The evening world., 1910-12-16

lli| ' AA'H'
There has been n theft"
ION the other hand, nothing has
disappeared. becaus, Al. de Gesvres
says so, and he Is in a better POSI-
lion thar anybody to know"
Nothing has disappeared"
From those two premises 7 arrive
at this inevitable result. granted that
there has been n theft and that moth
Ing has disappeared. IT is because the
object carried of has been replaced BY
an exactly similar object. Let me
hasten to add that possibly my arGu-
ment may not be confirmed by the
facts. But I maintain that Il Is the
first argument that ought to occur 10
us and tbs We are not entitled to waive
II until we have made n serious exam
nation"
That's truc-that's true" muttered
the magistrate. who was obviously in-
terested.
Now continued Isldore. what was
there in this room that could arouse
the c~ovetousness OF the burglars? Two
things. The tapestry first. II can
have been that. old tapestry cannot be
inflated. The fraud would have beer
pslpaUle at once. There remain thu
foar Rubens pictures"
What's that sou say"
II say that the four Rubenses on tina
wall are false"
'Impossible!'
They are false a priori. inevitably
and without a doubt"
II tell you. it's impossible"
1T is very nearly a year ago. Mon
sleur lie Juge d'Instructlon. since
young man. who gave his mann a.
Charpenais, came to the Chateau dam
brumesy and asked permission to cop!
the Rubens pictures. NJ. de Gesvrel
gave him permission. Every day 70
five months charpenais worked in thi
room from morning till dusk. The cop
les which he made. anvas an
frames, have taken the place OF the fou
original pictures bequeathed to NJ. d
Gesvres by n uncle. the Marques d
Bobddilla.'
Prove ~"
81 have no proof to give. A pictur
Is false because it Is false. and | con
slider that 1t IS not even necessary t
examine these four
NJ. Filleul and Ganlmard exchange
chances OF ullCDlN'ditu uSipiiiS'illNll
The INSPECTOR no longer thought OF
Withdrawing. At last. the magistrat
muttered:
WE must have NJ. de Gesvres'
opinion"
And Ganlmard agreed:
eyes. we must have his opinion"
And they sent to beg the count {
come TO the dra wing-room.
The young sixth-form pupil had wo
n real victory To compel two eS
merits. two professionals like NJ. Fillet
and Ganimard to take account OF hi
surmlses implied a testimony of re
snect of which any other would hav
been proud. But Beautrelet seemed nc
Ia feel those little satisfactions of sci.
conceit and. still smiling without tn
least trace of irony, he placidly waited
NJ, dc Gesvres entered the room.
.Nonsieur 10 Comte." said the magis
trate, the result of our Inquiry IA
brought us face TO face with an utterl
~unexpected contingency. which we sui
nit to YOU with all reserve II Is pos
sihle-i say that II is possible--tha
the burglars. when breaking into n
house. had It as their object to ste:
YOUR foul pictures by Rubens-or G
least. to replace them by four copies
comics which are said to nave bee
made last year by a painter calle
~Charpenais. Would you be so good a
TO examine the pictures and to tell u
IL you recognize them as genulne?"
The count appeared to suppress
movement OF annoyance. looked at !:
dore Beautrelet and at n. Fllleul an
replied, without even troubling 10 9
near the pictures:
81 hoped. Monsieur le Jnge d'fnstruI
ton. that the truth might have RENAME
unknown. AS this Is not so, nave u
hesitation in declaring that the four pix
lures are false
you knew It, them"
From the beginning"
"Why didn't you say SOP
THE owner OF n work u never IN
hurry 10 declare that that work Is not
or. rather, - no longer genuine
"StIll, 1t was tie only means of II
covering them
81 consider that there was another an
a better"
(Which was that?'
"Not TO make the secret known. not
frighten my burglars and to offer to bu
back The pictures, which they mus, fin
( more or less difficult TO dispose Of"
I How would you communicate wi,
\ theme
IS the count did not reply. lsidore a,
swerel for him:
by means OF an advertisement In y
pAper3. The paragraph inserted In Il
agony column OF the journal. tae Eel
n de Paris and the Matin runs: Am pr
pared to buy back the pictures"
The count agyeed with a nod. On.
again the young maa was teaching h
n elders. NJ. Fiieul showed himself
a good sportsman.
e There's no doubt about II, ms de-
sir" he exclaimed. Tn beginning
d think your school-fellows were n
IS quite wrong. by Jove, what AL ey
o What intuition! II this goes on the
Will be nothing left for NJ, Gamma
/ and me TO CO."
a "oh, none OF this part was SO We
complicated