Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1918-10-17

losing and gong to the mantel-
piece, he took down from the wall
a small map representing North
west Africa. He spread it on
the table, placed different objects
on the four corners to hold it in
position, and resumed:
"There is one matter, Monsieur
lie President, which puzzled Mon
sieur lie Project de Police and
about which l know that he
caused inquiries to be made; and
that matter is how l employed my
time, or, rather, how Arsene
Lupin employed his time during
the last three years of his service
with the Foreign Legion"
"These inquiries were made by
my ORDERS" said Valenglay.
"And they led-Y"
TO nothing"
$50 that you do not know
what | did during my captivity 2"
"Just So"
VIII tell you, Monsieur lie
President. 1t will not take me
long,"
Don Luis pointed with a pencil
to a spot in Morocco marked on
the map.
cit was here that I was taken
prisoner on the twenty-fourth of
July. My capture seemed queer
to Monsieur lie Project de Police
and to all who subsequently,
heard the details of the incident.
They were astonished that /
should have been foolish enough
to get caught in ambush and to
allow myself to be trapped by a
troop of forty Berber horse. Their
surprise is justified. My capture
was a deliberate move on my part.
"You will perhaps remember,
Monsieur lie President, that / en-
listed in the Foreign Legion after
making a fruitless attempt to kill
myself in consequence Of some
really terrible private disasters.
l wanted to die, and l thought
that a Moorish bullet would give
me the final rest for which l
longed.
Fortune did not permit it. My
destiny, it seemed, was not yet
fulfilled. Then what had to be
was. Little by little, unknown to
myself, the thought of death van
lshed and | recovered my love of
life. A few rather striking feafs
of arms had given ME. back all my
self confidence and all my desire
for action.
"New dreams seized hold of
me. / fell a victim to a new ideal.
From day to day l needed more
space, greater Independence,
wider horizons, more unforeseen
and personal sensations. The Lee
gion, great as my affection was
for the plucky fellows who had
welcomed me so cordially, was no
longer enough to satisfy my crav-
ing for activity.
Gone day, without thinking
much about it, in a blind prompt
ing of my whole being toward a
great adventure which I did not
clearly see, but which attracted
me in a mysterious fashion, one
day, finding myself surrounded
by a band Of the enemy, though
istill in a position to fight, 1 al
lowed myself to be captured.
"That is the whole story, Mon
sieur lie President. As a prisoner,
I was free. A new life opened be-
fore me. However, the incident
NEARLY turned out badly. Ny
three dozen Berbers, a troop de-
tached from an important nomad
tribe that used to pillage and put
to ransom the districts lying on
the middle chains Of the Atlas
Range, first galloped back to the
little cluster Of tents whore the
wives Of their chiefs were en-
camped under the guard Of some
ten men: They packed Of II
onces and, after 9 weeks march
which I found pretty .arduotA fol
fI was 0ntfoot, with my hands
tied behind my back, following Z
mounted party, they stopped on