Arsene Lupin. Морис Леблан
threw it, angrily, on the floor.
"Well? What's the matter?" asked Wilson, anxiously.
He picked up the ball of paper, unfolded it, and read, with increasing amazement:
"My Dear Monsieur:
"You know full well the admiration I have for you and the interest I take in your renown. Well, believe me, when I warn you to have nothing whatever to do with the case on which you have just now been called to Paris. Your intervention will cause much harm; your efforts will produce a most lamentable result; and you will be obliged to make a public confession of your defeat.
"Having a sincere desire to spare you such humiliation, I implore you, in the name of the friendship that unites us, to remain peacefully reposing at your own fireside.
"My best wishes to Monsieur Wilson, and, for yourself, the sincere regards of your devoted ARSÈNE LUPIN."
"Arsène Lupin!" repeated Wilson, astounded.
Sholmes struck the table with his fist, and exclaimed:
"Ah! he is pestering me already, the fool! He laughs at me as if I were a schoolboy! The public confession of my defeat! Didn't I force him to disgorge the blue diamond?"
"I tell you—he's afraid," suggested Wilson.
"Nonsense! Arsène Lupin is not afraid, and this taunting letter proves it."
"But how did he know that the Baron d'Imblevalle had written to you?"
"What do I know about it? You do ask some stupid questions, my boy."
"I thought ... I supposed——"
"What? That I am a clairvoyant? Or a sorcerer?"
"No, but I have seen you do some marvellous things."
"No person can perform marvellous things. I no more than you. I reflect, I deduct, I conclude—that is all; but I do not divine. Only fools divine."
Wilson assumed the attitude of a whipped cur, and resolved not to make a fool of himself by trying to divine why Sholmes paced the room with quick, nervous strides. But when Sholmes rang for the servant and ordered his valise, Wilson thought that he was in possession of a material fact which gave him the right to reflect, deduct and conclude that his associate was about to take a journey. The same mental operation permitted him to assert, with almost mathematical exactness:
"Sholmes, you are going to Paris."
"Possibly."
"And Lupin's affront impels you to go, rather than the desire to assist the Baron d'Imblevalle."
"Possibly."
"Sholmes, I shall go with you."
"Ah; ah! my old friend," exclaimed Sholmes, interrupting his walking, "you are not afraid that your right arm will meet the same fate as your left?"
"What can happen to me? You will be there."
"That's the way to talk, Wilson. We will show that clever Frenchman that he made a mistake when he threw his glove in our faces. Be quick, Wilson, we must catch the first train."
"Without waiting for the papers the baron has sent you?"
"What good are they?"
"I will send a telegram."
"No; if you do that, Arsène Lupin will know of my arrival. I wish to avoid that. This time, Wilson, we must fight under cover."
That afternoon, the two friends embarked at Dover. The passage was a delightful one. In the train from Calais to Paris, Sholmes had three hours sound sleep, while Wilson guarded the door of the compartment.
Sholmes awoke in good spirits. He was delighted at the idea of another duel with Arsène Lupin, and he rubbed his hands with the satisfied air of a man who looks forward to a pleasant vacation.
"At last!" exclaimed Wilson, "we are getting to work again."
And he rubbed his hands with the same satisfied air.
At the station, Sholmes took the wraps and, followed by Wilson, who carried the valises, he gave up his tickets and started off briskly.
"Fine weather, Wilson.... Blue sky and sunshine! Paris is giving us a royal reception."
"Yes, but what a crowd!"
"So much the better, Wilson, we will pass unnoticed. No one will recognize us in such a crowd."
"Is this Monsieur Sholmes?"
He stopped, somewhat puzzled. Who the deuce could thus address him by his name? A woman stood beside him; a young girl whose simple dress outlined her slender form and whose pretty face had a sad and anxious expression. She repeated her enquiry:
"You are Monsieur Sholmes?"
As he still remained silent, as much from confusion as from a habit of prudence, the girl asked a third time:
"Have I the honor of addressing Monsieur Sholmes?"
"What do you want?" he replied, testily, considering the incident a suspicious one.
"You must listen to me, Monsieur Sholmes, as it is a serious matter. I know that you are going to the rue Murillo."
"What do you say?"
"I know ... I know ... rue Murillo ... number 18. Well, you must not go ... no, you must not. I assure you that you will regret it. Do not think that I have any interest in the matter. I do it because it is right ... because my conscience tells me to do it."
Sholmes tried to get away, but she persisted:
"Oh! I beg of you, don't neglect my advice.... Ah! if I only knew how to convince you! Look at me! Look into my eyes! They are sincere ... they speak the truth."
She gazed at Sholmes, fearlessly but innocently, with those beautiful eyes, serious and clear, in which her very soul seemed to be reflected.
Wilson nodded his head, as he said:
"Mademoiselle looks honest."
"Yes," she implored, "and you must have confidence——"
"I have confidence in you, mademoiselle," replied Wilson.
"Oh, how happy you make me! And so has your friend? I feel it ... I am sure of it! What happiness! Everything will be all right now!... What a good idea of mine!... Ah! yes, there is a train for Calais in twenty minutes. You will take it.... Quick, follow me ... you must come this way ... there is just time."
She tried to drag them along. Sholmes seized her arm, and in as gentle a voice as he could assume, said to her:
"Excuse me, mademoiselle, if I cannot yield to your wishes, but I never abandon a task that I have once undertaken."
"I beseech you ... I implore you.... Ah if you could only understand!"
Sholmes passed outside and walked away at a quick pace. Wilson said to the girl:
"Have no fear ... he will be in at the finish. He never failed yet."
And he ran to overtake Sholmes.
HERLOCK SHOLMES—ARSÈNE LUPIN.
These words, in great black letters, met their gaze as soon as they left the railway station. A number of sandwich-men were parading through the street, one behind the other, carrying heavy canes with iron ferrules with which they struck the pavement in harmony, and, on their backs, they carried large posters, on which one could read the following notice:
THE MATCH BETWEEN HERLOCK SHOLMES
AND ARSÈNE LUPIN. ARRIVAL OF THE ENGLISH
CHAMPION. THE GREAT DETECTIVE ATTACKS
THE MYSTERY OF THE RUE MURILLO. READ THE
DETAILS IN THE "ECHO DE FRANCE".
Wilson