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The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar · The Extraordinary Adventures of Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar

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  Chapter one, the arrest of our Seene Lupin. It was a strange ending
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  to a voyage that had commenced in a most auspicious manner. The transatlantic steamship
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  La Provence was a swift and comfortable vessel under the command of a most affable
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  man. The passengers constituted a select and delightful society. The charm of new
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  acquaintances and improvised amusements served to make the time pass agreeably. We enjoyed the
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  pleasant sensation of being separated from the world, living as it were, upon
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  an unknown island, and consequently obliged to be sociable with each other. Have
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  you ever stopped to consider how much originality and spontaneity emanate from these various individuals,
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  who, on the preceding evening did not even know each other, and
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  who are now, for several days, condemned to lead a life of extreme
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  intimacy, jointly defying the anger of the ocean, the terrible onslaught of the
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  waves, the violence of the tempest, and the agonizing monotony of the calm
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  and sleepy water. Such a life becomes a sort of tragic existence, with
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  its storms and its grandeurs, its monotony and its diversity. And that is
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  why perhaps we embark upon that short voyage with mingled feelings of pleasure and fear.
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  But during the past few years a new sensation had been added to the
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  life of the transatlantic traveler. The little floating island is now attached to the
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  world from which it was once quite free. A bond united them even in
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  the very heart of the watery wastes of the Atlantic. That bond is the
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  wireless telegraph, by means of which we receive news in the most mysterious manner.
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  We know full well that the message is not transported by the medium of
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  a hollow wire. No, the mystery is even more inexplicable, more romantic,
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  and we must have recourse to the wings of the air in order to
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  explain this new miracle. During the first day of the voyage, we felt
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  that we were being followed, escorted, preceded even by that distant voice,
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  which, from time to time whispered to one of us a few words from
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  the receding world. Two friends spoke to me, ten twenty others sent gay
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  or some words of parting to other passengers. On the second day, at
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  a distance of five hundred miles from the French coast, in the midst of
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  a violent storm, we received the following message by means of the wireless telegraph.
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  Arsaint Lupin is on your vessel, first cabin, blonde hair wound right
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  forearm, traveling alone under name of R. At that moment, a terrible
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  flash of lightning rent the stormy skies. The electric waves were interrupted. The
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  remainder of the despatch never reached us. Of the name under which Ar Saint
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  Lupin was concealing himself. We knew only the initial. If the news had
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  been of some other character, I have no doubt that the secret would have
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  been carefully guarded by the telegraphic operator as well as by the officers of the
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  vessel. But it was one of those events calculated to escape from the most
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  rigorous discretion. The same day, no one knew how the incident became a
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  matter of current gossip, and every passenger was aware that the famous Arsaint Lupin
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  was hiding in our midst. Ar Saint Lupain our midst, the irresponsible burglar
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  whose exploits had been narrated in all the newspapers during the past few months.
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  The mysterious individual with whom Ganimau, our shrewdest detective had been engaged in an
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  implacable conflict amidst interesting and picturesque surroundings. Arsene Dupin, the eccentric gentleman who
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  operates only in the chateaus and salons, and who one night entered the residence
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  of Baron Shawmann, but emerged empty handed, leaving, however, his card
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  on which he had scribbled these words Arsin Dupin, gentleman, burglar, will
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  return when the furniture is genuine. Arsine Dupin, the man of a thousand
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  disguises, in turn a chauffeur, detective, bookmaker, Russian physician, Spanish
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  bull fighter, commercial traveler, robust youth or decrepit old man. Then consider
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  this startling situation. Af Saint Lupin was wandering about within the limited bounds of
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  a transatlantic steamer, in that very small corner of the world, in that
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  dining saloon, in that smoking room, in that music room. Arsen Dupin
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  was perhaps this gentleman, or that one my neighbor at the table, the
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  sharer of my stateroom. And this condition of affairs will last for five days,
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  exclaimed Miss Nellie Underdown next morning. It is unbearable. I hope he
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  will be arrested. Then, addressing me, she added, and you,
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  Monsieur dean Risie, you are on intimate terms for the captain. Surely you
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  know something. I should have been delighted had I possessed any information that would
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  interest Miss Nellie. She was one of those magnificent creatures who inevitably attract attention
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  in every assembly. Wealth and beauty form in a resistible combination, and Nellie
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  possessed both. Educated in Paris under the care of her French mother, she
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  was now going to visit her father, the millionaire under Down of Chicago.
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  She was accompanied by one of her friends, Lady Gerland. At first I
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  had decided to open a flirtation with her, but in the rapidly growing intimacy
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  of the voyage, I was soon impressed by her charming manner, and my
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  feelings became too deep and reverential for a mere flirtation. Moreover, she accepted
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  my attentions with a certain degree of favor. She condescended to laugh at my
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  witticisms and display an interest in my stories. Yet I felt that I had
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  a rival in the person of a young man with quiet and refined tastes,
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  and it struck me at times that she preferred his taciturn humor to my Parisian
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  frivolity. He formed one in the circle of admirers that surrounded Miss Nellie.
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  At the time she addressed to me the foregoing question, we were all comfortably
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  seated in our deck chairs. The storm of the preceding evening had cleared the
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  sky. The weather was now delightful. I have no definite knowledge, Mademoiselle,
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  I replied, But can not we ourselves investigate the mystery quite as well
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  as the detective Ganimard, that personal enemy of Ar Sainte lupin. Oh Oh,
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  You are progressing very fast, monsieur, not at all, mademoiselle.
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  In the first place, let me ask, do you find the problem a
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  complicated one? Very complicated? Have you forgotten the key we hold for the
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  solution to the problem? What key? In the first place? Luberon calls
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  himself monsieur R. Rather vague information, she replied. Secondly, he is
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  traveling alone. Does that help you, she asked? Thirdly, he is
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  blonde? Well, well, we have only to peruse the passenger list and
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  proceed by process of elimination. I had that list in my pocket. I
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  took it out and glanced through it. Then I remarked, I find that
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  there are only thirteen men on the passenger list whose names begin with the letter
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  are only thirteen yes in the first cabin, And of those thirteen, I
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  find that nine of them are accompanied by women, children, or servants.
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  That leaves only four who are traveling alone. First, the Marquis de Ravidun,
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  secretary to the American ambassador, interrupted miss Nellie. I know him,
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  Major Rawson, I continued, Here is my uncle, someone said, Monsieur
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  Rivolta. Here, exclaimed an Italian whose face was concealed beneath the heavy black
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  beard. Miss Nellie burst into laughter and exclaimed that gentleman can scarcely be called
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  a blond. Very well, then, I said, we are forced to
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  the conclusion that the guilty party is the last one on the list. What
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  is his name, Monsieur Rosein? Does any one know him? No one
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  answered, but miss Nellie turned to the taciturn young man whose attentions to her
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  had annoyed me, and said, well, Monsieur Rosein, why do you
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  not answer? All eyes were now turned upon him. He was a blonde.
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  I must confess that I myself felt a shock of surprise, and the
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  profound silence that followed her question indicated that the others present also viewed the situation
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  with a feeling of sudden alarm. However, the idea was an absurd one,
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  because the gentleman in question presented an air of the most perfect innocence.
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  Why do I not answer, he said, because considering my name, my
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  position as a solitary traveler, and the color of my hair, I have
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  already reached the same conclusion and now think that I should be arrested. He
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  presented a strange appearance as he uttered those words. His thin lips were drawn
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  closer than usual, and his face was ghastly pale, while his eyes were
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  streaked with blood. Of course, he was joking, yet his appearance and
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  attitude impressed us strangely. But have you not the wound, said miss Nellie
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  naively. That is true, he replied, I lacked the wound. Then
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  he pulled up his sleeve, removing his cuff, and showed us his arm.
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  But that action did not deceive me. He had shown us as left
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  arm, and I was on the point of calling his attention to the fact.
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  When another incident diverted our attention. Lady Gerland, miss Nellie's friend,
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  came running towards in a state of great excitement, exclaiming, my jewels,
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  my pearls, some one has stolen them all. No, they were not
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  all gone, as we soon found out, the thief had taken only part
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  of them, A very curious thing. Of the diamond sunbursts, jeweled pendants,
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  bracelets and necklaces. The thief had taken not the largest, but the
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  finest and most valuable stones. The mountings were lying upon the table. I
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  saw them there, despoiled of their jewels, like flowers from which the beautiful
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  colored petals had been ruthlessly plucked. And this theft must have been committed at
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  the time Lady Gerland was taking her tea in broad daylight in a stateroom opening
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  on a much quented corridor. Moreover, the thief had been obliged to force
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  open the door of the stateroom, search for the jewel case, which was
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  hidden at the bottom of a hat box, open it, select his booty,
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  and remove it from the mountings. Of course, all the passengers instantly
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  reached the same conclusion. It was the work of Arsene Lupin. That day,
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  at the dinner table, the seats to the right and left of Rosin
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  remained vacant, and during the evening it was rumored that the captain had placed
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  him under arrest, which information produced a feeling of safety and relief. We
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  breathed once more. That evening we resumed our games and dances. Miss Nellie
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  especially displayed a spirit of thoughtless gaiety, which convinced me that if Roseinn's attentions
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  had been agreeable to her in the beginning, she had already forgotten them.
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  Her charm and good humor completed my conquest. At midnight, under a bright
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  moon, I declared my devotion with an ardor that did not seem to displease
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  her. But next day, to our general amazement, Rosine was at liberty.
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  We learned that the evidence against him was not sufficient. He had produced
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  documents that were per perfectly regular. Was showed that he was the son of
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  a wealthy merchant of Bordeaux. Besides, his arms did not bear the slightest
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  trace of a wound. Documents certificates of birth exclaimed the enemies of Rosin.
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  Of course, Arsaine Lupin will furnish you as many as you desire. And
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  as to the wound, he never had it or he has removed it.
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  Then it was proven that at the time of the Theftrosin was promenading on the
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  deck, to which fact his enemies replied that a man like gar Saint Lupin
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  could commit a crime without being actually present. And then, apart from all
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  other circumstances, there remained one point which even the most skeptical could not answer.
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  Who except Rosin, was traveling alone. Was a blonde and bore a
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  name beginning with R. To whom did the telegram point if it were not
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  Rosin? And when Rosin, a few minutes before breakfast came boldly toward our
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  group, Miss Nellie and Lady Garland arose and walked away. An hour later,
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  a manuscript circular was passed from hand to hand amongst the sailors, the
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  stewards, and the passengers of all classes. It announced that Monsieur Louis Rossin
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  offered a reward of ten thousand francs for the discovery of Arsene Dupin or other
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  person in possession of the Solen Jewels, and if no one assists me,
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  I will unmask the scoundrel, myself, declared Rossin Rosin against Arsen Dupin,
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  or rather, according to current opinion, Arsene Dupin himself against Arsene Lupin.
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  The contest promised to be interesting. Nothing developed. During the next two days.
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  We saw Rosin wondering about day and night, searching, questioning, investigating.
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  The captain also displayed commendable activity. He caused the vessel to be searched
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  from Sterne to Sterne, ransacked every stateroom under the plausible theory that the jewels
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  might be concealed anywhere except in the thief's own room. I suppose they will
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  find out something soon, remarked Miss Nellie to me. He may be a
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  wizard, but he cannot make diamonds and pearls become invisible. Certainly not,
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  I replied, but he should examine the lining of our hats and vests and
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  everything we carry with us. Then, exhibiting my Kodak a nine x twelve
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  with which I had been photographing her in various poses, I added, in
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  an apparatus no larger than that a person could hide all of Lady Gerland's jewels.
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  He could pretend to take pictures and no one would suspect the game.
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  But I have heard it said that every thief leaves some clue behind him.
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  That may be generally true, I replied, but there is one exception,
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  Arsene Lupin. Why because he concentrates his thoughts not only on the theft,
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  but on all the circumstances connected with it that could serve a seclue to his
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  identity. A few days ago you were more confident, yes, But since
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  I have seen him at work, and what do you think about it now?
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  She asked, Well, in my opinion, we are wasting our time.
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  And as a matter of fact, the investigation had produced no result.
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  But in the meantime the captain's watch had been stolen. He was furious.
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  He quickened his efforts and watched Rosine more closely than before. But on the
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  following day the watch was found in the second officer's collar box. This incident
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  caused considerable astonishment and displayed the humorous side of Arsene Lupin Burglar. Though he
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  was but dilettante as well. He combined business with pleasure. He reminded us
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  of the author who almost died in a fit of laughter provoked by his own
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  play. Certainly, he was an artist in his particular line of work.
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  And whenever I saw Rosin gloomy and reserved, and thought of the double role
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  that he was playing, I accorded him a certain measure of admiration. On
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  the following evening, the officer on deck duty heard groans emanating from the darkest
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  corner of the ship. He approached and found a man lying there, his
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  head enveloped in a thick gray scarf, and his hands tied together with a
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  heavy cord. It was Rosin. He had been assorted, thrown down and
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  robbed. A card pinned to his coat bore these words, Arsene Lupin,
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  accept with pleasure the ten thousand francs offered by Monsieur Rossin. As a matter
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  of fact, the stolen pocket book contained twenty thousand francs. Of course,
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  some accused the unfortunate man of having simulated this attack on himself, But apart
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  from the fact that he could not have bound himself in that manner, it
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  was a stablished that the writing on the card was entirely different from that of
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  Rosin, but on the contrary, resembled the handwriting of Arsaine Dupin. As
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  it was reproduced in an old newspaper found on board. Thus it appeared that
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  Rosin was not Arsaene Lupin, but was Rosin, the son of a Bordeaux
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  merchant. And the presence of Arsaine Lupin was once more affirmed, And that
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  in a most alarming manner, such was the state of terror amongst the passengers,
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  that none would remain alone in a stateroom or wonder singly and unfrequented parts
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  of the vessel. We clung together as a matter of safety, and yet
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  the most intimate acquaintances were estranged by a mutual feeling of distrust. Ar Saint
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  Lupin was now anybody and everybody. Our excited imaginations attributed to him miraculous and
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  unlimited power. We supposed him capable of assuming the most unexpected disguises, of
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  being, by turns, the highly respectable Major Rawson, or the noble Marquis
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  de Raverdain, or even for we no longer stopped with the accusing letter of
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  R, or even such or such a person well known to all of us,
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  and having wife, children and servants. The first wireless dispatches from America
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  brought no news. At least, the captain did not communicate any to us.
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  The silence was not reassuring. Our last day on the steamer seemed interminable.
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  We lived in constant fear of some disaster. This time it would not
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  be a simple theft or a comparatively harmless assault. It would be a crime,
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  a murder. No one imagined that Artain Lupin would confine himself to those
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  two trifling offenses. Absolute master of the ship, the authorities powerless, He
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  could do whatever he pleased. Our property and lives were at his mercy.
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  Yet those were delightful hours for me, since they secured to me the confidence
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  of miss Nellie. Deeply moved by those startling events, and being of a
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  highly nervous nature, she spontaneously sought at my side a protection and security that
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  I was pleased to give her. Inwardly, I blessed Arsen Lupin, had
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  he not been the means of bringing me and miss Nellie closer to each other.
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  Thanks to him, I could now indulged in delicious dreams of love and
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  happiness, dreams that I felt were not unwelcome to miss Nellie. Her smiling
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  eyes authorized me to make them. The softness of her voice bade me hope
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  as we approached the American show. The active search for the thief was apparently
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  abandoned, and we were anxiously awaiting the supreme moment in which the mysterious enigma
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  would be explained. Who was Arf Saint Lupin? Under what name? Under
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  what disguise was the famous av Saint Lupin concealing himself? And at last that
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  supreme moment arrived. If I live one hundred years, I shall not forget
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  the slightest details of it. How pale you are, miss Nellie, I
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  said to my companion, as she leaned upon my arm, almost fainting.
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  And you, she replied, Ah, you are so changed. Just think
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  this is a most exciting moment, and I am delighted to spend it with
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  you. Miss Nellie, I hope that your memory will sometimes revert. But
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  she was not listening. She was nervous and excited. The gangway was placed
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  in position, but before we could year use it, the uniformed customs officers
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  came on board. Miss Nellie murmured, I shouldn't be surprised to hear that
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  Arsene Dupanin escaped from the vessel during the voyage. Perhaps he preferred death to
• 17:10
  dishonor and plunged into the Atlantic rather than be arrested. Oh, do not
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  laugh, she said. Suddenly I started, and in answer to her question,
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  I said, do you see that little old man standing at the bottom
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  of the gangway with an umbrella and an olive green coat. It is Ganimin
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  Ganimar, Yes, the celebrated detective who has sworn to capture Ar Saint Lubin.
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  Ah. I can understand now why we did not receive any news from
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  this side of the Atlantic. Ganimer was here, and he always keeps his
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  business secret. Then you think he will arrest Kxen Dubin, who can tell
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  the unexpected always happens when Ar Send Dupin is concerned in the affair. Oh,
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  she exclaimed, with that morbid curiosity peculiar to women. I should like
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  to see him arrested. You will have to be patient, no doubt.
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  Ar Sain Dupin has already seen his enemy and will not be in a hurry
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  to leave the steamer. The passengers were now leaving the steamer. Leaning on
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  his umbrella with an air of careless indifference, Ganimar appeared to be paying no
• 18:11
  attention to the crowd that was hurrying down the Gangway, The Marquis de a
• 18:15
  Redin, Major Rawson, the Italian Revolter, and many others had already left
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  the vessel before Rosin appeared. Poor Rosin, perhaps it is he after all,
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  said miss Nellie to me, What do you think? I think it
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  would be very interesting to have Ganimar and Rossin in the same picture. You
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  take the camera. I am loaded down. I gave her the camera,
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  but too late for her to use it. Rosein was already passing the detective.
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  An American officer standing behind Ganimar leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
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  The French detective shrugged his shoulders, and Rosein passed on. Then, my
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  god, who was Arsen Lupin? Yes, said miss Nellie aloud, Who
• 18:55
  can it be? Not more than twenty people now remained on board. She
• 18:59
  screwedies them one by one, fearful that Arsene Lupin was not amongst them.
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  We cannot wait much longer, I said to her. She started toward the
• 19:07
  gangway. I followed, but we have not taken ten steps when ganimars barred
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  our passage. Well what is it, I exclaimed one moment, monsieur,
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  what's your hurry? I am escorting mademoiselle. One moment, he repeated in
• 19:22
  a tone of authority. Then, gazing into my eyes, he said,
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  av Saint Lupin, is it not? I laughed and replied no, simply
• 19:30
  Bernard Dan Dresis. Bernard Dandresi died in Macedonia three years ago. If Bernardandresil
• 19:37
  were dead, I should not be here. But you are mistaken. Here
• 19:40
  are my papers. They are his, and I can tell you exactly how
• 19:42
  they came into your possession. You are a fool, I exclaimed, Ar
• 19:47
  Saint Lupin sailed under the name of r Yes, another of your tricks,
• 19:52
  a false scent that deceived them at Avres. You play a good game,
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  my boy, but this time luck is against you. I hesitated a moment.
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  Then he hit me a sharp blow on the right arm, which caused
• 20:02
  me to utter a cry of pain. He had struck the wound yet unhealed,
• 20:06
  referred to in the telegram. I was obliged to surrender. There was
• 20:10
  no alternative. I turned to Miss Nellie, who had heard everything. Our
• 20:14
  eyes met. Then she glanced at the kodak I had placed in her hands
• 20:18
  and made a gesture that conveyed to me the impression that she understood everything.
• 20:22
  Yes, there between the narrow folds of black leather, in the hollow center
• 20:26
  of the small object that I had taken the precaution to place in her hands
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  before Ganimer arrested me. It was there I had deposited Rosanne's twenty thousand francs
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  and Lady Gerland's pearls and diamonds. Oh, I pledge my oath that at
• 20:40
  that solemn moment, when I was in the grasp of Ganimarer and his two
• 20:42
  assistants, I was perfectly indifferent to everything, to my arrest, the hostility
• 20:48
  of the people, everything except this one question. What will miss Nellie do
• 20:52
  with the things I had confided to her? In the absence of that material
• 20:56
  and conclusive proof, I had nothing to fear. But would miss Nellie decide
• 21:00
  to furnish that proof? Would she betray me? Would she act the part
• 21:03
  of an enemy who cannot forgive, or that of a woman whose scorn is
• 21:07
  softened by feelings of indulgence and involuntary sympathy. She passed in front of me.
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  I said nothing, but bowed very low, mingled with the other passengers.
• 21:17
  She advanced to the gangway with my Kodak in her hand. It occurred
• 21:21
  to me that she would not dare to expose me publicly, but she might
• 21:23
  do so when she reached a more private place. However, when she had
• 21:27
  passed only a few feet down the gangway, with a movement of simulated awkwardness,
• 21:32
  she let the camera fall into the water between the vessel and the pier.
• 21:34
  Then she walked down the gangway and was quickly lost to sight in the
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  crowd. She had passed out of my life forever. For a moment I
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  stood motionless. Then, to Ganimar's great astonishment, I muttered, what a
• 21:47
  pity that I am not an honest man. Such was the story of his
• 21:51
  arrest, as narrated to me by ar Sin Lupain himself. The various incidents
• 21:56
  which I shall record in writing at a later day, have established between us,
• 21:59
  so and ties. Shall I say of friendship? Yes, I ventured
• 22:03
  to believe that Artaine Lupin honors me with his friendship, and that it is
• 22:07
  through friendship that he occasionally calls on me and brings into the silence of my
• 22:11
  library his youthful exuberance of spirits, the contagion of his enthusiasm, and the
• 22:17
  mirth of a man for whom destiny has naught but favors and smiles his portrait.
• 22:22
  How can I describe him? I have seen him twenty times. In
• 22:25
  each time he was a different person. Even he himself said to me on
• 22:27
  one occasion, I no longer know who I am. I cannot recognize myself
• 22:33
  in the mirror. Certainly, he was a great actor and possessed a marvelous
• 22:36
  faculty for disguising himself. Without the slightest effort, he could adopt the voice,
• 22:41
  gestures, and mannerisms of another person. Why, said he Why should
• 22:45
  I retain a definite form and feature? Why not avoid the danger of a
• 22:49
  personality that is ever the same? My actions will serve to identify me,
• 22:55
  then he added, with a touch of pride, So much the better.
• 22:57
  If no one can ever say, with that salute certainty there is Arsen Lupin.
• 23:02
  The essential point is that the public may be able to refer to my
• 23:06
  work and say, without fear of mistake. Arsene Lupin did that. End
• 23:11
  of chapter one, Chapter two, Arsaint Lupin in prison. There is no
• 23:18
  tourist worthy of the name who does not know the banks of the Seine and
• 23:22
  has not noticed in passing. The little feudal castle of the Malaquis, built
• 23:29
  upon a rock in the center of the river. An arched bridge connects it
• 23:33
  with a shore. All around it. The calm waters of the great river
• 23:37
  play peacefully amongst the reeds, and the wag tails flutter over the moist crests
• 23:44
  of the stones. The history of the Malachi Castle is stormy, like its
• 23:49
  name, harsh like its outlines. It has passed through a long series of
• 23:55
  combats, sieges, assaults, rapines, and massacres. A recital of the
• 24:02
  crimes that have been committed there would cause the stoutest heart to tremble. There
• 24:07
  are many mysterious legends connected with the castle and their tellers, of a famous
• 24:12
  subterranean tunnel that formerly led into the abbey of Jumieges and to the manor of
• 24:18
  Agnes Sarel, mistress of Charles the Seventh, in that ancient habitation of heroes
• 24:26
  and brigands. The Baron Nathan Cahorn now lived, or Baron Satan, as
• 24:32
  he was formerly called, on the Bourse, where he had acquired a fortune
• 24:37
  with incredible rapidity. The lords of Malachis absolutely ruined, had been obliged to
• 24:44
  sell the ancient castle at a great sacrifice. It contained an admirable collection of
• 24:49
  furniture, pictures, wood carvings, and fiance. The baron lived there alone,
• 24:56
  attended by three old servants. No one ever enters the place. No
• 25:02
  one had ever beheld the three rubens that he possessed, his tu wattau,
• 25:07
  his Jean goujon pulpit, and the many other treasures that he had acquired by
• 25:12
  a vast expenditure of money at public sales. Baron Satan lived in constant fear,
• 25:18
  not for himself, but for the treasures that he had accumulated with such
• 25:22
  an earnest devotion and with so much perspicacity that the shrewdest merchant could not say
• 25:29
  that the baron had ever erred in his taste or judgment. He loved them,
• 25:36
  his bibulou. He loved them intensely, like a miser, jealously,
• 25:40
  like a lover. Every day, at sunset, the iron gates at either
• 25:45
  end of the bridge and at the entrance to the Court of Honor are closed
• 25:48
  and barred. At the least touch on these gates, electric bells will ring
• 25:55
  throughout the castle. One Thursday in September, a letter carrier prison vsented himself
• 26:00
  at the gate at the head of the bridge, and as usual, it
• 26:04
  was the baron himself who partially opened the heavy portal. He scrutinized the man
• 26:10
  as minutely as if he were a stranger, although the honest face and twinkling
• 26:15
  eyes of the postman had been familiar to the baron for many years. The
• 26:19
  man laughed as he said, it is only I, Monsieur le Baron.
• 26:23
  It is not another man wearing my cap and blouse. One can never tell,
• 26:30
  muttered the baron. The man handed him a number of newspapers, and
• 26:34
  then said, and now, Monsieur le Baron, here is something new,
• 26:41
  something new, Yes, a letter, a registered letter. Living as a
• 26:48
  recluse without friends or business relations, the baron never received any letters, and
• 26:53
  the one now presented to him immediately aroused with him a feeling of suspicion and
• 26:59
  dis trust. It was like an evil omen Who was this mysterious correspondent that
• 27:07
  dared to disturb the tranquility of his retreat. You must sign for it,
• 27:11
  Monsieur le Baron. He signed. Then he took the letter, waited until
• 27:18
  the postman had disappeared beyond the bend. In the road, and after walking
• 27:22
  nervously to and fro for a few minutes, he leaned against the parapet of
• 27:26
  the bridge and opened the envelope. It contained a sheet of paper bearing this
• 27:32
  heading prison de la senti Paris. He looked at the signature Arsen Lupin,
• 27:42
  then he read Monsieur le Baron. There is in the gallery of your castle
• 27:48
  a picture of Filippe de Champaigne, of exquisite finish, which pleases me beyond
• 27:55
  measure. Your rubens are also to my taste, as well as your smallest
• 28:00
  wattau. In the salon to the right, I have noticed the Luitre's cadence
• 28:06
  table, the tapestries of Beauvis, the Empire Geridon signed Jacob, and the
• 28:11
  Renaissance chest. In the salon to the left, all the cabinet full of
• 28:17
  jewels and miniatures. For the present I will content myself with those articles that
• 28:23
  can be conveniently removed. I will therefore ask you to pack them carefully and
• 28:29
  ship them to me. Charge is prepaid to the station at Batignol within eight
• 28:36
  days, otherwise I shall be obliged to remove them myself. During the night
• 28:41
  of twenty seventh of September. But under those circumstances I shall not content myself
• 28:48
  with the articles above mentioned. Accept my apologies for any inconvenience I may cause
• 28:53
  you, and believe me to be your humble servant. Arsene Lupin p.
• 29:00
  S. Please do not send the largest wattau Although he paid thirty thousand francs
• 29:06
  for it, it is only a copy, the original, having been burned
• 29:10
  under the directoire by Barras during a night of debauchery. Consult the memoirs of
• 29:17
  Garrat. I do not care for the Louis kurs chatelain, as I doubt
• 29:22
  its authenticity. That letter completely upset the Baron. Had it borne any other
• 29:29
  signature, he would have been greatly alarmed. But signed by Arsene Lupin.
• 29:37
  As an habitual reader of the newspapers, he was versed with the history of
• 29:41
  recent crimes, and was therefore well acquainted with the exploits of the mysterious burglar.
• 29:47
  Of course, he knew that Lupin had been arrested in America by his
• 29:49
  enemy Jeannie March and was at present incarcerated in the prison de la Santi.
• 29:56
  But he knew also that any miracle might be expected from Arsines Lupin. Moreover,
• 30:02
  that exact knowledge of the castle, the location of the pictures and furniture,
• 30:06
  gave the affair an alarming aspect. How could he have acquired that information
• 30:11
  concerning things that no one had ever seen? The baron raised his eyes and
• 30:17
  contemplated the stern outlines of the castle, its steep, rocky pedestal, the
• 30:22
  depths of the surrounding water, and shrugged his shoulders. Certainly, there was
• 30:27
  no danger. No one in the world could force an entrance to the sanctuary
• 30:32
  that contained his priceless treasures, no one, perhaps, but Arsaint Lupein.
• 30:38
  For him, gates, walls and drawbridges did not exist. What use were
• 30:44
  the most formidable obstacles or the most careful precautions. If ar Saint Lupin had
• 30:49
  decided to effect an entrance that evening he wrote to the procureur of the Republique
• 30:56
  at Roin. He enclosed the threatening letter and solicited aid and protection. The
• 31:03
  reply came at once to the effect that Arsin Lupin was in custody in the
• 31:08
  prison de las Somti and the close surveillance, with no opportunity to write such
• 31:14
  a letter, which was no doubt the work of some impostor, But as
• 31:18
  an act of precaution, the procureur had submitted the letter to an expert in
• 31:22
  handwriting, who declared that, in spite of certain resemblances, the writing was
• 31:27
  not that of the prisoner. But the words, in spite of certain resemblances,
• 31:33
  caught the attention of the baron. In them, he read the possibility
• 31:37
  of a doubt, which appeared to him quite sufficient to warrant the intervention of
• 31:42
  the law. His fears increased. He read Lupin's letter over and over again.
• 31:49
  I shall be obliged to remove them myself. And then there was the
• 31:55
  fixed date, the night of twenty seventh of September, to confide in his
• 32:01
  servants. Was a proceeding repugnant to his nature. But now, for the
• 32:07
  first time in many years, he experienced the necessity of seeking counsel with some
• 32:12
  one. Abandoned by the legal official of his own district, and feeling unable
• 32:17
  to defend himself with his own resources, he was on the point of going
• 32:22
  to Paris to engage the services of a detective. Two days passed. On
• 32:29
  the third day, he was filled with hope and joy as he read the
• 32:32
  following item in the reveis de courdebeck, a newspaper published in a neighboring town.
• 32:39
  We have the pleasure of entertaining in our city at our present time the
• 32:45
  veteran detective Monsieur Gannimar, who acquired a world wide reputation by his clever capture
• 32:52
  of Arsaine Lupin. He has come here for rest and recreation, and being
• 32:58
  an enthusiastic fisherman, he threatens to capture all the fish in our river.
• 33:02
  Ganimar, ah, here is the assistance desired by Baron Cahorn, who could
• 33:09
  baffle the schemes of Arsain Lupin better than Ganimar. The patient and astute detective.
• 33:17
  He was the man for the place the baron did not hesitate. The
• 33:22
  town of Cordebec was only six kilometers from the castle, a short distance to
• 33:28
  a man whose step was accelerated by the hope of safety. After several fruitless
• 33:36
  attempts to ascertain the detective's address, the baron visited the office of the Devas,
• 33:42
  situated on the quay. There he found the writer of the article,
• 33:45
  who, approaching the window, exclaimed, Ganimar, why you are sure to
• 33:51
  see him somewhere on the quay with his fishing pole. I met him there
• 33:54
  and chanced to read his name engraved on his rod. Ah, there he
• 33:59
  is now under the trees, that little man, wearing a straw hat.
• 34:06
  Exactly, he is a gruff fellow with little to say. Five minutes later,
• 34:12
  the baron approached the celebrated Gannimar, introduced himself and sought to commence the
• 34:17
  conversation, but that was a failure. Then he broached the real object of
• 34:22
  his interview and briefly stated his case. The other listened motionless, with his
• 34:30
  attention riveted on his fishing rod. When the baron had finished his story,
• 34:35
  the fisherman turned with an air of profound pity and said, Monsieur, it
• 34:40
  is not customary for thieves to warn people they are about to rob. Arsene
• 34:45
  Lupin especially would not commit such a folly. But Monsieur, if I had
• 34:52
  the least doubt believe me, the pleasure of again capturing ar Saint Lupin would
• 34:58
  place me at your dispose. But unfortunately, that young man is already under
• 35:02
  lock and key. He may have escaped no one ever escaped from the Sante,
• 35:10
  but he he no more than any other. Yet, well, if
• 35:19
  he escapes, so much the better I will catch him again. Meanwhile,
• 35:23
  you go home and sleep soundly. That will do for the present. You
• 35:30
  frighten the fish. The conversation was ended. The baron returned to the castle,
• 35:37
  reassured to some extent by Gannimo's indifference. He examined the bolts, watched
• 35:43
  the servants, and during the next forty eight hours he became almost persuaded that
• 35:49
  his fears were groundless. Certainly, as Gunnimar had said, thieves do not
• 35:54
  warn people they are about to rob. The fateful was close at hand.
• 36:00
  It was now the twenty sixth of December, and nothing had happened. But
• 36:06
  at three o'clock the bell rang. A boy brought this telegram, no goods
• 36:14
  at Battinyol's station. Prepare everything for to morrow night, Arsen. This telegram
• 36:22
  threw the baron into such a state of excitement that he even considered the advisability
• 36:28
  of yielding to Lupin's demands. However, he hastened to Kodbeck. Gannimar was
• 36:36
  fishing at the same place, seated on a campstool. Without a word,
• 36:40
  he handed him the telegram. Well what of it, said the detective,
• 36:46
  What of it? But it is to morrow? What is to morrow?
• 36:52
  The robbery? The pillage of my collections? Ganimar laid down his fishing rod,
• 37:00
  turned to the baron and exclaimed, in a tone of impatience, Ah,
• 37:07
  do you think I am going to bother myself about such a silly story
• 37:12
  as that? How much do you ask to pause to morrow night at the
• 37:16
  castle? Not a sous? Now leave me alone. Name your own price.
• 37:23
  I am rich and can pay it. This offer disconcerted Gannimar, who
• 37:30
  replied calmly, I am here on a vacation. I have no right to
• 37:37
  undertake such work. No one will know. I promise to keep its secret.
• 37:45
  Oh nothing will happen. Come three thousand francs. Will that be enough?
• 37:52
  The detective, after a moment's reflection, said, very well, But
• 37:59
  I must warn you that you are throwing your money out of the window.
• 38:04
  I do not care in that case. But after all, what do we
• 38:08
  know about this devil Lupin? He may have quite a numerous band of robbers
• 38:14
  with him. Are you sure of your servants? My faith? Better not
• 38:20
  count on them. I will telegraph for two of my men to help me,
• 38:25
  and now go. It is better for us not to be seen together
• 38:30
  to morrow evening. About nine o'clock the following day, the date fixed by
• 38:37
  our Saint Lupin, Baron Cahorn, arranged all his panopley of war, furbished
• 38:43
  his weapons, and like a sentinel, paced to and fro in front of
• 38:47
  the castle. He saw nothing, heard nothing. At half past eight o'clock
• 38:52
  in the evening, he dismissed his servants. They occupied rooms in a wing
• 38:57
  of the building, in a retired spot, well removed from the main portion
• 39:01
  of the castle. Shortly thereafter, the baron heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
• 39:08
  It was Gannimar and his two assistants, great powerful fellows with immense hands
• 39:15
  and necks like bulls. After asking a few questions relating to the location of
• 39:21
  the various entrances and rooms, Ganimar carefully closed and barricaded all the doors and
• 39:28
  windows through which one could gain access to the threatened rooms. He inspected the
• 39:32
  walls, raised the tapestries, and finally installed his assistance in the central gallery,
• 39:39
  which was located between the two salons. No nonsense, we are not
• 39:45
  here to sleep. At the slightest sound, open the windows of the court
• 39:51
  and call me. Pay attention also to the water side ten meters of perpendicular
• 39:57
  rock is no obstacle to those devils. Ganimar locked his assistance in the gallery,
• 40:05
  carried away the keys, and said to the Baron, and now to
• 40:08
  our post. He had chosen for himself a small room located in the thick
• 40:14
  outer wall between the two principal doors, and which in former years had been
• 40:20
  the watchman's quarters. A peep hole opened upon the bridge, another on the
• 40:27
  court. In one corner there was an opening to a tunnel. I believe
• 40:32
  you told me, Monsieur le Baron, that this tunnel is the only subterranean
• 40:37
  entrance to the castle, and that it has been closed up for time immemorial.
• 40:43
  Yes, then, unless there is some other entrance, known only to
• 40:49
  our Saint Lupin, we are quite safe. He placed three chairs together,
• 40:55
  stretched himself upon them, lighted his pipe and side. Really, Monsieur le
• 41:00
  Baron, I feel ashamed to accept your money for such a sinecure as this.
• 41:07
  I will tell the story to my friend Lupen. He will enjoy it
• 41:10
  immensely. The Baron did not laugh. He was anxiously listening, but heard
• 41:16
  nothing save the beating of his own heart. From time to time he leaned
• 41:22
  over the tunnel and cast a fearful eye into its depths. He heard the
• 41:28
  clock strike eleven twelve one. Suddenly he seized Gannimar's arm. The latter leaped
• 41:36
  up, awakened from his sleep. Do you hear asked the baron in a
• 41:42
  whisper. Yes, what is it? I was snoring? I suppose no,
• 41:52
  no, listen ah, yes, it is the horn of an automobile.
• 41:58
  Well, well, it is very improbable that Lupenn would use an automobile
• 42:04
  like a battering ram to demolish your castle. Come, Monsieur le Baron,
• 42:09
  returned to your post. I am going to sleep. Good night. That
• 42:16
  was the only alarm. Gannimar resumed his interrupted slumbers, and the Baron heard
• 42:23
  nothing except the regular snoring of his companion. At break of day they left
• 42:30
  the room. The castle was enveloped in a profound calm. It was a
• 42:35
  peaceful dawn on the bosom of a tranquil river. They mounted the stairs,
• 42:40
  cahorn radiant with joy, Gannimar calm as usual. They heard no sound,
• 42:47
  They saw nothing to arouse suspicion. What did I tell you, Monsieur le
• 42:52
  Baron? Really I should not have accepted your offer. I am ashamed,
• 42:59
  he unlocked the and entered the gallery upon two chairs with dripping heads and pendent
• 43:06
  arms. The detective's two assistants were asleep. Don ne'er de non dr chier,
• 43:13
  exclaimed Gannimar. At the same time, the baron cried out the pictures,
• 43:22
  the credence. He stammered, choked with arms outstretched toward the empty places,
• 43:29
  toward the denuded walls, where naught remained but the useless nails and cords.
• 43:36
  The wattau disappeared, the rubens carried away, the tapestries taken down,
• 43:42
  the cabinets despoiled of their jewels, and my Louisay's Gondelabra and the region chandelier,
• 43:51
  and my twelfth century Virgin. He ran from one spot to another in
• 43:55
  wildest despair. He recalled the pertin his price of each article, added up
• 44:01
  the figures, counted his losses, pell mell in confused words and unfinished phrases.
• 44:08
  He stamped with rage, he groaned with grief. He acted like a
• 44:14
  ruined man whose only hope is suicide. If anything could have consoled him,
• 44:21
  it would have been the stupefaction displayed by Gannimar, the famous detective did not
• 44:28
  move. He appeared to be petrified. He examined the room in a listless
• 44:31
  manner. The windows closed, the locks on the doors intact. Not a
• 44:40
  break in the ceiling, not a hole in the floor. Everything was in
• 44:45
  perfect order. The theft had been carried out mesodically, according to a logical
• 44:52
  and inexorable plan. Arsen Lupin, Arsene Lupin. He muttered. Suddenly,
• 45:00
  as if moved by anger. He rushed upon his two assistants and shook them
• 45:04
  violently. They did not awaken the devil, he cried, Can it be
• 45:12
  possible? He leaned over them, and in turn examined them closely. They
• 45:17
  were asleep, but their response was unnatural. They have been drugged, he
• 45:23
  said to the baron, by whom by him, of course, or his
• 45:30
  men, under his discretion. That work bears his stamp. In that case,
• 45:37
  I am lost. Nothing can be done. Nothing, assented Gannimar.
• 45:45
  It is dreadful, It is monstrous. Lodge a complaint. What good will
• 45:52
  that do? Oh? It is well to try it. The law has
• 45:55
  some resources. The law, Bah, it is useless. You represent the
• 46:04
  law, and at this moment, when you should be looking for a clue
• 46:08
  and trying to discover something. You do not even stir discover something with ar
• 46:15
  Saint Lupin. Why, my dear Monsieur Arsaint Lupin never leaves any clue behind
• 46:22
  him. He leaves nothing to chance. Sometimes I think he puts himself in
• 46:27
  my way and simply allowed me to arrest him in America. Then I must
• 46:34
  renounce my pictures. He has taken the gems of my collection. I would
• 46:39
  give a fortune to recover them. If there is no other way, let
• 46:45
  him name his own price. Gonnemar regarded the baron attentively, as he said,
• 46:52
  now that is sensible. Will you stick to it? Yes? Yes,
• 46:58
  But why an idea that I have? What is it? We will
• 47:06
  discuss it later if the official examination does not succeed. But not one word
• 47:12
  about me, if you wish, my assistant, he added, between his
• 47:16
  teeth, it is true, I have nothing to boast of in this affair.
• 47:22
  The assistants were gradually regaining consciousness with the bewildered air of people who come
• 47:28
  out of an hypnotic sleep. They opened their eyes and looked about them in
• 47:32
  astonishment. Gannimar questioned them. They remembered nothing, But you must have seen
• 47:39
  some one. No, can't you remember? No, No, did you
• 47:49
  drink anything? They considered a moment, and then one of them replied,
• 47:54
  yes, I drank a little water out of that carafe. Yes, so
• 48:02
  did I declared the other Gannimar, smelled and tasted it. It had no
• 48:07
  particular taste and no odor. Come, he said, we are wasting our
• 48:15
  time here. One can't decide in ar Saint Lupin problem in five minutes,
• 48:21
  But Morbleau, I swear I will catch him again. The same day,
• 48:28
  a charge of burglary was duly performed by Baron Cahorn against Arsaint Lupin, a
• 48:34
  prisoner in the prison de la Senti. The baron afterwards regretted making the charge
• 48:42
  against Lepin when he saw his castle delivered over to the gendarmes, the procureur,
• 48:49
  the Juge d'nstrision, the newspaper reporters and photographers, and a throng of
• 48:53
  idle curiosity seekers. The affair soon became a topic of gen discussion, and
• 49:00
  the name of Arsen Lupin excited the public imagination to such an extent that the
• 49:07
  newspapers filled their columns with the most fantastic stories of his exploits, which found
• 49:13
  ready credence amongst their readers. But the letter of Arsen Lupin that was published
• 49:17
  in the Eccau de France, no one ever knew how the newspaper obtained it.
• 49:23
  That letter, in which Baron Cahorn was impudently warned of the coming theft,
• 49:30
  caused considerable excitement. The most fabulous theories were advanced. Some recalled the
• 49:36
  existence of the famous subterranean tunnels, and that was the line of research pursued
• 49:42
  by the officers of the law, who searched the house from top to bottom.
• 49:45
  Questioned every stone, studied the wainscoting and the chimneys, the window frames
• 49:51
  and the girders in the ceilings. By the light of tortures, they examined
• 49:55
  the immense cellars where the lords of mula Quis who wanted to store their munitions
• 50:01
  and provisions. They sounded the rocky foundation to its very center, but it
• 50:08
  was all in vain. They discovered no trace of a subterranean tunnel. No
• 50:14
  secret passage existed. But the eager public declared that the picture and furniture could
• 50:21
  not vanish like so many ghosts. They are substantial material things and require doors
• 50:29
  and windows for their exits. And their entrances, and so do the people
• 50:32
  that remove them. Who were those people? How did they gain access to
• 50:37
  the castle and how did they leave it? The police officers of Rouen,
• 50:45
  convinced of their own impotence, solicited the assistance of the Parisian detective force.
• 50:51
  Monsieur de Dui, chief of the Suete, sent the best sleuths of the
• 50:55
  Iron Brigade. He himself spent forty eight hours at the castle, but met
• 51:00
  with no success. Then he sent for Ganimar, whose past services have proved
• 51:07
  so useful when all else failed. Gannimar listened in silence to the instructions of
• 51:14
  his superior, Then, shaking his head, he said, in my opinion,
• 51:19
  it is useless to ransack the castle. The solution of the problem lies
• 51:23
  elsewhere where. Then with our Saint Lupein, with our Saint Lupin, to
• 51:34
  support that theory, we must admit his intervention. I do admit it.
• 51:38
  In fact, I consider it quite certain, Come, Gannimar, that is
• 51:45
  absurd. Arsen Lupur is in prison. I grant you that our Saint Lupin
• 51:52
  is in prison closely guarded. But he must have fetters on his feet,
• 51:57
  manacles on his wrists, and gag in his mouth before I change my opinion?
• 52:05
  Why so obstinate Ganimar? Because ar sur Lupe is the only man in
• 52:12
  France of sufficient caliber to invent and carry out a scheme of that magnitude.
• 52:20
  Mere words, Ganimar, but true ones, Look what are they doing searching
• 52:28
  for subterranean passages, stones, swinging on pivots and other nonsense of that kind.
• 52:36
  But Lupin doesn't employ such old fashioned methods. He is a modern cracksman,
• 52:42
  right up to date. And how would you proceed? I should ask
• 52:49
  your permission to spend an hour with him in his cell. Yes, during
• 52:57
  the return trip from America, we became very friendly, and I venture to
• 53:01
  say that if he can give me any information without compromising himself, he will
• 53:07
  not hesitate to save me from incurrying useless trouble. It was shortly afternoon when
• 53:15
  Ganimar entered the cell of Arsin. Lupin, the latter, who was lying
• 53:20
  on his bed, raised his head and uttered a cry of apparent joy.
• 53:25
  Ah, this is a real surprise, my dear Ganimar. Here Ganimar himself,
• 53:36
  in my chosen retreat. I have felt a desire for many things,
• 53:40
  but my fondest wish was to receive you here. Very kind of you,
• 53:45
  I am sure not at all. You know I hold you in the highest
• 53:52
  regard. I am proud of it. I have always said gannimar as I
• 54:00
  best detective. He is almost you see how candid I am. He is
• 54:06
  almost as clever as Shallock Holmes. But I am sorry that I cannot offer
• 54:10
  you anything better than this hard stool and no refreshments, not even a glass
• 54:16
  of beer. Of course, you will excuse me, as I am here
• 54:22
  only temporarily. Gannimu smiled and accepted the prophet seat. Then the prisoner continued,
• 54:30
  mon dieu, how pleased I am to see the face of an honest
• 54:34
  man. I am so tired of those devils of spies who come here ten
• 54:38
  times a day to ransack my pockets at my cell to satisfy themselves that I
• 54:45
  am not preparing to escape. The government is very solicitous on my account.
• 54:52
  It is quite right. Why so I should be quite contented if they would
• 54:59
  allow me to to live in my own quiet way on other people's money.
• 55:07
  Quite so, that would be so simple. But here I am joking,
• 55:13
  and you are no doubt in a hurry. So let us come to business.
• 55:16
  Ganimar, to what do I owe the honor of this visit? The
• 55:22
  Cahorn affair, declared Ganimar, frankly, Ah, wait one moment, you
• 55:31
  see, I have had so many affairs. First, let me fix in
• 55:36
  my mind the circumstances of this particular case. Ah. Yes, now I
• 55:40
  have it, the Cahorn affair. Malachy Castle, send a firier to Reubens
• 55:50
  o'watau and a few trifling articles. Trifling, Oh ma FOI all that is
• 55:59
  of slight importance, But it de vices to know that the affair interests you.
• 56:05
  How can I serve you, Ganimar? Must I explain to you what
• 56:08
  steps the authorities have taken in the matter? Not at all. I have
• 56:15
  read the newspapers, and I will frankly state that you have made very little
• 56:19
  progress. And that is the reason I have come to see you. I
• 56:24
  am entirely at your service. In the first place, the Cahorn affair was
• 56:31
  managed by you from aid to Z. The letter of warning, the telegram
• 56:39
  all mine. I ought to have the receipts somewhere. Arsen opened the drawer
• 56:46
  of a small table of plain white wood, which, with the bed and
• 56:51
  stool, constituted all the furniture in his cell and took therefrom two scraps of
• 56:57
  paper, which he handed to Ganimar. A ah, exclaimed the detective in
• 57:04
  surprise. I thought you were closely guarded and searched, and I find that
• 57:12
  you read the newspapers and collect postal receipts. Bah. These people are so
• 57:17
  stupid. They opened the lining of my vest, they examined the soles of
• 57:22
  my shoes, they sangned the walls of my cell. But they never imagined
• 57:27
  that ar Saint Lupin would be foolish enough to choose such a simple hiding place.
• 57:32
  Gannimau laughed as he said, what a droll fellow you are. Really
• 57:38
  you bewilder me. But come now tell me about the Cahorn affair. Oh,
• 57:45
  oh, not quite so fast. You would rob me of all my
• 57:49
  secrets, expose all my little tricks. That is a very serious matter.
• 57:54
  Was I wrong to count on your complaisance? No, Gannimar, And since
• 58:00
  you insist, Arsaint Lupin paced his cell two or three times, then,
• 58:06
  stopping before Gannimar, he asked, what do you think of my letter to
• 58:12
  the baron? I think you were amusing yourself by playing to the gallery,
• 58:19
  ah playing to the gallery, come Ganimar, I thought you knew me better?
• 58:24
  Do I arsaint lupin ever waste my time on such puerilities? Would I
• 58:30
  have written that letter? If I could have robbed the baron without writing to
• 58:36
  him? I want you to understand that the letter was indispensable. It was
• 58:40
  the motor that set the whole machine in motion. Now, let us discuss
• 58:45
  together a scheme for the robbery of the Malachuis castle. Are you willing yes?
• 58:52
  Proceed well? Let us suppose a castle carefully closed and barricaded, like
• 59:00
  that of the Baron Cahorn. Am I to abandon my scheme and renounce the
• 59:05
  treasures that I covet upon the pretext that the castle which holds them is inaccessible?
• 59:12
  Evidently not? Should I make an assault upon the castle at the head
• 59:17
  of a band of adventurers, as they did in ancient times. That would
• 59:22
  be foolish. Can I gain admittance by stealth or cunning? Impossible? Then
• 59:30
  there is only one way open to me. I must have the owner of
• 59:36
  the castle invite me to it. That is surely an original method, and
• 59:43
  how easy letters. Suppose that one day the owner receives a letter warning him
• 59:50
  that a notorious burglar known as Arsen Lupin is plotting to rob him. What
• 59:57
  will he do? Send a letter to the procureur, who will laugh at
• 1:00:02
  him, because the said Arsene Lupin is actually in prison. Then, in
• 1:00:09
  his anxiety and fear, the simple man will ask the assistance of the first
• 1:00:15
  comer. Will he not very likely? And if he happens to read in
• 1:00:20
  a country newspaper that a celebrated detective is spending his vacation in a neighboring town,
• 1:00:29
  he will seek that detective, of course. But on the other hand,
• 1:00:35
  let us presume that, having foreseen the state of affairs, that said
• 1:00:39
  Arsen Lupin has requested one of his friends to visit Gordebec, make the acquaintance
• 1:00:46
  of the editor of the Revet, a newspaper to which the Baron is a
• 1:00:51
  subscriber, and let said editor understand that such person is the celebrated detective.
• 1:00:59
  Then will happen? The editor will announce in the Revay the presence in good
• 1:01:05
  Beck of said detective exactly, and one of two things will happen. Either
• 1:01:12
  the fish I mean cahorn will not bite and nothing will happen, or what
• 1:01:17
  is more, likely he will run and greedily swallow the bait. Thus behold
• 1:01:22
  my Baron Cahorn, imploring the assistance of one of my friends against me.
• 1:01:28
  Original Indeed, of course, this pseudor detective at first refuses to give any
• 1:01:35
  assistance. On top of that comes the telegram from Arsine le Pin. The
• 1:01:42
  frightened baron rushes once more to my friend and offers him a definite sum of
• 1:01:46
  money for his services. My friend accepts and summons two members of our band,
• 1:01:52
  who, during the night, whilst Cahorn is under the watchful eye of
• 1:01:57
  his protector, removes certain eyes articles by way of the window and lowers them
• 1:02:04
  with ropes into a nice little launch charted for the occasion. Simple, isn't
• 1:02:08
  it? Marvelous? Marvelous, exclaimed Ganimar. The boldness of the scheme and
• 1:02:16
  the ingenuity of all its details are beyond criticism. But who is the detective
• 1:02:22
  whose name and fame served as a magnet to attract the baron and draw him
• 1:02:28
  into your net. There is only one name could do it, only one,
• 1:02:35
  and that is are Sen Lupin's personal enemy, the most illustrious Ganimar.
• 1:02:44
  Ah, he yourself, Ganimar, And really it is very funny. If
• 1:02:51
  you go there and the baron decides to talk, you will find that it
• 1:02:54
  will be your duty to arrest yourself, just as you arrested me in a
• 1:03:00
  America. Ah, the revenge is really amusing. I cause Ganimar to arrest
• 1:03:07
  Ganimar. Arsen Lupin laughed heartily. The detective greatly vexed bit his lips to
• 1:03:15
  him. The joke was quite devoid of humor. The arrival of a prison
• 1:03:20
  guard gave Ganimar an opportunity to recover himself. The man brought Arsen Lupin's luncheon,
• 1:03:28
  furnished by a neighboring restaurant. After depositing the tray upon the table,
• 1:03:32
  the guard retired. Lupin broke his bread at a few morsels and continued,
• 1:03:40
  But rest easy, my dear Ganimar, you will not go to Malachis.
• 1:03:46
  I can tell you something that will astonish you. The Cahorn affair is on
• 1:03:51
  the point of being settled. Excuse me, I have just seen the chief
• 1:03:57
  of the surte What of that does monsieur do do we know my business better
• 1:04:03
  than I do myself. You will learn that, Ganimar. Excuse me that
• 1:04:10
  the pseudo Ganimar still remains on very good terms with the Baron. The latter
• 1:04:15
  has authorized him to negotiate a very delicate transaction with me, and at the
• 1:04:21
  present moment, in consideration of a certain sum, it is probable that the
• 1:04:27
  Baron has recovered possession of his pictures and other treasures, and on their return
• 1:04:32
  he will withdraw his complaint. Thus there is no longer any theft, and
• 1:04:38
  the law must abandon the case. Ganimar regarded the prisoner with a bewildered air.
• 1:04:46
  And how do you know all that I have just received the telegram?
• 1:04:51
  I was expecting you have just received a telegram this very moment, dear friend.
• 1:05:00
  Out of politeness, I did not wish to read it in your presence.
• 1:05:03
  But if you will permit me, you are jo king dupart, My
• 1:05:10
  dear friend. If you will be so kind as to break that egg,
• 1:05:13
  you will learn for yourself that I am not joking Mechanically, Gannimar obeyed and
• 1:05:18
  cracked the egg shell with the blade of a knife. He uttered a cry
• 1:05:23
  of surprise. The shell contained nothing but a small piece of blue paper.
• 1:05:30
  At the request of Arsene, he unfolded it. It was a telegram,
• 1:05:34
  or rather a portion of a telegram from which the post marks had been removed.
• 1:05:40
  It read as follows, contract closed, hundred thousand balls delivered all well,
• 1:05:47
  one hundred thousand balls, said Gannimar, Yes, one hundred thousand francs
• 1:05:56
  very little, But then you know these are hard times and I have some
• 1:06:00
  heavy builds to meet. If you only knew my budget living in the city
• 1:06:06
  comes very high, Gannimar arose. His ill humor had disappeared. He reflected
• 1:06:14
  for a moment, glancing over the whole affair in an effort to discover a
• 1:06:18
  weak point. Then, in a tone and manner that betrayed his admiration of
• 1:06:23
  the prisoner, he said, fortunately, we do not have a dozen such
• 1:06:29
  as you to deal with. If we did, we would have to close
• 1:06:31
  up shop. Arsin Lupa resumed the modest air as he replied, Bah,
• 1:06:39
  a person must have some diversion to occupy his leisure hours, especially when he
• 1:06:44
  is in prison. What exclaimed Gannimar, your trial, your defense, the
• 1:06:49
  examination, isn't that sufficient to occupy your mind? No, because I have
• 1:06:57
  decided not to be present at my trial. Oh oh, Arsene Lupin repeated
• 1:07:04
  positively, I shall not be present at my trial. Really, ah,
• 1:07:11
  my dear monsieur, do you suppose I am going to rot upon the wet
• 1:07:15
  straw you insult me? Ar Saint Lupin remains in prison just as long as
• 1:07:21
  it pleases him at not one minute more. Perhaps it would have been more
• 1:07:27
  prudent if you had avoided getting there, said the detective ironically. Ah,
• 1:07:32
  Monsieur jests, Monsieur must remember that you had the honor to effect my arrest.
• 1:07:39
  Know, then, my worthy friend, that no one, not even
• 1:07:43
  you, could have placed a hand upon me, if a much more important
• 1:07:47
  event had not occupied my attention at that critical moment. You astonish me.
• 1:07:54
  A woman was looking at me Ganimard, and I loved her. Do you
• 1:08:00
  fully understand what that means to be under the eyes of a woman that one
• 1:08:04
  loves. I cared for nothing in the world but that, and that is
• 1:08:11
  why I am here. Permit me to say, you have been here a
• 1:08:15
  long time in the first place I wished to forget. Do not laugh.
• 1:08:21
  It was a delightful adventure and it is still a tender memory. Besides,
• 1:08:27
  I have been suffering from neurasthenia. Life is so feverish these days that it
• 1:08:32
  is necessary to take the rest cure occasionally and I find this spot a sovereign
• 1:08:39
  remedy for my tired nerves. Ah, Saint Lupin, you are not a
• 1:08:45
  bad fellow after all, thank you, said Lupa Gandimar. This is Friday.
• 1:08:50
  On Wednesday next at four o'clock in the afternoon, I will smoke my
• 1:08:55
  cigar at your house in the rue pergulaise Ar, Saint Lupin, I will
• 1:09:01
  expect you. They shook hands like two friends who valued each other at their
• 1:09:06
  true worth. Then the detective stepped to the door. Gannimar, What is
• 1:09:14
  it? Asked Gannimar, as he turned back. You have forgotten your watch?
• 1:09:20
  My watch? Yes, sits strayed into my pocket. He returned the
• 1:09:27
  watch, excusing himself, pardon me a bad habit because they have taken mine
• 1:09:33
  is not reason why I should take yours. Besides, I have a chronometer
• 1:09:38
  here that satisfies me very well. He took from the drawer a large gold
• 1:09:44
  watch and heavy chain. From Whose pocket did that come? Asked Gannimar.
• 1:09:50
  Arsaint Lupin gave a hasty glance at the initials engraved on the watch j B.
• 1:09:57
  Who the devil can that be? Ah? Yes, I remember jou
• 1:10:00
  Bouvyier the judge who conducted my examination a charming fellow. End of chapter two,
• 1:10:11
  Chapter three, The Escape of Arsene Lupin. Arsen Lupin had just finished
• 1:10:18
  his repast and taken from his pocket an excellent cigar with a gold band,
• 1:10:24
  which he was examining with unusual care. When the door of his cell was
• 1:10:28
  opened. He had barely time to throw the cigar into the drawer and move
• 1:10:31
  away from the table. The guard entered. It was the hour for exercise.
• 1:10:36
  I was waiting for you, my dear boy, exclaimed Lupin, in
• 1:10:41
  his accustomed good humor. They went out together. As soon as they had
• 1:10:45
  disappeared. At a turn in the corridor, two men entered the cell and
• 1:10:48
  commenced a minute examination of it. One was Inspector d'isi, the other was
• 1:10:55
  Inspector Folenfa. They wished to verify their suspicion that Arsi then Lupin, was
• 1:11:00
  in communication with his accomplices outside of the prison. On the preceding evening,
• 1:11:04
  the Grand Journal had published these lines addressed to its court reporter, Monsieur in
• 1:11:11
  a recent article. You referred it to me in most unjustifiable terms. Some
• 1:11:17
  days before the opening of my trial, I will call you to account,
• 1:11:23
  Arsene Lupin. The handwriting was certainly that of Arsin Lupin. Consequently, he
• 1:11:30
  sent letters and no doubt received letters. It was certain that he was preparing
• 1:11:34
  for that escape thus arrogantly announced by him the situation had become intolerable. Acting
• 1:11:42
  in conjunction with the examining judge, the chief of the Sieurrete, Monsieur Dudui,
• 1:11:47
  had visited the prison and instructed the jailer in regard to the precautions necessary
• 1:11:51
  to insure Lupin's safety. At the same time, he sent the two men
• 1:11:57
  to examine the prisoner's cell. They raised every stone, ransacked the bed,
• 1:12:02
  did everything customary in such a case. But they discovered nothing and were about
• 1:12:08
  to abandon their investigation when the guard entered hastily and said the drawer. Look
• 1:12:14
  in the table drawer. When I entered just now he was closing it.
• 1:12:18
  They opened the drawer and dearsy exclaimed, Ah, you have him this time,
• 1:12:24
  Follenfin stopped him. Wait a moment. The chief will want to make
• 1:12:29
  an inventory. This is a very choice, cigirl leave it there and notify
• 1:12:34
  the chief. Two minutes later, Monsieur Duduy examined the contents of the drawer.
• 1:12:41
  First he discovered a bundle of newspaper clippings taken from the Argus de la
• 1:12:45
  Presse. Then a tobacco box of pipes and paper called Onion Peel, and
• 1:12:50
  two books. He read the titles of the books. One was an English
• 1:12:56
  edition of Carlyle's hero Worship. The other was a charming elzevir in modern binding,
• 1:13:01
  the Manual of Epictetus, a German translation published at Leyden in sixteen thirty
• 1:13:06
  four. On examining the books, he found that all the pages were underlined
• 1:13:12
  and annotated. Were they prepared as a code for correspondence or did they simply
• 1:13:16
  express the studious character of the reader. Then he examined the tobacco box and
• 1:13:21
  the pipe. Finally, he took up the famous cigar with its gold band
• 1:13:27
  figtre. He exclaimed, our friend smokes a good cigar. It's a Henry
• 1:13:32
  Clay. With the mechanical action of an habitual smoker. He placed the cigar
• 1:13:38
  close to his ear and squeezed it to make it crack. Immediately, he
• 1:13:42
  uttered a cry of surprise. The cigar had yielded under the pressure of his
• 1:13:45
  fingers. He examined it more closely, and quickly discovered something white between the
• 1:13:50
  leaves of tobacco. Delicately, with the aid of a pin, he withdrew
• 1:13:55
  a roll of very thin paper, scarcely larger than a toothpick. It was
• 1:14:00
  a letter. He unrolled it and found these words written in a feminine handwriting.
• 1:14:04
  The basket has taken the place of the others. Eight out of ten
• 1:14:09
  are ready on pressing the outer foot. The plate goes downward from twelve to
• 1:14:14
  sixteen every day, h P will wait. But where reply at once?
• 1:14:20
  Rest easy? Your friend is watching over you. Monsieur de Duy reflected a
• 1:14:26
  moment, then said, it is quite clear the basket the eight compartments from
• 1:14:31
  twelve to sixteen means from twelve to four o'clock. But this h P that
• 1:14:38
  will wait, h P must mean automobile. H P horse power is the
• 1:14:44
  way they indicate the strength of the motor. At twenty four h P is
• 1:14:46
  an automobile of twenty four horse power. Then he rose and asked, had
• 1:14:51
  the prisoner finished his breakfast? Yes, And as he has not yet read
• 1:14:57
  the message, which is proved by the cande the cigar, it is probable
• 1:15:01
  that he had just received it. How in his food concealed in his bread
• 1:15:09
  or in a poseto, perhaps impossible. His food was allowed to be brought
• 1:15:14
  in simply to trap him, but we have never found anything in it.
• 1:15:18
  We will look for Lupund's reply this evening. Detain him outside for a few
• 1:15:24
  minutes. I shall take this to the examining judge, and if he agrees
• 1:15:28
  with me, we will have the letter photographed at once, and in an
• 1:15:31
  hour you can replace the letter in the drawer in a cigar similar to this.
• 1:15:36
  The prisoner must have no cause for suspicion. It was not without a
• 1:15:42
  certain curiosity that Monsieur de Deuy returned to the prison in the evening, accompanied
• 1:15:46
  by Inspector Dearzy. Three empty plates were sitting on the stove in the corner.
• 1:15:51
  He has eaten, yes, replied the guard. Dearsy, Please cut
• 1:15:58
  that macaroni into very small pieces and open that bread roll. Nothing, no,
• 1:16:04
  Chief, Monsieur du Duy examined the plates, the fork, the spoon,
• 1:16:09
  and the knife, an ordinary knife with a rounded blade. He turned
• 1:16:13
  the handle to the left, then to the right. It yielded and unscrewed.
• 1:16:16
  The knife was hollow and served as a hiding place for a sheet of
• 1:16:20
  paper. Tah. He said, that is not very clever for a man
• 1:16:25
  like our san, But we mustn't lose any time. You, Dearzi,
• 1:16:28
  go and search the restaurant. Then he read the note, I trust to
• 1:16:32
  you h P will follow at a distance every day. I will go ahead
• 1:16:36
  au revoir, dear friend. At last, cried Monsieur de Douy, rubbing
• 1:16:42
  his hands gleefully. I think we have the affair in our own hands.
• 1:16:46
  A little strategy on our part, and the escape will be a success in
• 1:16:51
  so far as the arrest of his confederates are concerned. But if I say,
• 1:16:56
  and Lupin slips through your fingers, suggested the guard, we will have
• 1:17:00
  a sufficient number of men to prevent that. If, however, he displays
• 1:17:04
  too much cleverness, ma fois so much still worse for him as to his
• 1:17:10
  band of robbers. Since the chief refuses to speak, the others must.
• 1:17:16
  And as a matter of fact, Arsain Lupin had very little to say.
• 1:17:21
  For several months, Monsieur Jules Bouvier, the examining judge, had exerted himself
• 1:17:28
  in vain. The investigation had been reduced to a few uninteresting arguments between the
• 1:17:32
  judge and the advocate Maitre d'arval, one of the leaders of the bar.
• 1:17:36
  From time to time, through courtesy Arsain Lupin would speak. One day he
• 1:17:42
  said, yes, monsieur le judge, I quite agree with you. The
• 1:17:45
  robbery of the credit leone, the theft in the Rue de Babylonne, the
• 1:17:49
  issue of the counterfeit bank notes, the burglaries at the various chateau Armesnil,
• 1:17:56
  Courgrey Ambe, Blevard, grouseyeu malachis all my work, monsieur, I did
• 1:18:02
  it all? Then? Will you explain to me? It is useless.
• 1:18:08
  I confess everything in a lump, everything and even ten times more that you
• 1:18:13
  know nothing about. Wearied by his fruitless task, the judge had suspended his
• 1:18:17
  examinations, but he resumed them after the two intercepted messages were brought to his
• 1:18:23
  attention and regularly at midday, Arsain Lupin was taken from the prison to the
• 1:18:29
  depot in the prison van with a certain number of other prisoners. They returned
• 1:18:32
  about three or four o'clock, now one afternoon. This return trip was made
• 1:18:39
  under unusual conditions, the other prisoners not having been examined, it was decided
• 1:18:45
  to take back Arsain Lupin first. Thus he found himself alone in the vehicle.
• 1:18:50
  These prison vans, vulgarly called panier ar salad or salad baskets, are
• 1:18:57
  divided lengthwise by a central corridor from which open ten compartments, five on either
• 1:19:02
  side. Each compartment is so arranged that the occupant must assume and retain a
• 1:19:09
  sitting posture, and consequently the five prisoners are seated one upon the other,
• 1:19:14
  and yet separated one from the other by partitions. A municipal guard, standing
• 1:19:19
  at one end, watches over the corridor. Arsen was placed in the third
• 1:19:24
  cell on the right, and the heavy vehicle started. He carefully calculated when
• 1:19:29
  they left the caidor lodge, and when they passed the Palais de Justice.
• 1:19:32
  Then, about the center of the bridge, Saint Michel, with his outer
• 1:19:38
  foot, that is to say, his right foot, he pressed upon the
• 1:19:41
  metal plate that closed his cell. Immediately, something clicked and the metal plate
• 1:19:45
  moved. He was able to ascertain that he was located between the two wheels.
• 1:19:50
  He waited, keeping a sharp lookout. The vehicle was proceeding slowly along
• 1:19:54
  the boulevard. Saint Michel. At the corner of Saint Germains, it stopped.
• 1:20:00
  Truck horse had fallen, the traffic having been interrupted. A cast throng
• 1:20:03
  of fiacres and omnibuses had gathered there. Arsain Lupin looked out. Another prison
• 1:20:10
  van had stopped close to the one he occupied. He moved the plate still
• 1:20:14
  farther, put his foot on one of the spokes of the wheel, and
• 1:20:16
  leapt to the ground. A coachman saw him, roared with laughter, then
• 1:20:20
  tried to raise an outcry, but his voice was lost in the noise of
• 1:20:24
  the traffic that had commenced to move again. Moreover, Arsin Lupin was already
• 1:20:30
  far away. He had run for a few steps, but once upon the
• 1:20:34
  sidewalk, he turned and looked around. He seemed to sense the wind,
• 1:20:40
  like a person who is uncertain which direction to take. Then, having decided,
• 1:20:45
  he put his hands in his pockets, and with the careless air of
• 1:20:47
  an idle strawler, he proceeded up the boulevard. It was a warm,
• 1:20:53
  bright autumn day, and the cafes were full. He took a seat on
• 1:20:58
  the terrace of one of them. He ordered a box and a package of
• 1:21:01
  cigarettes. He emptied his glass, slowly smoked one cigarette and lighted a second.
• 1:21:06
  Then he asked the waiter to send the proprietor to him. When the
• 1:21:11
  proprietor came, Arsin spoke to him in a voice loud enough to be heard
• 1:21:15
  by everyone. I regret to say, monsieur, I have forgotten my pocket
• 1:21:18
  book. Perhaps on the strength of my name, you will be pleased to
• 1:21:23
  give me credit for a few days. I am Arsene Lupin. The proprietor
• 1:21:30
  looked at him, thinking he was joking, but Arsin repeated, Lupin,
• 1:21:33
  prisoner at the sand, but now a fugitive. I venture to assume that
• 1:21:39
  the name inspires you with perfect confidence in me. And he walked away amidst
• 1:21:44
  shouts of laughter, whilst the proprietor stood amazed. Lupin strolled along the Rue
• 1:21:50
  Soufflot and turned into the Rue Saint Jacques. He pursued his way, slowly,
• 1:21:57
  smoking his cigarettes and looking into the shop window at the Boulevard de port
• 1:22:01
  Royal. He took his bearings, discovered where he was, and then walked
• 1:22:06
  in the direction of the Rue de la Sante. The high forbidding walls of
• 1:22:11
  the prison were now before him. He pulled his hat forward to shape his
• 1:22:15
  face. Then, approaching the sentinel, he asked, is this the prison
• 1:22:18
  de la Sante? Yes? I wished to regain my cell. The van
• 1:22:25
  left me on the way and I would not abuse. Now, young man,
• 1:22:28
  move along, quick growled the sentinel. Pardon on me, but I
• 1:22:32
  must pass through that gate. And if you prevent Arsin Lupin from entering the
• 1:22:38
  prison, it will cost you. Dear my friend, Arseen Lupin, What
• 1:22:43
  are you talking about? I am sorry, I haven't a card with me,
• 1:22:46
  said Arsin, fumbling in his pockets. The sentinel eyed him from head
• 1:22:50
  to foot in astonishment. Then, without a word, he rang a bell.
• 1:22:55
  The iron gate was partly opened, and Arcein stepped inside. Almost immediately
• 1:23:00
  he encountered the keeper of the prison, gesticulating and feigning a violent anger.
• 1:23:05
  Arceend smiled and said, come, monsieur, don't play that game with me.
• 1:23:12
  What they take the precaution to carry me alone in the van? Prepare
• 1:23:15
  a nice little obstruction, and imagine I am going to take to my heels
• 1:23:19
  and rejoin my friends. Well, and what about the twenty agents of the
• 1:23:25
  sieurte who accompanied us on foot in fiaecre and on bicycles. No, the
• 1:23:30
  arrangements did not please me. I should not have got away alive. Tell
• 1:23:33
  me, monsieur, did they count on that? He shrugged his shoulders and
• 1:23:38
  added, I beg of you, monsieur, not to worry about me when
• 1:23:43
  I wish to escape. I shall not require any assistance. On the second
• 1:23:49
  day thereafter, the Ecu de France, which had apparently become the official reporter
• 1:23:55
  of the exploits of Arsa and Lupin it was said that he was one of
• 1:23:58
  its principal shareholders, published a most complete account of this attempted escape, the
• 1:24:03
  exact wording of the messages exchanged between the prisoner and his mysterious friend, the
• 1:24:09
  means by which correspondence was constructed, the complicity of the police, the promenade
• 1:24:14
  on the Boulevard Saint Michel, the incident at the Cafe Soufflou. Everything was
• 1:24:19
  disclosed. It was known that the search of the restaurant and its waiters by
• 1:24:24
  Inspector di'ersi had been fruitless, and the public also learned an extraordinary thing which
• 1:24:30
  demonstrated the infinite variety of resources that Lupin possessed. The prison van in which
• 1:24:36
  he was being carried, was prepared for the occasion and substituted by his accomplices
• 1:24:42
  for one of the six vans which did service at the prison. The next
• 1:24:46
  escape of Arsain Lupin was not doubted by anyone. He announced it himself in
• 1:24:51
  categorical terms in a reply to Monsieur Bouvier on the day following his attempted escape,
• 1:24:58
  the judge, having made a jest about the U affair, Arsin was
• 1:25:00
  annoyed and firmly eyeing the judge, he said emphatically, listen to me,
• 1:25:04
  Monsieur, I give you my word of honor that this attempted flight was simply
• 1:25:11
  preliminary to my general plan of escape. I do not understand, said the
• 1:25:15
  judge. It is not necessary that you should understand. And when the judge,
• 1:25:21
  in the course of that examination, which was reported at length in the
• 1:25:25
  columns of the Echo de France, when the judge sought to resume his investigation,
• 1:25:30
  Arsain Lupin exclaimed, with an assumed air of lassitude. Mon dieu,
• 1:25:35
  mon dieu, what's the use all these questions are of no importance? What
• 1:25:43
  no importance? Cried the judge. No, because I shall not be present
• 1:25:47
  at the trial. You will not be present. No, I have fully
• 1:25:53
  decided on that, and nothing will change my mind. Such assurance, combined
• 1:25:59
  with the inexplicable indiscretions that Arsain committed every day, served to annoy and mystify
• 1:26:05
  the officers of the law. There were secrets known only to Arsin Lupin,
• 1:26:11
  secrets that he alone could divulge. But for what purpose did he reveal them?
• 1:26:15
  And how Arsin Lupin was changed to another cell? The judge closed his
• 1:26:21
  preliminary investigations. No further proceedings were taken in his case for a period of
• 1:26:27
  two months, during which time Arsin was seen almost constantly lying on his bed
• 1:26:32
  with his face turned toward the wall. The changing of his cell seemed to
• 1:26:38
  discourage him. He refused to see his advocate. He exchanged only a few
• 1:26:44
  necessary words with his keepers. During the fortnight preceding his trial, he resumed
• 1:26:49
  his vigorous life. He complained of want of air. Consequently, early every
• 1:26:55
  morning he was allowed to exercise in the courtyard guarded by two men. Public
• 1:27:00
  curiosity had not dined out every day, it was expected to be regaled with
• 1:27:05
  news of his escape. And it is true he had gained a considerable amount
• 1:27:11
  of sympathy by reason of his verve, his gaiety, his diversity, his
• 1:27:15
  inventive genius, and the mystery of his life. Arsennes Lupinin must escape.
• 1:27:23
  It was his inevitable fate. The public expected it and was surprised that the
• 1:27:29
  event had been delayed so long. Every morning the Prefect of police asked his
• 1:27:33
  secretary, well, has he escaped yet, no, monsieur le Prefect tomorrow
• 1:27:40
  probably. And on the day before the trial, a gentleman called at the
• 1:27:45
  office of the Grand Journals asked to see the court reporter, threw his card
• 1:27:49
  in the reporter's face and walked rapidly away. These words were written on the
• 1:27:55
  card, Arsene Lupin always keeps his promises. It was under these conditions that
• 1:28:02
  the trial commenced. An enormous crowd gathered at the court. Everybody wished to
• 1:28:09
  see the famous Arsain Lupin. They had a gleeful anticipation that the prisoner would
• 1:28:14
  play some audacious pranks upon the judge. Advocates and magistrates, reporters and men
• 1:28:19
  of the world. Actresses and society women were crowded together on the benches provided
• 1:28:25
  for the public. It was a dark, somber day with a steady downpour
• 1:28:30
  of rain. Only a dim light pervaded the court room, and the spectators
• 1:28:35
  caught a very indistinct view of the prisoner when the guards brought him in.
• 1:28:40
  But his heavy shambling walk, the manner in which he dropped into his seat,
• 1:28:44
  and his passive, stupid appearance were not at all prepossessing. Several times
• 1:28:48
  his advocate, one of Monsieur Danval's assistants, spoke to him, but he
• 1:28:54
  simply shook his head and said nothing. The clerk read the indictment. Then
• 1:28:58
  the judge spoke, prisoner at the bar, stand up your name, age
• 1:29:03
  and occupation. Not receiving any reply, the judge repeated your name. I
• 1:29:10
  ask you your name. A thick, slow voice muttered bou drou desir.
• 1:29:16
  A murmur of surprise pervaded the court room, but the judge proceeded, bo
• 1:29:20
  drou dezir ah a new alias. Well, as you have already assumed a
• 1:29:28
  dozen different names, and this one is no doubt as imaginary as the others.
• 1:29:32
  We will adhere to the name of Arsain Lupin, by which you are
• 1:29:38
  more generally known. The judge referred to his notes and continued for Despite the
• 1:29:44
  most diligent search, your past history remains unknown. Your case is unique in
• 1:29:49
  the annals of crime. We know not whom you are, whence you came,
• 1:29:54
  your birth and breeding all is a mystery to us. Three years ago
• 1:30:00
  you appeared in our midst as Arsene Lupin, presenting to us a strange combination
• 1:30:04
  of intelligence and perversion, immorality and generosity. Our knowledge of your life prior
• 1:30:11
  to that date is vague and problematical. It may be that the man called
• 1:30:15
  Rosta, who eight years ago worked with Dixon depressed a digitatour was none other
• 1:30:21
  than Arsen Lupin. It is probable that the Russian student who six years ago
• 1:30:28
  attended the laboratory of doctor Altier at the Saint Louis Hospital, and who often
• 1:30:33
  astonished the doctor by his ingenuity of his hypotheses on the subject of bacteriology and
• 1:30:39
  the boldness of his experiments in diseases of the skin, was none other than
• 1:30:44
  Arsen Lupin. It is probable also that Arsen Lupin was the professor who introduced
• 1:30:51
  the Japanese art of jiu jitsu to the Parisian public. We have some reason
• 1:30:57
  to believe that Arsen Lupin was the bicyclelist who won the Grand Prix de lex
• 1:31:01
  Position, received his ten thousand francs, and was never heard of again.
• 1:31:08
  Arsin Lupin may have been also the person who saved so many lives through the
• 1:31:14
  little dormer window at the charity bazaar and at the same time picked their pockets.
• 1:31:19
  The judge paused for a moment, then continued, such is that epoch
• 1:31:24
  which seems to have been utilized by you in a thorough preparation for the warfare
• 1:31:29
  you have since waged against society, a methodical apprenticeship in which you developed your
• 1:31:33
  strength, energy and skill to the highest point possible. Do you acknowledge the
• 1:31:39
  accuracy of these facts? During this discourse, the prisoner had stood balancing himself
• 1:31:45
  first on one foot, then on the other, with shoulders stooped and arms
• 1:31:49
  inert. Under the strongest light, one could observe his extreme thinness, his
• 1:31:55
  hollow cheeks, his projecting cheek bones, his earthen color face dotted with small
• 1:32:00
  red spots, and framed in a rough, straggling beard. Prison life had
• 1:32:05
  caused him to age and wither. He had lost the youthful face and elegant
• 1:32:11
  figure we had seen portrayed so often in the newspapers. It appeared as if
• 1:32:15
  he had not heard the question propounded by the judge. Twice it was repeated
• 1:32:19
  to him. Then he raised his eyes seemed to reflect. Then, making
• 1:32:25
  a desperate effort, he murmured, Boudroux desire. The judge smiled as he
• 1:32:30
  said, I do not understand the theory of your defense, Arsin Lupin.
• 1:32:34
  If you are seeking to avoid responsibility for your crimes on the ground of imbecility,
• 1:32:40
  such a line of defense is open to you. But I shall proceed
• 1:32:44
  with the trial and pay no heed to your vagaries. He then narrated at
• 1:32:49
  length the various thefts, swindles, and forgeries charged against Lupin. Sometimes he
• 1:32:55
  questioned the prisoner, but the latter simply grunted or remained silent. The examination
• 1:33:00
  of witnesses commenced. Some of the evidence given was immaterial, other portions of
• 1:33:04
  it seemed more important. But through all of it there ran a vein of
• 1:33:09
  contradictions and inconsistencies. A wearisome obscurity enveloped the proceedings until Detective Ganimar was called
• 1:33:18
  as a witness. Then interest was revived. From the beginning, the actions
• 1:33:24
  of the veteran detective appeared strange and unaccountable. He was nervous and ill at
• 1:33:29
  ease. Several times he looked at the prisoner with obvious doubt and anxiety.
• 1:33:32
  Then, with his hands resting on the rail in front of him, he
• 1:33:35
  recounted the events in which he had participated, including his pursuit of the prisoner
• 1:33:41
  across Europe and his arrival in America. He was listened to with greater vidity,
• 1:33:45
  as his capture of Arsen Lupin was well known to every one through the
• 1:33:48
  medium of the press. Toward the close of his testimony, after referring to
• 1:33:54
  his conversations with Arsene Lupin, he stopped twice, embarrassed and undecided. It
• 1:34:00
  was apparent that he was possessed of some thought which he feared to utter.
• 1:34:03
  The judge said to him sympathetically, if you are ill, you may retire
• 1:34:08
  for the present. No. No, But he stopped, looked sharply at
• 1:34:14
  the prisoner, and said, I ask permission to scrutinize the prisoner at closer
• 1:34:18
  range. There is some mystery about him that I must solve. He approached
• 1:34:25
  the accused man examined him attentively for several minutes, then returned to the witness
• 1:34:30
  stand, and, in an almost solemn voice, he said, I declare
• 1:34:35
  on the oath that the prisoner now before me is not Ar Sain Lupin.
• 1:34:43
  A profound silence followed the statement. The judge, nonplussed for a moment,
• 1:34:47
  exclaimed, Ah, what do you mean that is absurd? The detective continued,
• 1:34:54
  At first sight, there is a certain resemblance, but if you carefully
• 1:34:59
  consider the nose, the mouth, the hair, the color of skin,
• 1:35:02
  you will see that it is not Ar sain Lupin. And the eyes.
• 1:35:06
  Did he ever have those alcoholic eyes? Come? Come, witness, What
• 1:35:12
  do you mean? Do you pretend to say that we are trying the wrong
• 1:35:15
  man? In my opinion, yes, Arsain Lupin has in some manner contrived
• 1:35:23
  to put this poor devil in his place, unless this man is a willing
• 1:35:27
  accomplice. This dramatic denouement caused much laughter and excitement amongst the spectators. The
• 1:35:33
  judge adjourned the trial and sent for Monsieur Bouvier, the jailer and guards employed
• 1:35:39
  in the prison. When the trial was resumed, Monsieur Bouvier and the jailer
• 1:35:43
  examined the accused and declared that there was only a very slight resemblance between the
• 1:35:47
  prisoner and our Sain Lupin. Well, then exclaimed the judge, who is
• 1:35:53
  this man? Where does he come from? What is he in prison?
• 1:35:57
  For? Two of the prison guards were called, and both of them declared
• 1:36:00
  that the prisoner was Ar Saint Lupin. The judge breathed once more, but
• 1:36:05
  one of the guards then said, yes, yes, I think it is
• 1:36:10
  he. What cried the judge impatiently, You think it is he? What
• 1:36:15
  do you mean by that? Well? I saw very little of the prisoner.
• 1:36:20
  He was placed in my charge in the evening, and for two months
• 1:36:24
  he seldom stirred, but laid on his bed with his face to the wall.
• 1:36:28
  What about the time prior to those two months? Before that he occupied
• 1:36:32
  a cell in another part of the prison. He was not in cell twenty
• 1:36:35
  four. Here, the head jailer interrupted and said, we changed him to
• 1:36:41
  another cell after his attempt to escape. But you, monsieur, you have
• 1:36:45
  seen him during those two months. I had no occasion to see him.
• 1:36:49
  He was always quiet and orderly, And this prisoner is not Ar Sain Lupin.
• 1:36:57
  No, then, who is he demanded the judge. I do not
• 1:37:00
  know. Then, we have before us a man who was substituted for ar
• 1:37:05
  Sain Lupin two months ago. How do you explain that I cannot? In
• 1:37:12
  absolute despair, the judge turned to the accused and addressed him in a conciliatory
• 1:37:15
  tone. Prisoner, can you tell me how and since when you became an
• 1:37:24
  inmate of the prison de la Santes. The engaging manner of the judge was
• 1:37:29
  calculated to disarm the mistrust and awaken the understanding of the accused man. He
• 1:37:34
  tried to reply. Finally, under clever and gentle questioning, he succeeded in
• 1:37:41
  framing a few phrases from which the following story was gleaned. Two months ago,
• 1:37:45
  he had been taken to the depot, examined, and released. As
• 1:37:49
  he was leaving the building a free man, he was seized by two guards
• 1:37:53
  and placed in the prison van. Since then he had occupied cell twenty four.
• 1:37:59
  He was contented plenty to eat, and he slept well, so he
• 1:38:02
  did not complain all that seemed probable, and amidst the mirth and excitement of
• 1:38:09
  the spectators, the judge adjourned the trial until the story could be investigated and
• 1:38:14
  verified. The following facts were at once established by an examination of the prison
• 1:38:19
  records. Eight weeks before, a man named Boudru Desire had slept at the
• 1:38:27
  depot. He was released the next day and left the depot at two o'clock
• 1:38:31
  in the afternoon. On the same day, at two o'clock, having been
• 1:38:36
  examined for the last time, Arsain Lupin left the depot in a prison van.
• 1:38:43
  Had the guards made a mistake? Had they been deceived by the resemblance
• 1:38:46
  and carelessly substituted this man for their prisoner? Another question suggested itself. Had
• 1:38:54
  the substitution been arranged in advance. In that event, Bodru must have been
• 1:38:59
  an accomplish and must have coursed his own arrest for the express purpose of taking
• 1:39:03
  Lupin's place. But then, by what miracle had such a plan, based
• 1:39:08
  on a series of improbable chances been carried to success. Baud Rue Desire was
• 1:39:15
  turned over to the Anthropological Service. They had never seen anything like him,
• 1:39:19
  However, they easily traced his past history. He was known at Courbeuvois,
• 1:39:25
  at Asnier, and at Le Valois. He lived on alms and slept in
• 1:39:30
  one of those ragpicker's huts near the Barrier de Ternes. He had disappeared from
• 1:39:34
  there a year ago. Had he been enticed away by Arsin Lupin, there
• 1:39:40
  was no evidence to that effect, and even if that was so, it
• 1:39:43
  did not explain the flight of the prisoner. That still remained a mystery.
• 1:39:48
  Amongst twenty theories which sought to explain it, not one was satisfactory. Of
• 1:39:54
  the escape itself. There was, no doubt an escape that was incomprehensible,
• 1:39:59
  since in which the public as well as the officers of the law could detect,
• 1:40:02
  a carefully prepared plan, a combination of circumstances marvelously dovetailed, whereof the
• 1:40:09
  denouement fully justified the confident prediction of Arsain Lupin I shall not be present at
• 1:40:15
  my trial. After a month of patient investigation, the problem remained unsolved.
• 1:40:23
  The poor devil of a Bodreux could not be kept in prison indefinitely, and
• 1:40:27
  to place him on trial would be ridiculous. There was no charge against him.
• 1:40:31
  Consequently, he was released, but the chief of the Sieurte resolved to
• 1:40:35
  keep him under surveillance. This idea originated with Ganimar. From his point of
• 1:40:42
  view, there was neither complicity nor chance. Boudru was an instrument upon which
• 1:40:46
  Arsain Lupin had played with his extraordinary skill. Bodru, when set at liberty,
• 1:40:53
  would lead them to Arsaenn Lupin, or at least to some of his
• 1:40:57
  accomplices. The two inspectors followed, Pain and Dierzy were assigned to assist Gannimar.
• 1:41:03
  One foggy morning in January, the prison gates opened and Boodou Desir stepped
• 1:41:09
  forth a free man. At first, he appeared to be quite embarrassed and
• 1:41:14
  walked like a person who has no precise idea whither he is going. He
• 1:41:17
  followed the Rue de la Sante and the Rue Saint Jacques. He stopped in
• 1:41:23
  front of an old clothes shop, removed his jacket and his vest, sold
• 1:41:27
  his vest on which he realized a few sous. Then replacing his jacket,
• 1:41:30
  he proceeded on his way. He crossed the Seine at the Chateauas an omnibus
• 1:41:36
  passed him, he wished to enter it, but there was no place.
• 1:41:41
  The controller advised him to secure a number, so he entered the waiting room.
• 1:41:46
  Gannimar called to his two assistants, and without removing his eyes from the
• 1:41:49
  waiting room, he said to them, stop a carriage, no two,
• 1:41:54
  That will be better. I will go with one of you and we will
• 1:41:57
  follow him. The men obeyed, yet Baudreux did not appear. Ganimar entered
• 1:42:02
  the waiting room. It was empty. Idiot that I am, he muttered,
• 1:42:06
  I forgot there was another exit. There was an interior corridor extending from
• 1:42:11
  the waiting room to the Rue Saint Martin. Ganimar rushed through it and arrived
• 1:42:15
  just in time to observe Boudreux upon the top of the Batignal Jadin de platte
• 1:42:19
  Omnibus as it was turning the corner of the Rue de Rivolis. He ran
• 1:42:24
  and caught the Omnibus, but he had lost his two assistants. He must
• 1:42:28
  continue the pursuit alone. In his anger, he was inclined to seize the
• 1:42:31
  man by the collar without ceremony. Was it not with premeditation and by means
• 1:42:36
  of an ingenious ruse, that his pretended imbecile had separated him from his assistance.
• 1:42:42
  He looked at Bodroux. The latter was asleep on the bench, his
• 1:42:45
  head rolling from side to side, his mouth half opened and an incredible expression
• 1:42:50
  of stupidity on his blotched face. No such an adversary was incapable of deceiving
• 1:42:56
  Old ganimar It was a stroke of luck, nothing more. At the Gallery
• 1:43:00
  Lafayette, the man leaped from the omnibus and took the Lambouette tramway, following
• 1:43:06
  the Boulevard OUs Man and the Avenue Victor Lugu. Boudru alighted at Lamouette station,
• 1:43:15
  and with anauchanp air, strolled into the Buis de Boulogne. He wandered
• 1:43:19
  through one path after another, and sometimes retraced his steps. What was his
• 1:43:25
  seeking? Had he any definite object? At the end of an hour,
• 1:43:30
  he appeared to be faint from fatigue, and noticing a bench, he sat
• 1:43:33
  down. The spot, not far from Eautey, on the edge of a
• 1:43:38
  pond hidden amongst the trees, was absolutely deserted. After the lapse of another
• 1:43:43
  half hour, Ganimard became impatient and resolved to speak to the man. He
• 1:43:48
  approached and took a seat beside. Boudreu lighted a cigarette, traced some figures
• 1:43:53
  in the sand with the end of his cane, and said it's a pleasant
• 1:43:57
  day, no response, But suddenly the man burst into laughter, a happy,
• 1:44:02
  mirthful laugh, spontaneous and irresistible. Ganimar felt his hair stand on end
• 1:44:09
  in horror and surprise. It was that laugh, that infernal laugh he knew
• 1:44:14
  so well. With a sudden movement, he seized the man by the collar
• 1:44:16
  and looked at him with a keen, penetrating gaze, and found that he
• 1:44:20
  no longer saw the man Bodrou. To be sure, he saw Bodru,
• 1:44:26
  but at the same time he saw the other, the real man, Lupin.
• 1:44:30
  He discovered the intense life in the eyes, he filled up the shrunken
• 1:44:33
  features. He perceived the real flesh beneath the flabby skin, the real mouth
• 1:44:39
  through the grimaces that he formed it. Those were the eyes and mouth of
• 1:44:43
  the other, And especially his keen, alert, mocking expression, so clear
• 1:44:48
  and youthful, ah Sen Lupin, Arsen Lupin. He stammered. Then,
• 1:44:55
  in a sudden fit of rage, he seized Lupin by the throat and tried
• 1:44:59
  to hold him down. In spite of his fifty years, he still possessed
• 1:45:01
  unusual strength, whilst his adversary was apparently in a weak condition. But the
• 1:45:06
  struggle was a brief one. Arsin Lupin made only a slight movement, and
• 1:45:12
  as suddenly as he had made the attack, Ganimar released his hold. His
• 1:45:16
  right arm fell inert useless. If you had taken lessons in jiu jitsu at
• 1:45:24
  the Kai des Orfevre said, Lupa, you would know that that blow is
• 1:45:29
  called udishigi in Japanese. A second more and I would have broken your arm,
• 1:45:35
  and that would have been just what you deserve. I am surprised that
• 1:45:40
  you, an old friend whom I respect and before whom I voluntarily exposed my
• 1:45:45
  incognito, should abuse my confidence in that violent manner. It is unworthy.
• 1:45:51
  Ah, what's the matter? Ganimar did not reply that escape for which he
• 1:45:58
  deemed himself responsible. Was it not he Ganimar, who, by his sensational
• 1:46:02
  evidence, had led the court into serious error? That escape appeared to him
• 1:46:09
  like a dark cloud on his professional career. A tear rolled down his cheek
• 1:46:14
  to his gray mustache. Oh, mon dieu, Ganimar, don't take it
• 1:46:18
  to heart. If you had not spoken, I would have arranged for some
• 1:46:23
  one else to do it. I couldn't allow poor bod de rue Desir to
• 1:46:28
  be convicted. The murmured Ganimar. It was you that was there, and
• 1:46:33
  now you are here. It is I always, I only I. Can
• 1:46:41
  it be possible? Oh, it is not the work of a sorcerer.
• 1:46:45
  Simply, as the judge remarked at the trial, the apprenticeship of a dozen
• 1:46:49
  years that equipts a man to cope successfully with all the obstacles in life.
• 1:46:56
  But your face, your eyes. You can understand that if I worked eighteen
• 1:47:00
  months with doctor Altier at the Saint Louis hospital, it was not out of
• 1:47:05
  love for the work. I considered that he who would one day had the
• 1:47:10
  honor of calling himself Arsen Lupin ought to be exempt from the ordinary laws governing
• 1:47:16
  appearance and identity. Appearance that can be modified at will. For instance,
• 1:47:23
  a hypodermic injection of paraffine will puff up the skin at the desired spot.
• 1:47:28
  Pyrogalic acid will change your skin to that of an Indian. The juice of
• 1:47:31
  the greater Celandine will adorn you with the most beautiful eruptions and tumors. Another
• 1:47:36
  chemical affects the growth of your beard and hair. Another changes the tone of
• 1:47:42
  your voice. Add to that, two months of dieting in cell twenty four.
• 1:47:46
  Exercise is repeated a thousand times to enable me to hold my features in
• 1:47:51
  a certain grimace, to carry my head at a certain inclination, and adapt
• 1:47:57
  my back and shoulders to a stooping posture. Then five drops of atropine in
• 1:48:01
  the eyes to make them haggard and wild, and the trick is done.
• 1:48:04
  I do not understand how you deceived the guards. The change was progressive.
• 1:48:11
  The evolution was so gradual that they failed to notice it. But Boudreux,
• 1:48:15
  desir Bodreux exists. He is a poor, harmless fellow whom I met last
• 1:48:21
  year, and really he bears a certain resemblance to me. Considering my arrest
• 1:48:27
  as a possible event, I took charge of Boudreux and studied the points wherein
• 1:48:32
  we differed in appearance, with a view to correct them in my own person.
• 1:48:38
  My friends caused him to remain at the depot over night and to leave
• 1:48:42
  there next day about the same hour as I did, a coincidence easily arranged.
• 1:48:47
  Of course, it was necessary to have a record of his detention at
• 1:48:50
  the depot in order to establish the fact that such a person was a reality.
• 1:48:55
  Otherwise the police would have sought elsewhere to find out my identity. But
• 1:49:00
  in offering to them this excellent boatou, it was inevitable, you understand,
• 1:49:04
  inevitable that they would seize upon him. And despite the insurmountable difficulties of a
• 1:49:11
  substitution, they would prefer to believe in a substitution. Then confess their ignorance.
• 1:49:17
  Yes, yes, of course, said Gannimar, and then exclaimed Arsen
• 1:49:24
  Lupin, I held in my hands a trump card, an anxious public watching
• 1:49:29
  and waiting for my escape. And that is the fatal error into which you
• 1:49:33
  fell, you and the others in the course of that fascinating game pending between
• 1:49:40
  me and the officers of the law, wherein the stake was my liberty.
• 1:49:45
  And you supposed that I was playing to the gallery, that I was intoxicated
• 1:49:49
  with my success. I ar send Lupin guilty of such weakness. Oh no,
• 1:49:57
  and no longer ago than the ka or affair you said. When Arsain
• 1:50:01
  Lupin cries from the housetops that he will escape, he has some object in
• 1:50:06
  view. But si pristi, you must understand that in order to escape,
• 1:50:13
  I must create in advance a public belief in that escape, a belief amounting
• 1:50:18
  to an article of faith, an absolute conviction, a reality as glittering as
• 1:50:24
  the sun. And I did create that belief that ar sain Lupin would escape,
• 1:50:30
  that Arsen Lupin would not be present at his trial. And when you
• 1:50:33
  gave your evidence and said that man is not Arsen Lupin, everybody was prepared
• 1:50:41
  to believe you. Had one person doubted it, had any one uttered this
• 1:50:45
  simple restriction, suppose it is Arsen Lupin. From that moment, I was
• 1:50:51
  lost. If any one had scrutinized my face, not imbued with the idea
• 1:50:57
  that I was not Arsen Lupin, as you and the others did at my
• 1:51:00
  trial, but with the idea that I might be Ar sain Lupin, then
• 1:51:05
  despite all my precautions, I should have been recognized. But I had no
• 1:51:11
  fear. Logically, psychologically, no one could entertain the idea that I was
• 1:51:16
  Ar sain Lupin. He grasped Ganimar's hand. Come, Ganimar, confess that
• 1:51:24
  on the Wednesday, after our conversation in the prison de la Sante, you
• 1:51:28
  expected me at your house at four o'clock, exactly as I said I would
• 1:51:33
  go, and your prison Van said Ganimar, evading the question a bluff.
• 1:51:41
  Some of my friends secured that old unused van and wished to make the attempt,
• 1:51:45
  but I considered it impractical without the concurrence of a number of unusual circumstances.
• 1:51:51
  However, I found it useful to carry out that attempted escape and give
• 1:51:56
  it to the widest publicity. And audaciously planned escape, though not completed,
• 1:52:01
  gave to the succeeding one the character of reality simply by anticipation, so that
• 1:52:09
  the cigar hollowed by myself, as well as the knife and the letters written
• 1:52:15
  by me and the mysterious correspondent did not exist. Ganimar reflected a moment,
• 1:52:21
  then said, when the Anthropological Service had Bodrou's case under consideration, why did
• 1:52:29
  they not perceive that his measurements coincided with those of Ar Saint Lupin. My
• 1:52:33
  measurements are not in existence. Indeed, at least they are false. I
• 1:52:41
  have given considerable attention to that question. In the first place, the Bertion
• 1:52:45
  system records the visible marks of identification, and you have seen that they are
• 1:52:49
  not infallible. And after that, the measurements of the head, the fingers,
• 1:52:55
  the ears, et cetera of course, such measurements are more or less
• 1:52:59
  infallible. Absolutely no, but it costs money to get around them. Before
• 1:53:05
  we left America, one of the employees of the service there accepted so much
• 1:53:12
  money to insert false figures in my measurements. Consequently, Baudreou's measurements should not
• 1:53:17
  agree with those of Arsain Lupin. After a short silence, Ganimar asked,
• 1:53:25
  what are you going to do now now, replied Lupa, I am going
• 1:53:30
  to take a rest, enjoy the best of food and drink, and gradually
• 1:53:34
  recover my former healthy condition. It is all very well to become Boudru or
• 1:53:40
  some other person on occasion, and to change your personality as you do your
• 1:53:45
  shirt, but you soon grow weary of the change. I feel exactly as
• 1:53:49
  I imagine the man who lost his shadow must have felt, and I shall
• 1:53:53
  be glad to be Arsain Lupin once more. He walked to and fro for
• 1:53:58
  a few minutes, then stopping in front of Ganimar, he said, you
• 1:54:01
  have nothing more to say? I suppose yes, I should like to know
• 1:54:06
  if you intend to reveal the true state of facts connected with your escape the
• 1:54:12
  mistake that I made. Oh, no one will ever know that it was
• 1:54:15
  Arsain Lupin who was discharged. It is to my own interest to surround myself
• 1:54:21
  with mystery, and therefore I shall permit my escape to retain its almost miraculous
• 1:54:28
  character. So have no fear on that score, my dear friend. I
• 1:54:32
  shall say nothing, and now good bye. I am going out to dinner
• 1:54:36
  this evening and have only sufficient time to dress. I thought you wanted a
• 1:54:43
  rest. Ah, there are duties to society that one cannot avoid. To
• 1:54:47
  morrow I shall rest. Where do you dine to night with the British Ambassador.
• 1:54:57
  End of the Escape of Arsines, Chapter four, The Mysterious Traveler.
• 1:55:06
  The evening before, I had sent my automobile to Rouen by the Highway.
• 1:55:12
  I was to travel to Roon by rail, on my way to visit some
• 1:55:15
  friends that live on the banks of the Seinne at Paris. A few minutes
• 1:55:20
  before the train started, seven gentlemen entered my compartment. Five of them were
• 1:55:27
  smoking. No matter that the journey was a short one, the thought of
• 1:55:30
  traveling with such a company was not agreeable to me, especially as the car
• 1:55:35
  was built on the old model without a corridor. I picked up my overcoat,
• 1:55:42
  my newspapers and my timetable and sought refuge in a neighboring compartment. It
• 1:55:47
  was occupied by a lady, who, at sight of me, made a
• 1:55:51
  gesture of annoyance that did not escape my notice, and she leaned towards a
• 1:55:56
  gentleman who was standing on the step, and was no doubt her husband.
• 1:56:01
  The gentleman scrutinized me closely, and apparently my appearance did not displease him,
• 1:56:08
  for he smiled as he spoke to his wife, with the air of one
• 1:56:11
  who reassures a frightened child. She smiled also, and gave me a friendly
• 1:56:15
  glance, as if she now understood that I was one of those gallant men
• 1:56:20
  with whom a woman can remain shut up for two hours in a little box
• 1:56:25
  six feet square and have nothing to fear. Her husband said to her,
• 1:56:30
  I have an important appointment, my dear, and cannot wait any longer.
• 1:56:34
  Adieu. He kissed her affectionately and went away. His wife threw him a
• 1:56:41
  few kisses and waved her handkerchief. The whistle sounded and the train started at
• 1:56:47
  that precise moment, and despite the protests of the guards, the door was
• 1:56:53
  opened, and a man rushed into our compartment. My companion, who was
• 1:56:59
  standing and arranged her luggage, uttered a cry of terror and fell upon the
• 1:57:02
  seat. I am not a coward, far from it, but I confessed
• 1:57:09
  that such intrusions at the last minute are always disconcerting. They have a suspicious,
• 1:57:15
  unnatural aspect. However, the appearance of the new arrival greatly modified the
• 1:57:20
  unfavorable impression produced by his precipitate action. He was correctly and elegantly dressed,
• 1:57:28
  or a tasteful cravat, correct gloves, and his face was refined and intelligent.
• 1:57:34
  But where the devil had I seen that face before? Because beyond all
• 1:57:41
  possible doubt, I had seen it, and yet the memory of it was
• 1:57:45
  so vague and indistinct that I felt it would be useless to try to recall
• 1:57:49
  it at that time. Then, directing my attention to the lady, I
• 1:57:55
  was amazed at the pallor and anxiety I saw on her face. She was
• 1:58:00
  looking at her neighbor, they occupied seats on the same side of the compartment,
• 1:58:04
  with an expression of intense alarm, and I perceived that one of her
• 1:58:10
  trembling hands was slowly gliding toward a little traveling bag that was lying on the
• 1:58:15
  seat about twenty inches from her. She finished by seizing it and nervously drawing
• 1:58:20
  it to her. Our eyes met, and I read in hers so much
• 1:58:26
  anxiety and fear that I could not refrain from speaking to her. Are you
• 1:58:30
  ill, madame? Shall I open the window? Her only reply was a
• 1:58:36
  gesture indicating that she was afraid of our companion. I smiled as her husband
• 1:58:42
  had done, shrugged my shoulders, and explained to her in pantomime that she
• 1:58:46
  had nothing to fear that I was there, and besides, the gentleman appeared
• 1:58:50
  to be a very harmless individual at that moment. He turned towards us,
• 1:58:57
  scrutinized both of us from head to foot, then settled down in his corner
• 1:59:01
  and paid us no more attention. After a short silence, the lady,
• 1:59:06
  as if she had mustered all her energy to perform a desperate act, said
• 1:59:11
  to me, in an almost inaudible voice, do you know who is on
• 1:59:15
  our train? Who? He? He? I assure you, who is
• 1:59:24
  he? Arsen Lupin. She had not taken her eyes off our companion,
• 1:59:30
  and it was to him, rather than to me, that she uttered the
• 1:59:33
  syllables of that disquieting name. He drew his hat over his face. Was
• 1:59:40
  that to conceal his agitation or simply to arrange himself for sleep, then I
• 1:59:45
  said to her. Yesterday through contumacy, Arsain Lupin was sentenced to twenty years
• 1:59:53
  imprisonment at hard Labor. Therefore, it is improbable that he would be so
• 1:59:58
  imprudent to day to show himself in public. Moreover, the newspapers have announced
• 2:00:03
  his appearance in Turkey since his escape from the santerier. But he is on
• 2:00:09
  this train at the present moment, the lady proclaimed, with the obvious intention
• 2:00:15
  of being heard by our companion. My husband is one of the directors of
• 2:00:18
  the penitentiary service, and it was the station master himself who told us that
• 2:00:25
  a search was being made for Ar Saint Lupin. They may have been mistaken.
• 2:00:30
  No, he was seen in the waiting room. He bought a first
• 2:00:32
  class ticket for Rouen. He has disappeared. The guard at the waiting room
• 2:00:39
  door did not see him pass, and it is supposed that he had got
• 2:00:43
  into the express that leaves ten minutes after us. In that case they will
• 2:00:47
  be sure to catch him, unless at the last moment he leaped from the
• 2:00:53
  train to come here into our train, which is quite probable, which is
• 2:00:57
  almost certain, so he will be arrested just the same for the employees and
• 2:01:03
  the guards would no doubt observe his passage from one train to the other,
• 2:01:08
  and when we arrive at won they will arrest him there him never he will
• 2:01:14
  find some means of escape. In that case, I wish him a bon
• 2:01:18
  voyage. But in the meantime, think what he may do. What I
• 2:01:25
  don't know, he may do anything. She was greatly agitated, and truly
• 2:01:30
  the situation justified to some extent her nervous excitement. I was impelled to say
• 2:01:36
  to her, of course, there are many strange coincidences, but you need
• 2:01:43
  have no fear admitting that Arceine Lupin is on this train. He will not
• 2:01:47
  commit any indiscretion. He will be only too happy to escape the peril that
• 2:01:51
  already threatens him. My words did not reassure her, but she remained silent
• 2:01:58
  for a time. I unfolded my newspapers and read reports of Arsene Lupin's trial,
• 2:02:04
  but as they contained nothing that was new to me, I was not
• 2:02:09
  greatly interested. Moreover, I was tired and sleepy. I felt my eyelids
• 2:02:14
  close and my head drop but monsieur, you are not going to sleep.
• 2:02:19
  She seized my newspaper and looked at me with indignation. Certainly not, I
• 2:02:26
  said, that would be very imprudent. Of course I assented. I struggled
• 2:02:34
  to keep awake. I looked through the window at the landscape and the fleeting
• 2:02:39
  clouds. But in a short time all that became confused and indistinct. The
• 2:02:45
  image of the nervous lady and the drowsy gentleman were effaced from my memory,
• 2:02:49
  and I was buried in the soothing depths of a profound sleep. The tranquility
• 2:02:56
  of my response was soon disturbed by disquieting dreams, wherein a creature that had
• 2:03:01
  played the part and bore the name of Arsaint Lupin held an important place.
• 2:03:08
  He appeared to me with his back laden with articles of value. He leapt
• 2:03:13
  over walls and plundered castles. But the outlines of that creature, who was
• 2:03:18
  no longer our Saint Lupin, assumed a more definite form. He came toward
• 2:03:24
  me, growing larger and larger, leapt into the compartment with incredible agility,
• 2:03:30
  and landed squarely on my chest with a cry of frightened pain. I awoke
• 2:03:35
  the man, the traveler, our companion, with his knee on my breast,
• 2:03:41
  held me by the throat. My sight was very indistinct, for my
• 2:03:45
  eyes were suffused with blood. I could see the lady in a corner of
• 2:03:49
  the compartment, convulsed with fright. I tried even not to resist. Besides,
• 2:03:56
  I did not have the strength. My temples throbbed. I was must
• 2:04:00
  strangled. One minute more and I would have breathed my last. The man
• 2:04:04
  must have realized it, for he relaxed his grip, but did not remove
• 2:04:09
  his hand. Then he took a cord in which he had prepared a slipknot,
• 2:04:14
  and tied my wrists together. In an instant, I was bound,
• 2:04:17
  gagged and helpless. Certainly, he accomplished the trick with an ease and skill
• 2:04:24
  that revealed the hand of a master. He was, no doubt a professional
• 2:04:28
  sief. Not a word, not a nervous movement, only coolness and audacity.
• 2:04:33
  And I was there lying on the bench, bound like a mummy.
• 2:04:38
  I arsene lupin. It was anything but a laughing matter. And yet,
• 2:04:44
  despite the gravity of the situation, I keenly appreciated the humor and irony that
• 2:04:48
  It involved arsend a pas seized and bound like a novice, robbed as if
• 2:04:55
  I were an unsophisticated rustic. For you must understand the scound had deprived me
• 2:05:00
  of my purse and wallet. Arsene lupin a victim, duped vanquished. What
• 2:05:08
  an adventure. The lady did not move, He did not even notice her.
• 2:05:14
  He contented himself with picking up her traveling bag that had fallen to the
• 2:05:17
  floor, and taking from it the jewels, purse, and gold and silver
• 2:05:21
  trinkets that contained. The lady opened her eyes, trembled with fear, drew
• 2:05:28
  the rings from her fingers and handed them to the man, as if she
• 2:05:30
  wished to spare him unnecessary trouble. He took the rings and looked at her.
• 2:05:35
  She swooned, Then, quite unruffled, he resumed his seat, lighted
• 2:05:42
  a cigarette, and proceeded to examine the treasure that he had acquired. The
• 2:05:47
  examination appeared to give him perfect satisfaction. But I was not so well satisfied.
• 2:05:55
  I do not speak of the twelve thousand francs of which I had been
• 2:05:58
  unduly deprived. That was only a temporary loss, because I was certain that
• 2:06:02
  I would recover possession of that money after a very brief delay, together with
• 2:06:08
  the important papers contained in my wallet, plans, specifications, addresses, lists
• 2:06:14
  of correspondence, and compromising letters. But for the moment, a more immediate
• 2:06:19
  and more serious question troubled me. How would this affair end? What would
• 2:06:25
  be the outcome of this adventure? As you can imagine, the disturbance created
• 2:06:30
  by my passage through the Saint Lazarre station had not escaped my notice. Going
• 2:06:35
  to visit friends who knew me under the name of Guillaum Berlard, and amongst
• 2:06:41
  whom my resemblance to Arsainte Lupin was a subject of many innocent jests. I
• 2:06:45
  could not assume a disguise at my presence had been remarked so beyond question.
• 2:06:51
  The Commissary of Police Atroin, notified by telegraph and assisted by numerous agents,
• 2:06:59
  would be awaiting the train, would question all suspicious passengers and proceed to search
• 2:07:04
  the cars. Of course, I had foreseen all that, but it had
• 2:07:09
  not disturbed me, as I was certain that the police of War would not
• 2:07:13
  be any shrewder than the police of Paris, and that I could escape recognition.
• 2:07:17
  Would it not be sufficient for me to carelessly display my card as deputy,
• 2:07:24
  thanks to which I had inspired complete confidence in the gate keeper at Saint
• 2:07:28
  Lazare. But the situation was greatly changed. I was no longer free.
• 2:07:33
  It was impossible to attempt one of my usual tricks. In one of the
• 2:07:36
  compartments. The Commissary of Police would find Monsieur Saint du Pins bound hand and
• 2:07:44
  foot, as docile as a lamb, packed up, already to be dumped
• 2:07:47
  into a prison van. He would have simply to accept delivery of the parcel,
• 2:07:53
  the same as if it were so much merchandise or a basket of fruit
• 2:07:57
  of vegetables. Yet to avoid that shame for denouement, what could I do?
• 2:08:03
  Bound and gagged as I was, and the train was rushing on towards
• 2:08:07
  Roent, the next and only station, another problem was presented in which I
• 2:08:13
  was less interested, but the solution of which aroused my professional curiosity. What
• 2:08:18
  were the intentions of my rascally companion. Of course, if I had been
• 2:08:24
  alone, he could, on our arrival at Roent, leave the car slowly
• 2:08:28
  and fearlessly. But the lady, as soon as the door of the compartment
• 2:08:33
  should be opened, the lady, now so quiet and humble, would scream
• 2:08:37
  and call for help. That was the dilemma that perplexed me. Why had
• 2:08:43
  he not reduced her to a helpless condition similar to mine? That would have
• 2:08:46
  given him ample time to disappear before his double crime was discovered. He was
• 2:08:52
  still smoking, with his eyes fixed upon the window that was now being streaked
• 2:08:58
  with drops of rain. Once he turned picked up my time table and consulted
• 2:09:03
  it, the lady had to feign a continued lack of consciousness in order to
• 2:09:09
  deceive the enemy, but fits of coughing provoked by the smoke exposed her true
• 2:09:15
  condition. As to me, I was very uncomfortable and very tired, and
• 2:09:20
  I meditated. I plotted. The train was rushing on, joyously, intoxicated
• 2:09:26
  with its own speed, sent it ene. At that moment, the man
• 2:09:31
  arose and took two steps towards us, which caused the lady to utter a
• 2:09:35
  cry of alarm and fall into a genuine swoon. What was the man about
• 2:09:41
  to do? He lowered the window on our side. A heavy rain was
• 2:09:45
  now falling, and by a gesture, the man expressed his annoyance at his
• 2:09:50
  not having an umbrella or an overcoat. He glanced at the rack. The
• 2:09:54
  lady's umbrella was there. He took it. He also took my overcoat put
• 2:10:00
  it on. We were now crossing the Seine. He turned up the bottoms
• 2:10:05
  of his trousers, then leaned over and raised the exterior latch of the door.
• 2:10:09
  Was he going to throw himself upon the track at that speed? It
• 2:10:13
  would have been instant death. We now entered a tunnel. The man opened
• 2:10:18
  the door half way and stood on the upper step. What folly. The
• 2:10:24
  darkness, the smoke, the noise all gave a fantastic appearance to his actions.
• 2:10:31
  But suddenly the train diminished its speed. A moment later it increased its
• 2:10:35
  speed, then slowed up again. Probably some repairs were being made in that
• 2:10:41
  part of the tunnel, which obliged the trains to diminish their speed, and
• 2:10:46
  the man was aware of the fact. He immediately stepped down to the lower
• 2:10:50
  step, closed the door behind him, and leapt to the ground. He
• 2:10:54
  was gone. The lady immediately recovered her wits, and her first act was
• 2:11:00
  to lament the loss of her jewels. I gave her an imploring look.
• 2:11:03
  She understood and quickly removed the gag that stifled me. She wished to untie
• 2:11:09
  the cords that bound me but I prevented her. No, no, the
• 2:11:13
  police must see everything exactly as it stands. I want them to see what
• 2:11:16
  the rascal did to us. Suppose I pulled the alarm bell too late.
• 2:11:22
  He should have done that when he made the attack on me, But he
• 2:11:26
  would have killed me, Ah, monsieur, didn't I tell you that he
• 2:11:31
  was on this train. I recognized him from his portrait, and now he
• 2:11:35
  has gone off with my jewels. Don't worry, the police will catch him.
• 2:11:39
  Catch off Saint Lupin. Never, That depends on you, madame.
• 2:11:45
  Listen, when we arrived at wont be at the door and call, make
• 2:11:50
  a noise. The police and the railway employees will come. Tell what you
• 2:11:54
  have seen, the assault made on me and the flight of ar Saint Lupin.
• 2:12:00
  Give a description of him. Soft hat, umbrella yours, gray overcoat
• 2:12:05
  yours? Said? She? What mine? Not at all? It was
• 2:12:11
  his. I didn't have any. It seems to me that he didn't have
• 2:12:15
  one when he came in. Yes, yes, unless the coat was wondered,
• 2:12:20
  some one had forgotten and left on the rack. At all events,
• 2:12:24
  he had it when he went away, and that is the essential point.
• 2:12:26
  A gray overcoat, remember, Ah, I forgot. You must tell your
• 2:12:33
  name first thing, ye do. Your husband's official position will stimulate the zeal
• 2:12:37
  of the police. We arrived at the station, I gave her some further
• 2:12:41
  instructions in a rather imperious tone. Tell them my name, Guillaum Berlard.
• 2:12:48
  If necessary, say that ye know me. That will save time. We
• 2:12:52
  must expedite the preliminary investigation. The important thing is the pursuit of Arsene Lupins.
• 2:13:00
  You jewels, remember, Let there be no mistake. Guillium Berlar,
• 2:13:05
  a friend of your husband. I understand, Guilloumberlard. She was already calling
• 2:13:11
  and gesticulating. As soon as the train stopped, several men entered the compartment.
• 2:13:16
  The critical moment had come. Panting for breath, the lady exclaimed,
• 2:13:22
  Ar Saint lu Pas, he attacked us, he stole my jewels. I
• 2:13:26
  am Madame Renaud. My husband is a director of the penitentiary service. Ah.
• 2:13:31
  Here is my brother, Jeorgeardell, director of the grid Roune. You
• 2:13:35
  must know. She embraced a young man who had just joined us, and
• 2:13:39
  whom the commissary saluted. Then she continued weeping, yes, Ar Saint Lupin.
• 2:13:46
  While Monsieur was sleeping. He seized him by the throat. Monsieur Berls
• 2:13:50
  a friend of my husband. The commissary asked, but where is ar Saint
• 2:13:56
  Lupin He leapt from the train when passing through the tonne. Are you sure
• 2:14:01
  that was he? Am? I sure? I recognized him perfectly. Besides,
• 2:14:07
  he was seen at the Saint Lazar station. He wore a soft hat,
• 2:14:11
  No, a hard felt like that, said the commissary, pointing to
• 2:14:16
  my hat. He had a soft hat, I am sure, repeated Madame
• 2:14:22
  Renaud. And a gray overcoat. Yes, that is right, replied the
• 2:14:28
  commissary. The telegram says he wore a gray overcoat with a black velvet collar.
• 2:14:35
  Exactly a black velvet collar, examined Madame Renaud, triumphantly. I breathed
• 2:14:41
  freely. Ah, the excellent friend I had in that little woman. The
• 2:14:46
  police agents now released me. I bit my lips until they ran blood,
• 2:14:52
  stooping over with my handkerchief over my mouth, an attitude quite natural in a
• 2:14:56
  person who has remained for a long time in an uncomfortable position, and whose
• 2:15:01
  mouth shows the bloody marks of the gag. I addressed the commissary in a
• 2:15:07
  weak voice. Monsieur it was ar Saint du Pains. There is no doubt
• 2:15:11
  about that if we make haste, he can be caught. Yet I think
• 2:15:18
  I may be of some service to you. The railway car in which the
• 2:15:22
  crime occurred was detached from the train to serve as a mute witness at the
• 2:15:26
  official investigation. The train continued on its way to Avres. We were then
• 2:15:33
  conducted to the station master's office through a crowd of curious spectators. Then I
• 2:15:39
  had a sudden access of doubt and discretion. Under some pretext or other,
• 2:15:45
  I must gain my automobile and escape. To remain there was dangerous. Something
• 2:15:50
  might happen, for instance, a telegram from Paris, and I would be
• 2:15:54
  lost. Yes, but what about my thief. Abandoned to my own resources
• 2:16:01
  in an unfamiliar country, I could not hope to catch him. Bah,
• 2:16:05
  I must make the attempt, I said to myself. It may be a
• 2:16:09
  difficult game, but an amusing one, and the stake is well worth the
• 2:16:13
  trouble. And when the commissary asked us to repeat the story of the robbery,
• 2:16:18
  I exclaimed, monsieur, really are Saint Lupa is getting the start of
• 2:16:24
  us. My automobile is waiting in the courtyard. If you will be so
• 2:16:28
  kind as to use it, we can try. The commissary smiled and replied,
• 2:16:33
  the idea is a good one, so good indeed, that it is
• 2:16:37
  already being carried out. Two of my men have set out on bicycles.
• 2:16:41
  They have been gone for some time. Where did they go? To the
• 2:16:46
  entrance of the tunnel. There they will gather evidence, secure witnesses, and
• 2:16:52
  follow on the track of Arsine Lupins. I could not refrain from shrugging my
• 2:16:56
  shoulders as I replied, few men will not secure you are any evidence or
• 2:17:01
  any witnesses freely. Arsaint Lupas will not allow any one to see him emerge
• 2:17:07
  from the tunnel. He will take the first road to Rouin, where we
• 2:17:11
  will arrest him. He will not go to Rouin. Then he will remain
• 2:17:16
  in the vicinity, where his capture will be even more certain. He will
• 2:17:20
  not remain in the vicinity Oho, and where will he hide? I looked
• 2:17:26
  at my watch and said, at the present moment, Arsen du Pas is
• 2:17:31
  prowling around the station at d'aris tale at ten fifty, that is, in
• 2:17:35
  twenty two minutes from now, he will take the train that goes from Ruin
• 2:17:41
  to Amiers. Do you think so? How do you know it? Oh,
• 2:17:46
  it is quite simple. While we were in the car arsaintlu Pas consulted
• 2:17:50
  my railway guide. Why did he do it? Was there, not far
• 2:17:54
  from the spot where he disappeared, another line of railway, a station upon
• 2:17:58
  that line, and a train stopping at that station. On consulting my railway
• 2:18:03
  guide, he found such to be the case. Really, monsieur, said
• 2:18:09
  the commissary, that is a marvelous deduction. I congratulate you on your skill.
• 2:18:16
  I was now convinced that I had made a mistake in displaying so much
• 2:18:18
  cleverness. The Commissary regarded me with astonishment, and I thought a slight suspicion
• 2:18:24
  entered his official mind, oh scarcely that for the photographs distributed broadcast by the
• 2:18:33
  police department were too imperfect. They presented a nar Saint Lupasse so different from
• 2:18:39
  the one he had before him that he could not possibly recognize me by it.
• 2:18:43
  But all the same, he was troubled, confused, and ill at
• 2:18:48
  ease. Mon dieu. Nothing stimulates the comprehensions so much as the loss of
• 2:18:54
  a pocket book and the desire to recover it, and it seems to me
• 2:18:58
  that if you will give me two of your men, we may be able.
• 2:19:03
  Oh I beg of you, Monsieur le commissaire, cried Madame Renaud.
• 2:19:07
  Listen to Monsieur Barlar. The intervention of my excellent friend was decisive. Pronounced
• 2:19:15
  by her, the wife of an influential official, The name of Berlar became
• 2:19:18
  really my own and gave me an identity that no mere suspicion could effect.
• 2:19:26
  The commissary arose and said, believe me, Monsieur Berlin, I should be
• 2:19:31
  delighted to see you succeed. I am as much interested as you are in
• 2:19:35
  the arrest of Arsaine Dupin. He accompanied me to the automobile and introduced two
• 2:19:39
  of his men, Honoremassoure and Gaston de l v, who were assigned to
• 2:19:45
  assist me. My chauffeur cranked up the car and I took my place at
• 2:19:48
  the wheel. A few seconds later we left the station. I was saved.
• 2:19:56
  Oh, I must confess that in rolling over the boulevard ards that surrounded
• 2:20:01
  the old Norman city in my swift certify of horse power morroul le'ptin, I
• 2:20:07
  experienced a deep feeling of pride and the motor responded sympathetically to my desires at
• 2:20:13
  right and left. The trees flew past us with startling rapidity, and I,
• 2:20:18
  free of danger, had simply to arrange my little personal affairs with the
• 2:20:24
  two honest representatives of the Rum police, who were now sitting behind me.
• 2:20:30
  Arsaint Lupin was going in search of Arsene Lupins, modest guardians of social order,
• 2:20:35
  Gaston de le Villes and Honorema Soil. How valuable was your assistance?
• 2:20:41
  What would I have done without you? Without you many times at the cross
• 2:20:46
  roads, I might have taken the wrong route. Without you, Arsaint Lupins
• 2:20:50
  would have made a mistake, and the other would have escaped. But the
• 2:20:56
  end was not yet far from it. I had yet to capture the thief
• 2:21:00
  and recover the stolen papers. Under no circumstances must my two acolytes be permitted
• 2:21:07
  to see those papers, much less to seize them. That was a point
• 2:21:11
  that might give me some difficulty. We arrived at d'arnittal three minutes after the
• 2:21:18
  departure of the train. True, I had the consolation of learning that a
• 2:21:22
  man wearing a gray overcoat with a black velvet collar had taken the train at
• 2:21:26
  the station he had bought a second class ticket for Amier. Certainly my debut
• 2:21:33
  as a detective was a promising one. De l Vill said to me,
• 2:21:39
  the train is express and the next stop is Monte Roulier Bouchet in nineteen minutes.
• 2:21:45
  If we do not reach there before our Saint Lupin, he can proceed
• 2:21:48
  to Amier, or change for the train going to Claire, and from that
• 2:21:52
  point reached Yeppe or Paris. How far to Monte Rolier twenty three cilometers?
• 2:22:01
  Twenty three kilometers in nineteen minutes, we will be there ahead of him.
• 2:22:05
  We were off again. Never had my faithful Morue Repton responded to my impatience
• 2:22:11
  with such ardor and regularity. It participated in my anxiety. It endorsed my
• 2:22:18
  determination. It comprehended my animosity against that rascally Arsain Dupins the nave the traitor.
• 2:22:28
  Turn to the right, cried dilivy. Then to the left. We
• 2:22:31
  fairly flew, scarcely touching the ground. The milestones looked like little timid beasts
• 2:22:39
  that vanished at our approach. Suddenly, at a turn of the road we
• 2:22:43
  saw a vortex of smoke. It was the Northern Express for a kilometer.
• 2:22:50
  It was a struggle side by side, but an unequal struggle in which the
• 2:22:54
  issue was certain. We won the race by twenty lengths. In three seconds.
• 2:23:01
  We were on the platform, standing before the second class carriages. The
• 2:23:05
  doors were opened and some passengers alighted, but not my thief. We made
• 2:23:11
  a setch through the compartments. No sign of Arsaine dupins Sapristie. I cried.
• 2:23:18
  He must have recognized me in the automobile as we were racing side by
• 2:23:22
  side, and he leapt from the train. Ah, there he is now
• 2:23:26
  crossing the track. I started in pursuit of the man, followed by my
• 2:23:31
  two acolytes, or rather followed by one of them for the other. Masuil
• 2:23:35
  proved himself to be a runner of exceptional speed and endurance. In a few
• 2:23:41
  moments he had made an appreciable gain on the fugitive. The man noticed it,
• 2:23:46
  leaped over a hedge, scampered across a meadow, and entered a thick
• 2:23:50
  grove. When we reached this grove, Masoil was waiting for us. He
• 2:23:56
  went no farther for fear of losing us. Quite right, my dear friend,
• 2:24:00
  I said, after such a run, our victim must be out of
• 2:24:03
  wind. We will catch him. Now. I examined the surroundings with the
• 2:24:07
  idea of proceeding alone in the arrest of the fugitive in order to recover my
• 2:24:13
  papers, concerning which the authorities would doubtless ask many disagreeable questions. Then I
• 2:24:20
  returned to my companions and said, it is all quite easy. You Massol.
• 2:24:24
  Take the place that you left you Delivy at the right. From there
• 2:24:30
  you can observe the entire posterior line of the bush, and he cannot escape
• 2:24:33
  without you seeing him, except by that ravine, and I shall watch it.
• 2:24:39
  If he does not come out voluntarily, I will enter and drive him
• 2:24:43
  out toward one or the other of you. You have simply to wait.
• 2:24:48
  Ah, I forgot in case I need you a pistol shot. Masol and
• 2:24:54
  Dilivy walked away to their respective posts. As soon as they had disappeared,
• 2:25:00
  I entered the grove with the greatest precaution, so as to be neither seen
• 2:25:03
  nor heard. I encountered dense thickets through which narrow paths have been cut,
• 2:25:09
  but the overhanging boughs compelled me to adopt a stooping posture. One of these
• 2:25:16
  paths led to a clearing in which I found footsteps upon the wet grass.
• 2:25:20
  I followed them. They led me to the foot of a mound which was
• 2:25:24
  surmounted by a deserted, dilapidated hovel. He must be there, I said
• 2:25:31
  to myself. It is a well chosen retreat. I crept cautiously to the
• 2:25:35
  side of the building. A slight noise informed me that he was there,
• 2:25:41
  and then through an opening I saw him. His back was turned towards me.
• 2:25:46
  In two bounds, I was upon him. He tried to fire a
• 2:25:50
  revolver that he held in his hand, but he had no time. I
• 2:25:54
  threw him to the ground in such a manner that his arms were beneath him,
• 2:25:58
  twisted and helped whilst I held him down with my knee on his breast.
• 2:26:03
  Listen, my boy, I whispered in his ear. I am aar
• 2:26:07
  Saint Dupins. You are to deliver over to me immediately and gracefully my pocket
• 2:26:15
  book and the lady's jewels, and in return, therefore I will save you
• 2:26:20
  from the police and enroll you amongst my friends. One word yes or no?
• 2:26:26
  Yes, he murmured, very good, your escape this morning was well
• 2:26:33
  planned. I congratulate you, I arose. He fumbled in his pocket,
• 2:26:39
  drew out a large knife, and tried to strike me with it and be
• 2:26:43
  sealed, I exclaimed. With one hand, I parried the attack. With
• 2:26:48
  the other, I gave him a sharp blow on the carotid artery. He
• 2:26:54
  fell stunned in my pocket book. I recovered my papers and bank notes.
• 2:27:00
  Out of curiosity, I took his upon an envelope addressed to him. I
• 2:27:05
  read his name, Pierre en Frey. It startled me. Pierre Renfrey,
• 2:27:11
  the assassin of the ru La Fontaine at Auteux. Pierre a Frey, he
• 2:27:18
  who had cut the throats of Madame de Bois and her two daughters. I
• 2:27:24
  leaned over him. Yes, those were the features which in the compartment had
• 2:27:30
  evoked in me the memory of a face I could not then recall. But
• 2:27:35
  time was passing. I placed in an envelope two bank notes of one hundred
• 2:27:41
  francs, each with a card bearing these words arsaen du pin to his worthy
• 2:27:46
  colleagues Honoree Masule and Gaston de le VIIs, as a slight token of his
• 2:27:52
  gratitude. I placed it in a prominent spot in the room, where they
• 2:27:58
  would be sure to find it. Beside it I placed Madame Renaul's handbag.
• 2:28:03
  Why could I not return it to the lady who had befriended me. I
• 2:28:07
  must confess I had taken from it everything that possessed any interest or value,
• 2:28:13
  leaving there only a shell combe, a stick of rouge d'urras for the lips,
• 2:28:16
  and an empty purse. But you know, business is business, And
• 2:28:22
  then really her husband is engaged in such a dishonorable vacation. The man was
• 2:28:28
  becoming conscious. What was I to do? I was unable to save him
• 2:28:33
  or condemn him, so I took his revolver and fired a shot in the
• 2:28:39
  air. My two acolytes will come and attend to this case, I said
• 2:28:43
  to myself, as I hastened away by the road through the ravine. Twenty
• 2:28:50
  minutes later, I was seated in my automobile. At four o'clock I telegraphed
• 2:28:56
  to my friends at Rouen that an unexpected event would prevent me from making my
• 2:29:00
  promised visit between ourselves. Considering what my friends must now know, my visit
• 2:29:07
  is postponed indefinitely, a cruel disillusion for them. At six o'clock I was
• 2:29:13
  in Paris. The evening newspapers informed me that Pierre au Free had been captured
• 2:29:18
  at last. Next day. Let us not despise the advantages of judicious advertising.
• 2:29:26
  The Eccau de France published this sensational item yesterday near Beauchy. After numerous
• 2:29:35
  exciting incidents, Arsain du Pas effected the arrest of Pierre an Free. The
• 2:29:41
  assassin of the Rue la Fontaine, had robbed Madame Renaud, wife of the
• 2:29:46
  director in the penitentiary service, in a railway carriage on the Paris Avre Line.
• 2:29:52
  Arsain du Pains restored to Madame Renaud the hand bag that contained her jewels,
• 2:29:58
  and gave a generous record pence to the two detectives who had assisted him
• 2:30:03
  in making that dramatic arrest. End of Chapter four, Chapter five. The
• 2:30:11
  Queen's necklace. Two or three times each year, when occasions of unusual importance,
• 2:30:18
  such as the balls at the Austrian Embassy or the soirees of Lady Billingstone,
• 2:30:24
  the Countess de dro Subies wore upon her white shoulders the Queen's necklace.
• 2:30:31
  It was indeed the famous necklace, the legendary necklace that Bohmer and Bessinge Court
• 2:30:39
  jewelers had made for Madame du Barris, the veritable necklace that the Cardinal do
• 2:30:46
  Roanne Soubies intended to give to Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, and the
• 2:30:50
  same that the adventuress Jean de Valois, Countess de Ramote, had pulled to
• 2:30:56
  pieces one evening in February seventeen eighty five, with the aid of her husband
• 2:31:03
  and their accomplice Reteau de Villette. To tell the truth, the mounting alone
• 2:31:09
  was genuine. Reteau de Villet had kept it whilst the Count de la Motte
• 2:31:13
  and his wife scattered to the four winds of heaven the beautiful stones so carefully
• 2:31:20
  chosen by Boehmer. Later he sold the mounting to Gaston de tru Subise,
• 2:31:26
  nephew and heir of the Cardinal, who repurchased the few diamonds that remained in
• 2:31:30
  the possession of the English jeweler Geoffreys, supplemented them with other stones of the
• 2:31:35
  same size but of much inferior quality, and thus restored the marvelous necklace to
• 2:31:41
  the form in which it had come from the hands of Boehmer and BassaNge.
• 2:31:46
  For nearly a century, the House of Drusubills had prided itself upon the possession
• 2:31:52
  of this historic jewel. Although adverse circumstances had greatly reduced their fortune, they
• 2:31:58
  prefer to curtail their household expenses rather than part with this relic of royalty.
• 2:32:05
  More particularly, the present count clung to it as a man clings to the
• 2:32:09
  home of his ancestors. As a matter of prudence, he had rented a
• 2:32:13
  safety deposit box at the Crediglione in which to keep it. He went for
• 2:32:20
  it himself on the afternoon of the day in which his wife wished to wear
• 2:32:22
  it, and he himself carried it back next morning. On this particular evening,
• 2:32:30
  at the reception given at the Palais de Castille, the countess achieved a
• 2:32:35
  remarkable success, and King Christian, in whose honor the fete was given,
• 2:32:39
  commented on her grace and beauty. The thousand facets of the diamond sparkled and
• 2:32:45
  shone like flames of fire about her shapely neck and shoulders, and it is
• 2:32:50
  safe to say that none but she could have borne the weight of such an
• 2:32:54
  ornament with so much ease and grace. This was a double triumph, and
• 2:33:00
  the Count de Dreux was highly elated. When they returned to their chamber in
• 2:33:03
  the old house of the Faubourg Saint Germain. He was proud of his wife,
• 2:33:09
  and quite as proud, perhaps, of the necklace that had conferred added
• 2:33:13
  luster to his noble house for generations. His wife also regarded the necklace with
• 2:33:18
  an almost childish vanity, and it was not without regret that she removed it
• 2:33:24
  from her shoulders and handed it to her husband, who admired it as passionately
• 2:33:28
  as if he had never seen it before. Then, having placed it in
• 2:33:31
  its case of red leather stamped with the cardinal's arms, he passed into an
• 2:33:37
  adjoining room, which was simply an alcove or cabinet that had been cut off
• 2:33:41
  from their chamber, and which could be entered only by means of a door
• 2:33:45
  at the foot of their bed. As he had done on previous occasions,
• 2:33:48
  he hid it on a high shelf amongst hat boxes and piles of linen.
• 2:33:54
  He closed the door and retired. Next morning, he arose about nine o'clock,
• 2:34:00
  intending to go to the cred Delionee. Before breakfast, he dressed,
• 2:34:05
  drank a cup of coffee, and went to the stables to give his orders.
• 2:34:09
  The condition of one of the horses worried him. He caused it to
• 2:34:11
  be exercised in his presence. Then he returned to his wife, who had
• 2:34:16
  not yet left the chamber. Her maid was dressing her hair when her husband
• 2:34:20
  entered. She asked, are you going out? Yes, as far as
• 2:34:24
  the bank, of course, that is wise. He entered the cabinet,
• 2:34:30
  but after a few seconds, and without any sign of astonishment, he asked,
• 2:34:33
  did you take it, my dear? What? No, I have
• 2:34:37
  not taken anything. You must have moved it. Not at all, I
• 2:34:41
  have not even opened that door. He appeared at the door, disconcerted and
• 2:34:46
  stammered, in a scarcely intelligible voice. You haven't it wasn't you. Then
• 2:34:52
  she hastened to his assistance, and together they made a thorough search, throwing
• 2:34:56
  the boxes to the floor and overturning the piles of linen. Then the count
• 2:35:01
  said, quite discouraged, it is useless to look any more. I put
• 2:35:05
  it here on this shelf. You must be mistaken. No, no,
• 2:35:09
  it was on this shelf, nowhere else. They lighted a candle, as
• 2:35:13
  the room was quite dark, and then carried out all the linen and other
• 2:35:18
  articles that the room contained, And when the room was emptied, they confessed
• 2:35:22
  in despair that the famous necklace had disappeared, without losing time in vain lamentations.
• 2:35:28
  The Countess notified the Commissary of Police, Monsieur Valorb, who came at
• 2:35:33
  once, and, after hearing their story, inquired of the count are you
• 2:35:37
  sure that no one passed through your chamber during the night? Absolutely sure,
• 2:35:43
  as I am a very light sleeper. Besides, the chamber door was bolted,
• 2:35:46
  and I remember unbolting it this morning when my wife rang for her maid.
• 2:35:50
  And there is no other entrance to the cabinet none, no windows,
• 2:35:56
  yes, but it is closed up. I look at it. Candles were
• 2:36:01
  lighted, and Monsieur Valorp observed at once that the lower half of the window
• 2:36:05
  was covered by a large press, which was, however, so narrow that
• 2:36:09
  it did not touch the casement on either side. On what does this window
• 2:36:13
  open? A small inner court and you have a floor above this two but
• 2:36:20
  on a level with the servant's floor. There is a close grating over the
• 2:36:24
  court. That is why this room is so dark. When the press was
• 2:36:28
  moved, they found that the window was fastened, which would not have been
• 2:36:31
  the case if any one had entered that way. Unless said the count they
• 2:36:35
  went out through our chamber. In that case you would have found the door
• 2:36:39
  unbolted. The commissary considered the situation for a moment, then asked the Countess,
• 2:36:46
  did any of your servants know that you wore the necklace last evening?
• 2:36:50
  Certainly I didn't conceal the fact, but nobody knew that it was hidden in
• 2:36:54
  that cabinet. No one, No one, unless be quite sure or madam,
• 2:37:00
  as it is a very important point. She turned to her husband and
• 2:37:03
  said, I was thinking of Henriette. Henriette, she didn't know where we
• 2:37:09
  kept it. Are you sure? Who is this woman? Henriette asked Monsieur
• 2:37:16
  Valorb, a schoolmate who was disowned by her family for marrying beneath her after
• 2:37:20
  her husband's death. I furnished an apartment in this house for her and her
• 2:37:24
  son. She is clever with her needle and has done some work for me.
• 2:37:28
  What floor is she on? Same as ours, at the end of
• 2:37:31
  the corridor. And I think the window of her kitchen opens on this little
• 2:37:37
  court, does it not, yes, just opposite ours. Monsieur Valorb then
• 2:37:43
  asked to see Henriette. They went to her apartment. She was sewing,
• 2:37:48
  whilst her son, Raoul, about six years old, was sitting beside her
• 2:37:52
  reading. The commissary was surprised to see the wretched apartment that had been provided
• 2:37:56
  for the woman. It consisted of one room without a fireplace, and a
• 2:38:01
  very small room that served as a kitchen. The commissary proceeded to question her.
• 2:38:05
  She appeared to be overwhelmed on learning of the theft. Last evening she
• 2:38:09
  had herself dressed the countess and placed the necklace upon her shoulders. Good god,
• 2:38:16
  she exclaimed, It can't be possible, and you have no idea,
• 2:38:20
  not the least suspicion. Is it possible that the thief may have passed through
• 2:38:24
  your room? She laughed heartily, never supposing that she could be an object
• 2:38:28
  of suspicion. But I have not left my room. I never go out,
• 2:38:33
  and perhaps you have not seen. She opened the kitchen window and said,
• 2:38:39
  see it is at least three meters to the ledge of the opposite window.
• 2:38:43
  Who told you that we suppose the theft might have been committed in that
• 2:38:46
  way? But the necklace was in the cabinet, wasn't it. How do
• 2:38:50
  you know that? Why? I have always known that it was kept there
• 2:38:54
  at night, it had been mentioned in my presence. Her face, though
• 2:38:58
  still young, wore unmistakable traces of sorrow and resignation, and it now assumed
• 2:39:03
  an expression of anxiety, as if some danger threatened her. She drew her
• 2:39:07
  son toward her. The child took her hand and kissed it affectionately. When
• 2:39:13
  they were alone again, the count said to the Commissary, I do not
• 2:39:18
  suppose you suspect Henriette. I can answer for her. She is honesty itself.
• 2:39:22
  I quite agree with you, replied Monsieur Valorb. At most I thought
• 2:39:26
  there might have been an unconscious complicity, but I confess that even that theory
• 2:39:31
  must be abandoned, as it does not help solve the problem now before us.
• 2:39:35
  The Commissary of Police abandoned the investigation, which was now taken up and
• 2:39:39
  completed by the examining judge. He questioned the servants, examined the condition of
• 2:39:46
  the bolt, experimented with the opening and closing of the cabinet window, and
• 2:39:50
  explored the little court from top to bottom. All was in vain. The
• 2:39:54
  bolt was intact, the window could not be opened or closed from the outside.
• 2:40:00
  The inquiries especially concerned Henriette, for in spite of everything, they always
• 2:40:05
  turned in her direction. They made a thorough investigation of her past life and
• 2:40:09
  ascertained that during the last three years she had left the house only four times,
• 2:40:15
  and her business on those occasions was satisfactorily explained. As a matter of
• 2:40:20
  fact, she acted as chambermaid and seamstress to the Countess, who treated her
• 2:40:24
  with great strictness and even severity. At the end of a week, the
• 2:40:28
  examining judge had secured no more definite information than the Commissary of police. The
• 2:40:35
  judge said, admitting that we know the guilty party, which we do not,
• 2:40:39
  we are confronted by the fact that we do not know how the theft
• 2:40:43
  was committed. We are brought face to face with two obstacles, a door
• 2:40:48
  and a window, both closed and fastened. It is thus a double mystery.
• 2:40:52
  How could anyone enter? And moreover, how could anyone escape, leaving
• 2:40:58
  behind him a bolted door and a fastened window. At the end of four
• 2:41:03
  months, the secret opinion of the judge was that the count and Countess,
• 2:41:07
  being hard pressed for money which was their normal condition, had sold the Queen's
• 2:41:11
  necklace. He closed the investigation. The loss of the famous jewel was a
• 2:41:18
  severe blow to the Drusubilles. Their credit being no longer propped up by the
• 2:41:22
  reserve fund that such a treasure constituted, they found themselves confronted by more exacting
• 2:41:28
  creditors than money lenders. They were obliged to cut down to the quick,
• 2:41:33
  to sell or mortgage every article that possessed any commercial value. In brief,
• 2:41:37
  it would have been their ruin if two large legacies from some distant relatives had
• 2:41:41
  not saved them. Their pride also suffered a downfall, as if they had
• 2:41:46
  lost a quartering from their escutcheon, and strange to relate. It was upon
• 2:41:52
  her former schoolmate Henriette that the Countess vented her spleen toward her. The Countess
• 2:41:58
  displayed the most spiteful feelings and even openly accused her First Henriette was relegated to
• 2:42:03
  the servants quarters and next day discharged. For some time, the count and
• 2:42:09
  Countess passed an uneventful life. They traveled a great deal. Only one incident
• 2:42:16
  of record occurred during that period. Some months after the departure of Henriette,
• 2:42:20
  the Countess was surprised when she received and read the following letter signed by Henriette
• 2:42:26
  Madame, I do not know how to thank you for it was you?
• 2:42:31
  Was it not who sent me that? It could not have been any one
• 2:42:33
  else. No one but you knows where I live. If I am wrong,
• 2:42:37
  excuse me and accept my sincere thanks for your past favors. What did
• 2:42:43
  the letter mean? The present or past favors of the Countess consisted principally of
• 2:42:48
  injustice and neglect, Why then this letter of thanks? When asked for an
• 2:42:54
  explanation, Henriette replied that she had received a letter through the mails, enclosing
• 2:42:58
  two banks notes of one thousand francs each. The envelope which she enclosed with
• 2:43:03
  her reply, bore the Paris postmark and was addressed in a handwriting that was
• 2:43:09
  obviously disguised. Now, whence came those two thousand francs? Who had sent
• 2:43:13
  them? And why had they sent them? Henriette received a similar letter and
• 2:43:18
  a like sum of money twelve months later, and a third time, and
• 2:43:22
  a fourth and each year for a period of six years, with this difference
• 2:43:26
  that in the fifth and sixth years the sum was doubled. There was another
• 2:43:31
  difference, the post office authorities, having seized one of the letters under the
• 2:43:35
  pretext that it was not registered. The last two letters were duly sent according
• 2:43:39
  to the postal regulations. The first dated from Saint Germain, the other from
• 2:43:45
  Surin. The writer signed the first one Anquitte and the other Peschards. The
• 2:43:52
  addresses that he gave were false. At the end of six years, Henriette
• 2:43:56
  died and the mystery remained unsolved. All these events are known to the public.
• 2:44:05
  The case was one of those which excite public interest, and it was
• 2:44:07
  a strange coincidence that this necklace, which had caused such a great commotion in
• 2:44:11
  France at the close of the eighteenth century, should create a similar commotion a
• 2:44:16
  century later. But what I am about to relate is known only to the
• 2:44:20
  parties directly interested, and a few others from whom the Count exacted a promise
• 2:44:26
  of secrecy. As it is probable that some day or other that promise will
• 2:44:30
  be broken, I have no hesitation in rending the veil and thus disclosing the
• 2:44:33
  key to the mystery. The explanation of the letter published in the morning papers
• 2:44:37
  two days ago an extraordinary letter which increased, if possible, the mists and
• 2:44:43
  shadows that envelope this inscrutable drama. Five days ago a number of guests were
• 2:44:50
  dining with the Count de Drusubiz. There were several ladies present, including his
• 2:44:56
  two nieces and his cousin, and the following d gentlemen, the President of
• 2:45:01
  Savillu, the Deputy Beauchas, the Chevalier Floriani, whom the Count had known
• 2:45:07
  in Sicily, and General Marquis de Rousier, an old club friend. After
• 2:45:13
  the repast, coffee was served by the ladies, who gave the gentlemen permission
• 2:45:18
  to smoke their cigarettes, provided they would not desert the salon. The conversation
• 2:45:22
  was general, and finally one of the guests chanced to speak of celebrated crimes,
• 2:45:28
  and that gave the Marquis de Rousier, who delighted to tease the Count,
• 2:45:31
  an opportunity to mention the affair of the Queen's necklace, a subject that
• 2:45:35
  the Count detested. Each one expressed his own opinion of the affair, and
• 2:45:41
  of course their various theories were not only contradictory, but impossible. And you,
• 2:45:46
  monsieur, said the Countess to the Chevalier FLORIANI, what is your opinion?
• 2:45:50
  Oh ay, I have no opinion, madame. All the guests protested
• 2:45:56
  for the Chevalier had just related in an entertaining manner, various adventures in which
• 2:46:01
  he had participated with his father, a magistrate at Palermo, and which established
• 2:46:05
  his judgment and taste in such manners, I confess, said he. I
• 2:46:11
  have sometimes succeeded in unraveling mysteries that the cleverest detectives have renounced. Yet I
• 2:46:16
  do not claim to be Sherlock Holmes. Moreover, I know very little about
• 2:46:20
  the affair of the Queen's necklace. Everybody now turned to the Count, who
• 2:46:24
  was thus obliged quite unwillingly, to narrate all the circumstances connected with the theft.
• 2:46:31
  The Chevalier listened, reflected, asked a few questions, and said,
• 2:46:37
  it is very strange. At first sight, the problem appears to be a
• 2:46:41
  very simple one. The Count shrugged his shoulders. The others drew closer to
• 2:46:46
  the Chevalier, who continued in a dogmatic tone. As a general rule,
• 2:46:52
  in order to find the author of a crime or a theft, it is
• 2:46:54
  necessary to determine how that crime or theft was committed, or at least how
• 2:47:00
  it could have been committed. In the present case, nothing is more simple,
• 2:47:05
  because we are face to face, not with several theories, but with
• 2:47:09
  one positive fact. That is to say, the thief could only enter by
• 2:47:13
  the chamber door or the window of the cabinet. Now a person cannot open
• 2:47:16
  a bolted door from the outside. Therefore he must have entered through the window.
• 2:47:22
  But it was closed and fastened, and we found it fastened afterward,
• 2:47:26
  declared the Count. In order to do that, continued FLORIANI, without heeding
• 2:47:31
  the interruption, he had simply to construct a bridge, a plank or a
• 2:47:35
  ladder between the balcony of the kitchen and the ledge of the window, and
• 2:47:39
  as the jewel case. But I repeat that the window was fastened, exclaimed
• 2:47:43
  the Count impatiently. This time FLORIANI was obliged to reply. He did so
• 2:47:50
  with the greatest tranquility, as if the objection was the most insignificant affair in
• 2:47:54
  the world. I will admit that it was. But is there not a
• 2:47:58
  transom in the upper part of the window? How do you know that in
• 2:48:03
  the first place that was customary in houses of that date, And in the
• 2:48:07
  second place, without such a transom, the theft cannot be explained. Yes,
• 2:48:13
  there is one, but it was closed the same as the window Consequently,
• 2:48:16
  we did not pay attention to it. That was a mistake, for
• 2:48:20
  if you had examined it, you would have found that it had been opened.
• 2:48:24
  But how I presume that, like all others, it opens by means
• 2:48:28
  of a wire with a ring on the lower end. Yes, but I
• 2:48:31
  do not see now through a hole in the window. A person could,
• 2:48:35
  by the aid of some instrument, let us say, a poker with a
• 2:48:39
  hook on the end, grip the ring, pull down and open the transom.
• 2:48:45
  The Count laughed and said, excellent, excellent. Your scheme is very
• 2:48:48
  cleverly constructed. But you overlook one thing, monsieur, there is no hole
• 2:48:52
  in the window. There was a hole, nonsense, we would have seen
• 2:48:58
  it. In order to see it, you must look for it, and
• 2:49:01
  no one has looked the whole is there. It must be there at the
• 2:49:05
  side of the window, in the putty in a vertical direction. Of course,
• 2:49:09
  the Count arose. He was greatly excited. He paced up and down
• 2:49:13
  the room two or three times in a nervous manner. Then, approaching FLORIANI
• 2:49:16
  said, nobody has been in that room since nothing has been changed. Very
• 2:49:22
  well, monsieur, you can easily satisfy yourself that my explanation is correct.
• 2:49:28
  It does not agree with the facts established by the examining judge. You have
• 2:49:31
  seen nothing, and yet you contradict all that we have seen and all that
• 2:49:35
  we know. FLORIANI paid no attention to the Count's petulance. He simply smiled
• 2:49:41
  and said, mon dieu, monsieur, I submit my theory. That is
• 2:49:45
  all. If I am mistaken, you can easily prove it. I will
• 2:49:48
  do so at once. I confess that your assurance. The Count muttered a
• 2:49:52
  few more words, then suddenly rushed to the door and passed out. Not
• 2:49:56
  a word was uttered in his absence, and this profect count silence gave the
• 2:50:01
  situation an air of almost tragic importance. Finally the Count returned. He was
• 2:50:07
  pale and nervous. He said to his friends in a trembling voice. I
• 2:50:11
  beg your pardon. The revelations of the Chevalier were so unexpected. I should
• 2:50:16
  never have thought. His wife questioned him eagerly, speak, what is it?
• 2:50:22
  He stammered, The whole is there at the very spot at the side
• 2:50:26
  of the window. He seized the Chevalier's arm and said to him in an
• 2:50:31
  imperious tone, Now, Monsieur proceed. I admit that you are right so
• 2:50:35
  far. But now that is not all. Go on, tell us the
• 2:50:39
  rest of it. FLORIANI disengaged his arm gently, and after a moment continued,
• 2:50:46
  Well, in my opinion, this is what happened. The thief,
• 2:50:50
  knowing that the Countess was going to wear the necklace that evening, had prepared
• 2:50:54
  his gangway or bridge during your absence. He watched you through the window and
• 2:50:58
  saw you hide the necklace. Afterward he cut the glass and pulled the ring.
• 2:51:03
  Ah, But the distance was so great that it would be impossible for
• 2:51:07
  him to reach the window fastening through the transom. Well, then if he
• 2:51:11
  could not open the window by reaching through the transom, he must have crawled
• 2:51:15
  through the transom. Impossible, it is too small, No man could crawl
• 2:51:20
  through it. Then it was not a man, declared FLORIANI. What if
• 2:51:24
  the transom is too small to admit a man, it must have been a
• 2:51:28
  child, a child. Did you not say that your friend Henriette had a
• 2:51:33
  son, Yes, a son named Raoul. Then in all probability it was
• 2:51:39
  Raoul who committed the theft. What proof of you of that? What proof
• 2:51:45
  plenty of it? For instance, he stopped and reflected for a moment,
• 2:51:48
  then continued. For instance, that gangway or bridge, it is improbable that
• 2:51:54
  the child could have brought it in from outside the house and carried it away
• 2:51:58
  again without being observed. He must have used something close at hand. In
• 2:52:01
  the little room used by Henriette as a kitchen, were there not some shelves
• 2:52:05
  against the wall on which she placed her pans and dishes? Two shelves,
• 2:52:11
  to the best of my memory. Are you sure that those shelves are really
• 2:52:15
  fastened to the wooden brackets that support them, For if they are not,
• 2:52:18
  we could be justified in presuming that the child removed them, fastened them together,
• 2:52:24
  and thus formed his bridge. Perhaps also, since there was a stove,
• 2:52:28
  we might find the bent poker that he used to open the transom.
• 2:52:33
  Without saying a word, the Count left the room, and this time those
• 2:52:37
  present did not feel the nervous anxiety that they had experienced the first time.
• 2:52:41
  They were confident that Floriani was right, and no one was surprised when the
• 2:52:46
  Count returned and declared it was the child. Everything proves it. You have
• 2:52:50
  seen the shelves and the poker. Yes, the shelves have been unnailed,
• 2:52:56
  and the poker is there yet, But the Countess exclaimed, you had better
• 2:53:01
  say it was his mother. Henriette is the guilty party. She must have
• 2:53:03
  compelled her son. No, declared the Chevalier. The mother had nothing to
• 2:53:09
  do with it. Nonsense. They occupied the same room. The child could
• 2:53:13
  not have done it without the mother's knowledge. True, they lived in the
• 2:53:16
  same room. But all this happened in the adjoining room during the night while
• 2:53:20
  the mother was asleep. And the necklace, said the count it would have
• 2:53:24
  been found amongst the child's things. Pardon me, he had been out that
• 2:53:31
  morning on which you found him reading, He had just come from school,
• 2:53:35
  and perhaps the Commissary of police, instead of wasting his time on the innocent
• 2:53:39
  mother, would have been better employed in searching the child's desk amongst his school
• 2:53:43
  books. But how do you explain those two thousand francs that Henriette received each
• 2:53:48
  year? Are they not evidence of her complicity? If she had been an
• 2:53:52
  accomplice, would she have thanked you for that money? And then was she
• 2:53:56
  not closely watched? But the child, being free, could easily go to
• 2:54:01
  a neighboring city, negotiate with some dealer and sell him one diamond or two
• 2:54:05
  diamonds as he might wish, upon condition that the money should be sent from
• 2:54:09
  Paris, and that proceeding could be repeated from year to year. An indescribable
• 2:54:16
  anxiety oppressed the dru Subilles and their guests. There was something in the tone
• 2:54:20
  and attitude of Floriani, something more than the chevalier's assurance, which from the
• 2:54:26
  beginning had so annoyed the Count. There was a touch of irony that seemed
• 2:54:31
  rather hostile than sympathetic. But the Count affected to laugh as he said,
• 2:54:37
  all that is very ingenious and interesting, and I congratulate you upon your vivid
• 2:54:41
  imagination. No, not at all, replied Floriani, with the utmost gravity.
• 2:54:46
  I imagine nothing. I simply describe the events as they must have occurred.
• 2:54:50
  But what do you know about them? What you yourself have told me?
• 2:54:54
  I pictured to myself the life of the mother and child down there in
• 2:54:58
  the country, the illness of the mother, the schemes of and inventions of
• 2:55:03
  the child to sell the precious stones in order to save his mother's life or
• 2:55:09
  at least soothe her dying moments. Her illness overcomes her, she dies.
• 2:55:15
  Years roll on, the child becomes a man, and then and now I
• 2:55:20
  will give my imagination a free reign. Let us suppose that the man feels
• 2:55:24
  a desire to return to the home of his childhood, that he does so,
• 2:55:28
  and that he meets there certain people who suspect and accuse his mother.
• 2:55:33
  Do you realize the sorrow and anguish of such an interview? In the very
• 2:55:37
  house wherein the original drama was played. His words seemed to echo for a
• 2:55:43
  few seconds in the ensuing silence, and one could read upon the faces of
• 2:55:48
  the Count and Countess stood through a bewildered effort to comprehend his meaning, and
• 2:55:52
  at the same time the fear and anguish of such a comprehension. The Count
• 2:55:58
  spoke at last and said, who are you, monsieur I, the chevalier
• 2:56:05
  FLORIANI, whom you met at Palermo, and whom you have been gracious enough
• 2:56:09
  to invite to your house on several occasions. Then what does this story mean?
• 2:56:13
  Oh? Nothing at all. It is simply a pastime. So far
• 2:56:16
  as I am concerned. I endeavored to depict the pleasure that Henriette's son,
• 2:56:22
  if he still lives, would have in telling you that he was the guilty
• 2:56:26
  party, and that he did it because his mother was unhappy, as she
• 2:56:30
  was on the point of losing the place of a servant by which she lived,
• 2:56:35
  and because the child suffered at sight of his mother's sorrow. He spoke
• 2:56:39
  with suppressed emotion, rose partially, and inclined toward the Countess. There could
• 2:56:46
  be no doubt that the Chevalier Floriani was Henriette's son. His attitude and words
• 2:56:52
  proclaimed it. Besides, was it not his obvious intention and desire to be
• 2:56:56
  recognized as such? The count count hesitated, what action would he take against
• 2:57:03
  the audacious guest ring, provoke a scandal, unmask the man who had once
• 2:57:07
  robbed him? But that was a long time ago, and who would believe
• 2:57:11
  that absurd story about the guilty child. No better far to accept the situation
• 2:57:18
  and pretend not to comprehend the true meaning of it. So the Count,
• 2:57:22
  turning to Floriani, exclaimed, your story is very curious, very entertaining.
• 2:57:30
  I enjoyed it much. But what do you think has become of this young
• 2:57:33
  man, this model son. I hope he has not abandoned the career in
• 2:57:37
  which he made such a brilliant debut. Oh, certainly not after such a
• 2:57:43
  debut to steal the Queen's necklace at six years of age, the celebrated necklace
• 2:57:48
  that was coveted by Marie Antoinette, and to steal it, remarked Floriani,
• 2:57:54
  falling in with the Count's mood, without costing him the slightest trouble, without
• 2:58:00
  but anyone thinking to examine the condition of the window, or to observe that
• 2:58:03
  the window sill was too clean, that window sill which he had wiped in
• 2:58:07
  order to effaced the marks he had made in the thick dust. We must
• 2:58:13
  admit that it was sufficient to turn the head of a boy at that age.
• 2:58:16
  It was all so easy. He had simply to desire the thing and
• 2:58:20
  reach out his hand to get it. And he reached out his hand,
• 2:58:26
  both hands, replied the Chevalier, laughing. His companions received a shock.
• 2:58:31
  What mystery surrounded the life of the so called Floriani. How wonderful must have
• 2:58:35
  been the life of that adventurer, a thief at six years of age,
• 2:58:39
  and who, to day, in search of excitement, or at most to
• 2:58:43
  gratify a feeling of resentment, had come to brave his victim in her own
• 2:58:48
  house, audaciously, foolishly, and yet with all the grace and delicacy of
• 2:58:54
  a courteous guest. He arose and approached the Countess to bid her a dear
• 2:59:01
  She recoiled unconsciously. He smiled, oh, madame, you are afraid of
• 2:59:07
  me. Did I pursue my roll of parlor magician a step too far?
• 2:59:11
  She controlled herself and replied with her accustomed ease, not at all, monsieur.
• 2:59:18
  The legend of that dutiful son interested me very much, and I am
• 2:59:22
  pleased to know that the necklace had such a brilliant destiny. But do you
• 2:59:26
  not think that the son of that woman, that Henriette, was the victim
• 2:59:30
  of hereditary influence in the choice of his vocation? He shuddered, feeling the
• 2:59:35
  point, and replied, I am sure of it. And moreover, his
• 2:59:41
  natural tendency to crime must have been very strong, or he would have been
• 2:59:45
  discouraged. Why so, because, as you must know, the majority of
• 2:59:50
  the diamonds were false. The only genuine stones were a few purchased from the
• 2:59:56
  English jeweler, the others having been sold one by one one to meet the
• 3:00:01
  cruel necessities of life. It was still the Queen's necklace, Monsieur replied.
• 3:00:07
  The Countess haughtily, and that is something that he, Henriette's son, could
• 3:00:11
  not appreciate. He was able to appreciate, Madame, that whether true or
• 3:00:18
  false, the necklace was nothing more than an object of parade, an emblem
• 3:00:24
  of senseless pride. The count made a threatening gesture, but his wife stopped
• 3:00:28
  him. Monsieur, She said, if the man to whom you allude has
• 3:00:33
  the slightest sense of honor, she stopped, intimidated by Floriani's cool manner.
• 3:00:41
  If that man has the slightest sense of honor, he repeated. She felt
• 3:00:46
  that she would not gain anything by speaking to him in that manner, and
• 3:00:50
  in spite of her anger and indignation, trembling as she was from humiliated pride,
• 3:00:56
  she said to him, almost politely, monsieur. The legend says that
• 3:01:01
  Reteau de Villette, when in possession of the Queen's necklace, did not disfigure
• 3:01:07
  the mounting. He understood that the diamonds were simply the ornament the accessory,
• 3:01:11
  and that the mounting was the essential work the creation of the artist, and
• 3:01:16
  he respected it accordingly. Do you think that this man had the same feeling.
• 3:01:22
  I have no doubt that the mounting still exists. The child respected it
• 3:01:28
  well, monsieur, if you should happen to meet him, will you tell
• 3:01:31
  him that he unjustly keeps possession of a relic that is the property and pride
• 3:01:37
  of a certain family, And that although the stones have been removed, the
• 3:01:41
  Queen's necklace still belongs to the house of Drusubilles. It belongs to us as
• 3:01:48
  much as our name or our honor. The chevalier replied, simply, I
• 3:01:54
  shall tell him, Madame. He bowed to her, saluted the count and
• 3:02:00
  the other guests, and departed. Four days later, the Countess stood through
• 3:02:07
  found upon the table in her chamber a red leather case bearing the cardinal's arms.
• 3:02:11
  She opened it and found the Queen's necklace. But as all things must
• 3:02:18
  in the life of a man who strives for unity and logic, converge toward
• 3:02:22
  the same goal, and as a little advertising never does any harm. On
• 3:02:28
  the following day, the Ecco de France published these sensational lines. The Queen's
• 3:02:35
  Necklace, the famous historical jewelry stolen from the family of Drusubilles, has been
• 3:02:41
  recovered by Arsene Lupin, who hastened to restore it to its rightful owner.
• 3:02:46
  We cannot too highly commend such a delicate and chivalrous act. End of Chapter
• 3:02:58
  five, Chapter six, The Seven of Hearts. I'm frequently asked this question,
• 3:03:05
  how did you make the acquaintance of ur Sine Luperer? My connection with
• 3:03:09
  us in Lupe is well known. The details that I gather concerning that mysterious
• 3:03:13
  man, the irrefutable facts that I present, the new evidence that I produce,
• 3:03:18
  the interpretation that I place on certain acts of which the public has seen
• 3:03:22
  only the exterior manifestations without being able to discover the secret reasons or the invisible
• 3:03:28
  mechanism. All establish, if not an intimacy, at least amicable relations and
• 3:03:35
  regular confidences. But how did I make his acquaintance? Why was I selected
• 3:03:41
  to be his historiographer? Why I and not some one else? The answer
• 3:03:46
  is simple. Chance alone presided over my choice. My Merit was not considered.
• 3:03:52
  It was chance that put me in his way. It was chance that
• 3:03:56
  I was a participant in one of his strangest and most mysterious adventures. And
• 3:04:01
  by chance I was an actor in a drama that he was the marvelous stage
• 3:04:05
  director, an obscure and intricate drama bristling with such thrilling events that I feel
• 3:04:11
  a certain embarrassment in undertaking to describe it. The first act takes place during
• 3:04:18
  that memorable night of twenty second June, of which so much has already been
• 3:04:22
  said, And for my part, I attribute the anomalous conduct of which I
• 3:04:26
  was guilty on that occasion to the unusual form of mind in which I found
• 3:04:31
  myself on my return home. I had dined with some friends at the Cascade
• 3:04:35
  Restaurant, and the entire evening, whilst we smoked and the orchestra played melancholy
• 3:04:41
  waltzes, we talked only of crimes and thefts, and dark and frightful intrigues.
• 3:04:46
  That is always a poor overture to a night's sleep. The Saint Martin
• 3:04:52
  went away in an automobile Jean Daspri, that delightful, heedless Daspris, who
• 3:04:58
  six months later was killed in such tragic manner on the frontier of Morocco.
• 3:05:03
  Gendespris and I returned on foot through the dark, warm night. When we
• 3:05:07
  arrived in front of the little house in which I had lived for a year
• 3:05:11
  at Ny on the Bulevarmayo, he said to me, you afraid. What
• 3:05:16
  an idea. But this house is too isolated, no neighbors, vacant lots.
• 3:05:22
  Really, I'm not a coward and gets well, you are very cheering.
• 3:05:26
  I must say, oh ah, I say that as I would say
• 3:05:30
  anything else. The Saint Martin have impressed me with their stories of brigands and
• 3:05:33
  thieves. We shook hands and said good night. I took out my key
• 3:05:39
  and opened the door. Well, that's good, I mournmwood. Antoine has
• 3:05:43
  forgotten to light a candle. Then I recalled the fact that Antoine was away.
• 3:05:48
  I'd given him a short leave of absence. Forthwith, I was disagreeably
• 3:05:54
  oppressed by the darkness and silence of the night. I ascended the stairs on
• 3:05:58
  tiptoe and reached my room as quickly as possible. Then, contrary to my
• 3:06:03
  usual habit, I turned the key and pushed the bolt. The light of
• 3:06:09
  my candle restored my courage. Yet I was careful to take my revolver from
• 3:06:13
  its case, a large powerful weapon, and place it beside the bed.
• 3:06:18
  That precaution completed my reassurance. I laid down and, as usual, took
• 3:06:24
  a book from my night table to read myself to sleep. Then I received
• 3:06:28
  a great surprise. Instead of the paper knife with which I had marked my
• 3:06:33
  place upon the preceding, I found the envelope closed with five seals of red
• 3:06:39
  wax. I seized it eagerly. It was addressed to me and marked urgent.
• 3:06:45
  A letter, A letter addressed to me? Who could have put it
• 3:06:48
  in that place? Nervously I tore open the envelope and read from the moment
• 3:06:54
  you opened this letter. Whatever happens, whatever you may hear, do not
• 3:07:00
  move, do not utter, utter one cry, otherwise you are doomed.
• 3:07:05
  I am not a coward, and quite as well as any other I can
• 3:07:09
  face real danger or smile at the visionary perils of imagination. But let me
• 3:07:15
  repeat, I was in an anomalous condition of mind, with my nerves set
• 3:07:20
  on edge by the events of the evening. Besides, was it not in
• 3:07:24
  my present situation something startling and mysterious, calculated to disturb the most courageous spirit.
• 3:07:31
  My feverish fingers clutched the sheet of paper. I read and re read
• 3:07:37
  those threatening words. Do not move, do not utter one cry, otherwise
• 3:07:46
  you are doomed. Nonsense. I thought it's a joke, the work of
• 3:07:52
  some cheerful idiot. I was about to laugh, a good loud laugh.
• 3:07:56
  Who prevented me? What haunting fear compressed my throat? Least I would blow
• 3:08:03
  out the candle. No, I could not do it. Do not move,
• 3:08:07
  or you are doomed were the words he had written. These auto suggestions
• 3:08:11
  are frequently more imperious than the most positive realities. But why should I struggle
• 3:08:18
  against them? I had simply to close my eyes. I did so.
• 3:08:24
  At that moment, I heard a slight noise, followed by crackling sounds,
• 3:08:30
  proceeding from a large room used by me as a library. A small room
• 3:08:33
  or antechamber was situated between the library and my bedchamber. The approach of an
• 3:08:39
  actual danger greatly excited me. I felt a desire to get up, seize
• 3:08:43
  my revolver, and rush into the library. I did not rise. I
• 3:08:48
  saw one of the curtains of the left window move. There was no doubt
• 3:08:52
  about it. The curtain had moved, it was still moving, and I
• 3:08:56
  saw, oh, I saw quite distinctly in the narrow space between the curtains
• 3:09:01
  and the window, a human form, a bulky mass that prevented the curtains
• 3:09:05
  from hanging straight. It was equally certain that the man saw me through the
• 3:09:11
  large meshes of the curtain. Then I understood the situation. His mission was
• 3:09:18
  to guard me while the others carried away their booty. Should I rise and
• 3:09:22
  seize my revolver? Impossible? He was there at the least movement, at
• 3:09:26
  the least cry. I was doomed. Then came a terrific noise that shook
• 3:09:31
  the house. This was followed by lighter sounds, two or three together,
• 3:09:35
  like those of a hammer that rebounded. At least that was the impression formed
• 3:09:39
  in my confused brain. These were mingled with other sounds, thus creating a
• 3:09:45
  veritable uproar, which proved that the intruders were not only bold, but felt
• 3:09:50
  themselves secure from interruption. They were right. I did not move. Was
• 3:09:56
  it cowardice? No? The weakness, a total inability to move any portion
• 3:10:03
  of my body, combined with discretion. For why should I struggle behind that
• 3:10:07
  man? There were ten others who had come to his assistance. Should I
• 3:10:13
  risk my life to save a few tapestries and be below throughout the night?
• 3:10:18
  My torture endured, insufferable torture, terrible anguish. The noises had stopped,
• 3:10:28
  but I was in constant fear of their renewal, and the man the manner
• 3:10:33
  was guiding me weapon in hand. My fearful eyes remained cast in his direction,
• 3:10:37
  and my heart beat and a profuse perspiration oozed from every pore of my
• 3:10:43
  body. Suddenly I experienced an immense relief. A milk wagon, whose sound
• 3:10:50
  was familiar to me, passed along the boulevard, and at the same time
• 3:10:54
  I had an impression of the light of a new day, trying to steal
• 3:10:58
  through the closed window blo at last daylight penetrated the room. Other vehicles passed
• 3:11:05
  along the boulevard, and all the phantoms of the night vanished. Then I
• 3:11:11
  put one arm out of the bed, slowly and cautiously. My eyes were
• 3:11:15
  fixed upon the curtain, locating the exact spot of which I must fire.
• 3:11:22
  I made an exact calculation of the movements I must make. Then quickly I
• 3:11:26
  seized my revolver and fired. I leaped from my bed with a cry of
• 3:11:31
  deliverance, and rushed to the window. The bullet had passed through the curtain
• 3:11:35
  and the window glass, but it had not touch the man, for the
• 3:11:39
  very good reason that there was no one there. Nobody. Thus, during
• 3:11:46
  the entire night. I had been hypnotized by a fold of the curtain,
• 3:11:50
  and during that time the malefactors furiously. With an enthusiasm that nothing could have
• 3:11:54
  stopped, I turned the key, opened the door, crossed the ante chamber,
• 3:11:58
  opened another door, and rushed into the library. But amazement stopped me
• 3:12:03
  of my threshold, panting, astounded, more astonished than I had been by
• 3:12:07
  the absence of the man. All the things that I had supposed had been
• 3:12:11
  stolen, furniture, books, pictures, old tapestries, everything was in its
• 3:12:15
  proper place. It was incredible. I could not believe my eyes. Notwithstanding
• 3:12:20
  that uproar, those noises of removal, I made it to her. I
• 3:12:24
  inspected the walls, I made a mental inventory of all the familiar objects.
• 3:12:28
  Nothing was missing, And what was more disconcerting, there was no clue to
• 3:12:35
  the intruders, not a sign, not a chair disturbed, not the trace
• 3:12:39
  of a footstep. Well, well, I said to myself, pressing my
• 3:12:45
  hands on my bewildered head. Surely I am not crazy. I hear something
• 3:12:50
  inch by inch. I made a careful examination of the room. It was
• 3:12:54
  in vain and as I could consider this a discovery, under a small perch
• 3:13:00
  rug I found a card, an ordinary playing card. It was the seven
• 3:13:07
  of Hearts. It was like any other seven of hearts in French playing cards,
• 3:13:11
  with this slight but curious exception. The extreme point of each of the
• 3:13:16
  seven red spots or hearts was pierced by a hole, round and regular,
• 3:13:22
  as if made with the point of an all. Nothing more a card and
• 3:13:28
  a letter found in a book. But was that not sufficients to affirm that
• 3:13:35
  I had not been the plaything of a dream. Throughout the day I continued
• 3:13:41
  my searches in the library. It was a large room, much too large
• 3:13:43
  for the requirements of such a house, and the decoration of which attested the
• 3:13:48
  bizarre taste of its founder. The floor was a mosaic of multi colored stones
• 3:13:54
  formed into large symmetrical designs. The walls were covered with a similar mosaic,
• 3:14:00
  arranged in panels Pompeian allegories, Byzantine compositions, frescoes of the Middle Ages.
• 3:14:07
  A Bacchus bestriding a casque An emperor, wearing a gold crown, a flowing
• 3:14:11
  beard, and holding a sword in his right hand, quite high after the
• 3:14:16
  style of an artist's studio. There was a large window, the only one
• 3:14:20
  in the room. That window being always open at night, it was probable
• 3:14:26
  that the men had entered through it by the aid of a ladder, but
• 3:14:31
  again there was no evidence. The bottom of the ladder would have left some
• 3:14:35
  marks in the soft earth beneath the window, but there were none, nor
• 3:14:39
  were there any traces of footsteps in any part of the yard. I had
• 3:14:45
  no idea of informing the police, because the facts I had before me were
• 3:14:48
  so absurd and inconsistent. They would laugh at me. However, as I
• 3:14:56
  was then a reporter on the staff of the Guilblains, I wrote a lengthy
• 3:15:01
  account of my adventure, and it was published in the paper on the second
• 3:15:05
  day hereafter. The article attracted some attention, but no one took it seriously.
• 3:15:09
  They regarded it as a work of fiction rather than a story of real
• 3:15:13
  life. The Saint Martin railed me, but Daspris, who took an interest
• 3:15:20
  in such matters, came to see me, made a study of the affair,
• 3:15:22
  but reached no conclusion. A few mornings later, the door bell rang
• 3:15:28
  and Antoine came to inform me that a gentleman desired to see me. He
• 3:15:31
  would not give his name, I directed Antoine to show him up. He
• 3:15:35
  was a man of about forty years of age, with a very dark complexion,
• 3:15:39
  lively features, and whose correct dress slightly frayed, proclaimed a taste that
• 3:15:45
  contrasted strangely with his rather vulgar manners. Without any preamble, he said to
• 3:15:50
  me in a rough voice that confirmed my suspicion as to his social position.
• 3:15:54
  Monsieur, Whilst in a Cafeire picked up a copy of the Guilblais and read
• 3:16:00
  your article. It interested me very much, Thank you, and here I
• 3:16:03
  am ah yes to talk to you. Are all the facts related by you
• 3:16:09
  quite correct? Absolutely so well? In that case, I can perhaps give
• 3:16:16
  you some information very well? Proceed No, not yet. First I must
• 3:16:24
  be sure that the facts are exactly as you have related them. I have
• 3:16:28
  given you my word. What further proof do you want? I must remain
• 3:16:31
  alone in this room. I do not understand, I said, with surprise.
• 3:16:37
  It is an idea that occurred to me when reading your article. Certain
• 3:16:41
  details established an extraordinary coincidence with another case that came under my notice. If
• 3:16:46
  I am mistaken, then I shall say nothing more, and the only means
• 3:16:50
  of ascertaining the truth is by my remaining in the room alone. What was
• 3:16:56
  the bottom of this proposition? Later I recall that the man was exceedingly nervous,
• 3:17:03
  But at the same time, though somewhat astonished, I found nothing particularly
• 3:17:05
  abnormal about the man or the request he had made. However, my curiosity
• 3:17:11
  was aroused, so I replied, very well, how much time do you
• 3:17:15
  require? No? Three minutes? No longer three minutes from now. I
• 3:17:20
  will rejoin you. I left the room and went downstairs. I took out
• 3:17:24
  my watch. One minute passed, two minutes. Why did I feel so
• 3:17:31
  depressed? Why did those moments seem so solemn and weird? Two minutes and
• 3:17:37
  a half, two minutes and three quarters. Then I heard a pistol shot.
• 3:17:43
  I bounded up the stairs and entered the room. A cry of horror
• 3:17:46
  escaped me. In the middle of the room, the man was lying on
• 3:17:50
  his left side, motionless. Blood was flowing from a wound in his forehead.
• 3:17:54
  Near his hand was a revolver, still smoking. But in addition to
• 3:18:00
  this frightful spectacle, my attention was attracted by another object. At two feet
• 3:18:05
  from the body, upon the floor, I saw a playing card. It
• 3:18:09
  was the Seven of Hearts. I picked it up. The lower extremity of
• 3:18:15
  each of the seven spots was pierced by a small round hole. A half
• 3:18:22
  hour later, the Commissary of Police arrived, then the coroner and the chief
• 3:18:28
  of the surte Monsieur du dux I had been careful not to touch the corpse.
• 3:18:35
  The preliminary inquiry was very brief and disclosed nothing. There were no papers
• 3:18:41
  in the pockets of the deceased, no name upon his clothes, no initial
• 3:18:43
  upon his linen, nothing to give any clue to his identity. The room
• 3:18:50
  was in the same perfect order as before. The furniture had not been disturbed.
• 3:18:54
  Yet this man had not come to my house solely for the purpose of
• 3:18:58
  killing himself, or because he considered my place the most convenient one for his
• 3:19:03
  suicide. There must have been a motive for his act of despair, and
• 3:19:07
  that motive was, no doubt the result of some new fact ascertained by him
• 3:19:13
  during the three minutes he was alone. What was that fact? What had
• 3:19:18
  he seen? What frightful secret had been revealed to him? There was no
• 3:19:24
  answer to these questions. But at the last moment an incident occurred that appeared
• 3:19:30
  to us of considerable importance, as two policemen were raising the body to place
• 3:19:35
  it on a stretcher. The left hand thus being disturbed, A crumpled card
• 3:19:39
  fell from it. The card bore these words, jeorg and a Matte thirty
• 3:19:46
  seven rue de berrie. What did that mean? Jeorg ander Maatt was a
• 3:19:52
  rich banker in Paris, the founder and president of the Metal Exchange, which
• 3:19:56
  had given such an impulse to the metallic industries and France. He lived in
• 3:20:01
  princely style, was the possessor of numerous automobiles, coaches and an expensive racing
• 3:20:07
  stable. His social affairs were very select, and Madame ander Matte was noted
• 3:20:13
  for her grace and beauty. Can that be the man's name? I asked
• 3:20:20
  the chief of the Sieurte leaned over him. Tis not he? Monsieur ander
• 3:20:24
  Matt is a thin man and slightly gray? But why this card? Have
• 3:20:30
  you a telephone? Monsieur, here's in the vestibule? Come with me?
• 3:20:33
  He looked in the directory and then died for number four one five two one.
• 3:20:41
  Is Monsieur and deer Matt at home? Please tell him that Monsieur Dudu
• 3:20:46
  wishes him to come at once to one hundred and two bel amayo very important.
• 3:20:52
  Twenty minutes later, Monsieur Ander Matt arrived in his automobile. After the
• 3:20:58
  circumstances have been explained to him, he was taken in to see the corpse.
• 3:21:01
  He dispayed considerable emotion and spoke in a low tone, apparently unwillingly.
• 3:21:07
  Etien varens, he said, you know him no, or at least ye,
• 3:21:16
  yes, by sight? Only his brother? Ah, he has a
• 3:21:18
  brother, yes, Alfred Varain. He came to see me once on some
• 3:21:24
  matter of business. I forget what it was. Where does he live?
• 3:21:28
  The two brothers lived together Rue de Provence. I think, do you know
• 3:21:33
  any reason why he should commit suicide? None? He held a card in
• 3:21:37
  his hand. It was your card with your address. I do not understand
• 3:21:41
  that it must have been there by some chance that would be disclosed by the
• 3:21:46
  investigation. Great strange chance, I thought, and I felt that the others
• 3:21:52
  entertained the same impression. I discovered the same impression in the papers next day,
• 3:21:58
  and amongst all my friends with whom I discussed the affair amid the mysteries
• 3:22:01
  that enveloped it. After a double discovery of the seven of Hearts, pierced
• 3:22:07
  with seven holes after two inscrutable events that had happened in my house, and
• 3:22:13
  that visiting card promised to throw some light on the affair. Through it,
• 3:22:18
  the truth may be revealed. But contrary to our expectations, Monsieur Andermatz furnished
• 3:22:24
  no explanation. He said, I have told you all I know, what
• 3:22:28
  more can I do. I am greatly surprised that my card should be found
• 3:22:33
  in such a place, and I sincerely hope the point will be cleared up.
• 3:22:39
  It was not. The official investigation established that the Varam brothers were of
• 3:22:43
  Swiss origin, had led a shifting life under various names, frequenting gambling resorts,
• 3:22:50
  associating with a band of foreigners who had been dispersed by the police after
• 3:22:54
  a series of robberies in which the participation was established only by their flight at
• 3:23:00
  number twenty four Rue de Provence, where the Varin brothers had lived six years
• 3:23:03
  before, no one knew what had become of them. I confess that for
• 3:23:09
  my part, the case seemed to me so complicated and so mysterious that I
• 3:23:13
  did not think the problem would ever be solved. So I concluded to waste
• 3:23:18
  no more time upon it. But Jia d'aspri, whom I frequently met at
• 3:23:24
  that period, became more and more interested in it each day. It was
• 3:23:28
  he who pointed to me the item from a foreign newspaper, which was reproduced
• 3:23:33
  and commented upon by the entire press. It was as follows, the first
• 3:23:37
  trial of a new model submarine boat, which is expected to revolutionize naval warfare,
• 3:23:43
  will be given in the presence of the former Emperor, at a place
• 3:23:46
  that would be kept secret until the last minute. An indiscretion has revealed its
• 3:23:50
  name. It is called the Seven of Hearts. The Seven of Hearts that
• 3:23:56
  presented a new problem. Could a connection be established between the name of the
• 3:24:01
  submarine and the incidents which we have related? But a connection of what nature?
• 3:24:07
  What had happened here could have no possible relation with a submarine. What
• 3:24:15
  do you know about it? Despri said to me. The most diverse effects
• 3:24:20
  often proceed from the same cause. Two days later, the following foreign news
• 3:24:24
  item was received and published. It is said that the plans for the new
• 3:24:30
  submarine Seven of Hearts were prepared by French engineers, who, having sought in
• 3:24:33
  vain the support of their compatriots, subsequently entered in negotiations with the British Admiralty
• 3:24:39
  without success. I do not wish to give undue publicity to certain delicate matters
• 3:24:46
  which once provoked considerable excitement. Yet, since all danger of injury therefrom has
• 3:24:52
  now come to an end, I must speak of the article that appeared in
• 3:24:56
  the Echo de France, which aroused so much comment at that time, in
• 3:25:01
  which through considerable light upon the mystery of the Seven of Hearts. This is
• 3:25:05
  the article as it was published over the signature of Salvador, the Affair of
• 3:25:13
  the Seven of Hearts, A corner of the veil raised, we will be
• 3:25:18
  brief. Ten years ago, a young mining engineer, Louis la Combe,
• 3:25:22
  wishing to devote his time and fortune to certain studies, resigned his position that
• 3:25:26
  he then held and rented number one O two Boulevar Mayo, a small house
• 3:25:33
  which had been recently built and decorated from an Italian count. Through the agency
• 3:25:37
  of the Varin brothers of Lausanne, one of whom assisted in the preliminary experiments
• 3:25:43
  and the other acted as financial agent, the young engineer was introduced to Georges
• 3:25:48
  Andermattz, the founder of the Metal Exchange. After several interviews, he succeeded
• 3:25:56
  in interesting the banker in a submarine boat on which he was working, and
• 3:26:00
  it was agreed that as soon as the invention was perfected, Monsieur Andermatt was
• 3:26:03
  used influence with the Minister of Marine to obtain a series of trials under the
• 3:26:09
  direction of the government. For two years, Loui la Combe was a frequent
• 3:26:13
  visitor at Andermatt's house, and he submitted to the banker the various improvements he
• 3:26:18
  made upon his original plans, until one day, being satisfied with the perfection
• 3:26:22
  of his work, he asked Monsie Andermatt to communicate with the Minister of Marine.
• 3:26:28
  That day, Loui la Combe dined at Mont Monsieur Andermatt's house. He
• 3:26:31
  left there about half past eleven at night. He has not been seen since.
• 3:26:39
  A perusal of the newspapers of that date will show that the young man's
• 3:26:41
  family caused every possible inquiry to be made, but without success, and it
• 3:26:46
  was the general opinion that Loui la Combe, who was known as an original
• 3:26:52
  and visionary youth, had quietly left for parts unknown. Let us accept that
• 3:26:56
  theory improbable that it may be, and let us consider another question, which
• 3:27:01
  is a most important one for our country. What has become of the plans
• 3:27:05
  of the submarine? Did Loui la Combe carry them away? Are they destroyed?
• 3:27:09
  After making a thorough investigation, we are able to assert positively that the
• 3:27:13
  plans are in existence and are now in the possession of the two brothers Variness.
• 3:27:18
  How did they acquire such a possession, That is a question not yet
• 3:27:22
  determined, Nor do we know why they have not tried to sell them at
• 3:27:28
  an earlier date. Did they fear that their title to them would be called
• 3:27:31
  in question? If so, they have lost that fear. And we can
• 3:27:35
  announce definitely that the plans of Loui la Combe are now the property of a
• 3:27:39
  foreign power, and we are in a position to publish the correspondence that pass
• 3:27:43
  between the Varin brothers and the representative of that power. The Seven of Hearts
• 3:27:48
  invented by Louis la Combe has actually been constructed by our neighbor. Will the
• 3:27:54
  invention fulfill the optimistic expectations of those who were concerned in that treacherous act?
• 3:28:00
  And a PostScript adds later our special correspondent informs us that the preliminary trial of
• 3:28:05
  the Seven of Hearts has not been satisfactory. It is quite likely that the
• 3:28:09
  plans sold and delivered by the Varin brothers did not include the final document carried
• 3:28:13
  by Louis la Combe to Monsieur Andermatt on the day of his disappearance, a
• 3:28:18
  document that is indispensable to a thorough understanding of the invention. It contained the
• 3:28:24
  summary of the final conclusions of the inventor and estimates and figures not contained in
• 3:28:28
  the other papers. Without this document, the plans are incomplete. On the
• 3:28:33
  other hand, without the plans, the document is worthless. Now is the
• 3:28:37
  time to act and recover what belongs to us. It may be a difficult
• 3:28:41
  matter, but we rely upon the assistance of Monsieur andermat. It will be
• 3:28:45
  to his interest to explain his conduct, which has hitherto been so strange and
• 3:28:48
  inscrutable. He will explain not only why he concealed these facts the time of
• 3:28:54
  the suicide of Etien Varens, but also why he has never revealed the disappearance
• 3:28:58
  of the paper, a fact well known to him. He will tell why
• 3:29:03
  during the last six years he paid spies to watch the movements of the Varin
• 3:29:07
  brothers. We expect from him not any words, but acts and at once.
• 3:29:11
  Otherwise the threat was plainly expressed, But of what did it consist?
• 3:29:18
  What whip was Sulvatore, the anonymous writer of the article, holding over the
• 3:29:22
  head of Monsieur Andermatt's. An army of reporters attacked the banker, and ten
• 3:29:28
  interviewers announced the scornful manner in which they had been treated. Whereupon the Ecu
• 3:29:33
  de France announced its position in these words, whether Monsieur Andermat is willing or
• 3:29:39
  not, he will be henceforth our collaborator in the work we have undertaken.
• 3:29:48
  Dasbi and I were dining together on the day on which that announcement appeared.
• 3:29:52
  That evening, with the newspaper spread over my table, we discussed the affair
• 3:29:56
  and examined it from every point of view, with that ext aspiration that a
• 3:30:01
  person feels when walking in the dark and finding himself constantly falling over the same
• 3:30:05
  obstacles. Suddenly, without me warning whatsoever, the door opened and a lady
• 3:30:09
  entered. Her face was hidden behind a thick veil. I rose at once
• 3:30:15
  and approached her. Is it you, monsieur who lives here? She asked,
• 3:30:20
  yes, Madame, but I do not understand the gate was not locked,
• 3:30:24
  she explained, but the vestibule door. She did not reply, and
• 3:30:28
  it occurred to me that she had used the servant's entrance. How did she
• 3:30:31
  know the way? Then there was a silence that was quite embarrassing. She
• 3:30:37
  looked at Daspriy, and I was obliged to introduce him. I asked her
• 3:30:41
  to be seated and explain the object of her visit. She raised her veil,
• 3:30:46
  and I saw that she was a brunette with regular features, and although
• 3:30:50
  not handsome, she was attractive, principally on account of her sad, dark
• 3:30:54
  eyes. I am Madame Andermatte, she said, Madame ander matt I repeated
• 3:31:01
  with astonishment. After a brief pause, she continued with a voice and manner
• 3:31:07
  that were quite easy and natural. I've come to see you about that affair.
• 3:31:11
  You know, I thought I might be able to obtain some information,
• 3:31:16
  mon dieu, madame. I know nothing but what has already appeared in the
• 3:31:20
  papers. But if you will point out in what way I can help you,
• 3:31:24
  I do not know. I do not know. Not until then did
• 3:31:28
  I suspect that our calm demeanor was assumed and that some poignant grief was concealed.
• 3:31:35
  Beneath that air of tranquility. For a moment we were silent and embarrassed.
• 3:31:39
  Then Dasbery stepped forward and said, will you permit me to ask you
• 3:31:45
  a few questions? Yes, yes, she cried, I will answer.
• 3:31:50
  You will answer whatever those questions may be. Yes, did you know Louis
• 3:31:54
  la Combe? He asked, yes, through my husband. When did you
• 3:32:01
  see him for the last time? The evening he dined with us at that
• 3:32:07
  time? Was there anything to lead you to believe that you would never see
• 3:32:09
  him again? No? He had spoken of a trip to Russia in a
• 3:32:13
  vague way, and then you expected to see him again. Yes, he
• 3:32:18
  was to dine with us two days later. How do you explain his disappearance?
• 3:32:22
  I cannot explain it, and Monsieur Andermatz, I do not know yet.
• 3:32:28
  The article published in the Echo de France indicates, yes, that was
• 3:32:31
  the Varin brothers had something to do with his disappearance. Is that your opinion?
• 3:32:37
  Yes? On what do you base your opinion? When he left our
• 3:32:39
  house, Leila comp carried a satchel containing all the papers relating to his invention.
• 3:32:46
  Two days later, my husband, in a conversation with one of the
• 3:32:48
  Varin brothers learned that the papers were in their possession, and he did not
• 3:32:54
  denounce them. No, why not? Because there was something else in the
• 3:32:58
  satchel, something besides the papers of Loui la Combe. What was it?
• 3:33:05
  She hesitated, was on the point of speaking, but finally remained silent.
• 3:33:09
  Daspery continued, I presume that is why your husband has kept a close watch
• 3:33:15
  over their movements. Instead of informing the police, he hoped to recover the
• 3:33:18
  papers, and at the same time that compromising article which has enabled the two
• 3:33:24
  brothers to hold over him, threats of exposure and blackmail over him and over
• 3:33:28
  me. Ah, over you, also over me in particular. She uttered
• 3:33:35
  the last word in a hollow voice. Daspery observed it, and he paced
• 3:33:39
  to and fro for a moment, then, turning to her, asked,
• 3:33:45
  had you written to Louis la Combe? Oh? Of course, my husband
• 3:33:48
  had business with him. Apart from those business letters. Had you written to
• 3:33:54
  Louis la Combe other letters? Excuse my insistence, but it is absolutely necessary
• 3:33:58
  I should know the truth. Did you write other letters? Yes, she
• 3:34:05
  replied, blushing, and those letters came into the possession of the Varin brothers.
• 3:34:09
  Yes, does monsieur Ander Matt know it. He has not seen them,
• 3:34:16
  but Alfred Varain told him of their existence and threatened to publish them if
• 3:34:20
  my husband should take steps against him. My husband was afraid of a scandal,
• 3:34:28
  but he has tried to recover the letters. I think so, but
• 3:34:31
  I do not know. You see, after the last interview with Alfred Varain,
• 3:34:35
  after some harsh words between me and my husband in which he called me
• 3:34:39
  to account, we live as strangers. In that case, you have nothing
• 3:34:45
  to lose. What do you fear? I may be indifferent to him now,
• 3:34:50
  but I am the woman that he has loved, the one he would
• 3:34:52
  still love. Oh, I am quite sure of that, She murmured in
• 3:34:56
  a fervent voice. He would still love me if he had not got hold
• 3:35:01
  of those cursed letters. What did he succeed? But the two brothers still
• 3:35:05
  defied him. Yes, and they boasted of having a secure hiding place.
• 3:35:11
  Well, I believe my husband discovered that hiding place. Well, I believe
• 3:35:16
  that my husband has discovered that hiding place. Ah, where is it here?
• 3:35:22
  Here? I cried an alarm. Yes, I always had that suspicion.
• 3:35:28
  Lui la Combe was very ingenious and amused himself in his leisure hours by
• 3:35:31
  making safes and locks. No doubt the Varin brothers were aware of that fact,
• 3:35:37
  and utilized one of la Combe's safes in which to conceal the letters and
• 3:35:41
  other things. Perhaps, but they did not live here, I said,
• 3:35:48
  before you came four months ago. The house had been vacant for some time,
• 3:35:52
  and they may have thought that your presence here would not interfere with them
• 3:35:54
  when they wanted to get the papers. But they did not count on my
• 3:35:58
  husband, who came here on the night of the twenty second June, forced
• 3:36:03
  the safe, took what he was seeking, and left his card to inform
• 3:36:07
  the two brothers that he feared them no more and that their positions were now
• 3:36:11
  reversed. Two days later, after reading the article in the juelblars Itier,
• 3:36:16
  Varin came here, remained alone in this room, and found the safe empty,
• 3:36:22
  and killed himself. After a moment. Daspri said, a very simple
• 3:36:30
  theory. Has Monsieur Ander madd spoken to you since then? No? Has
• 3:36:35
  his attitude towards you changed in any way? Does he appear more gloomy,
• 3:36:39
  more anxious? No? I haven't noticed any change. And yet you think
• 3:36:43
  he has secured the letters. Now, in my opinion, he has not
• 3:36:46
  got those letters. And it was not he who came here on the night
• 3:36:50
  of the twenty second June. Who was it, then, the mysterious individual
• 3:36:56
  who is managing this affair, who holds all the threads in his hands,
• 3:36:58
  and whose invisible but far reaching powers we have felt from the beginning. It
• 3:37:03
  was here and his friends who entered this house on the twenty second June.
• 3:37:07
  It was he who discovered the hiding place of the papers. It was he
• 3:37:09
  who left Monsieur ander Matt's card. It is he who now holds the correspondence
• 3:37:15
  and the evidence of treachery of the ma Varin brothers. Who is he,
• 3:37:20
  i asked impatiently, the man who writes letters to the Ecu de France salvatore?
• 3:37:26
  Have we not convincing evidence of that fact? Does he not mention in
• 3:37:30
  his letters certain details that no one could know except the man who had thus
• 3:37:33
  discovered the secrets of the two brothers, Then stammered Madame mander Mats in great
• 3:37:37
  alarm. He has my letters also, and it is he who now threatens
• 3:37:43
  my husband. Mon dieu, what am I to do? Write to him?
• 3:37:46
  Declared desprit confide in him without reserve. Tell him all you know and
• 3:37:52
  all you may hereafter learn. Your interests and his interest are the same.
• 3:37:56
  He is not working against Monsieur Andermatz, but against Alfred Varin. Help him.
• 3:38:01
  How has your husband the document that completes the plans of Louis la corbe?
• 3:38:07
  Yes? Tell that to Salvator, and if possible, procure the document
• 3:38:11
  for him. Write to him at once. You risk nothing. The advice
• 3:38:15
  was bold, dangerous even at first sight, but Madame m de Matte had
• 3:38:18
  no choice. Besides, as Dasper had said, she ran no risk.
• 3:38:24
  If the unknown writer were an enemy, that step would not aggravate the situation.
• 3:38:30
  If he were a stranger seeking to accomplish a particular purpose, he would
• 3:38:33
  attach to those letters only a secondary importance, whatever might happen. It was
• 3:38:39
  the only solution offered to her, and she, in her anxiety, was
• 3:38:43
  only too glad to act upon it. She thanked us effusively and promised to
• 3:38:48
  keep us informed. In fact, two days later she sent us the following
• 3:38:52
  letter that she had received from Salvator. I have not found the letter,
• 3:39:00
  but I will get them. Rest easy. I am watching everything s I
• 3:39:05
  looked at the letter. It was in the same handwriting as the note I
• 3:39:09
  found in my book on that night of twenty second June. Dasbury was right.
• 3:39:16
  Salvator was indeed the originator of that affair. We were beginning to see
• 3:39:24
  a little light coming out of the darkness surrounded us, and an unexpected light
• 3:39:28
  was thrown on certain points. But other points yet remained obscure for interstance the
• 3:39:37
  finding of the two Seven of Hearts. Perhaps I was unnecessarily concerned about those
• 3:39:43
  two cards, whose seven punctured spots had appeared to me under such startling circumstances.
• 3:39:48
  Yet I could not refrain from asking myself, what role will they play
• 3:39:52
  in the drama? What importance do they bear? What conclusion must be drawn
• 3:39:58
  from the fact that the submarine constructed from the plans of Louis la Combe bore
• 3:40:03
  the name Seven of Hearts. Dasbury gave little thought to the two cards.
• 3:40:09
  He devoted all his attention to another problem, which he considered more urgent.
• 3:40:13
  He was seeking the famous hiding place, and who know, said he,
• 3:40:20
  I may find the letters that Salvator did not find, And by inadvertence,
• 3:40:24
  perhaps it is improbable that the Varin brothers would have removed from a spot which
• 3:40:31
  they deemed inaccessible a weapon which was so valuable to them, And he continued
• 3:40:37
  to search. In a short time, the large room held no more secrets
• 3:40:41
  for him, so he extended his investigations to the other rooms. He examined
• 3:40:46
  the interior and the exterior, the stones of the foundation, the bricks in
• 3:40:48
  the walls. He raised the states of the roof. One day he came
• 3:40:54
  with a pickaxe and spade, gave me a spade, kept the pickaxe,
• 3:41:00
  pointed to the adjacent vacant lots and said come. I followed him, but
• 3:41:03
  I lacked his enthusiasm. He divided the vacant land into into several sections,
• 3:41:09
  which he examined in turn. At last, in a corner at the angle
• 3:41:13
  formed by the walls of the two neighboring proprietors, a small pile of earth
• 3:41:18
  and gravel covered with briars and grass attracted his attention. He attacked it.
• 3:41:24
  I was obliged to help him. For an hour, under a hot sun,
• 3:41:28
  we labored without success. I was discouraged, but Daspbriy urged me on
• 3:41:33
  his ardor was strong as ever. At last, Daspery's pickaxe unearthed some bones,
• 3:41:37
  the remains of a skeleton, to which some scraps of clothing still hung.
• 3:41:43
  Suddenly I turned pale. I had discovered, sticking in the earth a
• 3:41:46
  small piece of iron cut in the form of a rectangle, on which I
• 3:41:52
  thought I could see red spots. I stooped and picked it up. That
• 3:41:56
  little iron plate was the exact side eyes of a playing card, and the
• 3:42:01
  red spots, made with red lead, were arranged upon it in the manner
• 3:42:05
  similar to the seven of hearts, and each spot was pierced with a round
• 3:42:09
  hole similar to the perforations in the two playing cards. Listen, Dasbriy,
• 3:42:15
  I've had enough of this. You can stay if it interest you, but
• 3:42:18
  I am going. Was that simply the expression of my excited nerves? Or
• 3:42:24
  was it the result of a laborious task executed under the burning sun? I
• 3:42:28
  know that I trembled as I walked away, and that I went to bed,
• 3:42:31
  where I remained forty eight hours, restless and feverish, haunted by skeletons
• 3:42:37
  that danced around me and threw their beating hearts at my head. Dasbury was
• 3:42:41
  faithful to me. He came to my house every day and remained three or
• 3:42:45
  four hours, which he spent in the large room, ferreting, thumping,
• 3:42:48
  and tapping. The letters are here in this room, he said. From
• 3:42:52
  time to time they are here. I will stake my life on it.
• 3:42:56
  On the morning of the third day, I wrote, feeble yet, but
• 3:43:01
  cured a substantial breakfast cheered me up. But a letter that I received that
• 3:43:07
  afternoon contributed more than anything else to my complete recovery and aroused in me a
• 3:43:13
  lively curiosity. This was the letter monsieur. The drama, the first act
• 3:43:22
  of which transpired on the night of twenty second June, is now drawing to
• 3:43:24
  a close. Force of circumstances compel me to bring the two principal actors in
• 3:43:30
  that drama face to face, and I wish that meeting to take place in
• 3:43:33
  your house. If you will be so kind as to give me the use
• 3:43:35
  of it for this evening from nine o'clock to eleven. It will be advisable
• 3:43:41
  to give your servant leave of absence for the evening, and perhaps you will
• 3:43:43
  be so kind as to leave the field open to the two adversaries. You
• 3:43:48
  will remember that when I visited your house on the night of twenty second June.
• 3:43:52
  I took excellent care of your property. I feel that I would do
• 3:43:56
  you an injustice if I should doubt for one moment your absolute discretion in this
• 3:44:01
  affair, Your devoted salvator. I was amused at the facetious tone of his
• 3:44:07
  letter, and also at the whimsical nature of his request. There was a
• 3:44:11
  charming despay of confidence and candor in his language, and nothing in the world
• 3:44:16
  would have induced me to deceive him or repay his confidence with ingratitude. I
• 3:44:22
  gave my servant a theater ticket, and he left the house at eight o'clock.
• 3:44:26
  A few minutes later, Dasby arrived. I showed him the letter,
• 3:44:30
  well said he. Well, I've left the garden gate unlocked so any one
• 3:44:35
  can enter. And you are you going away? Not at all? I
• 3:44:39
  intend to stay, he write here. But he asks you to go,
• 3:44:43
  But I am not going. I will be discreet, but I am resolved
• 3:44:48
  to see what takes place. Ma FOI exclaimed Dastby, laughing, you are
• 3:44:52
  right, and I shall stay with you. I shouldn't like to miss it.
• 3:44:56
  We were interrupted by the door bell. Here all ready said Desbery,
• 3:45:01
  twenty minutes ahead of time. Incredible. I went to the door and ushered
• 3:45:05
  in the visitor. It was Madame Andermatt's. She was faint and nervous,
• 3:45:09
  and in a stammering voice, she ejaculated, maum, My, my husband
• 3:45:15
  is coming. He has an appointment. They intend to give him the letters.
• 3:45:18
  How do you know, I asked? By chance a message came for
• 3:45:24
  my husband while we were at dinner. A servant gave it to me by
• 3:45:26
  mistake. My husband grabbed it quickly, but he was too late. I
• 3:45:28
  had read it. You read it? Yes, it was something like this
• 3:45:33
  at nine o'clock this evening, be at Boulevard my yo with the papers connected
• 3:45:37
  with the affair in exchange the letters. So after dinner I hastened here,
• 3:45:43
  unknown to your husband. Yes, what do you think about it, asked
• 3:45:48
  Dasbury, turning to me. But I think as you do that Monsieur ander
• 3:45:52
  Mattz is one of the invited guests. Yes, but for what purpose?
• 3:45:56
  That's all we're going to find out. I led them to a large room.
• 3:46:03
  The three of us could hide comfortably behind the velvet chimney mantle and observe
• 3:46:09
  all that should happen in the room. We seated ourselves there, with Madame
• 3:46:13
  ander Matt in the center, the clock struck nine. A few minutes later
• 3:46:18
  the garden gate creaked on its hinges. I confess that I was greatly agitated.
• 3:46:24
  I was about to learn the key to the mystery. The startling events
• 3:46:28
  of the last few weeks were about to be explained, and under my eyes,
• 3:46:33
  the last battle was going to be fought. Dasperly seized the hand of
• 3:46:37
  Madame ander Matt's and said to her, not a word, not a movement,
• 3:46:41
  whatever you may see or hear, be quiet. Someone entered. It
• 3:46:46
  was Alfred Varain. I recognized him at once, owing to the close resemblance
• 3:46:50
  he brought both to his brother Etienne. There was the same slouching gait,
• 3:46:58
  the same cadaverous face covered with a black beard. He entered with the nervous
• 3:47:03
  air of a man who is accustomed to fear in the presence of traps and
• 3:47:07
  ambushes, who sends and avoids them. He glanced around the room, and
• 3:47:11
  I had the impression that the chimney masked by a velvet portier did not please
• 3:47:16
  him. He took three steps in our direction. Then something caused him to
• 3:47:20
  turn and walk towards the old mosaic king with the flowing beard and flamboyant sword,
• 3:47:26
  which he examined minutely, mounting on a chair and following with his fingers
• 3:47:31
  the outlines of the shoulders and head, and feeling certain parts of the face.
• 3:47:37
  Suddenly he leaped from the chair and walked away from it. He had
• 3:47:39
  heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Monsieur Endermatt appeared at the door. You,
• 3:47:46
  you, exclaimed the banker. Was it you who brought me here?
• 3:47:50
  I by no means, protested Varin, in a rough, jerky voice that
• 3:47:54
  reminded me of his brother. On the contrary, it was your letter that
• 3:47:58
  brought me here. My letter, a letter signed by you, which you
• 3:48:03
  offered. I never wrote to you, declared Monsieur ander Matt. You did
• 3:48:09
  not write to me. Instinctively, Varin was put on his guard, not
• 3:48:13
  against the banker, but against the unknown enemy who had drawn him into this
• 3:48:18
  trap. A second time, he looked in our direction, then walked towards
• 3:48:22
  the door, but Monsieur ander Matt barred his passage. Well, where are
• 3:48:28
  you going, Varin? There is something about this affair I don't like.
• 3:48:31
  I am going home good evening. One moment. No need of that,
• 3:48:37
  Monsieur ander matt I have nothing to say to you, but I have something
• 3:48:39
  to say to you, and this is a good time to say it.
• 3:48:43
  Let me pass. No, I will not let you pass. Varin recoiled
• 3:48:48
  before the resolute attitude of the banker as he muttered, well, then be
• 3:48:52
  quick about it. One thing astonished me. I have no doubt my two
• 3:48:56
  companions experienced a similar feeling. Why was salvertorre not here? Was he not
• 3:49:03
  a necessary party at this conference? Or was he satisfied to let these two
• 3:49:09
  adversaries fight it out between themselves at all events? His absence was a great
• 3:49:13
  disappointment, although it did not detract from the dramatic strength of the situation.
• 3:49:20
  After a moment, Monsieur Andermatz approached Varin face to face and said, now,
• 3:49:26
  after all these years, and you have nothing more to fear, can
• 3:49:30
  you answer me candidly? What have you done with Louis la Combe? What
• 3:49:35
  a question, as if I knew anything about him? You do know,
• 3:49:41
  you and your brother were his constant companions, almost lived with him at this
• 3:49:46
  very house. You knew all about his cans and his work. And the
• 3:49:48
  last night I ever saw Louis la Combe when I parted from him. At
• 3:49:52
  my door, I saw two men slinking away in the shadows of the trees
• 3:49:56
  that I am ready to swear to. Well, what has that to do
• 3:50:01
  with me? The two men were you and your brother? Prove it.
• 3:50:05
  The best proof is that two days later you yourself showed me the papers and
• 3:50:09
  the plans that belonged to la Combe, and you offered to sell them.
• 3:50:11
  How did these papers come into your possession? I have already told you,
• 3:50:16
  Monsieur Andermatt, that we found them on Louis la Combe's table the morning after
• 3:50:20
  his disappearance. That is a lie. Prove it, The law will prove
• 3:50:26
  it. Why did you not appeal to the law? Why? Ah,
• 3:50:31
  why stammered the banker with a slight despay of emotion. You know very well,
• 3:50:37
  Monsieur Andermatt, that if you had the least certainty of our guilt,
• 3:50:41
  our little threat would not have stopped you. What threat those letters? Do
• 3:50:46
  you suppose I ever gave those letters a moment's thought? If you did not
• 3:50:52
  care for the letters, why did you offer me a thousand francs for their
• 3:50:56
  return? And why did you have my brother and me track like wild beasts
• 3:51:01
  to recover the plans. Nonsense. You wanted the letters. You knew that
• 3:51:07
  as soon as you had the letters in your possession you could denounce us.
• 3:51:13
  Oh no, I couldn't part with them. He laughed heartily, but stopped
• 3:51:16
  suddenly and said, but enough of this. We are merely going over old
• 3:51:22
  ground. We make no headway. We had better let things stand as they
• 3:51:26
  are. We will not let them stand as they are, said the banker.
• 3:51:30
  And since you have referred to the letters, let me tell you that
• 3:51:31
  you will not leave this house until you deliver up those letters. I shall
• 3:51:35
  go when I please. You will not be careful, mister ander Matt.
• 3:51:39
  I warn you, I say you shall not go. We will see about
• 3:51:43
  that, cried Varin, in such a rage that Madame and Matt could not
• 3:51:48
  suppress a cry of fear. Vara must have heard it, for now he
• 3:51:50
  tried to force his way out. Missy under Matt pushed him back. Then
• 3:51:54
  I saw him put his hand into his coat pocket for the last time.
• 3:51:58
  Let me pass, he cried the letters. First. Varin drew a revolver,
• 3:52:03
  and, pointing at to Monsieur Ander Matt said yes or no. The
• 3:52:05
  banker stooped quickly there was a sound of a pistol shot. The weapon fell
• 3:52:11
  from Varin's hand. I was amazed the shop was fired close to me.
• 3:52:15
  It was Dasprey who had fired it at Varin, causing him to drop the
• 3:52:18
  revolver. In a moment, Dasbury was standing between the two men, facing
• 3:52:22
  Varin. He said to him with a sneer, you were very lucky,
• 3:52:26
  my friend, very lucky. I fired at your hand and only struck the
• 3:52:30
  revolver. Both of them looked at him surprised. Then he turned to the
• 3:52:33
  banker and said, I beg your pardon, monsieur, for meddling in your
• 3:52:37
  business, but really you play a very poor game. Let me hold the
• 3:52:41
  cards. Turning again to Varin, Dasbery said, it's between us two,
• 3:52:46
  comrade, play fair if you please. Hearts are trumps and I play for
• 3:52:52
  seven. Then Dasbery held up before Varon's bewildered eyes, the little iron plate
• 3:52:58
  marked with the seven red spots. It was a terrible shock to Vara.
• 3:53:03
  With livid features, staring eyes, and an air of intense agony, the
• 3:53:07
  man seemed to be hypnotized by the sight of it. Who are you,
• 3:53:13
  he gasped, one who meddles in other people's business, down to the very
• 3:53:20
  bottom. What do you want? What you brought here to night? I
• 3:53:26
  brought nothing. Yes, you did, or you wouldn't have come this morning.
• 3:53:28
  You received an invitation to come here at nine o'clock and bring with you
• 3:53:33
  all the papers held by you. You are here. Where are the papers?
• 3:53:37
  There was in Dasbury's voice and manner a tone of authority that I did
• 3:53:41
  not understand. His manner was usually quite mild and conciliatory. Absolutely conquered.
• 3:53:48
  Vain placed his hand on one of his pockets and said, the papers are
• 3:53:52
  here, all of them, Yes, all that you took from Loui la
• 3:53:58
  Combe and afterwards sold to meyerovonn Lieben. Yes, are these the copies or
• 3:54:05
  the originals? I have the originals? How much do you want for them?
• 3:54:11
  One hundred thousand francs? You are crazy, said Dasbury. Why the
• 3:54:16
  major gave you only twenty thousand? And that was like money thrown to the
• 3:54:18
  sea. As the boat was a failure at the preliminary trials. They didn't
• 3:54:24
  understand the plans. The plans are not complete. Then why do you ask
• 3:54:28
  me for them? Because I want them? I offer you five thousand francs.
• 3:54:31
  Not a sou more ten thousand, not a sou less, agreed,
• 3:54:37
  said Dasbury, who now turned to mister Andermattz and said, monsieur will kindly
• 3:54:41
  sign a check for the amount. But but I hapn't got your check book
• 3:54:46
  here. It is astounded. Mister ander matt examined the check book that Daspriy
• 3:54:50
  handed to him. It is mine, he gasped, How did that happen?
• 3:54:56
  No idle words, monsieur, if you please, you have merely to
• 3:54:58
  sign. The banker took his fountain pen, filled out the chair and signed
• 3:55:03
  it. Varin held out his hand for it. Put down your hand,
• 3:55:07
  said Dasby. There is something more then the banker, he said, you
• 3:55:11
  asked for some letters, did you not? Yes, a package of letters?
• 3:55:16
  Where are they? Varin? I haven't got them? Where are they?
• 3:55:20
  Varin? I don't know. My brother had charge of them. They
• 3:55:24
  are hidden in this room. In that case, you know where they are?
• 3:55:28
  How should I know? Was it not you who found the hiding place?
• 3:55:33
  You appear to be well informed, as Salvat tore, the letters are
• 3:55:37
  not in the hiding place, they are open it. Varin looked at him
• 3:55:41
  defiantly. Were not Dasbery and Salvat are the same person. Everything pointed to
• 3:55:46
  that conclusion. If so Vannin risked nothing in disclosing the hiding place already known
• 3:55:52
  open, it repeated Dasbery, I have not got the seven of Hearts.
• 3:56:00
  Yes, here it is, said Dasprey, handing him the iron plate.
• 3:56:03
  Varin recoiled in terror and cried no, no, I will not never mind,
• 3:56:07
  replied Daspy, as he walked towards the bearded king, climbed on the
• 3:56:11
  chair and applied the Seven of Hearts to the lower part of the sword,
• 3:56:16
  in such a manner that the edges of the iron plate coincided exactly with the
• 3:56:20
  two edges of the sword. Then, with the assistance of an awl,
• 3:56:22
  which he introduced alternately into each of the seven holes, he pressed upon seven
• 3:56:28
  of the little mosaic stones. As he pressed upon the seventh one, a
• 3:56:33
  clicking sound was heard, and the entire bust of the king turned upon a
• 3:56:37
  pivot, disclosing a large opening lined with steel. It was really a fire
• 3:56:43
  proof safe. As you can see, Varin, the safe is empty.
• 3:56:48
  So I see though my brother has taken out the letters. Dasbrey stepped down
• 3:56:54
  from the chair, approached Varin and said, now no more nonsense with me.
• 3:56:58
  There is another hiding place. Where is it? There is none?
• 3:57:01
  Is it money you want? How much? Ten thousand, Monsieur Andermatt.
• 3:57:07
  Are those letters worth ten thousand francs to you? Yes, said the banker
• 3:57:11
  firmly. Varin closed the safe, took the seven of hearts and placed it
• 3:57:16
  again on the sword. At the same spot, he thrust the awl into
• 3:57:20
  each of the seven holes. There was the same clicking sound, but this
• 3:57:24
  time strange to relate. It was only a portion of the safe that revolved
• 3:57:28
  on the pivot, disclosing quite a small safe that was built within the door
• 3:57:33
  of the larger one. The packet of letters was there, tied with a
• 3:57:37
  tape and sealed. Varin handed the packet to Daspriy. The latter turned to
• 3:57:43
  the banker and asked, is the check ready, Monsieur Andermatt. Yes,
• 3:57:48
  and you have also the last document that you received from Louis la Corbe,
• 3:57:52
  the one that completes the plans of the submarine. Yes, the exchange was
• 3:57:58
  made. Daspry pocketed the document and the checks, and offered the packet of
• 3:58:01
  letters to Monsieur ander Matt, this is what you wanted, monsieur. The
• 3:58:05
  banker hesitated a moment, and then, as if he were afraid to touch
• 3:58:09
  those cursed letters that he had sought so eagerly. Then, with a nervous
• 3:58:13
  movement, he took them close to me. I heard a moan. I
• 3:58:16
  grasped Madame ander Matt's hand. It was cold, I believe, Monsieur said
• 3:58:22
  despery to the banker, that our business is ended. Oh no, thanks,
• 3:58:26
  it was only a mere chance that I have been able to do you
• 3:58:31
  a good turn. Good night, Monsieur ander Matt retired. He carried with
• 3:58:37
  him the letters written by his wife to Louis la Combe. Marvelous, exclaimed
• 3:58:41
  Dasby, delighted. Everything is coming our way. Now we have only to
• 3:58:46
  close our little affair. Comrade, you have the papers here. They are
• 3:58:50
  all of them. Dasby examined them carefully. Then he placed them in his
• 3:58:54
  pocket. Quite right, you've kept your word, he said, But but
• 3:59:00
  what the two checks the money, said Varin eagerly. Well, you have
• 3:59:03
  a great deal of assurance, my man. How dare you ask such a
• 3:59:07
  thing? I ask only what is due to me? Can you ask pay
• 3:59:13
  for returning papers that you stole. Well, I think not. Varain was
• 3:59:16
  beside himself. He trembled with rage. His eyes were bloodshot. Dumb money
• 3:59:22
  d twenty thousand, he stammered, impossible, I needed myself, dumb money.
• 3:59:28
  Come on, be reasonable, don't get excited. I won't do you
• 3:59:30
  any good. Dasby seized his arm so forcibly that Vain uttered a cry of
• 3:59:33
  pain. Desbery continued, Now you can go the air will do you good.
• 3:59:37
  Perhaps you want me to show you the way. Ah, yes,
• 3:59:41
  we will go together to the vacant lot. Me here and I will show
• 3:59:43
  you a little mound of earth and stones and under it. That is false,
• 3:59:48
  That is false. Oh no, it's true. That little lion plate
• 3:59:50
  for the seven spots on it came from there. Louis la Combe always carried
• 3:59:54
  it, and you buried it with the body and with some other things.
• 4:00:01
  That will prove very interesting to a judge and jury. Varian covered his face
• 4:00:05
  with his hands and muttered, all right, I am beaten. I say
• 4:00:09
  no more, but I want you to ask you one question. I should
• 4:00:15
  like to know what is it? Was there a little casket in the large
• 4:00:18
  safe? Yes? Was it there on the night of twenty second June.
• 4:00:24
  Yes, what did it contain? Everything? The Varin brothers had put in
• 4:00:28
  it? A very pretty collection of diamonds and pearls, picked up here and
• 4:00:33
  there by, the said brothers. And did you take it? Of course
• 4:00:37
  I did? Do you blame me? I understand it was the disappearance of
• 4:00:41
  that casket that caused my brother to kill himself. Probably the disappearance of your
• 4:00:48
  correspondence was not a sufficient motive. But the disappearance of the casket, is
• 4:00:52
  it all you wish to ask me? One thing more? Your name?
• 4:00:56
  You asked that, But the idea of seeking revenge barable. The tables may
• 4:01:01
  be turned to day you are on top. To morrow it will be you.
• 4:01:07
  I hope. So your name I sen Lupin, I sain Lupin.
• 4:01:11
  The man staggered, as though stunned by a heavy blow. Those two words
• 4:01:16
  had deprived him of all hope. Dasbury laughed and said, ah, you
• 4:01:22
  did not imagine that a Monsieur Durrant DuPont could manage an affair like this.
• 4:01:26
  No, it required the skill and cunning of ar Saint Lupin. And now
• 4:01:31
  you have my name, go and prepare your revenge. I Saint Lupin will
• 4:01:35
  wait for you. Then he pushed the bewildered Varins through the door. Dasprey,
• 4:01:41
  daspriy, I cried, pushing aside the curtain. He ran to me,
• 4:01:45
  what what's the matter? Madame? And de matis ill. He hastened
• 4:01:50
  to her, coursed her to inhale some salts, and, while caring for
• 4:01:54
  her, questioned me, well, what did it the letters of Louisa that
• 4:02:00
  you gave her husband? Did she think I could do such a thing?
• 4:02:03
  But of course she would imbecile that I am Madamander Matt was now revived.
• 4:02:09
  Dasby took from his pocket a small package exactly similar to the one that Monsieur
• 4:02:13
  ander Matt had carried away. Here are your letters, madame. They are
• 4:02:16
  the genuine letters, but the others, the others are the same, written
• 4:02:22
  by me and carefully worded. Your husband will not find anything objectionable in them,
• 4:02:30
  and will never suspect the substitutions, since they were taken from a safe
• 4:02:33
  in his presence. But that the handwriting, there is no handwriting that cannot
• 4:02:39
  be imitated. She thanked him in the same words she might have used to
• 4:02:43
  a man of her own social circle. So I concluded that she had not
• 4:02:46
  witnessed the final scene between Varin and Arsine Lupin. But the surprising revelation caused
• 4:02:52
  me considerable embarrassment. Lupin, my club companion, was none other than us
• 4:02:58
  In Loupin. I could not realize it, he said, Quite at ease,
• 4:03:05
  you can say farewell to Gendesprie. Ah. Yes, Jendesprit is going
• 4:03:11
  on a long journey. I shall send him to Morocco. There he may
• 4:03:15
  find a death worth worthy of him. I may say that is his expectation,
• 4:03:24
  but Ar Saint Lupin will remain, oh decidedly. Ar Saint Lupin is
• 4:03:28
  simply at the threshold of his career, he expects. I was impelled by
• 4:03:33
  curiosity to interrupt him, and leading him away from the hearing of Madame ander
• 4:03:35
  Matt, I asked, did you discover the smaller safe yourself, the one
• 4:03:39
  that held the letters? Yes, after a great deal of trouble, I
• 4:03:43
  found it yesterday afternoon, while you were asleep. And yet God knows it
• 4:03:46
  simple enough. But the simplest things are the ones that usually escape our notice.
• 4:03:52
  Then, showing me the seven of hearts, he added, of course
• 4:03:54
  I had guessed that in order to open the larger safe, this card must
• 4:03:58
  be placed on the order the Mosaic King. How did you guess that quite
• 4:04:03
  easily through private information? I knew that fact when I came here on the
• 4:04:07
  evening of the twenty second June, after you left me. Yes, after
• 4:04:13
  turning the subject of our conversation to stories of crime and robbery, which were
• 4:04:18
  sure to reduce you to such a nervous condition that you would not leave your
• 4:04:22
  bed, but would allow me to complete my search uninterrupted. The scheme worked
• 4:04:26
  perfectly well. I knew that when I came here there was a casket concealed
• 4:04:31
  in the safe with a secret lock, and that the Seven of Hearts was
• 4:04:35
  the key to that lock. I had merely to place the card upon the
• 4:04:39
  spot that was so obviously intended for it, and hour's examination showed me where
• 4:04:43
  the spot was. One hour observe the fellow in the Mosaic the Old Emperor.
• 4:04:50
  The Old Emperor is an exact representation of the King of Hearts and all
• 4:04:54
  playing cards. That's right. But how does the Seven of Hearts open the
• 4:05:00
  larger safe at one time and the smaller safe another time? And why did
• 4:05:03
  you open only the larger safe in the first instance, I mean on the
• 4:05:07
  night of twenty second June. Why, because I always placed the seven of
• 4:05:13
  hearts the same way, I never changed the position. But yesterday I observed
• 4:05:18
  that by reversing the card, by turning it upside down, the arrangement of
• 4:05:22
  the seven spots on the mosaic was changed. Pableu, of course, pableu.
• 4:05:28
  But a person has to think of those things. There is something else.
• 4:05:31
  You did not know the history of those letters until Madame ander Matt's spoke
• 4:05:35
  of them to before me. No, because I found in the safe beside
• 4:05:41
  the casket nothing but the correspondence of the two brothers, which disclosed their treachery
• 4:05:46
  in regard to the plans. But then it was by chance that you were
• 4:05:50
  led first to investigate the history of the two brothers and then to search for
• 4:05:54
  the plans and documents relating to the submarine, simply by chance. For what
• 4:06:00
  did you make the search, mon dieu, exclaimed Dasbury, laughing, how
• 4:06:03
  deeply interested you are for the subject fascinates me very well. Presently, after
• 4:06:09
  I've escorted Madame and deer Matt to a carriage and dispatched a short story to
• 4:06:13
  the Ecco de France. I will return and tell you about it. He
• 4:06:18
  sat down and wrote one of those short, clear cut articles which serve to
• 4:06:22
  amuse and mystify the public. Who does not recall the sensation that followed that
• 4:06:26
  article produced throughout the entire world. A Saint Lupin has solved the problem recently
• 4:06:33
  submitted by Salvator. Having a quiet possession of all the documents and original plans
• 4:06:39
  of the engineer Louis la Combe, he has placed them in the hands of
• 4:06:41
  the Minister of Marine, and he has headed a subscription list for the purpose
• 4:06:46
  of presenting to the nation the first submarine constructed from those plans. His subscription
• 4:06:50
  is twenty thousand francs. Twenty thousand francs the checks of Michander Maats, I
• 4:06:58
  exclaimed when he had given me the paper to read exactly, it was quite
• 4:07:03
  right that Valain should redeem his treachery. And that is how I made the
• 4:07:09
  acquaintance of Ar Saint Lupin. That is how I learned that Geen desprit,
• 4:07:15
  a member of my club, was none other than Ar Saint Lupin, gentleman
• 4:07:20
  thief. And that is how I formed a very agreeable ties of friendship with
• 4:07:24
  that famous man, and thanks to the confidence with which he honored me,
• 4:07:30
  how I became. He is very humble and faithful historiographer. End of chapter
• 4:07:37
  six, Chapter seven, Madame in theer's safe at three o'clock in the morning,
• 4:07:43
  there were still half a dozen carriages in front of one of those small
• 4:07:46
  houses which form only the side of the Boulevard Berthier. The door of that
• 4:07:50
  house opened and a number of guests, male and female, emerged. The
• 4:07:56
  majority of them entered their carriages and were quickly driven away, leaving behind only
• 4:08:01
  two men, who walked down Corsiers where they parted, as one of them
• 4:08:05
  lived in that street. The other decided to return on foot as far as
• 4:08:09
  the Porte Maios, And was a beautiful winter's night, clear and cold,
• 4:08:13
  a night on which a brisk walk is agreeable and refreshing. But at the
• 4:08:18
  end of a few minutes he had the disagreeable impression that he was being followed.
• 4:08:22
  Turning around, he saw a man sulking amongst the trees. He was
• 4:08:26
  not a coward, yet he felt it advisable to increase his speed. Then
• 4:08:30
  his pursuer commenced to run, and he deemed it prudent to draw his revolver
• 4:08:33
  and face him, but he had no time. The man rushed at him
• 4:08:37
  and attacked him violently. Immediately they were engaged in a desperate struggle, wherein
• 4:08:43
  he felt that his unknown assailant had the advantage. He called for help,
• 4:08:46
  struggled, and was thrown down on a pile of gravel, seized by the
• 4:08:50
  throat, and gagged with a handkerchief, but his assailant forced into his mouth.
• 4:08:54
  His eyes closed, and the man who was smothering him with his weight,
• 4:08:58
  arose to defend himself against an unexpected attack. A blow from a cane
• 4:09:03
  and a kick from a boot. The man uttered two cries of pain and
• 4:09:05
  fled, limping and cursing, without deigning to pursue the fugitive. The new
• 4:09:11
  arrival stooped over the prostrate man and inquired, are you hurt, monsieur.
• 4:09:16
  He was not injured, but he was dazed and unable to stand. His
• 4:09:18
  rescuer procured a carriage, placed him in it, and accompanied him to his
• 4:09:22
  house on the Avenue de la Grande Armee. On his arrival there, quite
• 4:09:28
  recovered, he overwhelmed his savior with thanks. I owe you my life,
• 4:09:31
  monsieur, and I shall not forget it. I do not wish to alarm
• 4:09:35
  my wife at this time of night, but to morrow she will be pleased
• 4:09:37
  to thank you personally. Come and breakfast with us. My name is ludeniq
• 4:09:41
  Imbarret Nay ask yours certainly, monsieur, And he handed Monsieur Imbrey a card
• 4:09:48
  bearing the name Arsagnes Lupin. At that time, arsainn Moupin did not enjoy
• 4:09:54
  the celebrity which the Cahorn Affair, his escape from the prison de la Sante
• 4:09:58
  and other brilliant exports Floyd afterwards gained for him. He had not even used
• 4:10:03
  the name of arsainn Lupine. The name was specially invented to designate the rescuer
• 4:10:07
  of Monsieur Inbret. That is to say, it was in that affair that
• 4:10:13
  Arsaint Lupine was baptized, fully armed and ready for the fray, it is
• 4:10:16
  true, But lacking the resources and authority which commands success, Arsain Luquin was
• 4:10:22
  then merely an apprentice in a profession, wherein he soon became a master.
• 4:10:28
  With what a thrill of joy he recalled the invitation he received that night.
• 4:10:31
  At last he had reached his goal. At last, he had undertaken a
• 4:10:35
  task worth of his strength and skill, the imbaret in millions. What a
• 4:10:39
  magnificent feast for an appetite like his. He prepared a special toilette for the
• 4:10:43
  occasion, a shabby frock coat, baggy trousers, a frayed silk hat,
• 4:10:48
  well worn collar and cuffs, all quite correct in form, but bearing the
• 4:10:52
  unmistakable stamp of poverty. His cravat was a black ribbon pinned with a false
• 4:10:58
  diamond, thus a qutrie. He descended the stairs of the house in which
• 4:11:01
  he lived at Montmontrey, at the third floor. Without stopping. He rapped
• 4:11:07
  upon a closed door with the head of his cane. He walked to the
• 4:11:09
  exterior boulevards. A tram car was passing. He boarded it, and someone
• 4:11:13
  who had been following him took a seat beside him. It was a lodger
• 4:11:18
  who occupied the room on the third floor. A moment later, this man
• 4:11:20
  said to Lupine, well, Guvnor, Well, it is all fixed,
• 4:11:24
  how I am going there to breakfast? You breakfast there? Certainly? Why
• 4:11:31
  not? I rescued Monsieur Lui vill Imberet from certain death. That your hands.
• 4:11:35
  Monsieur Imberet is not devoid of gratitude. He invited me to breakfast.
• 4:11:39
  There was a silence. Then the other said, but you are not going
• 4:11:43
  to throw up the skime, my dear boy, said Lupine, when I
• 4:11:46
  arranged that little case of the salt at battery, when I took the trouble
• 4:11:50
  at three o'clock in the morning to wrap you with my cane and tap you
• 4:11:54
  with my boot at the risk of injuring my only friend. It was not
• 4:11:58
  my intention to forego the advantages to be gained from a rescue so well arranged
• 4:12:01
  and executed. Oh no, not at all. But the strange rumors we
• 4:12:07
  hear about their fortune, Never mind about that. For six months I have
• 4:12:11
  worked on this affair, investigated it, studied it, questioned the servants,
• 4:12:16
  the money lenders, and men of straw For six months I have shadowed the
• 4:12:20
  husband and wife. Consequently, I know what I am talking about. Whether
• 4:12:24
  the fortune came to them from old Brawford, as they pretend, or from
• 4:12:28
  some other source, I do not care. I know that it is a
• 4:12:31
  reality, that it exists, and some day it will be mine. Bigray
• 4:12:35
  one hundred millions, let us say ten or even five. That is enough.
• 4:12:41
  They have it safe, full of bonds, and there will be the
• 4:12:43
  devil to pay if I can't get my hands on them. The tram car
• 4:12:46
  stopped at the Palace de l e Tolier. The man whispered to leupin.
• 4:12:50
  What am I to do now? Nothing at present, you will hear from
• 4:12:54
  me, there is no hurry. Five minutes later I have seen Lupine with
• 4:12:58
  ascending the magnificent flight of stairs in the Mberet mansion, and Monsieur Imberet introduced
• 4:13:03
  him to his wife, Madame Giervasse. Imbere was a short, plump woman
• 4:13:09
  and very talkative. She gave Loupine a cordial welcome. I desired that we
• 4:13:13
  should be alone to entertain our savior, she said. From the outset,
• 4:13:16
  they treated our Savior as an old and valued friend. By the time dessert
• 4:13:20
  was served, their friendship was well cemented and private confidences were being exchanged.
• 4:13:26
  Arcine related the story of his life, the life of his father as a
• 4:13:30
  magistrate, the sorrows of his childhood, and his present difficulties. Gervasier,
• 4:13:35
  in turn, spoke of her youth, her marriage, the kindness of the
• 4:13:39
  aged Brawford, the hundred millions that she had inherited, the obstacles that prevented
• 4:13:43
  her from obtaining the enjoyment of her inheritance, the moneys she had been obliged
• 4:13:48
  to borrow at an exorbit rate of interest. Here endless contentions with Brawford's nephews,
• 4:13:52
  and the litigation, the injunctions, in fact, everything. Just think
• 4:13:58
  of it, Monsieur Leupine. The banes are there in my husband's office,
• 4:14:01
  and if we detach a single coupon, we lose everything. They are there
• 4:14:05
  in our safe and we dare not touch them. Monsieur Lupine shivered at the
• 4:14:11
  bare idea of his proximity to so much wealth. Yet he felt quite certain
• 4:14:15
  that Monsieur Leupine would never suffer from the same difficulty as his fair hostess,
• 4:14:20
  who declared she dare not touch the money. Ah, they are there,
• 4:14:24
  he repeated to himself. They are there. A friendship formed under such circumstances
• 4:14:30
  soon led to closer relations. When discreetly questioned Arcine, Lupine confessed his poverty
• 4:14:35
  and distress. Immediately, the unfortunate young man was appointed private secretary to the
• 4:14:39
  Emberets husband and wife at a salary of one hundred francs a month. He
• 4:14:45
  was to come to the house every day and receive orders for his work,
• 4:14:48
  and a room on the second floor was set apart as his office. This
• 4:14:52
  room was directly over Monsieur Imberet's office. Arcene soon realized that his position as
• 4:14:56
  secretary was essentially a sinecure. During the first two months, he had only
• 4:15:01
  four important letters to recopy and was called only once to Monsieur Imberret's office.
• 4:15:07
  Consequently, he had only one opportunity to contemplate officially the Imberet safe. Moreover,
• 4:15:13
  he noticed that the secretary was not invited to the social functions of the
• 4:15:18
  employer, but he did not complain, as he preferred to remain modestly in
• 4:15:22
  the shade and maintain his peace and freedom. However, he was not wasting
• 4:15:26
  any time. From the beginning, he made clandestine visits to Monsieur Imberret's office
• 4:15:31
  and paid his respects to the safe, which was hermetically closed. It was
• 4:15:37
  an immense block of iron and steel, cold and stern in appearance, which
• 4:15:41
  could not be forced open by the ordinary tools of the burglar's trade. But
• 4:15:43
  Arcine Lupin was not discouraged. Where force fails, cunning prevails, He said
• 4:15:48
  to himself. The essential thing is to be on the spot when the opportunity
• 4:15:52
  occurs. In the meantime, I must watch and wait. He made immediately
• 4:15:56
  some preliminary preparations your careful soundings made upon the floor of his room. He
• 4:16:02
  introduced a lead pipe which penetrated the ceiling of Monsieur Inbree's office at a point
• 4:16:07
  between the two secrets of the cornice. By means of this pipe, he
• 4:16:11
  hoped to see and hear what transpired in the room below. Henceforth he passed
• 4:16:15
  his days stretched at full length upon the floor. He frequently saw the mberets
• 4:16:19
  holding a consultation in front of the safe, investigating books and papers. When
• 4:16:25
  they turned the combination lock, he tried to learn the figures and the number
• 4:16:27
  of turns they made to the right and left. He watched their movements.
• 4:16:32
  He sought to catch their words. There was also a key necessary to complete
• 4:16:36
  the opening of the safe. What did they do with it? Did they
• 4:16:38
  hide it? One day he saw them leave the room without locking the safe.
• 4:16:42
  He descended the stairs quickly and boldly entered the room, but they had
• 4:16:47
  returned. Oh, excuse me, said, I made a mistake. In
• 4:16:49
  the door. Come in, Monsieur Lupin, Come in, cried Madame Mimberet.
• 4:16:53
  Are you not at home here? We want your advice which bonds should
• 4:16:56
  be sell the foreign securities or the government annubities. But the injunction, said
• 4:17:02
  Lupin, with surprise, Oh, it doesn't cover all the bonds. She
• 4:17:06
  opened the door of the safe and withdrew a package of bonds. But her
• 4:17:08
  husband protested, no, no, daralasee, it would be foolish to sell
• 4:17:12
  the foreign bonds. They are going up, whilst the annuities are as high
• 4:17:17
  as they ever will be. What do you think, my dear friend.
• 4:17:19
  The dear friend had no opinion, yet he advised the sacrifice of the annuities.
• 4:17:23
  Then she withdrew another package, and from it she took a paper at
• 4:17:27
  random. It proved to be a three percent annuity worth two thousand francs.
• 4:17:32
  Luovique placed the package of bonds in his pocket. That afternoon, accompanied by
• 4:17:36
  his secretary, he sold the annuities to a stockbroker and realized forty six thousand
• 4:17:41
  francs. Whatever Madame Mimbaret might have said about it, Arsim Loupin did not
• 4:17:47
  feel at home in the Inbaret house. On the contrary his position, there
• 4:17:51
  was a peculiar one. He learned that the servants did not even know his
• 4:17:55
  name. They called him Monsieur. Ludovic always spoke of him in the same
• 4:17:57
  way, Will you tell me Monsieur as Monsieur arrived? Why that mysterious appellation.
• 4:18:03
  Moreover, after their first outburst of enthusiasm, the Imberets seldom spoke to
• 4:18:07
  him, and although treating him with the consideration due to a benefactor, they
• 4:18:12
  gave him little or no attention. They appeared to regard him as an eccentric
• 4:18:17
  character who did not like to be disturbed, and there respected his isolation as
• 4:18:22
  if it were a stringent rule on his part. On one occasion, while
• 4:18:25
  passing through the vestibule, he heard Madame Mberet say to the two gentlemen,
• 4:18:29
  he is such a barbarian. Very well, he said to himself, I
• 4:18:33
  am a barbarian, And without seeking to solve the question of their strange conduct,
• 4:18:37
  he proceeded with the execution of his own plans. He had decided that
• 4:18:41
  he could not depend on chance nor on the negligence of Madame Mberet, who
• 4:18:45
  carried the key of the safe, and who unlocking the safe invariably scattered the
• 4:18:51
  letters forming the combination of the locke. Consequently, he must act for himself.
• 4:18:56
  Finally, an incident precipitated matters. It was the vehement campaign instituted against
• 4:19:00
  the Imberees by certain newspapers that accused the Imberets of a swindling. Our steming
• 4:19:06
  being was present at certain family conferences when this new vicissitude was discussed, he
• 4:19:11
  decided that if he waited much longer, he would lose everything. During the
• 4:19:15
  next five days, instead of leaving the house about six o'clock according to his
• 4:19:19
  usual habit, he locked himself in the room. It was supposed that he
• 4:19:23
  had gone out, but he was lying on the floor surveying the office of
• 4:19:26
  Monsieur Mbret. During those five evenings. The favorable opportunity that he awaited did
• 4:19:32
  not take place. He left the house about midnight by a side door to
• 4:19:36
  which he held the key. But on the sixth day he learned that the
• 4:19:38
  Imbarets, actuated by the benevolent insinuations of their enemies, proposed to make an
• 4:19:44
  inventory of the contents of the safe. They will do it tonight, thought
• 4:19:48
  Lupine, and truly. After dinner Ymbret and his wife retired to the office
• 4:19:52
  and commenced to examine the books of account and the securities contained in the safe.
• 4:19:57
  Thus, one hour after another pat he heard the servants go upstairs to
• 4:20:02
  their rooms. No one now remained on the first floor. Midnight, the
• 4:20:04
  mbirets were still at work. I must get to work, murmured Dupin.
• 4:20:08
  He opened his window. It opened on a court. Outside, everything was
• 4:20:12
  dark and quiet. He took from his desk knotted rope, fastened it to
• 4:20:17
  the balcony in front of his window, and quietly descended as far as the
• 4:20:21
  window below, which was that of the imbiret's office. He stood upon the
• 4:20:25
  balcony for a moment, motionless, with attentive ear and watchful eye, But
• 4:20:29
  the heavy curtains effectually concealed the interior of the room. He cautiously pushed on
• 4:20:33
  the double window. If no one had examined it, it ought to yield
• 4:20:37
  the slightest pressure, for during the afternoon he had so fixed the bolt that
• 4:20:41
  it would not enter the staple. The window yielded to his touch. Then,
• 4:20:45
  with infinite care, he pushed it open sufficiently to admit his head.
• 4:20:49
  He parted the curtains a few inches looking in, and saw Monsieur Mbiret and
• 4:20:55
  his wife sitting in front of the safe, deeply absorbed in their work and
• 4:20:57
  speaking softly to ithich other at rare intervals. He calculated the distance between him
• 4:21:03
  and them, considered the exact movements he would require to make in order to
• 4:21:07
  overcome them one after the other before they could call for help, and he
• 4:21:11
  was about to rush upon them when Madame Imberet said, Ah, the room
• 4:21:15
  is getting quite cold. I'm going to bed, and you, my dear,
• 4:21:18
  I shall stay and finish. Finish. Why that will take you all
• 4:21:22
  night, not at all an hour at the most. She retired twenty minutes.
• 4:21:27
  Thirty minutes past. Arcene pushed the window a little further open. The
• 4:21:32
  curtain shook. He pushed once more. Monsieur Imberret turned, and, seeing
• 4:21:37
  the curtains blown by the wind, he rose to close the window. There
• 4:21:40
  was not a cry, not the trace of struggle. With a few precise
• 4:21:42
  movements, and without causing him the least injury, our scenes stunned him,
• 4:21:47
  wrapped the curtain about his head, bound him hand and foot, and did
• 4:21:51
  it all in such a manner that Monsieur Imbreret had no opportunity to recognize his
• 4:21:55
  assailant. Quickly he approached the safe, seized two packages that he placed under
• 4:22:00
  his arm, left the office and opened the servant's gate. A carriage was
• 4:22:03
  stationed in the street. Take that first and follow me, he said to
• 4:22:07
  the coachman. He returned to the office, and in two trips they emptied
• 4:22:11
  the safe. Then Arcine went to his own room removed the robe and all
• 4:22:15
  other traces of his clandestine work. A few hours later, Arcine, Lupin,
• 4:22:21
  and his assistant examined the stolen goods. Lupine was not disappointed, as
• 4:22:26
  he had foreseen that the wealth of the Mberees had been greatly exaggerated. It
• 4:22:30
  did not consist of hundreds of millions, nor even tens of millions. Yet
• 4:22:33
  it amounted to a very respectable sum, and Lupine expressed his satisfaction. Of
• 4:22:37
  course, he said, there will be a considerable loss when we come to
• 4:22:41
  sellabands, as we will have to dispose of them surreptitiously at reduced prices.
• 4:22:47
  In the meantime, they will rest quietly in my desk awaiting a propitious moment.
• 4:22:52
  Arthin saw no reason why he should not go to the Imberet House the
• 4:22:56
  next day, but a pursual of the morning papers revealed this star fact.
• 4:23:00
  Ludovict andingerabasse Inbaret had disappeared. When the officers of the law seized the safe
• 4:23:06
  and opened it, they found there was what Arciine Lupin had left. Nothing.
• 4:23:11
  Such are the facts, and I learned the sequel to them. One
• 4:23:14
  day, when Arcidine Lupin was in a confidential mood. He was pacing to
• 4:23:18
  and fro in my room with a nervous step and a feverish eye that were
• 4:23:22
  unusual to him. After all, I said to him, it was your
• 4:23:25
  most successful venture. Without making a direct reply, he said, there are
• 4:23:29
  some impenetrable secrets connected with that affair, some obscure points that escape my comprehension.
• 4:23:34
  For instance, what caused their flight? Why did they not take advantage
• 4:23:38
  of the help I unconsciously gave them? It would have been so simple to
• 4:23:41
  say the hundred millions were in the safe. They are no longer there because
• 4:23:45
  they have been stolen. They lost their nerve, Yes, that is it,
• 4:23:49
  they lost their nerve. On the other hand, it is true,
• 4:23:53
  what is true? Oh? Nothing? What was the meaning of Lupin's reticence.
• 4:23:59
  It was quite obvious that he had not told me everything. There was
• 4:24:02
  something he was loath to tell. His conduct puzzled me. It must indeed
• 4:24:07
  be a very serious matter to cause such a man as Arsine lupin even a
• 4:24:11
  momentary hesitation. I threw out a few questions at random. Have you seen
• 4:24:15
  them since? No? Have you never experienced the slightest degree of pity for
• 4:24:18
  those unfortunate people? Ay? He exclaimed with a start. His sudden excitement
• 4:24:23
  astonished me. Had I touched him on a sore spot? I continued?
• 4:24:27
  Of course, if you had not left them alone, they might have been
• 4:24:30
  able to face the danger, or at least made their escape with full pockets.
• 4:24:36
  What do you mean, he said indignantly. I suppose you have an
• 4:24:40
  idea that my soul should be filled with remorse. Call it remorse or regrets
• 4:24:44
  anything you like. They are not worth it. Have you no regrets or
• 4:24:48
  remorse for having stolen their fortune? What fortune? The package of bonds you
• 4:24:52
  took from their safe? Oh? I stole their bonds? Did I?
• 4:24:56
  I deprived them of a portion of their wealth? Is that my crime?
• 4:25:00
  Ah? My dear boy, you do not know the truth. You never
• 4:25:03
  imagined that those bonds were not worth the paper they were written on. Those
• 4:25:06
  bonds were false. They were counterfeit, every one of them. Do you
• 4:25:10
  understand they were counterfeit? I looked at him, astounded. Counterfeit, the
• 4:25:15
  four or five millions, Yes, counterfeit, he exclaimed, in a fit
• 4:25:18
  of rage, Only so many scraps of paper. I couldn't raise a sou
• 4:25:22
  on the whole of them. And you ask me if I have any remorse.
• 4:25:26
  They are the ones who should have remorse and pity. They played me
• 4:25:30
  for a simpleton, and I fell into their trap. How was their latest
• 4:25:33
  victim, their most stupid gull? He was affected by genuine anger, the
• 4:25:37
  result of malice and wounded pride. He continued, from start to finish.
• 4:25:42
  I got the worst of it. Do you know the part I played in
• 4:25:45
  that affair, or rather the part they made me play, that of Andre
• 4:25:49
  Braford? Yes, my boy, that is the truth, and I never
• 4:25:52
  suspected it. It was not until afterwards, on reading the newspapers, that
• 4:25:56
  the light finally dawned in my stupid brain. Whilst I was posing as his
• 4:26:00
  savior, as the gentleman who had risked his life to rescue monsieur imbaret from
• 4:26:06
  the clutches of an assassin. They were passing me off as Braford. Wasn't
• 4:26:10
  that splendid the eccentric individual who had a room on the second floor, That
• 4:26:14
  barbarian that was exhibited only at a distance was Brawford, and Brafford was I.
• 4:26:18
  Thanks to me and to the confidence that I inspired under the name of
• 4:26:22
  Braford, they were enabled to borrow money from the bankers and other money lenders.
• 4:26:27
  A what an experience for a novice. And I swear to you that
• 4:26:32
  I shall profit by the lesson. He stopped, seized my arm and said
• 4:26:34
  to me, in a tone of exasperation, my dear fellow, at this
• 4:26:37
  very moment, Eurvasier Inmberet owes me fifteen hundred francs. I could not refrain
• 4:26:44
  from laughter. His rage was so grotesque he was making a mountain out of
• 4:26:47
  a mole hill. In a moment, he lapped himself and said, yes,
• 4:26:52
  my boy, fifteen hundred francs. You must know that I had not
• 4:26:55
  received one sou of my promised salary, and more than that she had borrowed
• 4:27:00
  from me the sum of fifteen hundred francs, all my youthful savings, and
• 4:27:04
  you know why to devote the money to charity. I am giving you a
• 4:27:07
  straight story. She wanted it for some poor people she was assisting, unknown
• 4:27:11
  to her husband. And my heart earned money was wormed out of me by
• 4:27:15
  that silly pretense, isn't it amusing? Heen arcint lupin done out of fifteen
• 4:27:22
  hundred francs by the fair lady from whom he stole four millions in counterfeit bonds.
• 4:27:26
  And what a vast amount of time and patience and cunning I expended to
• 4:27:30
  achieve that result. It was the first time in my life that I was
• 4:27:33
  played her a fool, and I frankly confess that I was full that time
• 4:27:37
  to the Queen's taste. End of chapter seven, Chapter eight, The Black
• 4:27:45
  Pearl. The violent ringing of the bell awakened the concierge of number nine of
• 4:27:51
  a new osh. She pulled the doorstring, grumbling, I thought everybody was
• 4:27:56
  in. It must be three o'clock. Perhaps it is someone for the doctor,
• 4:28:02
  muttered her husband. Third floor left. But the doctor won't go out
• 4:28:07
  at night. He must go out to night. The visitor entered the vestibule,
• 4:28:12
  ascended to the first floor. The second the third and without stopping at
• 4:28:18
  the doctor's door, he continued to the fifth floor. There he tried two
• 4:28:22
  keys, one of them fitted the lock ah a good He murmured, that
• 4:28:29
  simplifies the business wonderfully. But before a commences work, I had better arrange
• 4:28:33
  for my retreat. Let me see. Have I had sufficient time to rouse
• 4:28:38
  the doctor and be dismissed by him? Not yet? A few minutes more,
• 4:28:44
  At the end of ten minutes, he descended the stairs, grumbling noisily
• 4:28:48
  about the doctor. The concierge opened the door for him and heard it click
• 4:28:52
  behind him, But the door did not lock, as the man had quickly
• 4:28:56
  inserted a piece of iron in the lock in sight such manner that the bolt
• 4:29:00
  could not enter. Then quietly he entered the house again, unknown to the
• 4:29:07
  concierge. In case of alarm, his retreat was assured noiselessly. He ascended
• 4:29:14
  to the fifth floor once more in the ante chamber by the light of his
• 4:29:18
  electric lantern. He placed his hat and overcoat on one of the chairs,
• 4:29:22
  took a seat on another, and covered his heavy shoes with felt slippers.
• 4:29:29
  Hoof, here I am, and how simple it was. I wonder why
• 4:29:33
  more people do not adopt the profitable and pleasant occupation of burglar. With a
• 4:29:37
  little care and reflection, it becomes a most delightful profession. Not too quiet
• 4:29:42
  and monotonous, of course, as it would then become wearisome. He unfolded
• 4:29:48
  a detailed plan of the apartment. Let me commence by locating myself. Here.
• 4:29:53
  I see the vestibule in which I am sitting on the street front,
• 4:29:57
  the drawing room, the boodooro, and the dining room. Useless to waste
• 4:30:02
  any time there, as it appears that the Countess has deplorable taste, not
• 4:30:07
  to be below of any value. Now let's get down to business. Ah,
• 4:30:11
  here is a corridor. It must lead to the bed chambers. At
• 4:30:15
  a distance of three meters, I should come to the door of the wardrobe
• 4:30:19
  closet, which connects with the chamber of a countess. He folded his plan,
• 4:30:25
  extinguished his lantern, and proceeded down the corridor, counting his distance thus
• 4:30:30
  one meter two meters three meters. Here is the door, mon dieu,
• 4:30:36
  How easy it is? Only a small simple bolt now separates me from the
• 4:30:41
  chamber. And I know that the bolt is located exactly one meter forty three
• 4:30:45
  centimeters from the floor, so that, thanks to a small incision I am
• 4:30:49
  about to make, I can soon get rid of the bolt. He drew
• 4:30:53
  from his pocket the necessary instruments. Then the following idea occurred to him.
• 4:31:00
  I suppose, by chance the door is not bolted, I will try it
• 4:31:03
  first. He turned the knob, and the door opened. My brave Lupin,
• 4:31:08
  surely fortune favors you. What's to be done? Now you know the
• 4:31:14
  situation of the rooms, You know the place in which the Countess hides the
• 4:31:17
  black pearl. Therefore, in order to secure the black pearl, you have
• 4:31:22
  simply to be more silent than silence, more invisible than darkness itself. Arsene
• 4:31:27
  Lupin was employed fully a half hour in opening the second door, a glass
• 4:31:33
  door that led to the countess's bed chamber. But he accomplished it with so
• 4:31:37
  much skill and precaution that even had the Countess been awake, she would not
• 4:31:41
  have heard the slightest sound. According to the plan of the rooms that he
• 4:31:47
  holds, he has merely to pass around a reclining chair, and beyond that
• 4:31:52
  a small table close to the bed. On the table there was a box
• 4:31:56
  of letter paper, and the black pearl was concealed in that box. He
• 4:32:00
  stooped and crept cautiously over the carpet, following the outlines of the reclining chair.
• 4:32:07
  When he reached the extremity of it, he stopped in order to repress
• 4:32:11
  the throbbing of his heart. Although he was not moved by any sense of
• 4:32:15
  fear, he found it impossible to overcome the nervous anxiety that one usually feels
• 4:32:19
  in the midst of profound silence. That circumstance astonished him, because he had
• 4:32:26
  passed through many more solemn moments without the slightest trace of emotion. No danger
• 4:32:32
  threatened him. Then why did his heart throb like an alarm bell? Was
• 4:32:37
  it that sleeping woman who affected him? Was it the proximity of another pulsating
• 4:32:42
  heart? He listened and thought he could discern the rhythmical breathing of a person
• 4:32:48
  asleep. It gave him confidence, like the presence of a friend. He
• 4:32:53
  sought and found the arm chair. Then, by slow, cautious movements,
• 4:32:57
  advanced towards the table, feeling ahead of him with outstretched arm, his right
• 4:33:04
  had touched one of the feet of the table. Ah. Now he had
• 4:33:08
  simply to rise, take the pearl and escape. That was fortunate, as
• 4:33:14
  his heart was leaping in his breast like a wild beast, and made so
• 4:33:18
  much noise that he feared it would waken the Countess. By a powerful effort
• 4:33:22
  of the will, he subdued the wild throbbing of his heart and was about
• 4:33:26
  to rise from the floor when his left hand encountered lying on the floor an
• 4:33:30
  object which he recognized as a candlestick, an overturned candlestick. A moment later,
• 4:33:37
  his hand encountered another object, a clock, one of those small traveling
• 4:33:42
  clocks covered with leather. Well, what had happened? He could not understand
• 4:33:49
  that candlestick, that clock. Why were those articles not in their accustomed places?
• 4:33:56
  Ah, what had happened in the dread silence of the night. Suddenly
• 4:34:00
  a cry escaped him. He had touched, Oh, some strange, unutterable
• 4:34:06
  thing. No, no, he thought, it cannot be. It is
• 4:34:08
  some fantasy of my excited brain. For some twenty seconds thirty seconds, he
• 4:34:15
  remained motionless, terrified, his forehead bathed with perspiration, and his fingers still
• 4:34:22
  retained the sensation of that dreadful contact. Making a desperate effort, he ventured
• 4:34:27
  to extend his arm again once more, his hand encountered that strange, unutterable
• 4:34:33
  thing. He felt it. He must feel it and find out what it
• 4:34:38
  is. He found that it was hair, human hair, and a human
• 4:34:44
  face, and that face was cold, almost icy. However frightful the circumstances
• 4:34:51
  may be. A man like Arsene Lupin controlled himself and commands the situation as
• 4:34:56
  soon as he learns what it is. Ar Saint Lupin quickly brought his lantern
• 4:35:02
  into use. A woman was lying before him, covered with blood. Her
• 4:35:07
  neck and shoulders were covered with gaping wounds. He leaned over her and made
• 4:35:12
  a closer examination. She was dead, dead, dead, he repeated,
• 4:35:19
  with a bewildered air. He stared at those fixed eyes, that grim mouth,
• 4:35:26
  that livid flesh, and that blood, or that blood which had flowed
• 4:35:30
  over the carpet and congealed there in thick black spots. He arose and turned
• 4:35:37
  on the electric lights. Then he beheld all the marks of a desperate struggle.
• 4:35:42
  The bed was in a state of great disorder. On the floor,
• 4:35:45
  the candlestick and the clock with the hands pointing to twenty minutes after eleven,
• 4:35:51
  then further away an overturned chair, and everywhere there was blood, spots of
• 4:35:56
  blood and pools of blood, and the black pearl, he murmured. The
• 4:36:03
  box of letter paper was in its place. He opened it eagerly. The
• 4:36:07
  jewel case was there, but it was empty. Fist, he muttered,
• 4:36:15
  You boasted of your good fortune much too soon, My friend lupin with the
• 4:36:19
  countess lying cold and dead, and the black pearl vanished. The situation is
• 4:36:23
  anything but pleasant. Get out of here as soon as you can, or
• 4:36:29
  you may get into serious trouble. Yet he did not move. Get out
• 4:36:33
  of here. Yes, of course any person would, except of Saint Dupin.
• 4:36:38
  He has something better to do now, to proceed in an orderly way.
• 4:36:42
  At all events, you have a clear conscience. Let us suppose that
• 4:36:47
  you are the Commissary of Police, and that you are proceeding to make an
• 4:36:51
  inquiry concerning this affair. Yes, but in order to do that I require
• 4:36:56
  a clearer brain. Mine is muddled like a ragout. He tumbled into an
• 4:37:00
  arm chair, with his clenched hands pressed against his burning forehead. The murder
• 4:37:07
  of the Avegnuosche is one of those which have recently surprised and puzzled the Parisian
• 4:37:12
  public, And certainly I should never have mentioned the affair. If the veil
• 4:37:17
  of mystery had not been removed by Arsene Lupin himself, no one knew the
• 4:37:22
  exact truth of the case. Who did not know from having met her in
• 4:37:26
  the Bois the fair Liotinezalti, the once famous contatrice, wife and widow of
• 4:37:32
  the Count Don Dilleux Thesalti, whose luxury dazzled all Paris some twenty years ago,
• 4:37:38
  who acquired a European reputation for the magnificence of her diamonds and pearls.
• 4:37:45
  It was said that she wore upon her shoulders the capital of several banking houses
• 4:37:49
  and the gold mines of numerous Australian companies. Skillful jewelers worked for Zalti,
• 4:37:56
  as they had formerly wrought for kings and queens. And who does not remember
• 4:38:00
  the catastrophe in which all that wealth was swallowed up. Of all that marvelous
• 4:38:07
  collection, nothing remained except the famous black pearl. The black pearl, that
• 4:38:12
  is to say, a fortune if she had wished to part with it,
• 4:38:17
  but she preferred to keep it to live in a commonplace apartment with her companion,
• 4:38:22
  her cook and a man servant, rather than sell that inestimable jewel.
• 4:38:27
  There was a reason for it, a reason she was not afraid to disclose.
• 4:38:33
  The black pearl was the gift of an emperor. Almost ruined and reduced
• 4:38:37
  to the most mediocre existence, she remained faithful to the companion of her happy
• 4:38:42
  and brilliant youth. The black pearl never left her possession. She worried during
• 4:38:48
  the day, and at night concealed it in a place known to her alone.
• 4:38:55
  All these facts, being republished in the columns of the public press,
• 4:39:00
  served to stimulate curiosity and strange to say, but quite obvious to those who
• 4:39:04
  have the key to the mystery. The arrest of the presumed assassin only complicated
• 4:39:10
  the question and prolonged the excitement. Two days later, the newspapers published the
• 4:39:15
  following item. Information has reached us of the arrest of Victor Danegre, the
• 4:39:23
  servant of the Countess don Dieux. The evidence against him is clear and convincing.
• 4:39:30
  On the silken sleeve of his liveried waistcoat, which Chief Detective dou Deui
• 4:39:34
  found in his garret between the mattresses of his bed, several spots of blood
• 4:39:40
  were discovered. In addition, a cloth covered button was missing. From that
• 4:39:45
  garment, and this button was found beneath the bed of the victim. It
• 4:39:51
  is supposed that after dinner, in place of going to his own room,
• 4:39:55
  Danegre slipped into the wardrobe closet and through the glass door had seen the Countess
• 4:40:00
  hide the precious black pearl. This is simply a theory, as yet unverified
• 4:40:07
  by any evidence. There is also another obscure point. At seven o'clock in
• 4:40:12
  the morning, Danegro went to the tobacco shop on the Boulevard de Coursel.
• 4:40:18
  The concierge and the shopkeeper both affirm this fact. On the other hand,
• 4:40:22
  the countess companion and cook, whose sleep at the end of the hall,
• 4:40:26
  both declare that when they arose at eight o'clock, the door of the ante
• 4:40:32
  chamber and the door of the kitchen were locked. These two persons have been
• 4:40:36
  in the service of the Countess for twenty years and are above suspicion. The
• 4:40:41
  question is how did Danegre leave the apartment. Did he have another key?
• 4:40:48
  These are matters that the police would investigate. As a matter of fact,
• 4:40:52
  the police investigation threw no light on the mystery. It was learned that Victor
• 4:40:57
  de Negre was a day interious criminal, a drunkard and the debauchy. But
• 4:41:03
  as they proceeded with the investigation, the mystery deepened and new complications arose.
• 4:41:10
  In the first place, a young woman, Mademoiselle de Saint Clave, the
• 4:41:15
  cousin and sole heiress of the Countess, declared that the Countess, a month
• 4:41:18
  before her death, had written a letter to her, and in it described
• 4:41:22
  the manner in which the black pearl was concealed. The letter disappeared the day
• 4:41:27
  after she received it. Who had stolen it? Again, The concierge related
• 4:41:33
  how she had opened the door for a person who had inquired for doctor Hare.
• 4:41:38
  On being questioned, the doctor testified that no one had rung his bell.
• 4:41:42
  Then who was that person? The theory of an accomplice was thereupon adopted
• 4:41:48
  by the press and public, and also by Gannimar. The famous detective.
• 4:41:53
  Lupin is at the bottom of this affair. He said to the judge.
• 4:41:57
  Brah exclaimed the judge, you have lupound a brain. You see him everywhere.
• 4:42:04
  I see him everywhere, because he is everywhere. Say rather that you
• 4:42:10
  see him every time you encounter something you cannot explain. Besides, you overlook
• 4:42:15
  the fact that the crime was committed at twenty minutes past eleven in the evening,
• 4:42:19
  as is shown by the clock, while the nocturnal visit mentioned by the
• 4:42:23
  concierge occurred at three o'clock in the morning. Officers of the law frequently form
• 4:42:30
  a hasty conviction as to the guilt of a suspected person and then distort all
• 4:42:36
  subsequent discoveries to conform to their established theory. The deplorable antecedents of Victor da
• 4:42:44
  negre, habitual criminal, drunkard, and rake influenced the judge, and despite
• 4:42:49
  the fact that nothing new was discovered in corroboration of the early clues, his
• 4:42:55
  official opinion remained firm and unshaken. He closed his investigation and a few weeks
• 4:43:00
  later the trial commenced. It proved to be slow and tedious. The judge
• 4:43:07
  was listless, and the public prosecutor presented the case in a careless manner.
• 4:43:11
  Under those circumstances, Danegal's council had an easy task. He pointed out the
• 4:43:18
  defects and inconsistencies of the case for the prosecution and argued that the evidence was
• 4:43:25
  quite insufficient to convict the accused who had made the key. The indispensable key,
• 4:43:32
  without which Danegre, on leaving the apartment, could not have locked the
• 4:43:36
  door behind him. Who had ever seen such a key, and what had
• 4:43:40
  become of it? Who had seen the assassin's knife? And where is it
• 4:43:45
  now? In any event, argued the prisoner's council, the prosecution must prove
• 4:43:51
  beyond any reasonable doubt that the prisoner committed the murder. The prosecution must show
• 4:43:56
  that the mysterious individual who entered the hanse Us at three o'clock in the morning
• 4:44:02
  is not the guilty party. To be sure, the clock indicated eleven o'clock,
• 4:44:07
  But what of that? I contend that proves nothing. The assassin could
• 4:44:12
  turn the hands of the clock to any hour he pleased, and thus deceiver
• 4:44:17
  us in regard to the exact hour of the crime. Victor dan Negre was
• 4:44:22
  acquitted. He left the prison on Friday about dusk in the evening, weak
• 4:44:29
  and depressed by his six months imprisonment. The inquisition, the solitude, the
• 4:44:34
  trial, the deliberations of the jury combined to fill him with a nervous fear.
• 4:44:41
  That night, he had been afflicted with terrible nightmares and haunted by weird
• 4:44:45
  visions of the scaffold. He was a mental and physical wreck. Under the
• 4:44:52
  assumed name of Anatole de fourt, he rented a small room on the heights
• 4:44:56
  of Montmartre and lived by doing odd jobs wherever he could find them. He
• 4:45:02
  led a pitiful existence. Three times he obtained regular employment, only to be
• 4:45:07
  recognized and then discharged. Sometimes he had an idea that men were following him,
• 4:45:14
  detectives, no doubt, who was seeking to trap and denounce him.
• 4:45:18
  He could almost feel the strong hand of the law clutching him by the collar.
• 4:45:25
  One evening, as he was eating his dinner at a neighboring restaurant,
• 4:45:29
  a man entered and took a seat at the same table. He was a
• 4:45:33
  person about forty years of age and wore a frock coat of doubtful cleanliness.
• 4:45:38
  He ordered soup, vegetables, and a bottle of wine. After he had
• 4:45:42
  finished his soup, he turned his eyes on danegre and gazed at him intently.
• 4:45:48
  Danegro winced he was certain that this was one of the men who had
• 4:45:52
  been following him for several weeks. What did he want? Danegro tried to
• 4:46:00
  rise, but failed. His limbs refused to support him. The man poured
• 4:46:04
  himself a glass of wine and then filled the negro's glass. The man raised
• 4:46:10
  his glass and said, to your health, Victor the Negre. Victor started
• 4:46:15
  in alarm and stammered, I I no, no, I swear to you.
• 4:46:22
  You will swear what that you are? Not yourself the servant of the
• 4:46:26
  countess. What servant my name is? Dufour, asked the proprietor. Yes,
• 4:46:33
  anatole dufour to the proprietor of his restaurant. But Victor the Negre,
• 4:46:37
  to the offices of the law, that is not true. Some one has
• 4:46:42
  lied to you. The newcomer took a card from his pocket and handed it
• 4:46:47
  to Victor, who read on it. Grimaudan ex inspector of the Detective Force.
• 4:46:53
  Private business transacted. Victor shuddered as he said, you are can with
• 4:47:00
  the police. No, not now. But I have a liking for the
• 4:47:03
  business, and I continue to work at it in a manner more profitable.
• 4:47:10
  From time to time I strike upon a golden opportunity such as your case presents.
• 4:47:15
  My case, yes, yours, I assure you it is a most
• 4:47:21
  promising affair, provided you are inclined to be reasonable. But if I am
• 4:47:26
  not reasonable, oh, my good fellow. You are not in a position
• 4:47:30
  to refuse me anything. I may ask, what is it you want?
• 4:47:36
  Stammered Victor fearfully. Well, I will inform you in a few words.
• 4:47:41
  I am sent by Mademoiselle de sincleve the errors of the Countess don Dillo what
• 4:47:47
  for to recover the black pearl? Black pearl that you stole? But I
• 4:47:55
  haven't got it. You have it. If I had, then I would
• 4:48:00
  be the assassin. You are the assassin, dar Negro showed a forced smile.
• 4:48:07
  Fortunately for me, Monsieur, the assize court was not of your opinion.
• 4:48:11
  The jury returned a unanimous verdict of acquittal. And when a man has
• 4:48:17
  a clear conscience and twelve good men in his favor, the ex inspector seized
• 4:48:22
  him by the arm and said, no fine phrases, my boy. Now
• 4:48:26
  listen to me and weigh my words carefully. You will find they are worthy
• 4:48:30
  of your consideration. Now, the Negro, three weeks before the murder,
• 4:48:37
  you abstracted the cook's key to the servant's door, and had a duplicate key
• 4:48:41
  made by a locksmith named Utar two hundred and forty four. Rue Oberkampff,
• 4:48:48
  it's a lie. It's a lie, growled Victor. No person has seen
• 4:48:52
  that key. There is no such key here it is. After a silence,
• 4:49:00
  Grimaudin continued, you killed the countess with a knife purchased by you at
• 4:49:04
  the Bazaarre de la Republique on the same day as you ordered the duplicate key.
• 4:49:11
  It has a triangular blade with a groove running from end to end.
• 4:49:15
  That is all nonsense. You are simply guessing at something you don't know.
• 4:49:19
  No one ever saw the knife here it is, Victor. Danegre recoiled.
• 4:49:26
  The ex inspector continued, there are some spots of rust upon it. Shall
• 4:49:30
  I tell you how they came there? Well, you have a key and
• 4:49:34
  a knife. Who can prove that they belong to me? The locksmith and
• 4:49:41
  the clerk from whom you bought the knife. I have already refreshed their memories,
• 4:49:45
  and when you confront them, they cannot fail to recognize you. His
• 4:49:51
  speech was dry and hard, with a tone of firmness and precision. Daranegre
• 4:49:56
  was trembling with fear, and yet hetruggled desperately to maintain an air of indifference.
• 4:50:03
  Is that all the evidence you have? Oh? No, not at
• 4:50:07
  all. I have plenty more. For instance, after the crime, you
• 4:50:11
  went out the same way you had entered, but in the center of the
• 4:50:15
  wardrobe room. Being seized by some sudden fear, he leaned against the wall
• 4:50:19
  for support. How do you know that no one could know such a thing,
• 4:50:26
  argued the desperate man. The police know nothing about it. Of course,
• 4:50:30
  they never think of lighting a candle and examining the walls. But if
• 4:50:34
  they had done so, they would have found on the white plaster a faint
• 4:50:38
  red spot, quite distinct, however, to trace in it the imprint of
• 4:50:45
  your sum, which he had pressed against the wall while it was wet with
• 4:50:48
  blood. Now, as you are well aware, under the Bertian system,
• 4:50:53
  some marks are one of the principal means of identification. Victor da Negrow livid.
• 4:51:00
  Great drops of perspiration rolled down his face and fell upon the table.
• 4:51:06
  He gazed with a wild look at the strange man, who had narrated the
• 4:51:11
  story of his crime as faithfully as if he had been an invisible witness to
• 4:51:15
  it. Overcome and powerless, Victor bowed his head. He felt that it
• 4:51:22
  was useless to struggle against this marvelous man, So he said, how much
• 4:51:26
  will he give me if I give you the pearl nothing. Oh, you
• 4:51:32
  are joking. What do you mean that I should give you an article worth
• 4:51:36
  thousands and hundreds of thousands and get nothing in return? You will get your
• 4:51:41
  life? Is that nothing? The unfortunate man shuddered. Then Grimaudin added,
• 4:51:48
  in a milder tone, come the negre. The pearl has no value in
• 4:51:52
  your hands. It is quite impossible for you to sell it. So what
• 4:51:57
  is the use of your keeping it? There are pawnbrokers, and some day
• 4:52:02
  I will be able to get something for it. But that day may be
• 4:52:06
  too late. Why because by that time you may be in the hands of
• 4:52:11
  the police, and with the evidence that I can furnish the knife, the
• 4:52:17
  key, the thumb mark, what will become of you? Victor rested his
• 4:52:22
  head on his hands and reflected. He felt that he was lost, irremediably
• 4:52:27
  lost, and at the same time a sense of weariness and depression overcame him.
• 4:52:34
  He murmured faintly, when must I give it to you to night within
• 4:52:41
  an hour if I refuse. If you refuse, I shall post this letter
• 4:52:47
  to the Procureur of the Republic, in which letter Mademoiselle de Saint Cleve denounces
• 4:52:53
  you as the assassin. The negro poured out two glasses of wine, which
• 4:53:00
  he drank in rapid succession. Then, rising, said pay the bill and
• 4:53:04
  let us go. I have had enough of the cursed affair. Night had
• 4:53:10
  fallen. The two men walked down the ruely Pique and followed the exterior boulevards
• 4:53:15
  in the direction of the Place de Litoises. They pursued their way in silence.
• 4:53:21
  Victor had a stooping carriage and a dejected face. When they reached the
• 4:53:26
  Park Monceaux, he said, we are near the house Parbleu. He only
• 4:53:32
  left the house once before your arrest, and that was to go to the
• 4:53:36
  tobacco shop. Here it is, said Dangre in a dull voice. They
• 4:53:41
  passed along the garden wall of the Countess's house and crossed a street on a
• 4:53:47
  corner of which stood the tobacco shop. A few steps further on, Danegre
• 4:53:52
  stopped. His limbs shook beneath him, and he sank to a bench.
• 4:53:56
  Well, what now, demanded his companion, It is there where come now?
• 4:54:03
  No nonsense? There in front of us, where between two paving stones,
• 4:54:11
  which look for it? Which stones? Victor made no reply, Ah,
• 4:54:19
  I see, exclaimed Grimaudint. You want me to pay for the information?
• 4:54:25
  No, but I am afraid I will starve to death, so that
• 4:54:30
  is why you hesitate. Well, I'll not be hard on you. How
• 4:54:34
  much do you want? Enough to buy a steer it pass to America,
• 4:54:38
  all right? And a hundred francs to keep me until I get work there.
• 4:54:45
  You shall have two hundred. Now speak. Count the paving stones to
• 4:54:49
  the right from the sowerhole. The peril is between the twelfth and the thirteenth
• 4:54:55
  in the gutter, Yes, close to the sidewalk. Grimaudin glanced around and
• 4:55:00
  to see if any one were looking. Some tram cars and pedestrians were passing.
• 4:55:04
  But bah, they will not suspect anything. He opened his pocket knife
• 4:55:10
  and thrust it between the twelfth and thirteenth stones. And if it is not
• 4:55:15
  there, he said to Victor, it must be there unless someone saw me
• 4:55:19
  stoop down and hide it. Could it be possible that the black pearl had
• 4:55:23
  been cast into the mud and filth of the gutter to be picked up by
• 4:55:27
  the first comer the black pearl of fortune? How far down? He asked?
• 4:55:33
  About ten centimeters? He dug up the wet earth the point of his
• 4:55:40
  knife struck something. He enlarged the hole with his finger. Then he abstracted
• 4:55:45
  the black pearl from its filthy hiding place. Good, here are you two
• 4:55:51
  hundred francs. I will send you the ticket for America on the following day.
• 4:55:56
  This article was published in the Ecu de France and was copied by the
• 4:56:00
  leading newspapers throughout the world. Yesterday, the famous black Pearl came into the
• 4:56:07
  possession of Arsaint Lupin, who recovered it from the murderer of the Countess Don
• 4:56:11
  Dillo. In a short time, facsimiles of that precious jewel will be exhibited
• 4:56:18
  in London, Saint Petersburg, Calcutta, Buenos Aires and New York. Arsaint
• 4:56:23
  Lupin will be pleased to consider all propositions submitted to him through his agents.
• 4:56:30
  And that is how crime is always punished and virtue rewarded, said Arsaint Lupin,
• 4:56:36
  after he had told me of the foregoing history of the Black Pearl.
• 4:56:40
  And that is how you, under the assumed name of grimaudan ex inspector of
• 4:56:44
  detectives, were chosen by fate to deprive the criminal of the benefit of his
• 4:56:49
  crime exactly. And I confess that the affair gives me infinite satisfaction and pride.
• 4:56:56
  The forty minutes that I passed in the apartment of the Countess don Dillou
• 4:57:00
  after learning of her death were the most thrilling and absorbing moments of my life.
• 4:57:07
  In those forty minutes, involved as I was in a most dangerous plight,
• 4:57:11
  I calmly studied the scene of the murder and reached the conclusion that the
• 4:57:15
  crime must have been committed by one of the house servants. I also decided
• 4:57:21
  that in order to get the pearl, that servant must be arrested, and
• 4:57:26
  so I left the wainskirt button. It was necessary also for me to hold
• 4:57:30
  some convincing evidence of his guilt, So I carried away the knife which I
• 4:57:34
  found upon the floor, and the key which I found in the lock.
• 4:57:38
  I closed and locked the door, and erased the finger marks from the plaster
• 4:57:42
  of the wardrobe closet. In my opinion, that was one of those flushes
• 4:57:48
  of genius, I said, interrupting of genius if you wish, but I
• 4:57:53
  flatter myself. It would not have occurred to the average mortal to frame instantly
• 4:58:00
  the two elements of the problem, an arrest and an acquittal to make use
• 4:58:06
  of the formidable machinery of the law to crush and humble my victim, and
• 4:58:10
  reduce him to a condition in which, when free, he would be certain
• 4:58:15
  to fall into the trap I was laying for him. Poor devil, poor
• 4:58:19
  devil. Do you say, Victor de Negra, the assassin, He might
• 4:58:23
  have descended to the lowest depths of vice and crime if he had retained the
• 4:58:30
  black pearl. Now he lives. Think of that, Victor de Negre is
• 4:58:34
  alive, and you have the black pearl. He took it out of one
• 4:58:40
  of the secret pockets of his wallet, examined it, gazed at it tenderly,
• 4:58:45
  and caressed it with loving fingers, and sighed as he said, what
• 4:58:51
  cold Russian prince, What vain and foolish Rajah? May some day possess this
• 4:58:56
  priceless treasure, Or perhaps some American millionaire is destined to become the owner of
• 4:59:02
  this morsel of exquisite beauty that once adorned the fair bosom of Leontinez Auti the
• 4:59:07
  Countess don Dillole, end of chapter eight, Chapter nine. Sherlock Holmes arrives
• 4:59:18
  too late. It is really remarkable, Villemont, What a close resemblance you
• 4:59:23
  bear to us in Lupin. How do you know, oh, like everyone
• 4:59:29
  else, from photographs, no two of which are alike, but each of
• 4:59:33
  them leaves the impression of a face something like yours. Horace Velmont displayed some
• 4:59:40
  vexation. Quite so, my dear Divan, and believe me, you are
• 4:59:44
  not the first one who has noticed it. It's so striking, persisted Divan,
• 4:59:49
  that if you had not been recommended to me by my cousin d'estevan,
• 4:59:53
  and if you were not the celebrated artist whose beautiful marine views I so admire,
• 4:59:59
  I have no doubts I should have warned the police of your presence.
• 5:00:03
  Indieppe this Sally, who was greeted with an outburst of laughter. The large
• 5:00:07
  dining hall of the Chateau de Thibermesnil contained on this occasion, besides Villemont,
• 5:00:17
  the following guests, Father Gillis, the parish priest, and a dozen officers
• 5:00:22
  whose regiments were quartered in the vicinity, and who had accepted the invitation of
• 5:00:26
  the banker George d'avan and his mother. One of the officers then remarked,
• 5:00:33
  I understand that an exact description of our Saint Lupin has been furnished to all
• 5:00:37
  the police along this coast since his daring exploit on the Paris Arvre Express.
• 5:00:44
  I suppose, so said d Van, that was three months ago, and
• 5:00:48
  a week later I made the acquaintance of our friend Velmont at the casino,
• 5:00:53
  and since then he has honored me with several visits and an agreeable prehamble to
• 5:00:59
  a more serious visit, that he will pay one of these days, or
• 5:01:03
  rather one of these nights. This speech evoked another round of laughter, and
• 5:01:07
  the guests then passed into the ancient Hall of the Guards, a vast room
• 5:01:11
  with a high ceiling which occupied the entire lower part of the Tourguillum Williamstower,
• 5:01:17
  wherein George d Van collected the incomparable treasures which the lords of Tibermesni had accumulated
• 5:01:23
  through many centuries. It contained ancient chests, credences andryans and chandeliers. The
• 5:01:32
  stone walls were overhung with magnificent tapestries. The deep embrasures of the four windows
• 5:01:37
  were furnished with benches, and the Gothic windows were composed of small panes of
• 5:01:41
  colored glass set in a leaden frame between the door and the window to the
• 5:01:47
  left stood an immense bookcase of Renaissance style, on the pediment of which,
• 5:01:52
  in letters of gold was the word Thibermesni, and below it the proud family
• 5:02:00
  device fais a Couville. Do what thou wishest. When the guests had lighted
• 5:02:07
  their cigars, Divan resumed the conversation. And remember, Velmont, you have
• 5:02:14
  no time to lose. In fact, to night is the last chance you
• 5:02:18
  will have. How so asked the painter, who appeared to regard the affair
• 5:02:23
  as a joke. Divan was about to reply when his mother motioned to him
• 5:02:29
  to keep silent, but the excitement of the occasion and the desire to interest
• 5:02:33
  his guests urged him to speak. Bah, He murmured, I can tell
• 5:02:37
  it now, won't do any harm. The guests drew closer, and he
• 5:02:44
  commenced to speak with the satisfied air of a man who has an important announcement
• 5:02:48
  to make Tomorrow afternoon at four o'clock. Shellock Holmes, the famous English detective
• 5:02:53
  for whom such a thing as mystery does not exist. Shelock Holmes, the
• 5:02:59
  most remarkable solver of the enigmas in the world has ever known. That marvelous
• 5:03:03
  man who would seem to be the creation of a romantic novelist. Sherlock Holmes
• 5:03:08
  will be my guest Immediately, Divan was the target of numerous eager questions.
• 5:03:15
  Is Shelock Holmes's really coming? Is it so serious as that? Is Usain
• 5:03:19
  Lupin really in this neighborhood? Us In Lupin and his band are not far
• 5:03:30
  away. Besides the robbery of Baron Cahorn, he is credited with the thefts
• 5:03:34
  of Montigni, Gruchet and Crassville. Has he sent you a warning as he
• 5:03:41
  did to Baron Cahorn, No, replied Divan. He can't work the same
• 5:03:47
  trick twice. What then, I will show you. He rose, and,
• 5:03:52
  pointing to a small empty space between the two enormous folios on one of
• 5:03:56
  the shelves of the bookcase, he said they used to be a book there
• 5:04:00
  a book of the sixteenth century entitled Chronique the Tibermesni, which contained the history
• 5:04:08
  of the castle since its construction by Duke Rollo on the site of a former
• 5:04:14
  feudal fortress. There were three engraved plates in the book, one of which
• 5:04:18
  was a general view of the whole estate, another a plan of the buildings,
• 5:04:22
  and the third I call your attention to it particularly. The third was
• 5:04:27
  a sketch of a subterranean passage, one entrance to which is outside the first
• 5:04:33
  line of ramparts, while the other end of the passage is here in this
• 5:04:37
  very room. Well, that book disappeared a month ago. The deuce said
• 5:04:44
  Villemont. That looks bad, but it doesn't seem to be sufficient reason for
• 5:04:48
  sending for Shelock Holmes. Certainly that was not sufficient in itself, But another
• 5:04:55
  incident happened that gives the disappearance of the book a special signific There was another
• 5:05:02
  copy of this book in the National Library at Paris, and the two books
• 5:05:07
  differed in certain details relating to the subterranean passage. For instance, each of
• 5:05:12
  them contained drawings and annotations not printed, but written in ink and more or
• 5:05:18
  less effaced. I knew those facts, and I knew that the exact location
• 5:05:23
  of the passage could be determined only by a comparison of the two books.
• 5:05:29
  Now that after my book disappeared, a book was called for in the National
• 5:05:33
  Library by a reader who carried it away, and no one knows how the
• 5:05:37
  theft was effected. The guests uttered many exclamations of surprise, certainly the feluk
• 5:05:45
  serious, said one. Well, the police investigated the matter and as usual
• 5:05:49
  discovered no clue. Whatever, they never do when our send Lupin is concerned
• 5:05:53
  with it. Exactly, so I decided to ask assistance of Shelocot, who
• 5:06:00
  replied that he was ready and anxious to enter the lists with Ar Saint Lupin.
• 5:06:06
  What glory for Ar Saint Lupin, said Valmont. If our national thief,
• 5:06:11
  as they call him, has no evil designs on your castle, Sherlock
• 5:06:15
  Holmes will have his trip in vain. There are other things that will interest
• 5:06:19
  him, such as the discovery of the subterranean passage. But you told us
• 5:06:25
  that one end of the passage was outside the ramparts, and the other was
• 5:06:27
  in this very room. Yes, but in what part of the room.
• 5:06:33
  A lime which represents the passage on the charts ends here with a small circle
• 5:06:37
  marked with the letters t G, which no doubts stand for Tour Guillaumes.
• 5:06:44
  But the tower is round, and who can tell the exact spot of which
• 5:06:47
  the passage touches the tower. Divan lighted a second cigar and poured himself a
• 5:06:52
  glass of benedictine. His guests pressed him with questions, and he was pleased
• 5:06:56
  to observe the interest that his remarks had created. He continued, the secret
• 5:07:03
  is lost. No one knows it. The legend is to the effect that
• 5:07:07
  the former lords of the castle transmitted the secret from father to son on their
• 5:07:11
  death beds, until Geoffrey, the last of the race, was beheaded during
• 5:07:15
  the revolution in his nineteenth year. That's over a century ago. Surely some
• 5:07:22
  one has looked for it since that time, yes, but they failed to
• 5:07:26
  find it. After I purchased the castle, I made a diligent search for
• 5:07:30
  it, but without success. You must remember that this tower is surrounded by
• 5:07:34
  water and connected with the castle only by a bridge. Consequently, the passage
• 5:07:40
  must be underneath the old moat. The planet was in the book in the
• 5:07:44
  National Library showed a series of stairs with a total of forty eight steps,
• 5:07:49
  which indicates a depth of more than ten meters. You see, the mystery
• 5:07:56
  lies within the walls of this room, and yet I dislike to tear them
• 5:08:00
  down. Is there nothing to show where it is nothing? Monsieur de Van,
• 5:08:07
  We should turn our attention to the two quotationans suggested Father ghilli Oh,
• 5:08:14
  exclaimed Monsieur Devan laughing. Our worthy father is fond of reading memoirs and delving
• 5:08:18
  into the dusty archives of the castle. Everything relating to Tibermesnie interests him greatly,
• 5:08:25
  but the quotations that he mentions only serve to complicate the mystery. He
• 5:08:30
  has read somewhere that two kings of France have known the key to the puzzle.
• 5:08:36
  Two kings of France. Who were they, Henry the fourth and Louis
• 5:08:40
  the sixteenth, And the legend runs like this, On the eve of the
• 5:08:44
  Battle of Arc, Henry the fourth spent the night in this castle. At
• 5:08:48
  eleven o'clock in the evening, Louise de tanc Avill, the prettiest woman in
• 5:08:52
  Normandy, was brought into the castle through the subterranean passage by Jute Edgar,
• 5:08:59
  who at the same time informed the king of the secret passage. Afterwards,
• 5:09:03
  the king confided the secrets to his minister Suli, who in his turn relates
• 5:09:07
  the story in his book Royal Leconnemideta, without making any comment upon it,
• 5:09:15
  but linking with it this incomprehensible sentence. Turn one eye on the bee that
• 5:09:22
  shakes, the other eye will lead to God. After a brief silence,
• 5:09:27
  Velmont laughed and said, certainly, it doesn't throw a dazzling light on the
• 5:09:33
  subject. No, but father Gilli claims that Sulli concealed the key to the
• 5:09:38
  mystery in this strange sentence in order to keep the secret from the secretaries to
• 5:09:44
  whom he dictated his memoirs. That's an ingenious theory, said Valmont. Yes,
• 5:09:51
  and it may be nothing more. I cannot see that it throws any
• 5:09:53
  light on the mysterious riddle. And it was also to receive the visit of
• 5:10:00
  a lady that Louis the sixteenth caused the passage to be opened. I don't
• 5:10:07
  know, said Monsieur Van. All I can say is that the king stopped
• 5:10:10
  here one night in seventeen eighty four, and that the famous iron casket found
• 5:10:15
  in the louver contained a paper bearing these words in the king's own writing,
• 5:10:21
  Tibermesni three four eleven Horace. Velmar laughed heartily and exclaimed, at last,
• 5:10:32
  now that we have the magic key, where is the man who can fit
• 5:10:33
  it in the invisible lock? Laugh as much as you please, Monsieur,
• 5:10:38
  said father Gilly. But I am confident the solution is contained in those two
• 5:10:44
  sentences, and some day we will find a man able to interpret them.
• 5:10:52
  Sherlock Holmes is the man, said Monsieur Van, unless our Saint Lupin gets
• 5:10:56
  ahead of him. What's your opinion, Velmont villemont Arose placed his hand on
• 5:11:03
  Divan's shoulder and declared, I think that the information furnished by your book and
• 5:11:08
  the book of the National Library, was deficient in a very important detail,
• 5:11:14
  which you have now supplied. Thank you for it. What is it the
• 5:11:18
  missing key? Now that I have it, I can go to work at
• 5:11:22
  once, said Velmont. Of course without losing a minute, said did Van,
• 5:11:26
  smiling not even a second, replied Velmont. To night before the arrival
• 5:11:32
  of Sherlock Holmes, I must plunder your castle. You have no time to
• 5:11:37
  lose. Oh, by the way, I can drive you over this evening
• 5:11:41
  to the EBB. Yes, I am going to meet Monsieur and Madame Dandole
• 5:11:47
  and a young lady of their acquaintance, who are to arrive by the midnight
• 5:11:51
  train. Then, addressing the officers, d Van added, gentlemen, I
• 5:11:56
  su expect to see all of you at breakfast to morrow. The invitation was
• 5:12:00
  accepted, the company dispersed, and a few moments later Devan and Velmore were
• 5:12:03
  speeding towards Dieppe in an automobile. Devan dropped the artist in front of the
• 5:12:08
  casino and proceeded to the railway station. At twelve o'clock. His friends alighted
• 5:12:14
  from the train. Half an hour later. The automobile was at the entrance
• 5:12:18
  to the castle at one o'clock. After a light supper, they retired.
• 5:12:22
  The lights were extinguished, and the castle was enveloped in the darkness and silence
• 5:12:26
  of the night. The moon appeared through a rift in the clouds and filled
• 5:12:32
  the drawing room with its bright white light, but only for a moment.
• 5:12:37
  Then the moon again retired behind its etherial draperies, and darkness and silence reigned
• 5:12:42
  supreme. No sound could be heard save the monotonous sticking of the clock.
• 5:12:48
  It struck two and then continued its endless repetitions of the seconds, then three
• 5:12:55
  o'clock. Suddenly something clicked, like the opening and closing of a signal disc
• 5:13:03
  that warns the passing train. A thin stream of light flashed into every corner
• 5:13:08
  of the room, like an arrow that leaved behind it a trail of light.
• 5:13:12
  It shot forth from the central fluting of a column that supported the pediment
• 5:13:17
  of the bookcase. It rested for a moment on the panel opposite like a
• 5:13:21
  glistening circle of burnished silver, then flashed in all directions, like a guilty
• 5:13:25
  eye that scrutinizes every shadow. It disappeared for a short time, but burst
• 5:13:30
  forth again as a whole section of the bookcase revolved on a pivot and disclosed
• 5:13:36
  a large opening like a vault. A man entered carrying an electric lantern.
• 5:13:41
  He was followed by a second man who carried a coil of rope and various
• 5:13:44
  tools. The leader inspected the room, listened a moment, and said,
• 5:13:48
  call the others. Then eight men, stout fellows with resolute faces entered the
• 5:13:53
  room and immediately commenced to remove the furnishings. Asi Lupin passed quickly from one
• 5:14:00
  piece of furniture to another, examined each and according to its size or artistic
• 5:14:03
  value. He directed his men to take it or leave it. If order
• 5:14:08
  to be taken, it was carried to the gaping mouth of a tunnel and
• 5:14:11
  ruthlessly thrust into the bowels of the earth. Such was the fate of six
• 5:14:17
  arm chairs, six small Louis. The fifteenth chairs, A quantity of Obusson,
• 5:14:21
  Tapara tapestries, some candelabra paintings by Fragonard and Natchi, a bast by
• 5:14:26
  Houdon, and some statues. Sometimes Lupin would linger before a beautiful chest or
• 5:14:34
  a superb picture, and sigh, that is too heavy, too large,
• 5:14:41
  what a pity. In forty minutes the room was dismantled, and it had
• 5:14:48
  been accomplished in such an orderly manner, and with as little noise as if
• 5:14:52
  the various articles had been packed and wadded for the occasion. Houpin said to
• 5:14:57
  the last man who departed by way of the tunnel, you need not come
• 5:15:03
  back. You understand that as soon as the auto van is loaded, you
• 5:15:07
  are to proceed to the garage at Rockfort. But you patent leave me the
• 5:15:11
  motorcycle. When the man had disappeared, I seen Lupin pushed the section of
• 5:15:18
  bookcase back into its place, and carefully effaced the traces of the men's footsteps,
• 5:15:22
  raised a portier and entered a gallery which was the only means of communication
• 5:15:30
  between the tower and the castle. In the center of this gallery there was
• 5:15:34
  a glass cabinet which had attracted Lupin's attentions. It contained a valuable collection of
• 5:15:40
  watches, snuff boxes, rings, chatelaine, and miniatures of rare and beautiful
• 5:15:45
  workmanship. He forced the lock with a small jimmy and experienced a great pleasure
• 5:15:49
  in handling those gold and silver ornaments, those exquisite and delicate works of art.
• 5:15:56
  He carried a large linen bag, specially prepared for the removal of such
• 5:16:00
  knick knacks. He filled it. Then he filled the pockets of his coat,
• 5:16:03
  waistcoat, and trousers. He was just placing over his left arm a
• 5:16:08
  number of pearl reticules when he heard a slight sound. He listened, No,
• 5:16:15
  he was not deceived. The noise continued. Then he remembered that at
• 5:16:21
  one end of the gallery there was a stairway leading to an unoccupied apartment,
• 5:16:26
  which was probably occupied that night by the young lady whom Monsieur de Van had
• 5:16:30
  brought from the appe with his other visitors. Immediately, he distinguished his lantern
• 5:16:37
  and had scarcely gained the friendly shelter of a window embrazier. When the door
• 5:16:41
  at the top of the stairway was opened and a feeble light illuminated the gallery,
• 5:16:45
  he could feel for concealed by a curtain, he could not see that
• 5:16:51
  a woman was cautiously descending the upper steps of the stairs. He hoped she
• 5:16:56
  would come no closer. Yet she continued to descend, and even advanced some
• 5:17:00
  distance into the room. Then she uttered a faint cry, no doubt she
• 5:17:06
  had discovered all the broken and dismantled cabinets. She advanced again. Now he
• 5:17:11
  could smell the perfume and hear the throbbing of her heart as she drew closer
• 5:17:14
  to the window where he was concealed. She passed so close that her skirt
• 5:17:18
  brushed against the window curtain, and Loupere felt that she suspected the presence of
• 5:17:23
  another behind her in the shadow, within reach of her hand. He thought,
• 5:17:30
  she is afraid, she will go away, But she did not go.
• 5:17:36
  The candle that she carried and her trembling hand grew brighter. She turned
• 5:17:40
  hesitated a moment, appeared to listen, then suddenly drew aside the curtain.
• 5:17:47
  They stood face to face. Arsain was astounded. He murmured, involuntarily,
• 5:17:55
  you you, mademoiselle. It was miss Nellie. Miss Nellie, his fellow
• 5:18:00
  passenger on the transatlantic steamer, who had been the subject of his dreams on
• 5:18:04
  that memorable voyage, who had been a witness to his arrest, and who,
• 5:18:10
  rather than betray him, had dropped into the water the kodak in which
• 5:18:14
  he had concealed the bank notes and diamonds. Miss Nellie, that charming creature,
• 5:18:21
  memory of whose face has sometimes cheered, sometimes saddened the long hours of
• 5:18:25
  imprisonment. It was such an unexpected encounter that brought them face to face in
• 5:18:30
  that castle at that hour of the night, that they could not move nor
• 5:18:33
  utter a word. They were amazed, hypnotized, each at the sudden apparition
• 5:18:38
  of the other. Trembling with emotion, miss Nellie staggered to a seat,
• 5:18:44
  he remained standing in front of her. Gradually he realized the situation and conceived
• 5:18:52
  the impression he must have produced at that moment. With his arms laden with
• 5:18:56
  knick knacks, and his pockets and a linen sack overflowing with plunder, he
• 5:19:00
  was overcome with confusion, and he actually blushed to find himself in the position
• 5:19:06
  of a thief, caught in the act. To her, henceforth, he
• 5:19:08
  was a thief, a man who put his hand in another's pocket, who
• 5:19:12
  steals into houses and robs people, while they sleep, a watch fell upon
• 5:19:18
  the floor, then another. These were followed by other articles, which slipped
• 5:19:23
  from his grasp one by one. Then, actuated by a sudden decision,
• 5:19:29
  he dropped the other articles into an armchair, emptied his pockets, and unpacked
• 5:19:33
  his sack. He felt very uncomfortable in Nelly's presence and stepped towards her with
• 5:19:37
  the intention of speaking to her. But she shuddered, rose quickly, and
• 5:19:41
  fled toward the salon. The portiere closed behind her. He followed her.
• 5:19:48
  She was standing, trembling and amazed at the sight of the devastated room.
• 5:19:52
  He said to her, at once, tomorrow, at three o'clock, everything
• 5:19:56
  will be returned. The furniture will be brought back. She made no reply,
• 5:20:02
  so he repeated, I promise it to morrow at three o'clock. Nothing
• 5:20:06
  in the world could induce me to break that promise to morrow at three o'clock.
• 5:20:11
  Then followed a long silence that he dared not break, whilst the agitation
• 5:20:18
  of the young girl caused him a feeling of genuine regret. Quietly, without
• 5:20:22
  a word, he turned away, thinking, I hope she will go away.
• 5:20:27
  I can't endure her presence. But the young girl suddenly spoke and stammered,
• 5:20:33
  listen, footsteps year someone. He looked at her with astonishment. She
• 5:20:41
  seemed to be overwhelmed by the thought of approaching peril. I don't hear anything,
• 5:20:45
  he said, But you must go, you must escape. Why should
• 5:20:51
  I go because you must? Oh? Do not remain here another moment.
• 5:20:55
  Go. She ran quickly to the door leading the gallery and listened. No,
• 5:21:02
  there was no one there. Perhaps the noise was outside. She waited
• 5:21:04
  a moment and then returned, reassured, But Ar Saint Lupin had disappeared.
• 5:21:14
  As soon as Monsieur de Van was informed of the pillage of his castle,
• 5:21:18
  he said to himself, it was Velmont who did it, and Velmont is
• 5:21:22
  Ar Saint Lupin. That theory explained everything, and there was no other plausible
• 5:21:27
  explanation. And yet the idea seemed preposterous. It was ridiculous to suppose that
• 5:21:33
  Velmont was any one else than Velmont, the famous artist and club fellow of
• 5:21:37
  his cousin De'stevan. So when the captain of the Gendarmes arrived to investigate the
• 5:21:42
  affair, de Van did not even think of mentioning his absurd theory. Throughout
• 5:21:48
  the forenoon there was a lively commotion at the castle. The gendarmes, the
• 5:21:52
  local police, the chief of Police from Dieppe, the villagers all circulated to
• 5:21:56
  and fro in the halls, examining every nook and corner that was opened to
• 5:22:00
  their inspection. The approach of the maneuvering troops the rattling fire of the musketry
• 5:22:07
  added to the picturesque character of the scene. The preliminary search furnished no clue.
• 5:22:12
  Neither the doors nor the windows should any sign of having been disturbed.
• 5:22:17
  Consequently, the removal of the goods must have been effected by means of the
• 5:22:21
  secret passage. Yet there were no indications of footsteps on the floor, nor
• 5:22:26
  any unusual marks on the walls. Their investigations revealed, however, one curious
• 5:22:33
  fact that denoted the whimsical character of Ar Saint Luper. The famous chronique of
• 5:22:38
  the sixteenth century had been restored to its accustomed place in the library, and
• 5:22:42
  beside it there was a similar book, which was none other than the volume
• 5:22:47
  stolen from the National Library. At eleven o'clock the military officers arrived. D
• 5:22:53
  Van welcomed them with his usual gravity, for no matter how much chagrin he
• 5:22:57
  might be suffering from the loss of his artistic treasures, his great wealth enabled
• 5:23:02
  him to bear his lost philosophically. His guests Monsieur and Madame Dandrol and miss
• 5:23:07
  Nellie were introduced, and it was then noticed that one of the unexpected guests
• 5:23:14
  had not arrived. It was Horace Velmont. His absence had awakened the suspicions
• 5:23:21
  of Monsieur de Van that at twelve o'clock he arrived. De Van exclaimed,
• 5:23:26
  Ah, there you are. Why am I not punctual? Asked Belmont.
• 5:23:32
  Yes, and I'm surprised that you are after such a busy night. I
• 5:23:36
  suppose you know the news. What news? You have robbed the castle?
• 5:23:41
  Nonsense, exclaimed Velmont, smiling, exactly as I predicted. But first escort
• 5:23:48
  miss Under down to the dining room. Mademoiselle, allow me. He stopped
• 5:23:56
  as he remarked the extreme agitation of the younger. Then, recalling the incident,
• 5:24:02
  he said, Ah, of course you met Arsen Lupin on the steamer
• 5:24:06
  before his arrest, and you are astonished at the resemblance. Is that it?
• 5:24:10
  She did not reply. Velmot stood before her, smiling he bowed.
• 5:24:15
  She took his proffered arm, and he escorted her to her place, and
• 5:24:18
  took his seat opposite her. During the breakfast, the conversation related exclusively to
• 5:24:25
  Usin Lupin, the stolen goods, the secret passage, and Shoke Holmes.
• 5:24:30
  It was only at the close of the repast, when the conversation had drifted
• 5:24:33
  to other topics, that Velmot took any part of it. Then he was
• 5:24:38
  by turns amusing and grave, talkative and pensive, and all his remarks seemed
• 5:24:45
  to be directed to the young girl, but she, quite absorbed, did
• 5:24:49
  not appear to hear them. Coffee was served on the terrace, overlooking the
• 5:24:53
  Court of Honor and the flower garden in front of the principal facade. The
• 5:25:00
  regimental band played on the lawn, and scores of soldiers and peasants wandered through
• 5:25:03
  the park. Miss Nellie had not forgotten for one moment Lupin's solemn promise to
• 5:25:10
  morrow at three o'clock everything will be returned at three o'clock, and the hands
• 5:25:17
  of the great clock in the right wing of the castle now marked twenty minutes
• 5:25:21
  two three. In spite of herself, her eyes wandered to the clock every
• 5:25:25
  minute. She was also watching Valmont, who was calmly swinging to and fro
• 5:25:32
  in a comfortable rocking chair. Ten minutes to three, five minutes to three.
• 5:25:37
  Nellie was impatient and anxious. Was it possible that as Saint Lupin would
• 5:25:42
  carry out his promise at the appointed hour, when the castle courtyard and the
• 5:25:47
  park were filled with people, and at the very moment when the officers of
• 5:25:51
  the law were pursuing their investigations, and yet Arsen Lupin had given her his
• 5:25:56
  solemn promise, It will be exactly as he said, thought she so deeply
• 5:26:02
  was she impressed with the authority, energy, and assurance of that remarkable man.
• 5:26:07
  To her, it no longer assumed the form of a miracle, but,
• 5:26:11
  on the contrary, a natural incident that must occur in the ordinary course
• 5:26:15
  of events. She blushed and turned her head. Three o'clock. The great
• 5:26:21
  clock struck slowly, one, two, three. Horace Velmore took out his
• 5:26:30
  watch, glanced at the clock, then returned the watch to his pocket.
• 5:26:34
  A few seconds passed in silence, and then the crowd in the courtyard parted
• 5:26:38
  to give passage to two wagons that had just entered the park gate. Each
• 5:26:42
  drawn by two horses. There were army wagons such as I used for the
• 5:26:48
  transportation of provisions, tents and of unnecessary military stores. They stopped in front
• 5:26:52
  of the main entrance, and a commissary sergeant lipped from one of the wagons
• 5:26:57
  and inquired for Monsieur Devanne. A moment later that gentleman emerged from the house,
• 5:27:03
  descended the steps, and under the canvas cover of the wagons beheld his
• 5:27:07
  furniture, pictures and ornaments, carefully packaged and arranged. When questioned, the
• 5:27:15
  sergeant produced an order that he had received from the Officer of the day.
• 5:27:18
  By that order, the second company of the fourth Battalion were commanded to proceed
• 5:27:22
  to the cross roads of Alleux in the forest of Arc, gather up the
• 5:27:26
  furnitures and other articles deposited there, and deliver same to Monsieur George d Vain,
• 5:27:33
  owner of the Tibemesni Castle, at three o'clock, signed Colonel Beauvel.
• 5:27:40
  At the cross roads, explained the sergeant. We found everything ready lying on
• 5:27:44
  the grass, guided by some passers by. It seemed very strange, but
• 5:27:48
  the order was imperative. One of the officers examined the signature. He declared
• 5:27:52
  a forgery, but a clever imitation. The wagons were unloaded and the goods
• 5:27:56
  restored to their proper place in the castle. During this commotion, Nellie had
• 5:28:03
  remained alone at the extreme end of the terrace, absorbed by confused and distracted
• 5:28:07
  thoughts. Suddenly she observed Velmont approaching her. She would have avoided him,
• 5:28:12
  but the balustrade that surrounded the terrace cut off her retreat. She was cornered.
• 5:28:18
  She could not move. A gleam of sunshine, passing through the scant
• 5:28:21
  foliage of the bamboo, lighted up her beautiful golden hair. Someone spoke to
• 5:28:29
  her in a low voice, Have I not kept my promise? Ar Saint
• 5:28:34
  Lupin stood close to her. No one else was near, he repeated,
• 5:28:38
  in a calm, soft voice, have I not kept my promise? He
• 5:28:44
  expected a word of thanks, or at least some slight movement that would betray
• 5:28:48
  her interest in the fulfillment of his promise, but she remained silent. Her
• 5:28:52
  scornful attitude annoyed Ar Saint Lupin, and he realized the vast distance that separated
• 5:28:59
  him from Miss Nellie. Now that she had learned the truth, he would
• 5:29:03
  gladly have justified himself in her eyes, or at least pleaded but extenuating circumstances.
• 5:29:08
  But he perceived the absurdity and futility of such an attempt. Finally,
• 5:29:14
  dominated by a surging flood of memories, he murmured, Ah, how long
• 5:29:19
  ago that was? You Remember the long hours on the deck of the Provence
• 5:29:26
  when you carried a rose in your hand, a white rose like the one
• 5:29:29
  you carry to day. I asked you for it. You pretended you did
• 5:29:33
  not hear me. After you'd gone away, I found the rose, forgotten,
• 5:29:37
  no doubt, and I kept it. She made no reply. She
• 5:29:42
  seemed to be far away, he continued, in memory of those happy hours,
• 5:29:49
  Forget what you have learned since, separate the past from the present.
• 5:29:53
  Do not regard me as the man you saw last night. But look at
• 5:29:56
  me, if only for a moment, as you did in those far off
• 5:30:00
  days when I was Bernard d'andreisi, for a short time, will you please?
• 5:30:07
  She raised her eyes and looked at him, as he had requested.
• 5:30:11
  Then, without saying a word, she pointed to a ring that he was
• 5:30:15
  wearing on his forefinger. Only the ring was visible, but the setting,
• 5:30:18
  which was turned towards The palm of his hand consisted of a magnificent ruby.
• 5:30:25
  As Saint Lupin blushed, the ring belonged to George de Vain. He smiled
• 5:30:30
  bitterly and said, you are right. Nothing can be changed, as Sin
• 5:30:36
  Lupin is now and always will be. Ar Saint Lupin to you, he
• 5:30:41
  cannot be even so much as a memory. Pardon me. I should have
• 5:30:47
  known that any attention I may now offer you is simply an insult. Forgive
• 5:30:51
  me. He stepped aside at in hand. Nellie passed before him. He
• 5:30:57
  was inclined to detain her and beseech her forgiveness, but his courage failed,
• 5:31:03
  and he contented himself by following her with his eyes, as he had done
• 5:31:07
  when she descended the gangway to the pier at New York. She mounted the
• 5:31:11
  steps leading to the door and disappeared within the house. He saw her no
• 5:31:15
  more. A cloud obscured the sun. Asi Lupin stood watching the imprints of
• 5:31:22
  her tiny feet in the sand. Suddenly he gave a start upon the box
• 5:31:30
  which had contained the bamboo beside which Nellie had been standing. He saw the
• 5:31:36
  rose, the white rose he had desired, but dared not ask for forgotten.
• 5:31:41
  No doubt it also, but how designedly or through distraction. He seized
• 5:31:47
  it eagerly, and some of its petals fell to the ground. He picked
• 5:31:52
  them up one by one. Precious relics come. He said to himself,
• 5:32:00
  I have nothing more to do here. I must think of my safety.
• 5:32:03
  Before Shelock Holmes arrives. The park was deserted, but some gendarmes was stationed
• 5:32:08
  at the park gate. He entered a grove of pine trees and leaped over
• 5:32:14
  the wall, and, as a short cut to the railroad station, followed
• 5:32:17
  a path across the fields. After walking about ten minutes, he arrived at
• 5:32:21
  the spot where the road grew narrower and ran between two steep banks. In
• 5:32:26
  this ravine, he met a man traveling in the opposite direction. It was
• 5:32:30
  a man of about fifty years of age, tall, smooth shaven, and
• 5:32:33
  wearing clothes of a foreign cut. He carried a heavy cane and a small
• 5:32:37
  satchel was trapped across his shoulder. When they met, the stranger spoke with
• 5:32:41
  a slightinglish accent. Excuse me, monsieur, is this the way to the
• 5:32:45
  castle? Yes, monsieur. Straight ahead, turned to the left. When
• 5:32:49
  you come to the wall, they are expecting you. Ah. Yes,
• 5:32:55
  my friend de Van told us last night that you were coming, and I
• 5:32:57
  am delighted to be the first to welcome you. Shellock Holmes has no more
• 5:33:03
  ardent admirer than myself. There was a touch of iron in his voice that
• 5:33:08
  he quickly regretted, for Shellock Holms scrutinized him from head to foot with such
• 5:33:14
  a penetrating, keen eye that us in Lupin experienced a sensation of being seized,
• 5:33:18
  imprisoned, and registered by that look, more thoroughly and precisely than he
• 5:33:22
  had ever been by a camera. My negative is taken now, he thought,
• 5:33:26
  and it would be useless to use the disguise with that man, he
• 5:33:30
  would look right through it. But I wonder has he recognized me. They
• 5:33:36
  bowed to each other as if about to part, but at that moment they
• 5:33:38
  heard a sound of horses feet accompanied by a clinking of steel. It was
• 5:33:42
  the gendarmes. The two men were a bride to draw back against the embankment
• 5:33:48
  amongst the bushes to avoid the horses. The gendarme passed by, but as
• 5:33:53
  they followed each other at a considerable distance. They were several minutes in doing
• 5:33:57
  so, and Lupin was thinking. It all depends on that question. Has
• 5:34:06
  he recognized me? If so, he will probably take advantage of the opportunity.
• 5:34:11
  It is a trying situation. When the last horseman had passed, sholoc
• 5:34:15
  Hombe stepped forth and brushed the dust from his clothes. Then for a moment
• 5:34:21
  he and us In Lupin gazed at each other, and if a person could
• 5:34:23
  have seen them at that moment, it put upon an interesting sight and memorable
• 5:34:30
  as the first meeting of two remarkable men, so strange, so powerfully equipped,
• 5:34:36
  both of superior quality, and destined by fate through their peculiar attributes,
• 5:34:41
  to hurl themselves at one and the other, like two equal forces that nature
• 5:34:47
  opposes one against the other in the realms of space. Then the Englishman said,
• 5:34:53
  thank you, monsieur. They parted. Lupin went towards the railway station,
• 5:34:59
  and shall Holmes continued on his way to the castle. The local officers
• 5:35:03
  had given up the investigation after several hours of fruitless efforts, and the people
• 5:35:07
  at the castle were awaiting the arrival of the English detective with lively curiosity.
• 5:35:14
  At first sight They were a little disappointed on account of his commonplace appearance,
• 5:35:18
  which differed so greatly from the pictures they had formed of him in their own
• 5:35:21
  minds. He did not in any way resemble the romantic hero, the mysterious
• 5:35:26
  and diabolical personage that the name Sherlock Holmes had evoked in their imaginations. However,
• 5:35:33
  Monsieur de Vanne exclaimed with much gusto, Ah, Monsieur, you are
• 5:35:37
  here. I am delighted to see you. It is a long deferred pleasure.
• 5:35:42
  Really, I scarcely regret that what has happened, since it affords me
• 5:35:48
  the opportunity to meet you. But how did you come by the train?
• 5:35:52
  But I sent my automobile to meet you at the station. That official reception,
• 5:35:57
  eh, with music and fireworks. Oh no, not for me.
• 5:36:00
  That's not the way I do business, grumbled the Englishman. This speech disconcerted
• 5:36:06
  Divan, who replied with a forced smile. Fortunately, the business has been
• 5:36:11
  greatly simplified since I wrote to you. In what way the robbery took place
• 5:36:15
  last night? Die? If you'd not announce my intended visits, it is
• 5:36:19
  probable the robbery would not have been committed last night. And then when to
• 5:36:26
  morrow or some other day. And in that case Lupin would have been trapped,
• 5:36:32
  said the detective, and my furniture would not have been carried away.
• 5:36:38
  Ah, but my goods are here. They were brought back at three o'clock
• 5:36:42
  by Lupin by two army wagons. Slock Holmes put on his cap and adjusted
• 5:36:48
  his satchel. Divan exclaimed anxiously, But monsieur, what are you going to
• 5:36:52
  do? I am going home. Why your goods have been returned? I
• 5:37:00
  Saint Lupin is far away, and there is nothing for me to do.
• 5:37:03
  Yes, there is. I need your assistance. What happened yesterday may happen
• 5:37:07
  again to morrow, as we do not know how he entered, or how
• 5:37:10
  he escaped, or why a few hours later he returned the goods. Ah,
• 5:37:15
  you don't know. The idea of a problem to be solved quickened the
• 5:37:18
  interest of Sherlock Holmes. Very well, then let's make a search at once,
• 5:37:23
  and alone, if possible. Divan understood and conducted the Englishman of the
• 5:37:27
  salon in a crisp, dry voice, in sentences that seemed to have been
• 5:37:32
  prepared in advance. Holmes asked a number of questions about the events of the
• 5:37:37
  preceding evening, and inquired also concerning the guests and the members of the household.
• 5:37:41
  Then he examined the two volumes of the chronic compared the plans of the
• 5:37:45
  subterranean passage, requested a repetition of the sentences discovered by Father Gilly, and
• 5:37:51
  then asked, it was yesterday the first time you have spoken those two sentences
• 5:37:57
  to any one. Yes, you have never communicated them with Horace Velmont.
• 5:38:04
  No, well, order the automobile. I must leave in an hour.
• 5:38:10
  In an hour, yes, within that time, Ar Saint Lupin solved the
• 5:38:14
  problem that you placed before him. I placed before him. Yes, Ar
• 5:38:18
  Saint Lupin or Horace Velmont the same thing. Ah, I thought so,
• 5:38:23
  ah, the scoundrel. Now let's see, said Holmes. Last night at
• 5:38:29
  ten o'clock you furnished Lupin with the information that he lacked and that he had
• 5:38:33
  been seeking for many weeks. During the night he found the time to solve
• 5:38:37
  the problem, collect his men and rob the castle. I shall be quite
• 5:38:41
  expeditious. He walked from the end of the room, deep in thought,
• 5:38:45
  then sat down, crossed his long legs and closed his eyes. Divan waited
• 5:38:52
  quite embarrassed, thought he is the man asleep? Or is he only meditating?
• 5:38:57
  However, he left the room to give some orders, and when he
• 5:39:02
  returned he found the detective on his knees scrutinizing the carpet at the foot of
• 5:39:06
  the stairs in the gallery. What is it, he inquired, Look there
• 5:39:11
  spots from a candle. You're right and quite fresh. You will also find
• 5:39:17
  him at the top of the stairs, and around the cabinet that usin Lupamp
• 5:39:18
  broke into, and from which he took the bibelow that he afterwards placed in
• 5:39:23
  his arm chair. Why do you conclude from that nothing? These facts would
• 5:39:30
  doubtless explain the cause for the restitution, But that is a side issue that
• 5:39:34
  I cannot wait to investigate. The main question is a secret passage. First
• 5:39:38
  tell me is there a chapel some two or three hundred meters from the castle,
• 5:39:44
  Yes, a ruined chapel containing the tomb of Gigrolo. Tell your chauffeur
• 5:39:48
  to wait for us near that chapel. My chauffeur hasn't returned. If he
• 5:39:52
  had, they would have informed me. Do you think the secret passage runs
• 5:39:56
  to the chapel? What reason have I would ask you, monsieur, interrupted
• 5:40:02
  the detective, to furnish me with a ladder and a lantern. What do
• 5:40:06
  you require? A ladder and a lantern? Certainly, or I wouldn't have
• 5:40:10
  asked for them. Divan, somewhat disconcerted by this crude logic, rang the
• 5:40:15
  bell. The two articles were given with the sternness and precision of military commands.
• 5:40:23
  Place the ladder against the bookcase to the left of the word Thibermesni.
• 5:40:29
  Dvan placed the ladder as directed, and the Englishman continued on to the left
• 5:40:33
  to the right. There now, climb up. All the letters are in
• 5:40:37
  relief, aren't they. Yes? First turn the letter I one way or
• 5:40:45
  the other? Which one? There are two of them, the first one.
• 5:40:49
  Dvan took hold of the letter and exclaimed, ah, yes, it
• 5:40:52
  turns towards the right. Who told you that? Cholcrims did not reply to
• 5:40:56
  the question, but continued his directions, Nattec the letter be move it back
• 5:41:02
  and forth as you would, bolt Davan did so. To his great surprise,
• 5:41:06
  it produced a clicking sound. Quite right, said Holmes. Now we
• 5:41:11
  will go to the other end of the word Tibermesnie. Try the letter aye
• 5:41:15
  and see if it will open like a wicket with a certain degree of solemnity.
• 5:41:18
  Divan seized the letter. It opened, but Divan fell from the ladder
• 5:41:23
  for the entire section of bookcase lying between the first and last letters of the
• 5:41:29
  words, turned on a pivot and disclosed the subterranean passage. Shock Holms said
• 5:41:34
  coolly, you are not hurt. And no, no, said Divan,
• 5:41:38
  as he rose to his feet, not hurt, only bewildered. I can
• 5:41:44
  understand now those let us turn. The secret passage opens suddenly? Doesn't that
• 5:41:49
  agree exactly with the formula given by Suis? Turn one eye on the bee
• 5:41:55
  that shakes, the other eye will lead to God. But but but,
• 5:42:00
  Louis the sixteenth asked a van Louis the sixteenth was a clever locksmith. I
• 5:42:07
  have read in a book he wrote about combination locks. It was a good
• 5:42:11
  idea on the part of the owner of Tibermesni to show his majesty a clever
• 5:42:17
  bit of mechanism. As an aid to his memory, the king wrote three
• 5:42:22
  four eleventh, that is to say, the third, fourth, and eleventh
• 5:42:27
  letters of the word exactly. I understand that it explains how Lupin got out
• 5:42:33
  of the room. But it does not explain how he entered, and it
• 5:42:37
  is certain he came from the outside. Shlocombe's lighted his lantern, stepped into
• 5:42:44
  the passage. Look all the mechanism is exposed here like the works of a
• 5:42:48
  clock, and the reverse side of the letters can be reached. Loupin worked
• 5:42:52
  the combination from this side. That's all. What proof is there of that
• 5:42:57
  proof? Why look at the puddle of oil. Lupa foresaw that the wheels
• 5:43:03
  would require oiling. Did he know about the other entrance as well as I
• 5:43:10
  know it? Said Holmes. Follow me into that dark passage. Are you
• 5:43:15
  afraid? No? But are you sure you can find the way out?
• 5:43:18
  With my eyes closed? At first they descended twelve steps, then twelve more,
• 5:43:26
  and then further on to other flights of twelve steps each. Then they
• 5:43:30
  walked through a long passage, the brick walls of which showed the marks of
• 5:43:34
  successive restorations, and in spots were dripping with water. The earth also was
• 5:43:41
  very damp. We're passing under the pond, said the van somewhat nervously.
• 5:43:45
  At last they came to a stairway of twelve steps, followed by three others
• 5:43:49
  of twelve steps. Each, which they mounted with difficulty, and then found
• 5:43:53
  themselves in a small cavity cut in the rock. They could go no further,
• 5:44:00
  the deuce muttered, Holmes, nothing but bare walls. This is provoking.
• 5:44:06
  Let's go back, said Divan. I've seen enough to satisfy me.
• 5:44:10
  But the Englishman raised his eye and uttered a sigh of relief. There he
• 5:44:15
  saw the same mechanism and the same words as before. He had merely to
• 5:44:19
  work the three letters. He did so, and a block of granite swung
• 5:44:23
  out of place on the other side. This granite block formed the tombstone of
• 5:44:30
  Duke Rollo, and the word Tibermesni was engraved on it in relief. Now
• 5:44:40
  in the little ruined chapel, the detective said, the other eye leads to
• 5:44:48
  God. That means to the chapel. It is marvelous, exclaimed Divan,
• 5:44:53
  amazed at the clairvoyance and vivacity of the Englishman. Can it be possible that
• 5:44:59
  those few words were sufficient for you, bah, exclaimed Holmes. They weren't
• 5:45:03
  even necessary. In the chart in the book of the National Library, the
• 5:45:08
  drawing terminates at the left, as you know, in a circle, and
• 5:45:11
  at the right, as you do not know. In a cross. Now
• 5:45:15
  that cross must must refer to the chapel in which we now stand. Poor
• 5:45:19
  Ivan could not believe his ears. It was all so new, so novel
• 5:45:23
  to him, he exclaimed, It is incredible, miraculous, and yet of
• 5:45:29
  a childish simplicity. How is it that no one has ever solved the mystery?
• 5:45:34
  Because no one has ever united the essential elements, that is to say,
• 5:45:38
  the two books and the two sentences. No one but as in Lupin
• 5:45:42
  and myself, but father, Jilly and I knew all about those things.
• 5:45:48
  And likewise Holmes smiled and said, Monsieur de Van, everybody cannot solve riddles.
• 5:45:56
  I have been trying for ten years to accomplish what you did in ten
• 5:45:59
  minutes. Bah, I'm used to it. They emerged from the chapel and
• 5:46:03
  found an automobile. Ah, there's an auto waiting for us. Yes,
• 5:46:10
  it's mine, said di Van, yours. You said your chauffeur hadn't returned.
• 5:46:14
  They approached the machine, and Monsieur Van questioned the chauffeur Edoir, who
• 5:46:19
  gave you orders to come here? Why it was Monsieur Belboon, Monsieur Villemont.
• 5:46:26
  Did you meet him near the railway station. He told me to come
• 5:46:30
  to the chapel. To come to the chapel, what for to wait for
• 5:46:34
  you, Monsieur and your friend. Van and Holmes exchanged looks, and Monsieur
• 5:46:40
  de Van said he knew the mystery would be a simple one for you.
• 5:46:44
  It's a delicate compliment. A smile of satisfaction lighted up the detective's serious features.
• 5:46:49
  For a moment, the compliment pleased him. He shook his head as
• 5:46:55
  he said, Ah, a clever man. I knew that when I saw
• 5:46:59
  him. Have you seen him? Yeah? I met him a short time
• 5:47:02
  ago on my way from the station, and you knew it was Horace Velmont.
• 5:47:07
  I mean Arsen Lupin, That is right. I wonder how it came
• 5:47:15
  no, but I suppose it was from a certain ironical speech that he made.
• 5:47:21
  And you allowed him to escape. Course, I did, and yet
• 5:47:25
  I had everything on my side, such as five gendarmes who passed us.
• 5:47:33
  Sacrebleu, cried de Van, you should have taken advantage of the opportunity.
• 5:47:37
  Really, Monsieur, said the Englishman haughtily. When I encounter an adversary like
• 5:47:42
  Arsaint Lupin, I do not take advantage of chance, opportunities I create them.
• 5:47:48
  But time pressed, and since Lupin had been so kind as to send
• 5:47:52
  the automobile, they resolved to profit by it. They seated themselves in the
• 5:47:56
  comfortable limousine, Edoard took his place at the wheel, and away they went
• 5:48:03
  towards the railway station. Suddenly Divan's eyes fell upon a small package in one
• 5:48:07
  of the pockets of the carriage. Ah, what's that? A package?
• 5:48:11
  Whose is it? Why? It's for you? For me? Yes,
• 5:48:15
  it's addressed Shellock Holmes from Arsaint Lupin. The Englishman took the package, opened
• 5:48:21
  it and found that it contended a watch. Ah, he exclaimed, with
• 5:48:25
  an angry gesture. A watch, said Divan, How did it come there?
• 5:48:30
  The detective did not reply, Oh, it's your watch. Arsay,
• 5:48:34
  Lupin returns your watch. But in order to return it, he must have
• 5:48:37
  taken it. Ah, I see he took your watch. That is a
• 5:48:42
  good one, Shallock Holmes's watch stolen by Arsaint Lupin. Mon dieu. That
• 5:48:48
  is funny. Really, you must excuse me. I can't help it,
• 5:48:51
  he roared with laughter, unable to control himself, after which he said,
• 5:48:55
  in a tone of earnest conviction a clever man. Indeed, the Englishman never
• 5:48:59
  moved up muscle on the way to the ebb. He never spoke a word,
• 5:49:03
  but fixed his gaze on the flying landscape. His silence was terrible,
• 5:49:07
  unfathomable, more violent than the wildest rage at the railway station. He spoke
• 5:49:12
  calmly, but in a voice that impressed one with the vast energy and power
• 5:49:19
  of that famous man. He said, yes, he's a clever man.
• 5:49:25
  But some day I shall have the pleasure of placing on his shoulder the hand
• 5:49:29
  that I now offer you, Monsieur Darvan. And I believe that a Saint
• 5:49:32
  Lupin and Shock Combs will meet again some day. Yes, the world is
• 5:49:36
  too small. We will meet. We must meet. And then end of
• 5:49:44
  chapter nine, end of the Extraordinary Adventures of a Saint Lupin by Maurice le Blanc.