The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1918-08-01
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE EXPLOSION

iiIE CAI S1O
The fourth mysterious letter
The fourth of those letters "post.
ed by the devil and delivered by
the devil" as one of the newspa.
pers expressed it!
We all Of us remember the
really extraordinary agitation OF
the public as the night Of the 25th
Of May drew near. And fresh
news increased this interest to q
yet higher degree.
People heard in quick success.
sion Of the arrest Of Sauverand,
the flight Of his accomplice, Flor.
ence Levasseur, Don Luis Peren.
mas secretary, and the inexplica.
BILE disappearance Of Perenna him.
self, whom they insisted, for the
best Of reasons, on identifying
with Arsene Lupin.
The police, assured from this
moment Of victory and having
nearly all the actors in the ira,
gedy in their power, had gradu-
ally given way to indiscretion
and, thanks to the particulars re.
yealed to this or that journalist,
the public knew Of Don Luis
change Of attitude, suspected his
passion for Florence Levasseur
and the real cause of his right
about-face, and thrilled with ex-
element as they saw that aston
ishing figure enter upon a fresh
struggle.
What was he going to dot If
he wanted to save the woman he
loved from prosecution and to re-
lease Marie and Sauyerand from
prison, he would have to intervene
some time that night, to take part,
somehow or ether, in the event at
hand, and to prove the innocence
OF the three accomplices, either by
a~rresting the invisible bearer Of
the fourth letter or by suggesting
some plausible explanation. In
short, he would have to be there !;
and that was interesting indeed !
And then the news Of Marie
Fauville, was not good. With un-
wavering obstinacy she persisted
in her suicidal plans. She had to
be artificiallyfed and the doctors
in the infrmary at Saint-Lazare
did not conceal their anxiety.
Would Don Luis Perenna arrive
in time2
: Lastly, there was that one other
thing, the threat of an; explosion
which was to blow up Hippolyte
Fauville's house ten days after
the delivery Of the fourth letter,
q really impressive threat when
it was remembered that the enemy
had never announced anything
that did not take place at the
stated hour. And, although it was
still ten days-at least, so people
thought-from the date fixed for
the catastrophe, the threat made
the whole business look more and
more sinister.
That evening, therefore, a great
crowd made its way, through La
Muette and Auteuil, to the Boule-
ward Suchet, a crowd coming not
only from Paris, but also from the
suburbs and the provinces. The
spectacle was exciting, and people
wanted to see. 5.
They saw only from a distance,
for the police had barred the ap-
proaches 100 yards from either
side of the house and were driving
into the bitches of the fortified
tons all those who managed to
climb the opposite slope.
The sky was stormy, with heavy
clouds revealed at intervals by
the light Of a silver moon. There
were lightning flashes and peals
of distant thunder. Men sang.
Street boys initiated the noises Of
People formed them
selves into groups on the benches
and pavements and ate and drank
while discussing the matter.
A part Of the night was spent
in this way and nothing happened
to reward the patience Of the
crowd, who began to wonder,
somewhat YEARLY, if they would
not do better to go home, seeing
that Sauverandw was in prison and
that there was every chance that
the fourth letter would not appear
same mysterious way as the
others.
And yet they did not go: Don
Luis Perenna was due to come!
From 10 o'clock in the evening
the Project Of Police and his Sec
rotary general, the chief detective
and Weber, his deputy, Sergeant
Mazeroux. and two detectives