The Washington herald., 1915-05-02

business to test them, they ought tc
yield to his pressure, for, in the
course of the afternoon, he had
twisted the fastening in such way
as to prevent it from entering the
staples.
The easements gave way. There
upon, with infinite precautions, he
opened them little farther AS soon
! as he was able to pass his head
through he stopped. 4 CLEAN OF light
filtered out between the curtains,
which did not quite meet. He saw
Gcrvaise and Ludovic sitting beside
! the safe.
Absorbed in their work, they ex-
changed but a few occasional words
| IN low voice. Arscne calculated the
distance that separated him from
| them, settled upon the exact move
mcnts that would be necessary to
reduce them to a state OF hclpleSSness,
one after the other. before they had
time to call for help, and was about
to rush in upon them, when Gcrvaise
said:
How cold the room has turned,
| am going to bed. What shall you
do"
81 should like to finish first"
Finish. Why, it will take you all
night"
"Oh. no; an hour at the most"
She went away. Twenty minutes,
thirty minutes elapsed. Arsene push
ed the window a little more. The
curtains shook. He pushed still far
Their. Ludovic turned round, and, see
ing the curtains swollen by the wind,
rose to shut the window.
There was not cry, not even the
appearance of struggle. With a
few accurate movements and with
out doing Ludovic the least harm,
Arsene stunned him. wrapped his
head in the curtain, and tied him up
so that he was not even able to dis
tinguish his assailant's features.
Then he went quickly to the safe,
took two portfolios. which he put
under his arm, left the Office, went
down the stairs, crossed the court
yard, and opened the door OF the
servants entrance. A cab was wait
ing in the street
Take these first" he said to the
driver, "and come with me-"
They went back to the Office. In
two journeys they enptied the safe.
Then Arsene went up to his room,
hoisted in the rope, removed all
traces of his passage. The thing was
done.
A few hours after. Arsene Lupin,
assisted by his companion, stripped
the portforlios OF their contents. He
felt no disappointment, having fore
seen as much, on asccrtaining that
the fortune OF the Imbcrts had not
the importance ascribed to it. The
did not number hundreds,
nor even tens. But, at any rate, the
total made up very respectable
sum. and consisted OF excellent Sc
curities: railway dcbentures, munich
pal loans. state funds, northern mines,
and so on.
He declared himself satisfied.
NO doubt" he said, there will be
4 sad loss when the time comes for
dealing. There will be all sorts OF
and l shall often have to
ct things go very cheap. Never
mind! With this first capital. l I'M
iertake to live according to my ideas
md to realize a few dreams that lie
lear my heart
And the rest?"
Burn them, my lad. These piles
If papers looked very we'll in the safe
They're no use to US AS for the
securities. we'll lock them up in the
and wait calmly till the
moment arrives to dispose
If them
The next morning Arscnc could
&c no reason why he should not re-
urn to the Hotel Imbert. But the
'apers contained an unexpected piece
II news-Ludovic and Gcrvaisc had
The safe was opened amid great
olemnity. The magistrates found
what Arsene had left behind, which
vas very little.
Such arc the facts and such is the
explanation OF some of them, owing
o the intervention OF Arsene Lupin.
had the story from his own lips
me dav when he was in a confidential
Elm.
He was walking up and down my
tudy, and his eyes wore a little
everish look which | had never seen
n them before.
"On the whole, therefore" l said, ,
this is your master stroke
Without giving me direct answer,
e continued:
There arc impcnetrable secrets in ,