Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1918-04-04
CHAPTER V.
II IRON CURTAIN.

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 adventurer, 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 q cheque for L.
100000 francs on the day after
these exploits, and, finally, found
himself the probabl heir to an i'm.
mense fortune.
And here was Arsene Lupir
coming to life again!
! For the public made no mistake
+ about that, and, with wonderful.
intuition, proclaimed aloud that
' Don Luis Perenna was Arsene Lu
pin, before a close examination Of
the facts had more or less con
firmed the superstition.
! "But he's dead!" objected tht
doubters.
To which the others replied:
+ eyes, Dolores Kesselbach'!
corpse was recovered under th'
r still smoking rpins Of a little chale
near the Luxembourg frontier and
t 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 contrivet
by Lupins, who, for reasons Of hi
own, wanted to be thought dead
{ And everything shows that the pc
f lice accepted and legalized tn,
e theory of his death only becaus
they wished to be rid of their ever
lasting adversary.
t AS a proof, we have the conf
r licences made by Valenglay, VIII,
was prime minister at the time an,
whom the chances of politics hav
just replaced at the head Of tn
): government. And there is tn
f mysterious incident on the islam,
II Of Capri when the German EN-
peror, just as he was about to b
buried under a landslip, was save,
by a hermit who, according to tn
h German version, was none othe
than Arsene Lupin.
le To this came a fresh objection
IS Every we'll; but read the news
papers of the time: 10 minute
b afterward, the hermit flung him
a self into the sea from Tiberius
le leap" And the answer:
,r eyes, but the body was neve
lie found. And, as it happens, W
N know that a steamer picked UP
man who was making signals t
lie her an dthat this steamer was o
a. her way to Algiers. Well, a fev
e. days later, Don Luis Perenna Ell
listed in the foreign legious a
Sidi-bel-Abbes." \
OF course, the controversy upo
1t which the newspapers embarke
on this subject was carried on ali
lie creetly. Everybody was afraid I
lie Lupin; and the Journalists mail
1t tanned a certain reserve in the
!. articles, confined themselves
e. comparing dates and pointing OF
III condolences, and refrained fro
. Il 8-L avg $40 |L M& =. -N