The Washington herald., 1915-05-02
THE EXPLOITS OF ARSENELUPIN@@ Maurice {515
By
Maurice Leblanc

heads. On the other hand. i. is
true"
What is truc?"
"Oh, never mind"
What did this reticence mean, He
had not told me all, that was OBJ
vious; and what he had not told he
disliked telling. | was puzzled. The
thing must be serious to provoke
hesitation in a man of his stamp.
| put few questions to him at
haphazard
Did you ever see them again1"
NO"
And did it never occur to you to
feel any pity for those poor
wretchcs:'
"1?" he cried, with a start.
His excitement astonished me. Had
| hit the mark? | said:
"Of course. But for you, they
might have stayed and faced the
music or at least gone off with their
pockets filled"
80 you expect me to feel remorse
is that it,"
We'll, in a sense"
He struck the table with his clinch-
ed fist.
so, according to you, I ought to
feel remorse"
"Iou can call it remorse, or regret,
a feeling OF some kind"
"a feeling OF some kind for that
couple!"
For a couple whom you robbed OF
a fortune"
What fortune?"
well, those two or three bundles
OF securities"
Those two or three bundles of
securities! robbed them OF bundles
OF securities. did I, Part OF their
legacy Is that what l did, Is that
my crime? But, bless my soul, my
dear chap, haven't you guessed that
those securities were so many for
gcrics? Do you hear? They were for
,ericsw
| looked at him dumbfounded.
What. those four or FIVE millions
we're forgeries?
"Forgeries" he shouted, in his
age; "forgeriesl every scrap; the de-
centuries, the municipal loans, tbs
tate funds; not worth the paper they
we're printed on! Not a sou, not a
Jingle sou did l get out of the whole
OF! And you ask me to feel re-
morse! But it's they who ought to
eel remorse! They cheated me like
. common jay! They plucked me
ike the meanest of their pigeons
md the stupidest!
He shook, with a perfectly genuine
niger, made up of personal resent
nent and wounded pride.
Don't you see that they had the
,etter OF me from first to last, from
tart to finish? Do you know what
,art l played in the business, or
ather what part they made me
lay? | was Andrew Rawford! Yes,
ny dear fellow, and 1 was taken
in! l only learned it
fter reading the newspapers and
certain details. While
;as posing as the benefactor, as the
Gentleman who had risked his life
D save Imbert from the hooligans,
e was passing me off as one OF the
'awfordsl Isn't it admirablcao That
cccntric who had his room on the
econd floor, that shy man whom
hey pointed to at a distance was
,awford. And Rawford was myself,
md. thanks to me, thanks to the
onhdencc which l inspired under
ne name OF Rawford, thu banks
ranted loans and the solicitors
ersuaded their clients 10 lend their
loney! What a school, what a
chool for beginner! All, learned
useful lesson there, l assure you!'
He stopped suddenly, caught me
Y the arm, and. in tone OF exas-
Grafton in which, nevertheless, it
as easy to perceive a certain shade
mingled admiration and irony, he
tded this ineffable phrase:
My dear chap, at this moment,
ervaisc lmbcrt owes me fifteen
undrcd francsr
This time | could not help laugh
lg. 1t was really a splendid joke,
nd Arsene himself entered into the
oirit OF it.
Yes, my dear fellow, fifteen hum
red frances Not only did l not re-
eivc sou OF my salary, but she
orrowed fifteen hundred francs of
.el The whole OF the savings OF
" youth, And do you know what
"? III give you thousand
lesses.
For her charities! mean what
say! For poor people whom she
-etcnded to be relieving, unknown
Ludovic, And fell into the trap!
good joke, isn't it? Arsene Lupin
7nc out of fifteen hundred francs,
I'd done by the good lady whom he