The Washington herald., 1915-04-25
HAVE often been asked this ques-
ton:
How did you come to know Arsene
T,upip

Lupin?"
] had been dining with friends at the
Restaurant de Ia Cascade. and through
out the evening, while we sat smoking
and listening to the Bohemian band and
their melancholy waltzes, We had talked
Of nothing but crimes. robberies, lurid
and terrifying adventures. This is al
ways a bad preparation for sleep.
The Saint-Martins had driven away in
their motor car. jean Daspry and l
walked back in the dark, hot night
When We reached the little house at
! had been living for the past twelve
months. he said:
DO you never feel frightened"
What an ideal"
well, this little house Of yours is very
lonely.
| We shook hands, and he walked away.
! / took out my key. and opened the door.
That's pleasant l muttered. An
tome has forgotten to leave lighted
candle for me-
! And suddenly / remembered: Antoine
was out; l had given him his night off.
Il at once resented the darkness and the
4 silence. CROPPED my way upstairs to my
broom as quickly as / could, and. con-
Frary to my custom. turned the key in
the door and shot the bolt
II The light of the candle restored my
ypresence of mind. Nevertheless, was
4 cal eful to take my revolver-a big, long
II range revolver-from its case, and laid
it beside my bed. This precaution COM
II pleted my composure. l went to bed,
and, as usual, took up my book that lay
on my night table to read myself to
sleep.
A great surprise awaited me. In the
Mace OF the paper cutter with which i
had marked my page the night before ]
now found an envelope sealed with five
red seals. ! seized it eagerly. 1t was
addressed in my name, accompanied by
the word urgent"
Somewhat nervously I tore open the
envelope. and read:
From the moment when you open this
letter. whatever happens, whatever you
may hear do not stir, do not make
movement. do not utter a sound. If you
do you are lost"
''Nonsense,'' l thought. ITS joke,
a silly trick
was on the point of laughing, I even
tried to laugh aloud. What was 1t pre-
vented me? What vague fear COM
pressed my throat?
At least / would blow out the candle.
No, / could not blow it out.
At that moment a light sound passed
through the silence. followed by a creak
ing noise. 1t seemed to me to come
from a large adjoining room which l had
n
separated only by the passage.
The approach of a real danger eI-
cited me. One of the curtains of the
window on my left had moved before
my eyes. And l saw-oh, l distinctly
saw!-that in that narrow space be-
tween the curtains and the window
there stood a human form. the thickness
of which prevented the material from
hanging straight down.
Then I understood all. While the
others were carrying off their booty. his
mission consisted in terrorizing me.
I did not bulge. Was it cowardice on
my part? No, 1t was humiliation rather,
complete incapacity to move a single
muscle. And this torture lasted all night
long; an intolerable torture. terrible
agony.
Finally I was pervaded with an IN
speakable sense of relief; milk cart, of
which / knew the clatter well, passed
along the boulevard, and at the same
time / received the impression that the
dawn was filtering through the drawn
blinds and that a glimmer of daylight
from the outside was mingling with the
darkness within.
Then l put one arm out of bed slowly
and stealthily. Opposite me nothing
stirred. With my eyes I noted the fold
in the curtain, the exact spot at which
to take aim. I made precise calcula-
tion of the movements which I should
have to make. / grasped the revolver
and | fired
! sprang out of bed with a shout of
deliverance, and leaped at the curtain.
There was hole through the material.
and a hole in the pane behind it AS
for the man. ] had missed him for the
very good reason that there was no.
body there.
examined the room inch by inch. en-
MIC tha iDlIt of nf in
designations; 1t was to no purpose. Or,
rather. but could | consider that dis
covery? Under a small Persian rug, |
flung down on the floor ! picked up a
csrd-a playing card. 1t was a seven of
hearts, hut it attracted my attention be-
cause of 4 rather curious detail. The
extreme lower end of each of the seven
red. heart-shaped pips was pierced with
a hole the round and regular hole made !
by the point of an awl. l pursued my
investigat throughout the day. 1t
was a large sized room. out of all pro- |
portion with the general smallness of
the house, and its decoration bore wit
ness to the eccentric taste OF the man
who had conceived it. High up in the
wall was a huge solitary window, some
thing like the window of a studio II
was always left open at night and the
probability was that the men had en-
tered by 1t with the aid of ladder.
I confess that the idea of applying to
the police never entered my head. so in
consistent and absurd we're the facts
which | should have had to lay before
them. They would have laughed at me.
Rut the next day but one was the day
for my column in the Gil Bias, for which
! was then writing. Obsessed l was
by my adventure, l described it at full
length.
A few mornings later the bell at the
front gate rang. and Antoine came to
tell me that a gentleman wished to speak
to me. He had refused TO give his name.
I asked him up.
Coming straight to the point. he said,
in a grating voice. and In an accent
that confirmed my opinion as TO the
mans social status:
Il have been out of town. sir, and
saw the Gil Bias at a cafe. read your
article. 1t interested me immensely"
81 thank YOU"
II may have some information to give
you"
Pray speak"
Before saying any more, I must make
sure that am right. / must remain
alone In this room"
replied: Very well How long do
you want?"
"Oh, three minutes. that's all. I shall
join you in three minutes from now"