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Show I he jQXpJ-OltS OX'ArSeiie Lupm 1 By Maurice Leblanc Jg JB (Copyrigl)t. 1013, by the McCluro Newspaper Syndicate.) THE MYSTERIOUS RAILWAY PASSENGER I HAD sent my motor car to Rouen, by road ou the previous day. 1 was to meet it by train, and fro on to some friends, who have a boiifO on the Seine. A few minutes .before we left Paris my compartment was invaded by seven ti-ntk-mi'ii, live of whom were smoking, rthort though the journey by the last i train be, f did not relish the prospect or taking it in such company, thn more so as the old-fashioned carriage had no corridor. I therefore collected my overcoat, over-coat, my newspapers and my railway t guide aiiil sought refuge in one of the: neighboring compartments. i It was occupied by a lady. At the fight, of me, she made a movement of vexation whih did not escape my notice, and leaned toward a gentleman standing stand-ing ou the footboard her husband, no doubt, who had come to see her oft". The gentleman took stock of me, and the examination seemed. to conclude to my advantage; for he whispered to his wife and smiled, giving her the look with which we reassure a frightened child. She smiled in her turn, and cast a .friendly glance in my direction, as though she suddenly realized that I was one of those well-bred men with whom a woman can remain locked up for an hour or two in a little box six feet square without having anything to fear. Theu the guard's whistle sounded and the train started. At that moment, and in spite of the warning shouts of the railway officials, the door opened and a man burst into our carriage. My traveling companion, who was standing up and arranging her things in the rack, uttered a cry of terror, ter-ror, and dropped down upon a seat. I am no coward far from it; but T confess that these sudden incursions at the last minute are always annoying. Thev seem so ambiguous, so unnatural. There must be something behind them, elsi . . . The appearance of the newcomer, however, aud his bearing were such as to correct the bad impression produced by the manner of his entrance. He was neatly, almost smartly, dressed; his tie was in good taste, his gloves clean; he had a powerful face. . . . But speaking speak-ing of his face, where on earth had i seen it before? But when my eyes reverted to the lady I sat astounded at the pallor and disorder of her features. She was staring star-ing at her neighbor he was seated on the same side of the carriage with an expression of genuine affright, and I saw one of her hands steal trembling toward a little traveling bag that lay on the cushion a few inches from her lap. She ended by taking hold of it and nervously drew it to her. Our eyes met, and I read in hers so great an amount of uneasiness and anxiety anx-iety that I could not help saying: "I hope yon are not ill, madam. . . . Would you like me to open the window? win-dow? She made no reply, but, with a timid gesture, called my attention to the individual in-dividual beside her. Just then he turned toward us. contemplated con-templated us, one after the other, from head to foot, and then huddled himself into his corner, and made no further movement. A silence ensued; but the lady, as though she had summoned up all her energies; to perform an act of despair, said to me, in a hardly audible vuice.: " You know he is in our train," "Who?" 'Why, lie . . . ho himself . . . 1 assure you. ' ' ''Whom do you mean?" , ' ' Arsene I jupin ! ' ' He ui!!ed his hat down upon his nose. Was this to conceal his agitation, agita-tion, or was he merely preparing to go to sleep? I objected. ' ' Arsene Lu pin was sentenced yesterday, yes-terday, in his absence, to twenty years' penal servitude. Jt is not likely that ne wuu Id cum in it the imprudence of showing hi ni self in public today. I'e-sides, I'e-sides, t he newspapers have d iscovered that he has been spending the winter in Turkey ever since his famous escape es-cape from the Santo." "He is in this train," repeated the lady, with the cvev more maiked intention in-tention of lacing overheard by our companion. "My husband is a deputy dep-uty prison governor, and the station inspector himself told us that they were looking for Arseue Lupin." 1 ' That is no reason why . . . ' ' "He was seen at the booking office. He took a ticket for Rouen. "It would have been easy to lay hands upon liim." "He disappeared. The ticket coltec-I coltec-I tor at the door of the waiting room diii not see him; but they thousht that he must have gone around by t he suburban sub-urban platforms aud stepped into the express that leaves teu minutes after us. ' ' "In that case, Lhoy will have caught him there." "And supposing that, at the last moment, he jumped out of that express and entered this our own train . . . as he probably . . . as he most certainly cer-tainly did ? ' ' ' lu that case they will catch him here, for the porters and the police, cannot have failed to see him going from one. train to the other, and, when we reach Rouen, thev will net him finely." fine-ly." "Him? Never! He will find some means of escaping again." She was greatly agitated; and, in point of fact the situation, to a certain cer-tain degree, warranted her nervous state of excitement. Almost in spite of myself, I said: "There are such things as curious coincidences, it is true. . . . But calm yourself. Admitting that Arsene Lupin Lu-pin is in one of these carriages, he is sure to keep quiet, and rather than bring fresh trouble upon himself, he will have no other idea than that of avoiding the danger that threatens him. ' ' j My words failed to reassure her. However, she said no more, fearing, j no doubt, lest I should think her troublesome. trou-blesome. ! As for myself. I opened my newspaper j and read the reports of Arsene Lupin's t rial. They contained nothing that was I not. already known, and they interested rfte but slightly. Moreover, I was tired, I had nad a poor nieht, X felt my eyelids eye-lids arrowing heavy, and my head befeitn to nod. "Eur surely, sir, you are not soing to sleep?" The lady snatched mv pap"r from my hands, anil looker! at me wirii Indignation. Indigna-tion. "Certainty- not," I replied. "I have no wish to." And I st rnseled hard, fixing my eyes on the landscape, on t he clouds t'l.aC streaked the sky. And soon all this he- He Fell Back, Stunned came confused in space, the image of the excited lady and the drowsy tryn war obliterated in my mind, a nd I was filled with tlie grea t, deep silence of t-leep. It was soon mad agreeable Irv liglit and incoliTer! dreams, in which a being who played tho part and hoi e the name of Arsene Lupin occupied a certain pla- e. He turned and shifted on the horizon, his back ladn with va limbics, cla inhering over walls and stripping country houses of their contents. But the outline of this being, who had rased to be Arsene Lupin, grew more distinct, lie came toward me, grew bic-gr bic-gr and bigger, leaped into the carriage with incrediolo agility and fell full upfm my chest. A sharp pain ... a piercing stream . . . 1 awoke. The man, my fellow traveler, with one knee on my chest, was Hutching my throat. I saw this very dimly, for my eves were shot with blood. I also saw t lie , lady in a corner writhing in a violent lit of hysterics. r did not even attempt to resist I should not have had the sirengi h for it had 1 wished to; my tempi-s were throbbing. I choked . . . I my thron t rat tied. . . A not her minute j and I should have been suffocated. The, ma n must ha ve f-h this. If e. i loosened his grip. Wit limit leaving hold of me, with his right hand he stretched a rnpe, in which he had prepared a slip-knr.t, slip-knr.t, and, Wil h h quick turn, tied my wrists together. In a moment I was bound, ga gcd rendered motionless and helpless. And lie performed this task in the most nat uial manner in t he world, with an ease tha t revealed the knowledge of a master, of an expert In theft and crime. Not a won I, not a fevered movement. Sheer coolness and audacity. And there la y I on the sea t , roped up like a mu nimy f, A rsene Dupln ! It way really rediculous. And notwithstanding notwith-standing the seriousness of the clrcum-sta clrcum-sta pees, I cn i dd not but a pprecin to. and almost en joy the Irony of the si I mi t ion. A rsene Lupin "done" Hke a novice, sir limed like the first corner ! For, of course, the scoundrel reliever me of my pocket hook a nd purse ! Arsene Dupin victimized in Ids turn duped and beaten! What an adventure! There remained tlie lady. Me tok no notice of her at all. lie contented hfm-self hfm-self with picking up t he wrlat. bag t hat lay on the tloor and extracting the jewels, jew-els, tiie purs", the gold and silver knick-k knick-k packs which It con la I ned. The lady opened her eyog, shuddered wi I h fright, took off her rings and handed them to the man as though she wished lo spare, him any superfluous exertion. Ho took the; rings and looked at her. She fainted a wa y. Then, calm and silent, as before, without with-out troubling about us further, be resumed bis sen t , lit h cigij ret te, and abandoned himselt to a "areful Hcrutlny of the treasures treas-ures which be had cn pi tired, thn Inspection Inspec-tion of wlib b seemed lo satisfy him completely. com-pletely. I was much less sa t Is lied. am not spanking of the 2.00i franca of which I had bt;ii unduly plundered ; this was a loss which I accepted only for thn time; f had no doubt that, those r.'.fiou franca, would return to my possession lifter a; short Interval, together with the prpw- i irmly important papers which my pocket honk cont a ined plu ns, estlma I en, npec Ileal Il-eal ions, addresses, lisls of n irrenpoudent s, I'd t f r h nf compromising cha raei er. Lint . for the moment, a more Immediate and j serious care wan worrying me. What waa 1 to ha ppeu ne t ? I As may readily be Imagined, the. ex- cli ement caused by my passing through the Care Sa lid -1 ,aza re had not escaped me. Am I was going to stay with friend who knew inn by the name of ( luillauine paM !a t , a nd to whom my resemhljj nco to A rsene. I ,u phi wa s t lie occasion of mn ny a frlrndly Jesl . I had not been able to d isguisu myself a fter my wont, a nd my presence had been discovered. Moreover,! a man, doubtless Arsene Lupin, had boon . seen lo rush from the express Into the I'hhI 1 i a In. Hence. It was i uevi la bio and fa I cd I ha t t he com m Issa ry of police h I Rouen, warned by telegram, would await tin' nnlval of the (rain. HNNhdd by a re-spedahle re-spedahle number of cousiables. 'uesoii' auv suspicions pirs.sengers, and proceed to make a minute, inspection of tlie carriages. And to avoid thin annovlug cat ant i ophe, what could I do, en I angled as I was In in" hnrida? I And Hi'1 train wna speeding toward! Kouen, Hie net and the only alopplug; 1 ida- e; Ii rushed tliiounh Vernon, through i ! alnl I'ierrc. J wan puzled Hlso b' another problem j l In which I was in. I directly I n I et esl ed, 1 bul tlie Hnlntlon ff wbl'dt arnuved my I professional ciiiioslly- wlnit were mv tel- rW- 1 1 a Veler'S I id -Ml I IrniH? i If I had bee,, loii.. ,e would have had jimpie time lo alight caludy al Ifniicti. Hut lb'- lady'.' ,s rioon iim tlie carriage d"or way opened tins lady, meek a nd quiet as th sat at present, would a- ream and throw herself about and cry for help! Hence my astonishment. "Why did he not reduce her to the same state of pow-erlessness pow-erlessness as msef, which would have given him time to disappear before his t wo-fold misdeed wae discovered V tie was still smoking, his eyes fixed on the vlw outside, which a hesitating rain was beginning to streak with long, slanting slant-ing lines, once, however, he turned round, took up my railway guide and consulted consult-ed It. As for the lady, she made every effort to continue fa luting, so as to ft u let her enemy. Hut a tit of coughing, produced by the smoke, gave the be to ner pretended pre-tended swoon. Myself, I was very uncomfortable, and had pains all over mv hodv. Font-de-PArche Oissel. The train was hurrying- on. glad drunk with speed. " SMnt-EHenne. At that moment tho man rose and took two steps toward us. to which the lady hastened to reply with a new scream and a genuine fainting lit. But what could It is object be? Tie lowered the window on our side. The rain was now falling In torrents, and be made a movement of ho nova nee a I having pet t her umhrella nor overcoat. He looked up at the rack. The ladv sunshade was there. Ho took It. He also took my overcoat and put it on. We were crossing the Seine. He. turned up his trousers, and then, lean-Ing lean-Ing out of tho window, raised the outer latch. Did he mean to fling himself on the permanent way? At the rnte at which w were going it would have been certain cer-tain death. We plunge, Into tho tunnel pierced under tlie Cotn Sainte-Catherlne The man opener the door and, wdth. one foot, felt for the step. What madness' The darkness. th smoke, the din all combined to give a fantastic appearance to any such attempt. Hut suddenly the train slowed up. the WrsHnghouse brakes counteracted the movement of the wheels. In a minute the pace from fast became normal and decreased still more W Ithont a doubt there was a gang at work repairing thin part of the tunnel This would necessitate a slower passage of the trains for some days, perhaps and the man knew it. He had only, therefore, to put his other foot on the. step, climb down to the f oo t boa rd h nd wa I k a wa v quietly not without first cloning the door and throw-In throw-In back tho latch. He had scarcely disappeared when the smoke showed whiter In the. riavllght U e emerged Into a vallev. One more tunnel, and we should be at Hmien The lady at once recovered her wits and her first cure was to bewail the loss of her jewels. T gave her a hesecclihig glance-. She understood and relieved me of the gag which was stifling mo. She wanted also to unfasten my bonds but Ii stopped her. "No. no; the police must Fee even.'- , thing as it was. I want them to be fully informed aa regards tliHt blackgminl's actions." 'Sbnll T pull the alarm signal?" "Too lute. Ton Hliould Vmvo thought of that while lie was attacking inc." "But he would have killed me! Ah, ah-, didn't I tell you that he was travel- , ing by this train? f knew him at once by his portrait. And now he's taken mv jewel!" "They'll catch him; have no fear." "flitch Arsene Lupin! Never!" "It all depends on you, madam. T,lBtn. When we arrive he al the window, call out, make a nolae. Tho police and porters por-ters will come up. Tell theni what von have seen in a few words the assault of which I was the victim, and the flight of Arsene Lupin. ("Jive his description a soft hat. an umbrella yours a gray frock overcoat ..." "Yours." she Maid. "Mlno7 No, his own. T didn't have one." 'T thought that he had none either when he ot In." "He must ha ve had unless II was a eon 1 which Moineopo left behind be-hind In the rack. Tn any case, he had It when he got out, and that Is the essett-I essett-I la I thing. A grn - Vrork overcoat, over-coat, remetnher. Oh, I was forgetting for-getting te them vrtlir name to si art with. Your hnahnnd'n functions will stimulate the ,'al of nit those men.' Wo i'r arriving. She was nlreridv lennlng oiii of tin- window-. I resumed. In a louder, almost imperious voice, so that my words should sink fnlo her lira 'ii : "( "live mv n nie nhio, i J nil la nine ,br-lat, ,br-lat, If necessary, y vm, Uiov me That will save lime Wp must burrv m the prd Iml na rv In. ulili'K the Important thing la r Ciilch Arsene 1 In u-,,, your Ji-W'hi. Vuu guile under stand, don't you? GulIIaume Berlat, a friend of your husband's." "Quite Guillaume Berlat." Phe was already calling out and gesticulating. ges-ticulating. Before the train had come to a standstill a gentleman climbed in, followed fol-lowed by a number of other men. The crtt ical hour was at hand. Breathlessly the lady exclaimed: "Arsene Lupin he attacked us he has stolen my jewels. T am Mme. Renaud my husband ia a deputy prison governor. Ah. here's my brother, Georges Andelle. manager man-ager of the Credit Rouen na is. What I want to say Is " She kissed a young man who haJ just come up. and who exchanged greetings with the commissary. She, continued, weeping: "Yes, Arsene Lupin. He flew at this gentleman's throat in his sleep. Monsieur Berlat, a friend of my husband's." "Hut where is Arsene Lupin?" "He Jumped out of the train In the tunnel, after we had crossed the Seine." "Are you sure it was he?" "Certain. I recognized him at once. Besides, he was seen at the Gare Saint-La Saint-La za re. He was wearing a soft hat "No; a hard felt hat, like this," said the commissary, pointing to my hat. "A soft hat, T assure you." repeated Mine. lie na ud, "and a gray frock over-coa over-coa t." "Yes," muttered the commissary; "the telegram mentions a gray frock overcoat over-coat with a black velvet collar." "A black velvet collar, that's It!" exclaimed ex-claimed Mine. Renaud triumphantly. I breathed ag"!"- What a good, excellent ex-cellent friend 1 had found In her. Meanwhile the policemen had released me from my bonds. I bit my lips violently vio-lently lip the blood flowed. Bent In two. wit h my ha nd kerchief to my mouth, as seems proper to a man who has been sitting In a constrained position and who bears on his face the bloodstained marks of the gag. 1 said to tho commissary. In a foe.ble voice: "Sir, it was Arsene Lupin, there Is no doubt of It. You can catch him If you hurry. I think I may be of gome use to you. " The coach, which wss needed for the inspection by tho police, was slipped. The remainder of the train went on toward T.e Havre. We were taken to the station sta-tion master's office through a crowd of onlookers who filled the da t form. Just then I felt a hesitation. I must make some excuse to absent myself, find my motor car and be off. It was dangerous dan-gerous to whU. If anything happened. If a telegram camo from I'arls, I was lost. Yes; but what about my robber? T,cft to my own resources, in a district with which X wan not very well acquainted, I could never hope to come up with lifm. "Bah!" I said to myself. ,fLet us risk it and stay. It's a difficult hand to win, but a very h musing one to pin v. And the stakes are wortli the trouble." And as we were being asked provisionally provi-sionally to repeat our depositions I exclaimed ex-claimed "Mr. Commissary, Arsene Lupin Is getting get-ting a start of-us. Mv motor Is waiting for me In the yard. Tf you will do me the pleasure to accept a seat hi it, we will try ..." The commissary gave a knowing smile 'It s not u bad Idea . . , such a good Idea, In fact, that It's alreadv being Carried out." "Oh!" "Yes; two of my officers started on Dh-ycles . . . some timo uso." "Hut where; to?" "To the entrance to the tunnel There they will pick up (h clews and the evidence, evi-dence, and follow tho track of Arsene ' Lupin. 1 could not help shrugging niv shoulders. "Really!" "Arsene Lupin will have arranged Hnit no one should see him lenvo the tunnel lln will have taken the nearest road and from (hero ..." "From (here made for llotion. where we shall catch him," "Ho will not j-o to Ropen " "In that case ho will remain In the neighborhood, where we shall bo even i more certain ..." I "IU will not remain In the neighborhood. neighbor-hood. "oh! Then where will ho hide, himself" T took out. my wa f eh. "At this moment Arsene Lupin is hung. Ing about the station at Ha metal M ten-fifty- that is to ,,. in twentv-to minutes from now -he will take the' train which leavea Rouen from the (hire du Noid for Amiens." "In you think so? And how do vou know? "Oh. U'N very simple. ,hr Aiscne Lupin consutlcd mv tallwav guide What lor? To see If there was another line near the place wlt.uo ho disappwited a station on that line, and a train which stopped at that station. I have Just looked at the guide myself and learned what I wanted to know." "Upon mv word, sir," said the com-rnissarv, com-rnissarv, "vou possess marvelous powers of deductio'n. What an expert you must be!" Dragged on by my certainty, I had blundered blun-dered by displaying too much cleverness. He looked at me in astonishment and I saw that a suspicion flickered through his mind. Only just it is true; for the photographs photo-graphs dispatched in every direction were so unlike, represented an Arsene Lupin so different from the one that stood before him, that he could not possibly recognize 'the original in me. Nevertheless he was troubled, restless, perplexed. There was a moment of silence. A certain cer-tain ambiguity and doubt seemed to interrupt inter-rupt our words. A shudder of anxiety passed through me. Was luck about to turn against me? Mastering myself, I began be-gan to laugh. "Ah, well, there's nothing to sharpen one's wits like the loss of a pocketbook and the desire to find it again. And it seems to me that, if you will give me two of your men, the three of ub might, perhaps per-haps ..." "Oh, please, Mr. Commissary," exclaimed ex-claimed Mme. Renaud, "do what M. Berlat Ber-lat suggests." My kind friend's intervention turned the scale. Uttered by her, the wife of an influential in-fluential person, the name of Berlat became be-came mine In reality, and conferred upon me an identity which no suspicion could touch. The commissary rose. "Believe me, M. Berlat. I shall be only too pleased to see you succeed. I am as anxious as yourself to have Arsene Lupin arrested." Tie accompanied me to my car. He introduced in-troduced two of his men to me Honore Massol and Gaston Deli vet. They took their seats. I placed myself at the wheel. My chauffeur started the engine. A very seconds later we had left the station. I was sa ved. i I confess that as we dashed in my pow- crful 35-horsepower Moreau-Lepton along the boulevards that skirt the old Norman city I was not without a certain sense of i pride. The engine hummed harmoniously. : The trees sped behind us to right and left. And now. free and out of danger. I had nothing to do but to settle my own little private affairs with the co-operation of two worthy representatives of the law. Arsene Lupin waa going in search of Arsene Ar-sene Lupin ! But all war, not over vet. Far from it. I had first to capture the fellow and nrt to take possession, myself, of the papers of which he had robbed me. At no cost must my two satellites be allowed al-lowed to catch a sight of those documents, docu-ments, much less lay hands upon them. To make use of them and vet act independently in-dependently of them was what I wanted to do, and it was no easy matter. We reached Darnetal three minutps after the train had left. I had the con-isolation con-isolation of learning that a man in a gray frock overcoat with a black velvet collar had got into a second-class carriage car-riage with a ticket for Amiens. There was no doubt about it; mv rirpt appearance appear-ance as a detective wae a promising on. Dellvet said: "The train is an express, and does not stop before Monterolier-Buch v, in nineteen nine-teen minutes from now. if we are not there before Arsene Lupin, he can go on toward Amiens, branch off to Cleres and. from there, make for Dieppe or Pans. "How far is Monterolier''" "Fourteen miles and a half "Fourteen miles and a half In 'nineteen 'nine-teen minutes. We shall be there before he is." It was a stirring race. Never had my trusty Morcau-Lepton responded to mv Impatience with greater ardor and regularity. It seemed to me as though T communicated my wishes to her directly, di-rectly, without the intermediary of levers or handles. She shared mv desires. She approved of my determination. "Right!" cried Delivet. . "Left' . . Straight ahead! ..." We skimmed the ground. The mile- fhHjOI.ed Iike little Umid animals that tied at our approach. And suddenly at the turn of a road a Houd of smoke the north express For half a mile it was a struggle, side . b v side an uneoual struggle, of which b",yTne,ha!n-we beat ,he ,rain In threp Bercmrts were on the platform plat-form In front of the second-Has The doors were flunc open. A few 'neonle stepped out. My thief was not nnTon? them. e examined the carriages Vo Arsene Lupin. "By Jove!" r exclaimed. "He must have recognized me tn the moJor wl le jumped" 80'nS ,on'' "t hi", and "There he is! . Iok-i At the level crossing- ' ' " I saUl, or .TXr dim of i i;1?';, 'l.-h he! torin a liuie wood fa,'",er S,i"' Malso,nw;T,inr,ford,,IheWr 7' ''" friend must be exhiu'i our him." e.naut.ted. e ve got I examined the ;k-irtc i 'nHe thinking how I coMf Lh Tr(Vvl reed alone to arr 5 the f Stive L the law. no doubt, would only hv. i lowed after a number 0f disagree S qunies. Then I returned to my ' " panions. y torU "Look here, it's very easy You v sol take up your position on the left v Dehvet on the right. From & can watch the whole rear of the u- and he can't leave it unseen by VOn cept by this hollow, where I shall I If he does not come out, ni if ,! UQm , force him back toward one or the oth! of you. lou have nothing to do t! ! fore, but wait. Oh. I wa? forgettiS"! case of alarm, I'll lire a shot " eclull5-l Ma:sol and Delivet moved off tarh t his own side. As soon as thev wer. 1 f,fieha Jade my way Into thi "2 with infinite precautions, so as neither be seen nor heard. It consisted of Jm thickets, contrived for the shootlns i intersected by very narrow paths in it was only possible to walk by atoopin. as though in a leafy tunnel P n One of these ended in a glade wh the damp grass showed the marks of S steps. I followed them, taking care steal through the underwood. Thev u me to the bottom of a little mbui crowned by a tumbledown lath-and-n J ter hovel. pidJ "He must be there," I thought "t has selected a good post of observatifV I crawled close up to the buildlne'l shgnt sound warned me of hia presm. and In fact I caught sight of hint throu. an opening with his back turned to me. Two bounds brought me upon him H tried to point the revolver which he" h3 in his hand. I did not give him tim'e S pulled him to the ground in such aw that his two arms were twisted an caught under him, while I held him pinr down wdth my knee upon his chest , "Listen to me, old chap," t whispere in his ear. "I am Arsene Lupin You'i got to give me back, this minute aa without any fuss, my pocketbook ani t( lady's wristbag ... in return for vit I'll save you from the clutches of the w lice and enroll you among my friend Which is It to be yes or no?" "Yes." he muttered. "That's right. Your plan of this mon ing was cleverly thought out. We sh be good friends." " 1 got up. He fumbled in his porW fetched out a great knife and trid'-strike trid'-strike me with it. "You ass!" I cried- With one hand I parried the attae With the other I caught him a viol-i blow on . the carotid arterv. the bfo which is known as "the carotid hook. He fell back stunned. In my pocketbook I found mv pat and bank notet. I took his own out ( curiosity. On an envelope addressed j him I read his name Pierre OnfreV I gave a start. Pierre Onfrev, t'ne'ne-petrator t'ne'ne-petrator of the murder in the Rue u fontalne at Auteuii: Pierre Onfrev tl man who had cut the throats of "Mm Del hois and her two daughters. I bi over him. Yes. that was the face whitf In the railway carriage, had aroused f me the memory of features which I ha seen before. ; But time was passing. I placed 3) franc notes in an envelope, with a vif itimr card bearing these words: "Arsene Lupin to his worthy asFiri ants, Honore Massol and Gaston Delrre witli Ii is best thanks." I laid this where it could be seen, j the middle of the room. Beside it' placed Mme. Renaud's wristbae. TYB should it not be restored to the k:n friend who had rescued me? I nv.i-s however that I took from it. evervi.-in that seemed in any way interr.n leaving only a tortoise-shell comb, stick of lip salve and an emptv pure Business, is business, when all is sa and done ! And. besides, her husbai followed such a disreputable oceupatio i There remained the man. He was J : ginning to move. What was I to 6JF-wa 6JF-wa not qualified either to save or condemn him. i I took away his weapons, and fired n revolver in the air. "That will bring the two others." thought. "He must find a way out his own difficulties. Let fate take i course." And I went down the hollow road ; a run. Twenty minutes later a cros-ra which I had noticed during our pursi brought me back to my car. At 4 o'clock I telegraphed to i friends from Rouen that an unexpect incident compelled me to put off my via Beteewn ourselves. I greatly fear i'n in view of w".:at they must now r.a' learned, I shall be obliged to posipa it indefinitely. It will be a cruel di appointment for them:" At 6 o'clock I returned to Paris 1 L'lsle-Adam, Enghien, and the For Bineau. I gathered from the evening pa? that the police had at last succeeded capturing Pierre Onfrey. (.Copyright. bv the McClure New paper Syndicate. |