The evening world., 1911-01-17
CHAPTER TX.
(Continued.)

Nobody
WI And Lupin becomes that sort
of really di-spropOrtionato be-
ing whom we know. that miracle in
capable OF explanation 10 long rs the
truth remains In tho hadow luani.c
though the OF his genius lie.
they cannot suffice for tho mad
struggle which he maintains against
society. Hc needs other. moro ma
terial resources. Ho needs n sure
place Of retreat. ne needs tho GER
tainty OF impunity. tho peace that al
lows Of tho execution OF his plans.
Without tho Hollow Needle Lupin IN
incomprehensible. a myth. n character
In a novel. having no connection with
reality.
Master OF tho secret-and OF such a
secret!-he becomes simply n man like
another. but gifted with tho power of
welding In n superior manner the ex-
traprdinary weapon with which destiny
has endowed him..
so tho Needle was hollow.
1t remained to discover how one OBJ
tained access to II.
From the sea, obviously. There must
he. on the side OF tho ofing. some As
sure whore boats could land at certain
hours OF tho tide.
But on the side OF the land?
Beautrelet lay until ten o'clock AZ
night hanging over the precipice, with
his eyes riveted on tho shadowy mass
formed by tho pyramid, thinking and
bordering with an the concentrated
effort of his mind.
Then he went down to Etretat, Sc
lecicd the cheapest hotel. dined, went
up to his room and unfoldcd the docu-
ment
1t was the merest child's play to him
now To establish Its exact meaning. He
at once saw that the dhree vow els OF
tho word Etretat occurred In the first
line. In their proper order and at the
necessary intervals. This nrst limo now
read as follows:
g a a .. efretdt . q ..
What words could come before Etre-
tat? Words. no doubt. that referred to
the position of the Needle with regard
10 tho town. Now tho Needle stood on
tho left, on the west. He ransacked
his memory and. recollectlng that west
eiiy winds are cahed vents d'avai on the
coast and that the nearest porto was
known as tho Porto d'Aval. he wrote
down:
nal d'Etretat a -"
The second line was That containing
tho word Demoiselle and, at once see
Ing, In front OF that word, the series
OF all the vowels that form part of tho
words Ia chambro des. he noted the
two phrases:
h ayal dEtretat. La Chambrs des
DemoiseIes."
The third line gave him moro trou-
Bile. n 1t was not until some cropping
that. remembering the position, near
the Chambre des Demoisclies, of the
Fort dc Frefosse. he ended by almost
completely reconstructing the docu-
ment:
"En avd d'Etretat. La Chambre dos
Demoiselles, Sous Is Fort FreIosse.
LAtguiIo reuse"
These were the four great formulas,
the essential and general formulas
which " had to know. by means OF
them. you turned en- aual, that is 10
say. below or west Of Etretat. entered
the Chambre des Demoiselles. In all
probability passed under Fort Frsfosse
and thus arrived at the Needle.
How? BY means OF the indications
and measurements that constituted tho
fourth line.
These were evidently tho more special
formulas 20 enable you to ind tho out
let through which you mad your way
and the road led 10 the Needle.
Beautrelet at once presumed-and his
surmise was no moro than the logical
''hH'IN'Aa'' 70 Nho pNhiiltll-ltlht IL
there really was a direct communication
between tho land and tho obelisk of the
Needle. tho underground passage must
start from the Chambre des Demoiselles
pass under Fort Frefosse. descend per-
pendicularly the three hundred feet of
elm and. by means of n tunnel con-
tr!ved under the rocks OF the sea, end
at the Hollow Needle.
which was the entrance 10 tho I'M
~derground passage? Did not the W.
letters ID and l.. so plainly cut, point
To II and admit II, with the aid, per-
haps, Of some ingenious piece OF mech
anism?
Tho whole OF the next morning ISL
dore s,rolled about Etretat and chatted
with everybody he met. in order to try
and pick up useful Information. At
last. In the afternoon. he went up the
cllf. Disguised as n sailor, he had
made himself still younger, and, IN a
pair OF trousers too short for him and
n fishing Jersey. no looked a mere scape-
grace OF twelve or thirteen.
As soon as no entered tho cave he
knelt down before the letters. Here a
disappointment awaited aim. 1t was
no use his striking them. pushing
them, manipulating them In every way;
they refused to move. And II was not
long. in fact. before he became aware
that they were really unsNe TO move
and that. therefore. they controlled no
mechanism.
And yet-and yet they must mean
something! Inquiries which no had
made In the village went TO show tina
no one had ever been able TO explain
their existence and that the Able
Cochet. In his valuable little book on
Etretat. had also tried In vain TO solve
this little puzzle. But isidore knew
what the learned Norman Archaeological
did not know, namely, that the same
two letters figured In the document.
on tho line containing the Indications
Was II a chance coincidence? Impos-
sible. Well, then?
An idea suddenly occurred to him. an
idea so reasonable. so simple that he
did not doubt its correctness for a
second. Were not that ID and that Il
the initials OF the two most important
words In tho document, the words that