The Blonde Lady Page 6

  CHAPTER VI

  THE SECOND ARREST OF ARSENE LUPIN

  By eight o'clock on Wednesday morning, a dozen pantechnicon vans wereblocking the Rue Crevaux from the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne to theAvenue Bougeaud. M. Felix Davey was leaving the flat which he occupiedon the fourth floor of No. 8. And, by a sheer coincidence--for the twogentlemen were not acquainted--M. Dubreuil, the expert, who had knockedinto one the fifth-floor flat of No. 8 and the fifth-floor flats of thetwo adjoining houses, had selected the same day on which to send off thecollection of furniture and antiques which used to be visited daily byone or other of his many foreign correspondents.

  A peculiarity which attracted notice in the neighbourhood, but which wasnot mentioned until later, was that none of the twelve vans bore thename and address of the firm of removers and that none of the men incharge of them loitered in the wine-shops round about. They worked tosuch good purpose that all was over by eleven o'clock. Nothing remainedbut those piles of old papers and rags which are always left behind inthe corners of empty rooms.

  M. Felix Davey was a young man of smart appearance, dressed in thelatest fashion, but carrying a heavily-weighted cane which seemed toindicate unusual muscular strength on the part of its owner. He walkedaway quietly and sat down on a bench in the cross alley which intersectsthe Avenue du Bois, opposite the Rue Pergolese. Beside him sat a youngwoman, clad in the costume of the lower middle-class and reading herpaper, while a child played with its spade in the sand beside her.

  Presently, Felix Davey said to the woman, without turning his head:

  "Ganimard?"

  "Went out at nine o'clock this morning."

  "Where to?"

  "Police headquarters."

  "Alone?"

  "Yes."

  "No telegram last night?"

  "No."

  "Do they still trust you at the house?"

  "Yes. I do odd work for Madame Ganimard and she tells me all herhusband does.... We spent the morning together."

  "Good. Continue to come here at eleven every morning, until furtherorders."

  He rose and walked to the Pavillon Chinois, near the Porte Dauphine,where he took a frugal meal: two eggs, some vegetables and a littlefruit. Then he returned to the Rue Crevaux and said to the concierge:

  "I am going to have a look round upstairs and then I'll give you thekeys."

  He finished his inspection with the room which he used as a study. Therehe took hold of the end of a jointed gas-bracket which was fixed besidethe chimney, unscrewed the brass nozzle, fitted a little funnel-shapedinstrument to it and blew up the pipe.

  A faint whistle sounded in reply. Putting the pipe to his mouth, hewhispered:

  "Any one there, Dubreuil?"

  "No."

  "Can I come up?"

  "Yes."

  He replaced the bracket, saying, as he did so:

  "Where will progress stop? Our age teems with little inventions thatmake life really charming and picturesque. And so amusing too ...especially when a man knows the game of life as I know it!"

  He touched one of the marble mouldings of the mantel-piece and made itswing round on a pivot. The marble slab itself moved and the mirrorabove it slid between invisible grooves, revealing a yawning gap whichcontained the lower steps of a staircase built in the body of thechimney itself. It was all very clean, in carefully-polished iron andwhite porcelain tiles.

  He climbed up to the fifth floor, which had a similar opening over themantel-piece, and found M. Dubreuil awaiting him:

  "Is everything finished here?"

  "Everything."

  "All cleared up?"

  "Quite."

  "The staff?"

  "All gone, except the three men keeping watch."

  "Let's go up."

  They climbed by the same way to the servants' floor and emerged in agarret where they found three men, one of whom was looking out of thewindow.

  "Any news?"

  "No, governor."

  "Is the street quiet?"

  "Absolutely."

  "I shall leave for good in ten minutes.... You will go too. In themeantime, if you notice the least suspicious movement in the street, letme know."

  "I've got my finger on the alarm-bell governor."

  "Dubreuil, did you remember to tell the removers not to touch thebell-wires?"

  "Yes. They work perfectly."

  "That's all right, then."

  The two gentlemen returned to Felix Davey's flat. And Davey, afterreadjusting the marble moulding, exclaimed, gaily:

  "Dubreuil, I should love to see the faces of those who discover allthese wonderful contrivances: alarm-bells, a network of electric wiresand speaking-tubes, invisible passages, sliding floor-boards, secretstaircases!... regular pantomime machinery!"

  "What an advertisement for Arsene Lupin!"

  "We could very well have done without the advertisement. It seems a pityto leave so fine an installation. We shall have to begin all over again,Dubreuil ... and upon a new plan, of course, for it never does to repeatone's self. Confound that Shears!"

  "He's not come back, I suppose?"

  "How could he? There's only one boat from Southampton, which leaves atmidnight. From the Havre, there's only one train, which leaves at eightin the morning and arrives at eleven three. Once he has not taken themidnight steamer--and he has not, for my orders to the captain wereformal--he can't reach France till this evening, _via_ Newhaven andDieppe."

  "If he comes back!"

  "Shears never throws up the game. He will come back, but it will be toolate. We shall be far away."

  "And Mlle. Destange?"

  "I am to meet her in an hour."

  "At her house?"

  "No, she won't go home for a few days, until the storm has blown over... and I am able to look after her more thoroughly.... But you musthurry, Dubreuil. It will take a long time to ship all the cases and youwill be wanted on the wharf."

  "You're sure we are not being watched?"

  "Whom by? I was never afraid of any one but Shears."

  Dubreuil went away. Felix Davey took a last walk round the flat, pickedup a torn letter or two and then, seeing a piece of chalk, he took it,drew a large circle on the dark wall-paper of the dining room, andwrote, after the style of a commemorative tablet:

  __.......__ _.-'' '-.. ,-' '-. ,' '. ,' ' / ARSENE LUPIN, ` / `. / GENTLEMAN BURGLAR, | | | LIVED HERE | | | | FOR 5 YEARS | | .' | AT THE COMMENCEMENT | | .' OF / ,' ` THE TWENTIETH CENTURY / '. ,' '-. _,' '-._ _,-' '`--......---'

  This little joke seemed to cause him a lively satisfaction. He whistledgaily as he looked at it and cried:

  "Now that I have put myself right with the historians of the futuregenerations, let's be off! Hurry up, Maitre Holmlock Shears! In threeminutes I shall have left my lair, and your defeat will be absolute....Two minutes more! You're keeping me waiting, maitre!... One minute more!Aren't you coming? Very well, I proclaim your downfall and myapotheosis.... With which last words I proceed to make myself scarce.Farewell, O Kingdom of Arsene Lupin! I shall not look upon you again.Farewell, ye five-and-fifty rooms of the six flats over which I reigned!Farewell, austere and humble dwelling!"

  A bell cut short his lyrical effusion, a short, shrill, strident bell,twice interrupted, twice resumed and then ceasing. It was thealarm-bell.

  What could it mean? Some unexpected danger? Ganimard? Surely not!...r />
  He was on the point of making for his study and escaping. But first heturned to the window. There was no one in the street. Was the enemyalready in the house, then? He listened and seemed to distinguishconfused sounds. Without further hesitation he ran to his study and, ashe crossed the threshold, heard the sound of a latchkey fumbling at thelock of the hall-door.

  "By Jove!" he muttered. "I have only just time. The house may besurrounded.... No use trying the servants' staircase.... Fortunately,the chimney...."

  He pushed the moulding smartly: it did not move. He exerted greaterforce: it did not move.

  At the same moment, he received the impression that the outer door wasopening and that steps sounded.

  "Curse it all!" he swore. "I'm lost, if this confounded spring...."

  His fingers clutched the moulding; he bore upon it with all his weight.Nothing moved, nothing! By some incredible bad luck, by a reallybewildering piece of malice on the part of fate, the spring, which wasworking only a moment before, now refused to work!

  He persisted madly, convulsively. The block of marble remained inert,motionless. Curse it! Was it conceivable that this stupid obstacleshould bar his way? He struck the marble, struck it furious blows withhis fists, hammered it, insulted it....

  "Why, M. Lupin, is something not going as you wish?"

  Lupin turned round, terror-stricken. Holmlock Shears stood before him.

  * * * * *

  Holmlock Shears! Lupin gazed at him, blinking his eyes, as thoughsmarting under a cruel vision. Holmlock Shears in Paris! HolmlockShears, whom he had packed off to England the day before, as he might acompromising parcel, stood there before him, triumphant and free! Ah,for this impossible miracle to be performed in despite of Arsene Lupin'swill there must have been a revolution of the laws of nature, a victoryof all that is illogical and abnormal! Holmlock Shears standing oppositehim!

  And the Englishman, resorting to irony in his turn, said, with thatsupercilious politeness with which his adversary had so often lashedhim:

  "M. Lupin, believe me, from this minute I shall cease to remember thenight you made me spend in Baron d'Hautrec's house, cease to remember myfriend Wilson's mishaps, cease to remember how I was kidnapped bymotor-car, cease to remember the sea-voyage which I have just taken,fastened down, by your orders, to an uncomfortable berth. This minutewipes out all. I forget everything. I am rewarded, amply rewarded."

  Lupin did not speak. The Englishman added:

  "Don't you think so yourself?"

  He appeared to be insisting, as though demanding an assent, a sort ofreceipt with regard to the past.

  After a moment's reflection, during which the Englishman felt himselfsearched and fathomed to the very bottom of his soul, Lupin said:

  "I presume, sir, that your present action rests upon serious motives?"

  "Extremely serious motives."

  "The fact of your escaping from my captain and his crew is only asecondary incident in our struggle. But the fact of your being here,before me, alone, do you understand, _alone_ in the presence of ArseneLupin, makes me believe that your revenge is as complete as possible."

  "It is as complete as possible."

  "This house...?"

  "Surrounded."

  "The two next houses...?"

  "Surrounded."

  "The flat above this...?"

  "The three flats on the fifth floor which were occupied by M. Dubreuilare invested."

  "So that...?"

  "So that you are caught, M. Lupin, irredeemably caught."

  Lupin now experienced the same feelings that had stirred Shears duringhis motor-car drive: the same concentrated rage, the same rebellion; butalso, when all was said and done, the same sense of loyalty whichcompelled him to bow before the force of circumstances. Both wereequally strong: both alike were bound to accept defeat as a temporaryevil, to be received with resignation.

  "We are quits, sir," he said, bluntly.

  * * * * *

  The Englishman seemed delighted at this confession. The two men weresilent. Then Lupin, already master of himself, resumed with a smile:

  "And I am not sorry. It was becoming wearisome to win every thrust. Ihad only to put out my arm to hit you full in the chest. This time, youscore one. Well, hit, maitre!" He laughed whole-heartedly. "At last weshall have some fun! Lupin is caught in the trap. How will he getout?... Caught in the trap!... What an adventure!... Ah, maitre, I haveto thank you for a grand emotion. This is what I call life!"

  He pressed his clenched fists to his temples as though to restrain theungovernable joy that was bubbling up within him; and he also hadgestures like those of a child amusing itself beyond its power ofendurance.

  At last, he went up to the Englishman:

  "And now, what are you here for?"

  "What am I here for?"

  "Yes. Ganimard is outside, with his men. Why does he not come in?"

  "I asked him not to."

  "And he consented?"

  "I called in his services only on the express condition that he would beled by me. Besides, he believes that M. Felix Davey is merely anaccomplice of Lupin's."

  "Then I will repeat my question under another form. Why did you come inalone?"

  "I wanted to speak to you first."

  "Aha! You want to speak to me!"

  The idea seemed to please Lupin greatly. There are circumstances in lifein which we much prefer words to deeds.

  "Mr. Shears, I am sorry not to have a chair to offer you. Does thisbroken box suit you? Or the window-ledge? I am sure a glass of beerwould be acceptable.... Do you like it light or dark?... But do sitdown, I beg...."

  "Never mind that: let us talk."

  "I am listening."

  "I shall not be long. The object of my stay in France was not to effectyour arrest. I was obliged to pursue you, because no other means offeredof attaining my real object."

  "Which was?"

  "To recover the blue diamond."

  "The blue diamond!"

  "Certainly; because the one discovered in Herr Bleichen's tooth-powderflask was not the real one."

  "Just so. The real one was posted by the blonde lady. I had an exactcopy made; and as, at that time, I had designs upon the Comtesse deCrozon's other jewels and as the Austrian consul was already undersuspicion, the aforesaid blonde lady, lest she should be suspected inher turn, slipped the imitation diamond into the aforesaid consul'sluggage."

  "While you kept the real one."

  "Quite right."

  "I want that diamond."

  "Impossible. I'm sorry."

  "I have promised it to the Comtesse de Crozon. I mean to have it."

  "How can you have it, seeing that it's in my possession?"

  "I mean to have it just because it is in your possession."

  "You mean that I shall give it back to you?"

  "Yes."

  "Voluntarily?"

  "I will buy it of you."

  Lupin had a fit of merriment:

  "Any one can tell what country _you_ come from! You treat this as amatter of business."

  "It is a matter of business."

  "And what price do you offer?"

  "The liberty of Mlle. Destange."

  "Her liberty? But I am not aware that she is under arrest."

  "I shall give M. Ganimard the necessary information. Once deprived ofyour protection, she will be taken also."

  Lupin burst out laughing again:

  "My dear sir, you are offering me what you do not possess. Mlle.Destange is safe and fears nothing. I want something else."

  The Englishman hesitated, obviously embarrassed and flushing slightly.Then he put his hand brusquely on his adversary's shoulder:

  "And, if I offered you...?"

  "My liberty?"

  "No ... but, still, I might leave the room, to arrange withM. Ganimard...."

  "And leave me to think things over?"

  "Yes."

 
"Well, what on earth would be the good of that? This confounded springwon't work," said Lupin, irritably pushing the moulding of the mantel.

  He stifled an exclamation of surprise: this time, freakish chance hadwilled that the block of marble should move under his fingers! Safety,flight became possible. In that case, why submit to Holmlock Shears'sconditions?

  He walked to and fro, as though reflecting upon his answer. Then he, inhis turn, put his hand on the Englishman's shoulder:

  "After due consideration, Mr. Shears, I prefer to settle my littleaffairs alone."

  "Still...."

  "No, I don't want anybody's help."

  "When Ganimard has you, it will be up with you. They won't let you goagain."

  "Who knows?"

  "Come, this is madness. Every outlet is watched."

  "One remains."

  "Which one?"

  "The one I shall select."

  "Words! Your arrest may be looked upon as effected."

  "It is not effected."

  "So...?"

  "So I shall keep the blue diamond."

  Shears took out his watch:

  "It is ten minutes to three. At three o'clock, I call Ganimard."

  "That gives us ten minutes to chat in. Let us make the most of our time,Mr. Shears, and tell me, to satisfy the curiosity by which I amdevoured: how did you procure my address and my name of Felix Davey?"

  Keeping a watchful eye on Lupin, whose good-humour made him feel uneasy,Shears gladly consented to give this little explanation, which flatteredhis vanity, and said:

  "I had your address from the blonde lady."

  "Clotilde?"

  "Yes. You remember ... yesterday morning ... when I meant to carry heroff in the motor-cab, she telephoned to her dressmaker."

  "So she did."

  "Well, I understood later that the dressmaker was yourself. And, lastnight, in the boat, thanks to an effort of memory which is perhaps oneof the things of which I am most proud, I succeeded in recollecting thelast two figures of your telephone number: 73. In this way, as Ipossessed the list of the houses which you had 'touched up,' it was easyfor me, on my arrival in Paris at eleven o'clock this morning, to lookthrough the telephone directory until I discovered the name and addressof M. Felix Davey. The name and address once known, I called in the aidof M. Ganimard."

  "Admirable! First-rate! I make you my bow! But what I can't quite graspis that you took the train at the Havre. How did you manage to escapefrom the _Hirondelle_?"

  "I did not escape."

  "But ..."

  "You gave the captain orders not to reach Southampton until one o'clock.Well, they landed me at twelve and I caught the Havre boat."

  "The captain played me false? Impossible."

  "He did not play you false."

  "What then...?"

  "It was his watch."

  "His watch?"

  "Yes, I put his watch on an hour."

  "How?"

  "The only way in which one can put a watch on, by turning the winder. Wewere sitting together chatting and I told him things that interestedhim.... By Jove, he noticed nothing!"

  "Well done; well done! It's a good trick and I must remember it. Butwhat about the cabin clock?"

  "Oh, the clock was more difficult, for my legs were bound: but thesailor who was put in charge of me whenever the captain went on deckkindly consented to give the hands a push."

  "The sailor? Nonsense! Do you mean to say, he consented...?"

  "Oh, he did not know the importance of what he was doing! I told him Imust, at all costs, catch the first train to London and ... he allowedhimself to be persuaded...."

  "In consideration...."

  "In consideration of a little present ... which the decent fellow,however, intends faithfully to send to you."

  "What present?"

  "A mere nothing."

  "Well, but what?"

  "The blue diamond."

  "The blue diamond!"

  "Yes, the imitation one, which you substituted for the countess'sdiamond and which she left in my hands...."

  Arsene Lupin gave a sudden and tumultuous burst of laughter. He seemedready to die: his eyes were wet with tears:

  "Oh, what a joke! My faked diamond handed back to the sailor! And thecaptain's watch! And the hands of the clock!..."

  Never before had Holmlock Shears felt the struggle between Arsene Lupinand himself grow so intense as now. With his prodigious intuition, heguessed that, under this excessive gaiety, Lupin was concentrating hisformidable mind and collecting all his faculties.

  Lupin had gradually drawn closer. The Englishman stepped back andslipped his fingers, as though absent-mindedly, into his pocket:

  "It's three o'clock, M. Lupin."

  "Three o'clock already? What a pity!... We were having such fun!"

  "I am waiting for your answer."

  "My answer? Goodness me, what a lot you want! So this finishes the game.With my liberty for the stakes!"

  "Or the blue diamond."

  "Very well.... It's your lead. What do you do?"

  "I mark the king," said Shears, firing a shot with his revolver.

  "And here's _my hand_," retorted Arsene, hurling his fist at theEnglishman.

  Shears had fired at the ceiling, to summon Ganimard, the need for whoseintervention now seemed urgent. But Arsene's fist caught him full in thewind and he turned pale and staggered back. Lupin gave one bound towardthe chimney and the marble slab moved.... Too late! The door opened.

  "Surrender, Lupin! If not...."

  Ganimard, who had doubtless been posted nearer than Lupin thought, stoodthere, with his revolver aimed at him. And, behind Ganimard, ten men,twenty men crowded upon one another's heels, powerful, ruthless fellows,prepared to beat Lupin down like a dog at the least sign of resistance.

  He made a quiet gesture:

  "Hands off there! I surrender."

  And he crossed his arms over his chest.

  * * * * *

  A sort of stupor followed. In the room stripped of its furniture andhangings, Arsene Lupin's words seemed drawn-out like an echo:

  "I surrender!"

  The words sounded incredible. The others were expecting to see himvanish suddenly down a trap or a panel of the wall to fall back and oncemore to hide him from his assailants. And he surrendered!

  Ganimard stepped forward and, greatly excited, with all the gravity thatthe act demanded, brought his hand slowly down upon his adversary'sshoulder and enjoyed the infinite satisfaction of saying:

  "Lupin, I arrest you."

  "Brrrrr!" shivered Lupin. "You make me feel quite overcome, my dearGanimard. What a solemn face! One would think you were making a speechover a friend's grave. Come, drop these funereal airs!"

  "I arrest you."

  "You seem quite flabbergasted! In the name of the law, of which he is afaithful limb, Chief-Inspector Ganimard arrests wicked Arsene Lupin. Itis an historic moment and you grasp its full importance.... And this isthe second time a similar fact occurs. Bravo, Ganimard; you will do wellin your career!"

  And he held out his wrists for the handcuffs....

  They were fastened on almost solemnly. The detectives, in spite of theirusual roughness and the bitterness of their resentment against Lupin,acted with reserve and discretion, astounded as they were at beingallowed to touch that intangible being.

  "My poor Lupin," he sighed, "what would your smart friends say if theysaw you humbled like this!"

  He separated his wrists with a growing and continuous effort of everymuscle. The veins on his forehead swelled. The links of the chain duginto his skin.

  "Now then!" he said.

  The chain snapped and broke in two.

  "Another, mates: this one's no good."

  They put two pairs on him. He approved:

  "That's better. You can't be too careful."

  Then, counting the detectives, he continued:

  "How many of you are there, my friends? Twenty-f
ive? Thirty? That's alot.... I can't do anything against thirty. Ah, if there had been onlyfifteen of you!"

  * * * * *

  He really had a manner about him, the manner of a great actor playinghis instinctive, spirited part impertinently and frivolously. Shearswatched him as a man watches a fine sight of which he is able toappreciate every beauty and every shade. And he absolutely received thestrange impression that the struggle was an equal one between thosethirty men on the one hand, backed up by all the formidable machinery ofthe law, and that single being on the other, fettered and unarmed. Thetwo sides were evenly matched.

  "Well, maitre," said Lupin, "this is your work. Thanks to you, Lupin isgoing to rot on the damp straw of the cells. Confess that yourconscience is not quite easy and that you feel the pangs of remorse."

  The Englishman gave an involuntary shrug, as though to say:

  "You had the chance...."

  "Never! Never!" exclaimed Lupin. "Give you back the blue diamond? Ah,no, it has cost me too much trouble already! I value it, you see. At thefirst visit I have the honour of paying you in London, next month, Idaresay, I will tell you why.... But shall you be in London next month?Would you rather I met you in Vienna? Or St. Petersburg?"

  He started. Suddenly, an electric bell rang just below the ceiling. And,this time, it was not the alarm-bell, but the bell of the telephone,which had not been removed and which stood between the two windows.

  The telephone! Ah, who was going to fall into the trap laid by an odiouschance? Arsene Lupin made a furious move toward the instrument, asthough he would have smashed it to atoms and, in so doing, stifled theunknown voice that wished to speak to him. But Ganimard took thereceiver from its hook and bent down:

  "Hullo!... Hullo!... 648.73.... Yes, that's right."

  With a brisk gesture of authority, Shears pushed him aside, took the tworeceivers and put his handkerchief over the mouthpiece to make thesound of his voice less distinct.

  At that moment, he glanced at Lupin. And the look which they exchangedshowed them that the same thought had struck them both and that theyboth foresaw to the end the consequences of that possible, probable,almost certain supposition: it was the blonde lady telephoning. Shethought that she was telephoning to Felix Davey, or, rather, MaximeBermond; and she was about to confide in Holmlock Shears!

  And the Englishman repeated:

  "Hullo!... Hullo!..."

  A pause and Shears:

  "Yes, it's I; Maxime."

  The drama took shape forthwith, with tragic precision. Lupin, themocking, indomitable Lupin, no longer even thought of concealing hisanxiety and, with features pale as death, strove to hear, to guess. AndShears continued, in reply to the mysterious voice:

  "Yes, yes, it's all finished and I was just getting ready to come on toyou, as arranged.... Where? Why, where you are.... Isn't that best?"

  He hesitated, seeking his words, and then stopped. It was evident thathe was trying to draw out the girl without saying too much himself andthat he had not the least idea where she was. Besides, Ganimard'spresence seemed to hinder him.... Oh, if some miracle could have cut thethread of that diabolical conversation! Lupin called for it with all hismight, with all his strained nerves!

  And Shears went on:

  "Hullo!... Hullo!... Can't you hear?... It's very bad at this end too... and I can hardly make out.... Can you hear me now? Well ... onsecond thoughts ... you had better go home.... Oh, no, there's no dangerat all.... Why, he's in England! I've had a telegram from Southampton!"

  The irony of the words! Shears uttered them with an inexpressible senseof satisfaction. And he added.

  "So go at once, dear, and I shall be with you soon."

  He hung up the receivers.

  "M. Ganimard, I propose to borrow three of your men."

  "It's for the blonde lady, I suppose?"

  "Yes."

  "Do you know who she is, where she is?"

  "Yes."

  "By Jove! A fine capture! She and Lupin ... that completes the day'swork. Folenfant, take two men and go with Mr. Shears."

  The Englishman walked away, followed by the three detectives.

  The end had come. The blonde lady also was about to fall into Shears'shands. Thanks to his wonderful persistency, thanks to the aid offortunate events, the battle was turning to victory for him andirreparable disaster for Lupin.

  "Mr. Shears!"

  The Englishman stopped:

  "Yes, M. Lupin?"

  Lupin seemed completely crushed by this last blow. His forehead waswrinkled; he was worn-out and gloomy. Yet he drew himself up, with arevival of energy; and, in spite of all, exclaimed, in a voice of gladunconcern:

  "You must admit that fate is dead against me. Just now, it prevented mefrom escaping by the chimney and delivered me into your hands. Thismoment, it has made use of the telephone to make you a present of theblonde lady. I bow before its decrees."

  "Meaning...?"

  "Meaning that I am prepared to reopen negotiations."

  Shears took the inspector aside and begged permission, but in a tonethat allowed of no refusal, to exchange a few words with Lupin. Then hewalked across to him. The momentous conversation took place. It openedin short, nervous phrases:

  "What do you want?"

  "Mlle. Destange's liberty."

  "You know the price?"

  "Yes."

  "And you agree?"

  "I agree to all your conditions."

  "Ah!" exclaimed the astonished Englishman. "But ... you refused just now... for yourself...."

  "It was a question of myself, Mr. Shears. Now it involves a woman ...and a woman whom I love. You see, we have very peculiar ideas aboutthese things in France, and it does not follow that, because a man'sname is Lupin, he will act differently: on the contrary!"

  He said this quite simply. Shears gave him an imperceptible nod andwhispered:

  "Where is the blue diamond?"

  "Take my cane, over there, in the chimney corner. Hold the knob in onehand and turn the iron ferrule with the other."

  Shears took the cane, turned the ferrule and, as he turned it, perceivedthat the knob became unscrewed. Inside the knob was a ball of putty.Inside the putty a diamond.

  He examined it. It was the blue diamond.

  "Mlle. Destange is free, M. Lupin."

  "Free in the future as in the present? She has nothing to fear fromyou?"

  "Nor from any one else."

  "Whatever happens?"

  "Whatever happens. I have forgotten her name and where she lives."

  "Thank you. And _au revoir_. For we shall meet again, Mr. Shears, shallwe not?"

  "I have no doubt we shall."

  A more or less heated explanation followed between the Englishman andGanimard and was cut short by Shears with a certain roughness:

  "I am very sorry, M. Ganimard, that I can't agree with you. But I haveno time to persuade you now. I leave for England in an hour."

  "But ... the blonde lady?"

  "I know no such person."

  "Only a moment ago...."

  "You must take it or leave it. I have already caught Lupin for you. Hereis the blue diamond ... which you may have the pleasure of handing tothe countess yourself. I can't see that you have anything to complainof."

  "But the blonde lady?"

  "Find her."

  He settled his hat on his head and walked away with a brisk step, like agentleman who has no time to loiter once his business is done.

  * * * * *

  "Good-bye, maitre!" cried Lupin. "And a pleasant journey! I shall alwaysremember the cordial relations between us. My kind regards to Mr.Wilson!"

  He received no reply and chuckled:

  "That's what we call taking English leave. Ah, those worthy islanders donot possess that elegant courtesy which distinguishes us. Just think,Ganimard, of the exit which a Frenchman would have made in similarcircumstances! Under what exquisite politeness would he not haveco
ncealed his triumph!... But, Lord bless my soul, Ganimard, what areyou doing? Well, I never: a search! But there's nothing left, my poorfriend, not a scrap of paper! My archives have been moved to a place ofsafety."

  "One can never tell."

  Lupin looked on in resignation. Held by two inspectors and surroundedby all the rest, he patiently watched the various operations. But, aftertwenty minutes, he sighed:

  "Come along, Ganimard; you'll never be finished, at this rate."

  "Are you in a great hurry?"

  "Yes, I should think I was! I have an important engagement!"

  "At the police-station?"

  "No, in town."

  "Tut, tut! At what time?"

  "At two o'clock."

  "It's past three."

  "Exactly: I shall be late; and there's nothing I detest so much as beinglate."

  "Will you give me five minutes?"

  "Not a minute longer."

  "You're too good.... I'll try...."

  "Don't talk so much.... What, that cupboard too? Why, it's empty!"

  "There are some letters, for all that."

  "Old bills."

  "No, a bundle done up in ribbon."

  "A pink ribbon, is it? Oh, Ganimard, don't untie it, for heaven's sake!"

  "Are they from a woman?"

  "Yes."

  "A lady?"

  "Rather!"

  "What's her name?"

  "Mme. Ganimard."

  "Very witty! Oh, very witty!" cried the inspector, in an affected tone.

  At that moment, the men returned from the other rooms and declared thattheir search had led to nothing. Lupin began to laugh:

  "Of course not! Did you expect to find a list of my friends, or a proofof my relations with the German Emperor? What you ought to have lookedfor, Ganimard, are the little mysteries of this flat. For instance, thatgas-pipe is a speaking tube. The chimney contains a staircase. This wallhere is hollow. And such a tangle of bell-wires! Look here, Ganimard:just press that button."

  Ganimard did as he was asked.

  "Did you hear anything?"

  "No."

  "Nor I. And yet you have instructed the captain of my balloon-park toget ready the airship which is soon to carry us up to the sky."

  "Come," said Ganimard, who had finished his inspection. "Enough of thisnonsense. Let us start."

  He took a few steps, followed by his men.

  Lupin did not budge a foot's breadth.

  His custodians pushed him. In vain.

  "Well," said Ganimard, "do you refuse to come?"

  "Not at all."

  "Then ..."

  "It all depends."

  "Depends on what?"

  "On where you're taking me."

  "To the police-station, of course."

  "Then I shan't come. I have nothing to do at the station."

  "You're mad!"

  "Didn't I tell you I had an important engagement?"

  "Lupin!"

  "Come, Ganimard, the blonde lady must be getting quite anxious about me;and do you think I could have the rudeness to keep her waiting? It wouldnot be the conduct of a gentleman!"

  "Listen to me, Lupin," said the inspector, who was beginning to lose histemper under all this chaff. "So far, I have treated you with excessiveconsideration. But there are limits. Follow me."

  "Impossible. I have an engagement and that engagement I mean to keep."

  "For the last time?"

  "Im-possible!"

  Ganimard made a sign. Two men seized Lupin under the arms and lifted himfrom the floor. But they dropped him at once with howls of pain: withhis two hands, Arsene Lupin had dug two long needles into their flesh.

  Maddened with rage, the others rushed upon him, wreaking their hatred atlast, burning to avenge their comrades and themselves for the numberlessaffronts put upon them, and they rained a shower of blows upon his body.One blow, more violent than the rest, struck him on the temple. He fellto the floor.

  "If you hurt him," growled Ganimard, angrily, "you'll have me to dealwith."

  He bent over Lupin, prepared to assist him. But, finding that he wasbreathing freely, he told the men to take Lupin by the head and feet,while he himself supported his hips.

  "Slowly, now, gently!... Don't jolt him!... Why, you brutes, you mighthave killed him. Well, Lupin, how do you feel?"

  Lupin opened his eyes and stammered:

  "Not up to much, Ganimard.... You shouldn't have let them knock meabout."

  "Dash it, it's your own fault ... with your obstinacy!" repliedGanimard, in real distress. "But you're not hurt?"

  They reached the landing. Lupin moaned:

  "Ganimard ... the lift ... they'll break my bones."

  "Good idea, capital idea!" agreed the inspector. "Besides, the stairsare so narrow ... it would be impossible...."

  He got the lift up. They laid Lupin on the seat with every imaginableprecaution. Ganimard sat down beside him and said to his men:

  "Go down the stairs at once. Wait for me by the porter's lodge. Do youunderstand?"

  He shut the door. But it was hardly closed when shouts arose. The lifthad shot up, like a balloon with its rope cut. A sardonic laugh rangout.

  "Damnation!" roared Ganimard, feeling frantically in the dark for thelever. And failing to find it, he shouted, "The fifth floor! Watch thedoor on the fifth floor!"

  The detectives rushed upstairs, four steps at a time. But a strangething happened: the lift seemed to shoot right through the ceiling ofthe top floor, disappeared before the detectives' eyes and suddenlyemerged on the upper story, where the servants' bedrooms were, andstopped.

  Three men were in waiting and opened the door. Two of them overpoweredGanimard, who, hampered in his movements and completely bewildered,hardly thought of defending himself. The third helped Lupin out.

  "I told you, Ganimard!... Carried off by balloon ... and thanks toyou!... Next time, you must show less compassion. And, above all,remember that Arsene Lupin does not allow himself to be bashed andmauled about without good reasons. Good-bye...."

  The lift-door was already closed and the lift, with Ganimard inside,sent back on its journey toward the ground floor. And all this was doneso expeditiously that the old detective caught up his subordinates atthe door of the porter's lodge.

  Without a word, they hurried across the courtyard and up the servants'staircase, the only means of communication with the floor by which theescape had been effected.

  A long passage, with many windings, lined with small, numbered rooms,led to a door, which had been simply left ajar. Beyond this door and,consequently, in another house, was another passage, also with a numberof turns and lined with similar rooms. Right at the end was a servants'staircase. Ganimard went down it, crossed a yard, a hall and rushed intoa street: the Rue Picot. Then he understood: the two houses were builtback to back and their fronts faced two streets, running not at rightangles, but parallel, with a distance of over sixty yards between them.

  He entered the porter's lodge and showed his card:

  "Have four men just gone out?"

  "Yes, the two servants of the fourth and fifth floors, with twofriends."

  "Who lives on the fourth and fifth floors?"

  "Two gentlemen of the name of Fauvel and their cousins, the Provosts....They moved this morning. Only the two servants remained.... They havejust gone."

  "Ah," thought Ganimard, sinking on to a sofa in the lodge, "what a finestroke we have missed! The whole gang occupied this rabbit-warren!..."

  * * * * *

  Forty minutes later, two gentlemen drove up in a cab to the Gare du Nordand hurried toward the Calais express, followed by a porter carryingtheir bags.

  One of them had his arm in a sling and his face was pale and drawn. Theother seemed in great spirits:

  "Come along, Wilson; it won't do to miss the train!... Oh, Wilson, Ishall never forget these ten days!"

  "No more shall I."

  "What a fine series of bat
tles!"

  "Magnificent!"

  "A regrettable incident, here and there, but of very slight importance."

  "Very slight, as you say."

  "And, lastly, victory all along the line. Lupin arrested! The bluediamond recovered!"

  "My arm broken!"

  "With a success of this kind, what does a broken arm matter?"

  "Especially mine."

  "Especially yours. Remember, Wilson, it was at the very moment when youwere at the chemist's, suffering like a hero, that I discovered the cluethat guided me through the darkness."

  "What a piece of luck!"

  The doors were being locked.

  "Take your seats, please. Hurry up, gentlemen!"

  The porter climbed into an empty compartment and placed the bags in therack, while Shears hoisted the unfortunate Wilson in:

  "What are you doing, Wilson? Hurry up, old chap!... Pull yourselftogether, do!"

  "It's not for want of pulling myself together."

  "What then?"

  "I can only use one hand."

  "Well?" cried Shears, gaily. "What a fuss you make! One would think youwere the only man in your plight. What about the fellows who have reallylost an arm? Well, are you settled? Thank goodness for that!"

  He gave the porter a half-franc piece.

  "Here, my man. That's for you."

  "Thank you, Mr. Shears."

  The Englishman raised his eyes: Arsene Lupin!

  "You!... You!" he blurted in his bewilderment.

  And Wilson stammered, waving his one hand with the gestures of a manproving a fact:

  "You!... You!... But you're arrested! Shears told me so. When he leftyou, Ganimard and his thirty detectives had you surrounded!"

  Lupin crossed his arms with an air of indignation:

  "So you thought I would let you go without coming to see you off? Afterthe excellent friendly relations which we never ceased to keep up? Why,it would have been unspeakably rude. What do you take me for?"

  The engine whistled.

  "However, I forgive you.... Have you all you want? Tobacco, matches?...That's right.... And the evening papers? You will find the details of myarrest in them: your last exploit, maitre! And now, _au revoir_; anddelighted to have made your acquaintance ... delighted, I mean it!...And, if ever I can do anything for you, I shall be only too pleased."

  He jumped down to the platform and closed the door.

  "Good-bye!" he cried again, waving his handkerchief. "Good-bye.... I'llwrite to you!... Mind you write too; let me know how the broken arm is,Mr. Wilson! I shall expect to hear from both of you.... Just a picturepostcard, now and again.... 'Lupin, Paris' will always find me.... It'squite enough.... Never mind about stamping the letters.... Good-bye!...See you soon, I hope!"