The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-11-23

| SuCPI
Were there" said Danerre, In .
hollow voice.
They went along the ratings of the
garden. and crossed a street of which
the corner was formed by the tobae- =
eonists shop. Danegre stopped .
few PAGES farther on. His legs reeled
under him. He dropped on bench.
| "Well?" asked his companion.
| ITS there"
ITS theref What are you talking
aboutr
Yes. there. in front of u.s."
I'm front Of us1 Look here, Dane.
gre. you had better not"
Il tell you. its there"
"Where1"
Between two paving stones"
| (Which two1"
| Look and see"
(which two1" repeated Crimau-
dan.
Victor did not reply.
"Ah, / see. you're trying to hood.
wink me, are you"
"No-but-I shall die Of st.rva-
ton"
"And so you're hesitatingl Well
III be generous with you. How much
do you wantl'
Enough to pay my passage to
America
agreed" q
"And hundred-franc note for en-.
penses." II
you shall have two. And now
speak"
Count the coolies to the right of
the drain. It's between the twelfth
and the thirteenth"
I'm the gutter?" II
"Yes, just below the curbstone."
Crimaudan looked around him.
Tram cars were passing, people were
passing on foot. But poohl Who
would suspect
He opened his pocket knife and
thrust it between the twelfth and
thirteenth cobblestones.
"And if it's not there7"
II IF no one saw me stoop and push
it in, it must be there still"
Could it be therel The black pearl
flung into the mud of gutter for the
first passerby to pick upi The black
pearl fortunel
How far down."
, about three inches"
He made an opening in the moist
earth. The point of his knife struck
against something. He widened tie
hole with his fingers.
. The black pearl was there.
Here, take your two hundred
: francs. I'll send you your ticket for
America"
!. The next evening the Echo Dc
: France published the following para
graph, which was copied BY the press
Of the whole world:
Yesterday the famous black pearl
fell into the hands of Arsene Lupin,
who recovered it from the murderer
of the Comtesse d'Andillot Faesim-
lies of this valuable jewel will shortly
. be exhibited in London. St. Peters,
{ burg. Calcutta, Buenos Ayres and
New York.
"Arsene Lupin is prepared to receive
) offers from his correspondents at home
/ and abroad" t-s !,
"And that il how crime Is always
punished and virtue rewarded" con-
cluded Arsene Lupin. after he had re-
: vealed to me the unknown side Of
the story.
II see; that Is how. under the name
of Crimaudan, an ex-detective-in.
, spector. you were selected by fate to
deprive the criminal of the fruits Of
: his criInci"
Exactly. And confess that Il b
one of the adventures Of which I am
. most proud. The forty minutes which
I spent in the countess fat, after
verifying her death, I number among
the most astonishing and the 0,ot,
momentous in my life. Caught in an
apparently inextricable situation. il
forty minutes I had reconstructed the
, crime, and. thanks to few signs,
acquired the certainty that the mur.
. derer could be none other than one Of
: the countess servants- Lastly, / saw
/ that. if / was to have the pearl, the
man must be arrested, and 90 I LETT
the waistcoat button. But that there
must not be any irrefutable proofs Of
his guilt. l picked up the knife which
) he had left on the carpet. took away
: the key which he had left in the locx,
double locked the door and removed
the finger marks on the plaster OF the
, wardrobe closet In my opinion, this
u,as one Of fhose Aashes-n