The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-02
3THE EXPLOITS OF ARSENELUPIN%n Maurice las1

Of Arsene Lupin."
l could not help Struggling my
shoulders.
"Your two officers will pick up no
| clews and no evidence"
"Reallyp'
"Arsene Lupin will have arranged
that no one should See him leave the
est road. and from there ="
| From there made for Rouen, where
we shall catch him."
| "Hc will not go to Rouen."
| "In that case, he will remain in
| the ncighborhood- where we shall be
| even more certain = ="
"He will not remain in the neigh
| borhood"
ooh! Then where will he hide him
/, self"
L took out my watch.
"At this moment Arsene Lupin is
hanging about the station at Darne-
tai. At ten-hfty-that is to say, in
| twenty-five minutes from now-hc
will take the train which leaves
Rouen from the Care du Nord for
! Amiens."
DO you think so? And how do
you know"
"Oh. it's very simple In the car
rage Arscne Lupin consulted my
railway guide. What for? To see if
there was another line near the place
where he disappeared. a station on
that line, and 4 train which stopped
at that station. have just looked at
the guide myself, and learned what
l wanted to know"
Upon my word, sir" said the COM
missary, you possess marvellous pow
ers of deduction. What an expert
you must be"
Dragged on by my certainty. I had
blundered by displaying too much
clcverncss. He looked at me in as
constituent, and l saw that a sus-
picion f1ickered through his mind.
Only just, it is true; for the photo
graphs dispatched in every direction
were SO unlike, represented an Ar
sene Lupin so different from the one
that stood before him, that he could
not possibly recognize the original in
me. Nevertheless. he was troubled.
restless, perplexed.
There was moment of silence. A
certain ambiguity and doubt seemed
to interrupt our words. A shudder
luck about to turn against me? Mas
tering myself, I began to laugh.
"Ah WE'LL there's nothing to sharp
en- ones wits like the loss of a pock-
etbook and the desire to find it again
And it seems to me that. if you will
give me two o. your men. the three
Of US might, perhaps = ="
"Oh, please, Mr.. Commissary," ex-
claimed Nine. Renaud, do what M.
Berlat suggests"
My kind friends intervention turn
ed the scale. Uttered by her, the wife
of an influential person, the name of
Berlat became mine in reality, and
conferred upon me an identity which
no suspicion could touch. The conf
missary rose.
believe me, M. Berlat, I shall be
only too pleased to see you succeed
am as anxious as yourself to have
Arsene Lupin arrested"
He accompanied me to my car. He
introduced two of his men to me
Honore Massol and CASTOR Delivet.
They took their seats. l placed, my
self at the wheel. My chauffeur start
ed the engine A few seconds later
we had left the station. l was saved.
l confess that as we dashed in my
powerful thirty-hye horsepower Mo-
reau-Lepton along the boulevards
that skirt the old Norman city 1 was
not without certain sense of pride.
The engine hummed harmoniously.
The trees sped behind us to right
and left. And row. free and out of
danger, I had nothing to do but to
settle my own little private affairs
with the co-operation of two worthy
representatives of the law. Arsene
Lupin was going in search of Arsene
Lupini
But all was not over yet. Far from
it, had first to capture the fellow and
next to. take possession, myself, of
the papers of which he had robbed
me. At no cost must my two satellites
be allowed to catch sight Of those
documents, much less lay hands upon
them. To make use of them and yet
act independently of them was what
I wanted to do, and it was no easy
matter.
j We reached Darnetal three minutes
after the train had left had the
consolation of learning that a man
in gray frock overcoat with a black
velvet collar had got into a second
class carriage with a ticket for
Amiens. There was no doubt about
it; my first appearance as a detective
was a promising one.
1 Delivet said:
THE train is an express, and does
not stop before Montcrolier- Buchy, in
nineteen minutes from now. If we
are not there before Arsenc Lupin,
he can 60 on toward Amiens. branch
off to Cleres. and. from there. make
for Dieppe or Paris"
10 How far is Monterolier?"
Fourteen miles and a half"
Fourteen miles and half in nine
teen minutes. We shall be there be-
fore he is"
1t was stirring race. Never had
my trusty Morcau-Lepton responded
to my impotence with greater ardor
and regularity. 1t seemed to me as
though 1 communicated my wishes to
her directly, without the intermediary
of levers or handles. She shared my
desires. She approved of my deter
nlination.
Right cried Delivet. sss"L eft.
- Straight ahead! ="
We SKINNED the ground. The mile
stones looked like little tirnid ami
mails that fled at our approach.
i And suddenly at the turn of a road