Maurice Leblanc

“ M. Lenormand's idea was correct and, with some little exertion, by pulling the earth, which he first loosened with his implement, towards him and making it fall into the tunnel, he was not long in digging a hole large enough to slip into.
"It's my turn, chief!" said Gourel.
"Aha, you're returning to life, I see! Well, fire away!... You have only to follow the shape of the pillar." ”

“ But a sound of footsteps in the corridor roused him from his lethargy.
"At last, is that you, Gourel?"
"I've found out how it was, chief," said Gourel, panting for breath. "There were two of them. They went this way and out of the Place Dauphine. There was a motor-car waiting for them. There were two people inside: one was a man dressed in black, with a soft hat pulled over his eyes..."
"That's he," muttered M. Lenormand, "that's the murderer, the accomplice of Ribeira, — Parbury. And who was the other?"
"A woman, a woman without a hat, a servant-girl, it might be.... ”

“ The whole secret lies there. When I revealed the secret to Rudolf, he attached so much importance to it that he gave me a large sum of money to purchase my silence and he promised me a fortune, a real fortune, on the day when he should succeed, first, in finding Pierre Leduc and, next, in turning the secret to account." He smiled bitterly. "The large sum of money is already lost. I came to see how my fortune was getting on."
"Mr. Kesselbach is dead," said the chief detective.
Steinweg gave a bound:
"Dead! Is it possible? No, it's a trap. Mrs. Kesselbach, is it true?" ”

“ Cry, if it amuses you, but don't let me hear you!"
"It's the hunger that weakens me, chief; my brain's going round."
"Bite your fist!"
As Gourel said, the position was terrible; and, if M. Lenormand had had less energy, he would have abandoned the vain struggle. What was to be done? It was no use hoping that Ribeira would have the charity to let them out. It was no use either hoping that the brothers Doudeville would rescue them, for the inspectors did not know of the existence of the tunnel. So no hope remained... no hope but that of an impossible miracle.... ”

“ Gourel's watch was not going either.
Gourel had awoke under the action of the same inward pangs, which made them think that the breakfast-hour must be long past and that they had already slept for a part of the day.
"My legs are quite numbed," said Gourel, "and my feet feel as if they were on ice. What a funny sensation!" He bent down to rub them and went on: ." Why, it's not on ice that my feet were, but in water.... Look, chief... there's a regular pool near the first door...."
"Soaked through," M. Lenormand replied. "We'll go back to the second door; you can dry yourself..." ”

“ I fell down, and, as I fell, I thought I saw him open that door and drag the old man with him...."
"Would you know him again?"
"Oh yes, chief... a powerful fellow, very dark-skinned... a southerner of sorts, that's certain...."
"Ribeira," snarled M. Lenormand. "Always Ribeira!... Ribeira, alias Parbury.... Oh, the impudence of the scoundrel! He was afraid of what old Steinweg might say... and came to fetch him away under my very nose!" And, stamping his foot with anger, "But, dash it, how did he know that Steinweg was here, the blackguard! ”

“ He unfastened the screws with the blade of his knife; and the bolt came off in his hand.
"And what next?" asked Gourel.
"What next?" he echoed. "Well, this bolt is made of iron, pretty long and very nearly pointed. Certainly, it's not as good as a pick-axe, but it's better than nothing and...."
Without finishing his sentence, he drove the implement into the side-wall of the tunnel, a little in front of the pillar of masonry that supported the hinges of the door. As he expected, once he had passed the first layer of cement and stones, he found soft earth:
"To work!" he cried. ”

“ The tunnel descended with a gentle slope. There was a step, then another; and they veered toward the right. They at once knocked up against a door which was fitted into a rubble frame, carefully cemented. M. Lenormand pushed it and it opened.
"One second, Gourel," he said, stopping. "Let us think.... It might perhaps be wiser to turn back."
"Why?"
"We must reflect that Ribeira will have foreseen the danger and presume that he has taken his precautions, in case the underground passage should be discovered. Now he knows that we are on his track. He knows that we are searching the garden. ”

“ So that everything becomes plain. Gertrude is in league with the two ruffians who are conspiring round the Kesselbach case, in order either to discover and carry out the famous scheme, or to capture the widow's millions. No doubt, the other sister is in the plot as well. At four o'clock, Gertrude, learning that I know of the advertisement in the Journal, takes advantage of her mistress's absence, hastens to Paris, finds Ribeira and the man in the soft hat and drags them off to the Palais, where Ribeira annexes Master Steinweg for his own purposes. ”

“ The same operation must have been performed on Gourel; and the same voice said:
"If they call out, kill them at once. Have you your dagger?"
"Yes."
"Come along. You two, take this one... you two, that one.... No light... and no noise either.... It would be a serious matter. They've been searching the garden next door since this morning... there are ten or fifteen of them knocking about.... Go back to the house, Gertrude, and, if the least thing happens, telephone to me in Paris."
M. Lenormand felt that he was being lifted up and carried and, a moment after, that he was in the open air. ”

“ It became more difficult as they went on, for the earth which they disturbed was in their way; and, lying flat on their stomachs in the passage, they were obliged at every instant to remove the rubbish that obstructed them. ”