Maurice Leblanc

“ But the judge proceeded:
"Baudru, Desire? Ah! a new alias! Well, as you have already assumed a dozen different names and this one is, no doubt, as imaginary as the others, we will adhere to the name of Arsene Lupin, by which you are more generally known."
The judge referred to his notes, and continued:
"For, despite the most diligent search, your past history remains unknown. Your case is unique in the annals of crime. We know not whom you are, whence you came, your birth and breeding—all is a mystery to us. ”

“ I should like to know if you intend to reveal the true state of facts connected with your escape. The mistake that I made—-"
"Oh! no one will ever know that it was Arsene Lupin who was discharged. It is to my own interest to surround myself with mystery, and therefore I shall permit my escape to retain its almost miraculous character. So, have no fear on that score, my dear friend. I shall say nothing. And now, good-bye. I am going out to dinner this evening, and have only sufficient time to dress."
"I though you wanted a rest."
"Ah! there are duties to society that one cannot avoid. ”

“ Simply, as the judge remarked at the trial, the apprenticeship of a dozen years that equips a man to cope successfully with all the obstacles in life."
"But your face? Your eyes?"
"You can understand that if I worked eighteen months with Doctor Altier at the Saint-Louis hospital, it was not out of love for the work. I considered that he, who would one day have the honor of calling himself Arsene Lupin, ought to be exempt from the ordinary laws governing appearance and identity. Appearance? That can be modified at will. ”

“ Under the strongest light one could observe his extreme thinness, his hollow cheeks, his projecting cheek-bones, his earthen-colored face dotted with small red spots and framed in a rough, straggling beard. Prison life had caused him to age and wither. ”

“ And, on the day before the trial, a gentleman called at the office of the `Grand Journal,' asked to see the court reporter, threw his card in the reporter's face, and walked rapidly away. These words were written on the card: "Arsene Lupin always keeps his promises."
It was under these conditions that the trial commenced. An enormous crowd gathered at the court. Everybody wished to see the famous Arsene Lupin. They had a gleeful anticipation that the prisoner would play some audacious pranks upon the judge. ”

“ During the fortnight preceding his trial, he resumed his vigorous life. He complained of want of air. Consequently, early every morning he was allowed to exercise in the courtyard, guarded by two men.
Public curiosity had not died out; every day it expected to be regaled with news of his escape; and, it is true, he had gained a considerable amount of public sympathy by reason of his verve, his gayety, his diversity, his inventive genius and the mystery of his life. Arsene Lupin must escape. ”

“ A little strategy on our part, and the escape will be a success in so far as the arrest of his confederates are concerned."
"But if Arsene Lupin slips through your fingers?" suggested the guard.
"We will have a sufficient number of men to prevent that. If, however, he displays too much cleverness, ma foi, so much the worse for him! As to his band of robbers, since the chief refuses to speak, the others must."
And, as a matter of fact, Arsene Lupin had very little to say. For several months, Mon. Jules Bouvier, the examining judge, had exerted himself in vain. ”

“ He had barely time to throw the cigar into the drawer and move away from the table. The guard entered. It was the hour for exercise.
"I was waiting for you, my dear boy," exclaimed Lupin, in his accustomed good humor.
They went out together. As soon as they had disappeared at a turn in the corridor, two men entered the cell and commenced a minute examination of it. One was Inspector Dieuzy; the other was Inspector Folenfant. They wished to verify their suspicion that Arsene Lupin was in communication with his accomplices outside of the prison. ”

“ What do you mean? Do you pretend to say that we are trying the wrong man?"
"In my opinion, yes. Arsene Lupin has, in some manner, contrived to put this poor devil in his place, unless this man is a willing accomplice."
This dramatic denouement caused much laughter and excitement amongst the spectators. The judge adjourned the trial, and sent for Mon. Bouvier, the gaoler, and guards employed in the prison. ”

“ These prison-vans, vulgarly called "panniers a salade"—or salad- baskets—are divided lengthwise by a central corridor from which open ten compartments, five on either side. Each compartment is so arranged that the occupant must assume and retain a sitting posture, and, consequently, the five prisoners are seated one upon the other, and yet separated one from the other by partitions. A municipal guard, standing at one end, watches over the corridor.
Arsene was placed in the third cell on the right, and the heavy vehicle started. ”

“ In the first place, the Bertillon system of records the visible marks of identification—and you have seen that they are not infallible—and, after that, the measurements of the head, the fingers, the ears, etc. Of course, such measurements are more or less infallible."
"Absolutely."
"No; but it costs money to get around them. Before we left America, one of the employees of the service there accepted so much money to insert false figures in my measurements. ”