The evening world. Newspaper, January 22, 1916, Page 11

Ooppright, 1914, by Donhietey, Page & Co) SYNOPSIS OF MREGHDING CHAPTERS. a Tegures to Parie oe ‘aids tho polos in solr ‘Conta Morn Gg iis money ag ialt wo More her, eu ia purl Seren Peveons a arrested gallee Just a9 be ware CHAPTER IX. (Comunued.) Weber Takes His Revenge. |ONE of your nonsense,” growled Weber, “or I'll blow out your brains, my boy! Aha! you didn’t ex- pect this! It's Weber's | revenge, ch’ And, when Perenpa continued to wriggle, he went on, in @ threatening «.. Im going to count Unree: one, two" —— “But what's it all about?" bellowed | "You'll have only yourself to blame, orders, received just “What orders?” f “To take you to the lockup If the Florence girl escaped us agaty.” ‘ “Have you a warrant? “L have.” “And what next “What next? Nothing. The Sante --the examining magistrate’——- “But, hang it all, the tiger's making tracks meanwhile! Oh, rot! Is it possible to be so dense? Wha’ ues 1 those fellows are! Oh, dash it i He was fuming with rage, and when he saw that they were driving into the prison do be gathered all his strength, knocked the revolver out of the deputy’s hand, and stunned one of the detectives with a blow of his fist. But ten men came crowding round > the doors. Resistance was tscless. } He understood this, and bis rago in- creased. He shouted: lazeroux, rum around to the Pre- fect’s, Asks him to ring up Valen- glay: yes, the Prime Minister. 1 y want to see him. Have him informed. Ask the Prefect to say it's 1; the man who made the German Emperor play his game. My name? He knows. Or, if he forgets, the Prefect can tell him my name.” He paused for a second or two; and then, calmer still, he declared: “Arsene Lup! ‘elephone those two words to him and just say this: ‘Arsene Lapin wishes to speak to the Prime Minister on very important business.’ Get that through to him at once, The Prime Minister would be very angry if he heard afterward that they had neglected to communi- cate my request. Go, Mazeroux, and ‘pe then find the villain’s tracks again.” ‘To Weber's surprise, Perenna wes summoned an hour later to the Prime Minister's presence. The prisoner wasted little time in preliminaries, ' Briefly he outlined to the Prime Minister and Desmalion the tale of @ great stretch of territory beyond Morocco—in Mauretania—which he and some fellow adventurers had onc “ explored and subdued. He offered to turn over this wonderful region to 14 France, as a gift, if the authorities would first permit him to rescue Flor- ence. Daring as was his story, his man- ner ried convictio Reluctant consent was given, He was set free, n the interview Perenna went sivaight to his friend, Davanne, the eronaut, From him he secured an aeroplane and, steered by Davanne, set forth in it straight across France. . ‘Already Angers was a vanished vision. Once more the open country, ’ vroken up with many-colored fields, Through it all, a road. And, on that road, a yellow motor, The yellow motor! The brute's motor! The motor with Florence Levasseur! Davanne turned round and cried: if “That's the one, isn't it? go straight for them.” airship dipped through space and caught up the car almost at once. Then Davanne slowed hia engine and kept at six hundred feet above the car and a little way behind. Vrom here they made out all the details, The driver was seated on the j left. He wore ® gray cap with a ' black peak, If was one of the deep- yellow taxis of Compagnie des Cometes, Lt was the taxi which they were pursuing. The aeroplane seem down suddeniy, as though driven by an irresistible force, which sent it i flying like an arrow toward the mark. It passed at three hundred feet above the car, and then, all at once, check 1 to shoot ing its career, choosing the spot which it meant to hit the target, AL calmly, silently, like a night-bird, steering clear of the trees and sign- ery pests, it alighted softly on the g of the crossroads, Don Luis sprang out and ran to- ward the motor, which was coming along at a rapid pace. He stood in the imiddle of the road, levelled his two revolvers, and shouted: “Stop or I fire!” The terrified driver p brakes, The car pulled up. Don Louis rushed one of the doors. “Thunder!” he roaved, discharging one of his revolvers for no reason and smashing a window-pane. There was no one in the car CHAPTER X. “The Snare Is Laid. Beware Lupin!" HE power that had impelled Hon Luis to battle and vic- tory was so intense that it suffered, so to speak, no cu Disappointment, rage, humiliation, torture, were all i swallowed up in an immediate de- sira for action and information, to- gether with a longing to continue the chgse. ‘The rest was but an in- cldem® Sno importance, which would oe ery simply explained The™petrified taxi-driver was gaz- ing willly at the peasants coming from the distunt farms, attracted by the sound of the aeroplane, Don Luis teok him by the throat and put the t both to An Arsene Lupin of Fortune and Mystery The Evening Romance barrel of the revolver to the man's temple: “Tell me what you know—or youre @ dead man.” And when the unhappy wretch be- gan to stammer out entreaties: “It's no use moaning, no use hoping for assistance. . . . Those people won't get here in time. So there's only one way of saving yourself speak! Last night a gentieman came to Versailles from Paris in a taxi, left it 28 took yours; is that it?" “Yos" “The gentleman had a lady with him “And be engaged you to take bim to Nantes? “Yeu “But he changed his mind on the wey, om told you to put him down?” “Yer “Where?” “Before Wo got to Mans, In a little road on the right, with « sort of coach house, looking like shed, a hundred yards down it, They both got out there.’ “And you went on “He paid me to.” “How much?" “Five hundred francs. And there was another fare waiting at Nantes that I was to pick up and brink bac! to Paris for a thousand francs more. Did you suspect on the way that they thought that they were being followed” “Certainly. He did nothing but put his head out of the window,” “Did the lady ery out at ali?” “No, Paying no attention to the move- ments of the people coming from every side, Don Luis unfolded his map of France and epread jt out before him. Then he said to Da- vanne: “Aleacon.”” Davanne was ready, Don Luis climbed into the monoplane. ‘The peasants pushed at the wheel. The machine started. : Don Luls or- {les un hour, Ten It was hardly more than a quarter to two when they landed in a meud- ow between Alencon and Datmigni Don Luis made inquiries. A number of motor cars had passed along the road to Damigni, including a small limousine driven by @ geéntieman who had turned down a crossroad. And this crossroad led to the woods at the back of Langernault's estate, the Old Castle. Don Tiils'’s conv ° firm that, after taking leave of Davanne, he helped him to start on his home- ward flight. He had no further need ot him, He needed nobody. The final duel was at hand. He ran along, guided by the tracks of the tires in the dust, and followed the crossroad. To his great surprise, this road went nowhere near the wali behind the barn from which he had jumped a few weeks before. After clearing the woods, Don Luis came out into a large untilled space where the road turned back toward the estate and ende’ at an old two- winged gate protected with iron sheets and bars, Suddenly, on turning the corner of an old hedge of clipped yews, Don Luis saw the limousine, which had been left, or, rather, hidden there in « hollow. The door was open. The disorder of the inside of the car, the rug hanging over the footboard, a broken window, a cushion on the floor —all bore witness to @ struggle. ‘The scoundrel had no doubt taken ad- vantage of the fact that lFlorence was asleep to Ue her up; and on ar- riving, when he tried to take her out of the ca Floren must have clutched at everything that offered. The path ran upward bet heaps of stones and fallen building: and among clumps of shrubs over- topped by beeches and oaks. The place was evidently the site of the old feudal castle which had given the estate its name; and it was here, near the top, that the scoundrel had se- lected one of his retreats, Twenty steps farther Don Luis stopped. He seomed to hear some- ching. He listened. He was not mistaken, Tho sound was repeated, and It was the sound of laughter, But such an awful laugh! A strident laugh, evil as the laughter of a devil, and so shrill! It was more like the laugh of @ woman, a madwoman, Indeed, the air was rent by a chuckle close by that Don Luis way t and felt as if the seoun drel laughing beforehand at intervention, He gemembered the letter with the words written in red ink There's still time, Lupin. tte tire from the contest, If not, means your death, too, When you think that your objeot is attained, when your hand is raised against me and you utter words of tri- umph, at the same moment the ground will open beneath your feet. ‘The place of your death is chosen. ‘The snare is laid, Be- ware, Lupin Opposite was a confused heap of broken stones and natural rocis, cemented with clay, bound together by the roots of gnarled trees, the forming at the back of the pie- small, shallow grotto, full of evices that admitted the Haht. The floor, which Don Luis could easily distinguish, consisted of three or four flagstones: Florence Levasseur lay inside this grotto, bound hand an foot, looking like the victim of some mysterious sacrifice about to be performed on th r of tho grotto, in the amphi- theatre of this old garden closed by wall of tall laurels and over- looked by a pile of ancestral rai Suddenly Don Luls clutched one of his revolvers and half raised hia arm, ready to take aim, The sacrifice the buteher, had just appeared, no far from the altar on which the vic- tim la He came from between two rocks, of which a bush marked the inter- vening space which apparently af- forded but a very tow outlet for he still walked ag though bent double, with his head bowed and his long arms swinging so low as to touch the ground, He went to the grotto and gave his ible chuckle You're still there, I see." he sald “No wen of the rescuer? F Pus ia fn litt late, UC fear He better hurry! He picked up something from the ground, Tt Was a stick slaped like a utch., He put ft under hia left arm and, sul) bent in two, began to walk like a man who bas not the strength to stand erect, Safety First REMEMBER SONNY. NO, GIRL HAS A RIGHT | | RR THLE Ree, COOK, EVEN IF IT IS AN i LEAP YEAR UU BET I CAN OOK 1 1AM BULLY ! THAT WILL. PLEASE ‘ MOTHER A CORRESPONDENCE OOKINCr SCHOOL GRADUATE 3 ty NOW SHOW ME: COOK A MEAL HE FOR MY Son Ee! ? ~, i GS Co He was of @ good helght in this “Lupin! Tapin! ‘That's done it! position; and Don Luis easily under- Lupin's dive! . . . What a mug stood why the driver of the yellow vou must be! 1 warned you, you taxi, who had seen him under two such different aspects, uhable to say whether he was very tall or very short, But his legs, alack and unsteady, gave Way beneath him, as if any pros jonged exertion were beyond his power, He relapsed into ois first at- titude, ‘The man was a cripple, smitten With some disease that affected his powers of locomotion. He was ox cessively thin, D Luis also saw his pallid ‘ace, his cavernous cheeks, bis hollow tamples, his skin the color of parchment; the face of a sufferer from consumption, a bloodless face, When he had finished his inspection, ‘he came up to Florence and wuld: “Though you’ been very baby, und haven't screamed’ soe tent we'd better take our precwutions and remove any possibility of a surprise by Biving you a nice jitue Bag to wear, don't you think ? He stooped over her and wound kurgo handkerchief round. the lower part of her face, ‘Then, bending still further down, he began to speak to her in a very Jow voice, talking al- most into her ear, But wild bursts know, warned you In blood-red Ink, Remember my words: ‘The place of your death is chose! The snare ts laid. Beware, Lupin! “Come, be & man, moment, and you've It'll only take a been through » Good, you You're making I say, worse than that! . . nearly did it then. mind to it... + !.. , Dupin! .. . Aren't you going to say goodby? Not a smile, not a word of nks? Au revoir, Lupin, au revoir’——— He ceased. He watched for the appalling end which he had so cleverly prepared and of which all the incidents were following close on ong another in accordance with his inflexible will. It did not take long. ‘The shoulders had gone down; the chin; and then the mouth convulsed with the death- grin; and then the eyes, drunk with terror, and then the forehead and the hair; the whole bead, in short, had disappeared. ‘Tbe cripple sat garing wildly, as though in ecstasy, motionless, with an expression of fierce delight, and without a word that could trouble the silence and interript his hatred, At the edge of the wbyay nothing remained but the hands, the obstin- of laughter, hornible to leat 2 rupted this where. jetty IMLOL= Ata” stubborn, desperate, herola Here, look what's guise rppen, band’, the poo ipless bands whieh see for Yourself, TE telt sont ie things O08 1 lived, and whic, gradu- ally, retreating toward death, yielded managed in iny own style And, whatever Sone he it and’ fell back and | Ohly a prelim eg con't be utraid, Lt'8 the cripple started (0 his foot as He had moved away atd, helping ‘own released by a spring and Wimscle with his hunds, hoiding on to * 5% rh ats don Lupin in the the branches of a tree, le climbed ka OT One more adv jueeaoes. Pathe TEBE, 27ere) Ne or Was this enough for dis hatred, Gxe lying beside han Te oak eek; There were some broken pieces of gave three blows to the ne > statuary on the ground. He took @ rest heap of stones. They came tumbling down in front of the grott Don Luis sprat place with a roar of t suddenly realized his grotto, the accumulation the piles of granite, ever carved head, rolled {t along the grass, amt sent it crashing down the weil, ‘A little further away was a stack of 1, rusty cannon These also rolled to the edge and pushed in, Five, ten, fifteen cannon balls went scooting down, one after the other, swith a loud his hiding- He had on: The of boulders, thing was SRR Me Me 8 tg World Daily Magazine. : Saturday, January 22, WILL You MARRY ME . MOTHER GIVEUS UR BLESSING \x 4 a Boy % WE INDIGESTION “When this cigarette is quite burned out, Florence, \t will be your turn, Keep your eyes on st. Lt represents the last minutes of your Life reduced to ashes, Keep your eygs on tt, Flor- ence, and think, The few strokes with the pickaxe which I gave it just now were m ly intended for a warning, Wut £ have only to give one more stroke in the right place, and knock out a litle brick wedged in between two lumps, of stone, for the whole thing to tumble to the ground like a house of cards, “A little br ok, he chuckled, “a tiny little brick which cha placed there, between two blocks of stone, has kept in position until now. Out comes tho brick, down come the blocks, and there’a your catastrophe!" “I shall claim the hundred millions and I shall get them. That's the pret- tlest part of it. I shall claim them because I'm entitled to them; and I explained to you just now, before Master Lupin came interfering, how, from the moment that you were dead T had the most undeniable legal right to them, And [ shall get them, be- cause it is physically Impossible to bring up the least sort of proof agaiust me." “So you see, Florence, all my mea mires are taken, You ne for compassion from me from where else, knows where I have by Arsene Lupin is no jon 1 not hop nor for help no since vaghit Mive der these conditions, Florence, make your choice, The ending is in your own hands: either you die, absolute ly and irrevocably, or you accept my love." There was a momeut then: “Answer me yes or no. A ment of your head ‘8 no, of silence, move- will decide your you dle, If it's yes, : © you, We will go from here and, later, when your innocence is proved—and’ Til see to that—you shall become my wife. Is tho answer yea, Florence?" He bent over her and shook her by the shoulders, as if to force her to banging against the wa 80 plac # equilibrium eould be whl pt er Bi gs ese a a ve and sinister noise which the echo Make the sign which ho asked fo Florence ak Any moment. and that swelled into the angry soar of dis. But suddenly seized with a sort under tho rubbish. it was nota tant thunder, ‘Then the cripple frensy, he rose to his feet and ox uestion, therefore f i oe reeled: 1 ret ’ epot ”" . had swallowed wary and stre nut Gon ATi wre’ “i girl, do Te ail happened ‘oredible sud. His. eyes grew ¥ his mouth you think thar I don't know what dated appened with inores on ae Shaped itself into « horrible amile You're crying 1 L know your walk on apace ani ound himeel? +0_¢ ad to Vlorence and ea secret, pretty one, and | know that hurled into it, ‘Mie ground gave way ,, "Don't Marte Re One, OP An Eee uy Wee ee arte beneath hin, The clods of grass TM Not gone yet, und I've mlenty of oO! dying, You? Why, you fear noth. separate nd ho £6 time to attend to you. And then, ("8 No, it’s something else! Shall He fell down a hole which was none @fter that, there'll be nu more worries, 1 tell you your secret? Oh, [ can't, 1 other than the mouth of « well four RO ore of that roming and Agnt fig tough the words scorch my that wine aso the curb of which Mm that wears « A nice, quiet, UPS. Oh cur woman, you've had been cut n level with the uneventful | for n oo Ss Wath Drought Jt on, ide + sou yourselt ground, Only. thix Wax what took ® hundred millions one can afford to fant to die, Hloronc ipvees place; as he was running very fast, take lite on ie LE 7, Nadie am ae Coen Pare aa he pron nang ary aat ome ian, I h bett {While he Was speaking he hastened Opporite wall i) such a way that his — i ie. fad Dreraro the ire fofearme lay on the outer ledge and CHAPTER XI. book which he had mentioned aa cor his hands were able to clutch at the des taintnw the aApera wan living on the roota of plants. enath tt 7 Florence's Secret. ground; hie put tt in his pocket, Then ri erat, Waa. ie atrongth shat he r wax time for the second Still trembling, he pulled off hia jacket himself up by ik owrlats. Hut wet of the tragedy, Don Lute Nie ne took “up the ploka xe” responding to the attack, ¢ vane Perenna's death wag to b® Climbed the lower at are! had at once hurried to meet Wie followed by that of Plor- with rage and shouting: ten puces {rom Don Lula, threatening eee Take xoina monstrous butcher, fon Yow wie have aalied to die fl rf on Tals, walening . to the Florence! othing can prevent it Iam wit his rey oly the cripple passed from one to the now, | can't even see your head, if M he cried mii with no more compassion than ou muke a sign, It too late! smash 9 fhe were dealing with the oxen Ina asked for tt tit Crawiin mg, wa ae) . ou're 1 test movement, he came St tebter lie What madn beside the well, re Still we ft" s iimbs, he dragwed He was stan aly t above vol vellod in his outstretched bimaself to where the girl lay, took # grotto, on the right. Mis anger mnade hand. And his infernal chuckle rang cigarette from a gunmetal case and him draw himself to his full height oul again; With @ final touch of cruelty said: He looked horsible, hideous, atrocious, ¢ * a ee a (OU WON'T Do! \powT RAISE one 4 The Evening World. of the preceding novel is not of it, He retreated, And suddenty, after a glance at his enemy, he spup round, drew himself up on his slack legs with an effort, and started running toward the well, He was twenty paces from it, Ho covered one-half, vee-quart of the distance, ready the mouth d before him, He put out his with the movement of a man about to dive, and slot forward tad laasoed the cripple at the mo- ment when he was going to fling him- self down the abyss. The cripple struggled for a few moments, But e siip-knot bit into his flesi, He ceased moving. Everything was ove Then Don Luts Perenna, holding the other end of the lasso, came up to him and bound him hand and foot With What remained of the rope. The operation was carefully performed, Don Luis repeated |t time after time, using the coils of rope which the eripplo had brought to the well and gagging him with a handkeroblet, And, while applying himself to his work, he explained, with affected po» liteness “You see, sir, people alwa come to grief througa excessive self-con- fidence, ‘They never imagino that their adversaries can have resources which they themselves do not pos- sess. For Instance, when you got me to fall into your trap, how could you have supposed, my dear sir, that a man jike myself, a man like Arsene Lupin, hanging on the brim of a well, with his arms resting on the brim and his feet againat the inner wall, would allow himself to drop down it like the first silly foot that comen along? “Look here; twenty yards awa: that T had not th out nor the courage to lets of your revolver, when It question of saving Floren vasseur'a Ife and my own? Why, my poor sir, the tiniest effort would lave been onough, believe me! “My reason for not making the ef- fort was that T had something better to do, something infinitely better, T will tell you why, that Is, if you care to know. Do you" “Well, then, at the very first mo- ment, my knees and feet, propped against the inner wall, had smashed in @ thick layer of plaster which closed up an old excavation in. the well: and tit fF at once perceived, It was a stroke of luck, wasn't Jt? And it changed the whole situation you were -fitteen or and do you think rength to leap face the bul- serted the bur, of the pickaxe betwe the two blocks of granite, at the spot where the brick was wedged in, standing on con side, in @ place of safety, he struck the brick, struck It agal AL the third stroke the prick flew out, a Florence was buried under the Uae fnvisible, as be bad ane ay" oian was aettied at once, While “Dead!” be sald, with ataring eyes T went on acting my ttle pant of the gentleman about to tumble down an abyss, putting on the most seared face, the most staring eyes, the most hideous grin, T enlarged that excay tion, taking care to theem the chunks of plaster In front of me in such & way that thelr fall made no nolse. When the moment came, at the very sevond when my swooning features vanished before your eyes, I simply jumped Into my retreat, thanks tou yather plucky little wriggle of the 1M was saved, because the retreat dug out on. tie side where you were moving and because, being dark itwelf, it cast no light. All that T now had to do was to wait. “Well, I went on, groping my way and following the direction which, his face. and @ look of stupor on. “Dead! Florence is dead!” He reached absently into hie vont for the pocketbook. ‘The pocket was empty. He had been robbed, There was some one within the pre- cinets of the Old Castle! And this some one was now hiding near the ruins, in the ruins perhaps! And thie some one liad seen him! And this some one had witnessed the death of Arsene Lupin and the death of Flor- ence Lovasneur! And this some one, taking advantage of his heedlessnes: and knowing from is words that thi papers existed, had searched bin nd rifled the pockets! And Raw some one standing It was Perenna, before him. Incapable of fight, incapable of de- above ground would have taken me fense, he dropped upon his knees. to u My presentiments were ‘And he could not take his eyen from not deceived. A gleam of daylght made tts way at the top of a stair- case of which | had struck the bot- tom atep, Lwent up it and heard the that dead man, whom hardly an hour had buried In the depths of ra shroud of tron and sound of your voice Lupin's ghost! Then Lupin Don Luis turned the eripple over and over and was pretty rongh about my sear sir, what a state nen he resumed we're getting ourselves into! “Guided by the sound of your voice, I slivped through the stones nd Uns reached the back of tho grotto In which Florence lay, Ammnaing, wasn't it? ‘Just think what a Joke It was: at that anoment there Was no one in tho grotto! Not a soul! With one effort, [had drawn Florence toward me and put her under shel And all that you were able to crush with your avalanche of tocks was one or two spiders, perhaps, and a few files dozing on t flagstones.” CHAPTER XII. The Reward. course, 1 underatand that my suddend return seems an unusual and even an inconvenient proceeding, but stilt It does not do to be so uncontrollably impressed, Men have seen much more extraordinary things than that, such as Joshua staying the sun, and more sensational disasters, such as tho Lisbon earthquake of 176) he Villain ground his teeth with fury and ut once began hurriedly to fumble in lis pockets, « this what you're looking for, sir’ asked Don Luis, holding up hypodermic syringe Milled with « yel low fluid, “Excuse me, but T was sid lest you should prick yourself v mistake aut would have been EXT morning, a little before fatal prick, would it not? An cloe r 7 showld never have forgiven myself.” 8 o'clock, Valensiay wes ‘The cripple was disarmed, He hesi- talking In his own flat to tated for moment, surprived that the Prefect of Police, and the enemy did not attack him more aguas Violentiv, and sought to profit by the delay, His small, blinking eves wan- dered around him, looking for some thing to throw ut an idea seemed to strike him and to restore his con= fidence little little: and, in a new and really unexpected fit of delight, he indulged in one of his loudest “So you think as | do, my dear Pre- t? He'll come?” ‘The clock struck 8, ‘The Perenna walk Wel agerly It's done, Monsieur le President.” “Have you collared the scoundrel?" “Yes. Briefly ha told what had happened, Then he went on to relate what he had learned of the murderer, "Jean Vernoca was born at and brought up at old M. nault's expense fw door opened by Prime Minister (ne chuckes And what about Florence?” he ‘Don't forget Florence! For you there! [ can miss » revolver and you can steal ny poison; but have another means of hitting vou, right in the heart You can't live without Florence, ean ’ Florence's death means ‘your doesn’t it? If Bor 8 dead, you'll put the rope ind your ‘own neck, won't you, nit you, won't you? y If Florence could not survive her isd cried the scoundrel, renewed burst of merriment outon his knees Alencon Langer- at He got to know the Dedessuslamare couple, robbed them enconce, of their money and, before they had time ty lodge @ complaint against tho unknown thief, took them to a barn in the village of Damigni, where, in their despair, atupefled and beadtted die 1 . only laughed and took a with drugs, they hanged themselves. ey tow un his barn stood in a property Ihe treated, Don Luis, who no called the Old Castle, belonging to M, snger had Lis eves fixed on him, was Langernault, Jean Vernocq’ pro. busy UnWinding a coil Of rope which tector, who Was ill at the time, After had picked up, and seemed to pay ‘is recovery, 4% he was cleaning bis no further attenea w bim, gun, he received # full charge of suas Next Week's Complete Novef"in The Evening World . “Roaring Bill” Wagstaff By Bertrand M. Sinclair ““ROARING BILL’ WAGSTAFF” is a sequel to Sin- clair’s novel, “North of Fifty-Three,” recently printed in It is also a complete story by itself, so that a knowledge The same dash and suspense and outdoor charm, which made “North of Fifty-Three” so popular, will be found in even greater measure in this sequel. - necessary to full enjoyment He ine yr rd ‘The gun age been joaded withous the. gid 6 knowledge. By whorl Byte ¥ Vernoca, who had also ¢tiptied ; patron nu box the night betgre, . ‘ of Mra where to emjoy je little fortune whic ad some rogue of his aequMpTanCS bapers: containing evidence of Florence Le- Vasseur's birth and of het eight te all rush was stopped. He solled the inheritance of the Rows: on the ground, dragged back and Victor Sauverand, papets ‘kta aca With his arms fixed ao firmly the friend tn question had purl to his body that he was unable tg f old nursé Who’ brot stir é over from Ameriva, iy it wae Don Luls, who had never hunting around Jesa Vernoca ended wholly lost wiht of hin, wha had by discovering first a photograph of dea slip-knot to his rope, and who Florence and then Florence herself, “He inade himself useful to her and pretended to be devoted tu ber, giving Up his whole life to her service, At that time he did Hot yet know what profit he could derive from the papers stolen from the girl or from Bt® reta- tions with ber. ? “Suddenly everything became dif- ferent. An tndlacreet Word let’ falt by a wolicitor's clerk told him of a will in Maitre Lepertuis’s drawer which would be interesting to look Ho obtained a sight of it by beibin the clerk, who has since disappeare with a thousand-frane now, ‘be will, as It happened, was Cosmo Morfing- ton’ and in it Cosmo: Mornifigton bequeathed his immense wealflt to the heits of the Roussel sisteré and of y ctor Sauverand, . , , “Jean Vernocq saw his chanée, hundred million franest £ } ae b hpb se weul to work He iad found among the papers of 4 bolyte Pauville’s old vend an peault particulars relating (to the Rourse! family and to the discord yelened in the Pauylile pouenee Five persons, all cold, were in We Ways frat, uf course, Commo Morm- ington; nest, in the order’ of their clatr s. 4 Hippolyte, sauville, his gon kdmond, his wife Marie, = sin Gaston Sauverand, ong Bie “With Cosmo Mornington the thi Was easy enough, Introducing time self to the American as a doctor, Jean BS ape Put polson into one of the phiale which Mornington used for his hypodermic injection: ory “But in the case of Hippo = ville, whose @ood will he sec! through bis acquaintince with Langernault, and over whose mind be soon obtained an extraordi In- fluence, he had « greater ‘utMeulty to contend with, Knowing on the one hand that the engineer hated his wife and on the other that he wi tricken with @ fatal divease, he took occasion, after the consultation with the spe- clalist in London, to suggest to Fau- Ville’a tevrified brain the theredible plan of suicide of whieh you were subsequently able to trage the Macohlavellian execution. « “When my efforts succeeded jn proving the innocence of Marie Fau- ville and Gaston Sauverand, be did hot hesitate; Marie Jauville died; Gaston Sauverand died... ,, “This was two days ago. At that time Jean Vernocq was i the midst of the fray. He was ill and had ob- tained admission to the nursing- home in the Avenue des Tornes, Krom there he conducted his opera- tions, thanks to his influence over Florence Levasseur and to the beg a r superior addressed to the mothe Versailles. Acting under the supe- vior’s orders and ignorant’ of “the meaning of tho step, which site tak Florence wert to the i ng at the Prefegt's, her- self brought the deahaente aplating to her, f ; “Meanwhile Jéan Yernoca tet private hospital aud (oui vetube eur the He Salnt-Louls, where he awaited the results of an enterprise which, at the worst, might tell against but which did not seem ympromige him in any eane, know the rest, Monglegr.le suid Don Luis, conclud- his statement. "Florence, stag- ed by the sudden revelation of the able to “You President,” ing part which she had uncenseiously taken in the matter, and especial! y rrible patt played bp dean ea, ran away. Jvursing ~ weve ch reget had! Brought ny request. he " to see Jean nek ene hear hat the had to cg ry nse. That same evening “hé ea! ‘ner away by motor, on the pretense of giving hor proofs of his Innocence, “But the ‘Teeth of the Tiger?!” “That is simple. Some years ago at Mme. Fauville had a very hitting her mouth inst ble top of a table, with the result that a number of her teeth, in both the upper and the lower were loosened. ‘To repair the dai age and to make the gold pla tended to strengthen her wt thought: mand an explanation ‘ern in- the teeth, a plate which Mae, Fauville wore for several months, the dentist, as usual, took an impression of her mouth. M. Pauville bappened to have kept the mould; and he used it to print the marks of his wife's teeth in the cake of chocolate shortly be+ fore his death and in the apple on the night of bis death. When this was done, he put the mould with the other things which the explosion was meant to, and did, destroy.” 4 month later Don Luisa Peranna and Mazeroux embarked in the yacht which had brought Den Luis. to France. Florence was with them. On his arrival in Afnica, Don Luts Perenna, Sultan of Mauretania, found his old associates and accredited Mazeroux to them and to his grand dignitaries, [lo organized the govern~ ment to follow on his abdication and preced® the annexation of the new pire by France. ‘ ‘hen, when his task was done, Do! Luis rbdicated. He bas now been back for over two yours. Every one remembers the attr caused by bis marriage with Florence Levasseur, ‘The controversy Was T#- newed, and many of the newspa clamored for Arsene Lapin's arrest, But what could the authorities do? 4, (The Bnd? 2