The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-10-17
THE
TEETH OF THE TIGER
MAURICE LEBLANC
Translated BY
ALEXANDER TEfxEIRA DE MATTOS

| CHATTER SEVENTEEN eContknsessat
"And if l give you my word
of honor, Monsieur le President,
to return the moment my task Ia
done and give myself upt" {
Valenglay struck the table with
his fist and, raising his voice, adj
dressed Don Luis with q certain
} genial familiarity & se- corfr. 4
Come, Arsene Lupia," he
said, play the camel liz .yon
really want to have your way,
pay for it! Hang it all, remember
that after all this business, and
especially after the Incidents Of
last night, you and F1orenee Lee
vasseur VIII be to the publie what
you already are; the responsible
actors in the tragedy; may, mare,
the real and only criminaIs-And ii
is now, when Florence Lsvaxxeur
has taken to her heels, that You
come and ask for your liberty!
Very well, but damn it, set a
price to it and don't haggIe with
mel"
Il am not haggling, Monsieur
President" declared DON Lais, in
a very straightforward manner
more extraordinary and trcmend-
Gus than you imagine. But II 1t
were twice as extraordinary and
twice as tremendous, it would not
count once Florence Leyaszeurs
life is in danger. Nevertheless, L
was entitled to try for = less ex-
pensive transaction. OF tins your
words remov all hope. I will
therefore lay my cards upon the
table, as you demand, and as L
had made up my mind to do"
He sat down opposite Vaien-
CLAY, in the attitude Of q man
treating with another On equal
terms.
81 shall not be long. A single
sentence, Monsieur lie Presidenf,
will express the bargain which L
am proposing to the Prime Min
lister of my country"
And looking Valengiay straight
in the eyes, he said slowly, SYN
able by syllable:
"In exchange for "a hoars' lib
erty and no more, undertaking. sn
my honor to return here tomcr-
row morning and to return here
either with Florence, to give yen
every proof of her innocence, or
without her, to constitute myself
a prisoner, | offer you-"
He took his time and, In a ser
ious voice, concluded:
Il offer you a kingdom, Mon
siour lie President du Cansxil"
The sentence sounded bsmhax-
tic and %ludicrous, sounded silly
enough to provoke a shrug Of the
shoulders, sounded like one Of
those sentences which only an i'm
beetle or a lunatic eoald utter.
And yet Valenglay remained i'm
passive. He knew that, In such
circumstances as the present, the
man before him was not the man
to indulge in testing. :.
And he knew it SO fully that
instinctively, accustomed as ne
was to momentOus politieaE cues
tons in which secrecy IN of the
utmost Importance, he cast a
glance toward the PrefecS of Po-
lice, as though M. D~esnfalien's
presence in the room Numbered
him.
Il positively insist" said Don
Luis, that Monsieur lie Project
de Police shall stay and hear
what have to say. He n better
able than any one else to appre-
ciate the value of it; and he will
bear witness bits correctness in
certain particulars"
Speak, said Valengfay.
His curiosity knew no bounds.
He did not much care whether
.,o.i Lii r.oposai c1a.ss. t,sse
any practical results. In his heart
he did not believe in it. Hut whnt
he wanted to know was the
lengths to which that demon of
audacity was prepared to -, and
OH what new prOdigioux adgen-
ture he based the prctensioHs
which he was putting forward 50
calmly and frankly.
Don Luis Smiledc
Twill yOu allow meyi'' he
asked.
Rising and going to the maatsi-
piece, he took down from the wall
a small map representing North
west Africa. He spreaa il On
the table, placed different ossfess,
OH the four corners to hold II In
position, and resumed-
"There is one matter, Monsieur
lie President, which puzzled Ean-
sieur lie Project de Police and.