The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-04-04
V.
THE IRON

90 1 " tNil thC Stoly III "a o'i'
Lupin's life, for the reason that
each of his adventures is partly
known to the public, having at the
time formed the subject of much
eager comment, whereas his biog-
rapher is obliged, if he would
throw light upon what is not
known, to begin at the beginning
and to relate in full detail all that
which is already public property.
1t is because Of this necessity
that | am compelled to speak once
more of the extreme excitement
which the news Of that shocking
series of crimes created in France,
in Europe and throughout the
civilized world. The public heard
of four murders practically all at
once, for the particulars of Cosmo
Mornington's will were published
two days later.
There was no doubt that the
same person had killed Cosmo
Mornington, Inspector Verot, Eau
vile the engineer, and his son Ed
mond. The same person had made
the identical sinister bit, leaving
himself or herself, with a needless
ness that seemed to show the
avenging hand of fate, a most i'm
pressive and discriminating proof,
a proof which made people shud-
der as they would have shuddered
at the awful reality: the marks Of
his or her teeth, the teeth Of the
tiger!
And, in the midst of al this
bloodshed, at the most tragic mo-
ment of the dismal tragedy, behold
the strangest Of figures emerging
from the darkness!
An heroic advcnturer, endowed
wit hastounding intelligence and
insight, had in a few hours partly
unravelled the tangled skeins of
the plot, OWNED the murder of
Cosmo Mornington, proclaimed the
murder of Inspector Verot, taken
the conduct of the Investigation
into his own hands, delivered to
justice the inhuman creature
whose beautiful teeth fitted the
marks as precious stones fit their
settings, received a cheque for L.
600, francs on the day after
these exploits, and, finally, found
himself the probabl heir to an i'm
mense fortune.
And here was Arsene Lupin
coming to life again!
For the public made no mistake
about that, and, with wonderful
intuition, proclaimed aloud that
Don Luis Perepna was Arsene Lu-
pin, before a close examination of
the facts had more or less con-
firmed the supposition.
"But he's dead" objected the
doubters.
To which the others replied:
Eyes, Dolores Kesselbach' s
corpse was recovered under the
still smoking rpins of a little chalet
near the Luxembourg frontier and,
with it the corpse of a man whom
the police identified as Arsene Lu-
pin. But everything goes to show
that the whole scene was c~ontrived
by Lupins, who, for reasons of his
own, wanted to be thought dead.
And everything shows that the po-
lice accepted and legalized the
theory of his death only because
they wished to be rid of their ever
lasting adversary.
AS a proof, we have the conf
dences made by Valenglay, who
was prime minister at the time and
whom the chances of politics have
just replaced at the head Of the
government. And there is the
mysterious incident on the island
Of Capri when the German en-
peror, just as he was about to be
buried under q landslip, was saved
by a hermit who, according to the
German version, was none other
than Arsenc Lupin.
TO this came a fresh objection F.:
VERY well; but read the news
papers Of the time: 10 minutes
afterward, the hermit flung him
self into the sea from Tiberius'
leap" And the answer:
eyes, but the body was never
found. And, as it happens, we
know that a steamer picked up a
man who was making signals to
her an dthat this steamer was OH
her way to Algiers. Well, a few
days later, Don Luis Perenna en-
listed in the foreign legious ut
Sidi-bel-Abbes.' ,
Of course, the controversy upon
which the newspapers embarked
OH this subject was carried on dis
| creetly. Everybody was afraid of
Lupin; and the journalists main
tanned a certain reserve in their
articles, confined themselves to
comparing dates and pointing out