non-com, a brutal-looking giant, retorted:</p> + +<p>"Here, recruity, you'd better be careful how you talk to me, or . . ."</p> + +<p>"Or what?"</p> + +<p>"You'll get something you won't like, that's all!"</p> + +<p>The man went up to him, took him round the waist, swung him over the +ledge of the window and pitched him into the yard.</p> + +<p>Then he said to the other:</p> + +<p>"Go away."</p> + +<p>The other went away.</p> + +<p>The man at once returned to the adjutant and said:</p> + +<p>"Lieutenant, pray be so good as to tell the major<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[Pg 443]</a></span> that Don Luis +Perenna, a Spanish grandee and a Frenchman at heart, wishes to take +service in the Foreign Legion. Go, my friend."</p> + +<p>The flabbergasted adjutant did not move.</p> + +<p>"Go, my friend, and go at once. I have no time to waste."</p> + +<p>The adjutant rose, looked at his astounding visitor with a bewildered +eye and went out in the tamest fashion.</p> + +<p>Then Lupin lit a cigarette and, sitting down in the adjutant's chair, +said, aloud:</p> + +<p>"As the sea refused to have anything to say to me, or rather as I, at +the last moment, refused to have anything to say to the sea, we'll go +and see if the bullets of the Moors are more compassionate. And, in any +case, it will be a smarter finish. . . . Face the enemy, Lupin, and all +for France! . . ."</p> + +<p class="newchapter center">THE END</p> + + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 176px;"> +<img src="images/logo.png" width="176" height="175" alt="publisher's logo" title="" /> +</div> + +<p class="center">THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS<br /> +GARDEN CITY, N. Y.</p> + + + +<hr class="wide" /> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The original edition contained a large number of ellipses of various +lengths. All two-dot ellipses have been corrected to three dots, +five-dot ellipses have been corrected to four dots, and some three- and +four-dot ellipses have been altered, either by adding a space, removing +a space, or adjusting the length of the ellipsis based on the context.</p> + +<p>On the title page, "Alexander Teixeira De Mottos" was changed to +"Alexander Teixeira De Mattos".</p> + +<p>In Chapter I, "aimed it at the man and pulled trigger" was changed to +"aimed it at the man and pulled the trigger", "In Kesselbach's +handwriting, suppose?" was changed to "In Kesselbach's handwriting, I +suppose?", and missing quotation marks were added after "you can send +his letters on to him there" and before "The chief is on his way".</p> + +<p>In Chapter II, "There is another point, Monsiuer le Juge d'Instruction" +was changed to "There is another point, Monsieur le Juge d'Instruction", +a missing quotation mark was added before "it's all very queer", "Mr. +Manager instruct your young lady" was changed to "Mr. Manager, instruct +your young lady", and "Did they open it!" was changed to "Did they open +it?".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IV, "the house known as the Pavillon de l'Imperatrice" was +changed to "the house known as the Pavillon de l'Impératrice", a +quotation mark was moved from the middle of the sentence "By a +commissionaire, so we were told" to the end, a quotation mark was added +in front of "Yes, yes. . . . I seem to", a quotation mark was removed +after "Would he speak?", "revolt and digust" was changed to "revolt and +disgust", "For the third time, Gerard fainted" was changed to "For the +third time, Gérard fainted", and "he said to his chaffeur" was changed +to "he said to his chauffeur".</p> + +<p>In Chapter V, "In that case, Monsieur le Prèsident" was changed to "In +that case, Monsieur le Président".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VI, a duplicate quotation mark was removed after "Not dead?", +a missing period was added after "There were two of them", "No, The +walls surround the estate" was changed to "No. The walls surround the +estate", and a quotation mark was removed after "in a stifled voice. +. . .".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VII, a quotation mark was added after "And no one knows these +details except yourselves?", a comma was added after "he sneered", "it's +name, by the way, was Sebastopol" was changed to "its name, by the way, +was Sebastopol", "Austrain archdukes" was changed to "Austrian +archdukes", "hurl Atlenheim into the pit" was changed to "hurl Altenheim +into the pit", a duplicate quotation mark was removed before "But why +did they wait so long?", and "a suitable husband for Geneviéve" was +changed to "a suitable husband for Geneviève".</p> + +<p>In Chapter VIII, "as to freinds whom he has met by chance" was changed +to "as to friends whom he has met by chance", "to end be falling into +the hands of his enemies" was changed to "to end by falling into the +hands of his enemies", "ten past at the very lastest" was changed to +"ten past at the very latest", "A cigarrette?" was changed to "A +cigarette?", "Today, I accept" was changed to "To-day, I accept", +"another outler at his disposal" was changed to "another outlet at his +disposal", "through which Altenheim had disappeared" was changed to +"though which Altenheim had disappeared", a quotation mark was removed +after "the stone steps to the basement. . . .", "the parcel of clothes +is not far aff" was changed to "the parcel of clothes is not far off", +"He open it and found a hat" was changed to "He opened it and found a +hat", and "Sernine's own acccomplice" was changed to "Sernine's own +accomplice".</p> + +<p>In Chapter IX, "go on with you story" was changed to "go on with your +story", <b>"No,"</b> was changed to <b>"No."</b>, a missing quotation mark was added +before "No, soldiers drafted from the Emperor's own body-guard", and "on +which Hermann III., had written" was changed to "on which Hermann III. +had written".</p> + +<p>In Chapter X, a comma was added after "Maître Quimbel's hat", "they will +both proceed to Vendenz Castle" was changed to "they will both proceed +to Veldenz Castle", and "Was is not childish" was changed to "Was it not +childish".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XI, a quotation mark was removed after "what did he care?", +"No nothing at all" was changed to "No, nothing at all", "down into the +under-ground passage" was changed to "down into the underground +passage", and a single quote (') was changed to a double quote (") after +"O gentle Teuton?".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XII, a quotation mark was removed after "They were all +French", "What it is?" was changed to "What is it?", "I know that the +latters are not here" was changed to "I know that the letters are not +here", "the French servant who wrote his dairy" was changed to "the +French servant who wrote his diary", "It's qiute obvious" was changed to +"It's quite obvious", "Bacause I am the better man" was changed to +"Because I am the better man", and a question mark was added after "Have +you seen anything".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIII, "How the newspapers represented the prisoner at the +Sante" was changed to "How the newspapers represented the prisoner at +the Santé", and "a little cafè on the Route de la Revolte" was changed +to "a little café on the Route de la Revolte", "on the Saturday morning, +he pursued his inquries" was changed to "on the Saturday morning, he +pursued his inquiries", "Consequently. Leon Massier was, in point of +fact" was changed to "Consequently, Leon Massier was, in point of fact", +"two hundred yards from the Rue des Vinges" was changed to "two hundred +yards from the Rue des Vignes", "Listen. . . . Charloais?" was changed +to "Listen. . . . Charolais?", and "the public tenniscourt" was changed +to "the public tennis-court".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XIV, "a a fine bag too" was changed to "a fine bag too", +"felt for his banknotes" was changed to "felt for his bank-notes", "the +necessary proofs of his indentity" was changed to "the necessary proofs +of his identity", and "not Pierre Leduc, but Gerard Baupré" was changed +to "not Pierre Leduc, but Gérard Baupré".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XV, quotation mark was removed after "the tears streamed down +her cheeks" and "Which was it?", "hysterical sobing" was changed to +"hysterical sobbing", and "They are saying at, headquarters, that" was +changed to "They are saying, at headquarters, that".</p> + +<p>In Chapter XVI, "ARSENE'S LUPIN'S THREE MURDERS" was changed to "ARSÈNE +LUPIN'S THREE MURDERS", "by the dazzling gleam of those +lighning-flashes" was changed to "by the dazzling gleam of those +lightning-flashes", "a diffierent aspect" was changed to "a different +aspect", "had hailed a taxicab" was changed to "had hailed a taxi-cab", +"look for her in that dirction" was changed to "look for her in that +direction", "slipped in into a bottle" was changed to "slipped it into a +bottle", and a double quote (") was changed to a single quote (') before +"Geneviève, I promised your mother".</p> + +<p>In the Epilogue, "What am I write?" was changed to "What am I to +write?", and a missing quotation mark was added after "as Victor Hugo +might have said".</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of 813, by Maurice Leblanc + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 813 *** + +***** This file should be named 34758-h.htm or 34758-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/7/5/34758/ + +Produced by Steven desJardins and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://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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