Pierre Leduc

“ With a pocket-knife, he cut the cords round the sack. A white sheet appeared, which he flung back. In the sheet was a corpse, the corpse of Pierre Leduc.
"Poor Pierre Leduc!" said Sernine. "You will never know what you lost by dying so young! I should have helped you to go far, old chap. However, we must do without your services. ”

“ Long live Pierre Leduc! . . . Go, Doctor, go home. I shall ring you up before dinner."
The doctor went out.
"Now then, Philippe," said Sernine to his last remaining visitor, a little gray-haired man, dressed like a waiter at a hotel, a very tenth-rate hotel, however.
"You will remember, governor," Philippe began, "that last week, you made me go as boots to the Hôtel des Deux-Empereurs at Versailles, to keep my eye on a young man."
"Yes, I know. . . . Gérard Baupré. How do things stand with him?"
"He's at the end of his resources."
"Still full of gloomy ideas?"
"Yes. He wants to kill himself." ”

“ And, to keep up that struggle, that is to say, to discover and get to the bottom of the Kesselbach case, here am I, a prisoner, while he is free, unknown, and inaccessible, and holds the two trump-cards which I considered mine: Pierre Leduc and old Steinweg.... In short, he is near the goal, after finally pushing me back."
A fresh contemplative pause, followed by a fresh soliloquy:
"The position is far from brilliant. On the one side, everything; on the other, nothing. Opposite me, a man of my own strength, or stronger, because he has not the same scruples that hamper me. ”

“ All that remains for me to do is to make Waldemar swallow Pierre Leduc; and that is child's play. The banns between Geneviève and Pierre shall be published to-morrow. And it shall be the grand-duke's affianced bride that will be presented to Waldemar."
Full of glee, he started in his motor for Bruggen Castle.
He sang in the car, he whistled, he chatted to his chauffeur:
"Octave, do you know whom you have the honor of driving? The master of the world! . . . Yes, old man, that staggers you, eh? Just so, but it's the truth. I am the master of the world." ”

“ Again Pierre Leduc made a movement. The light was immediately put out; and, for an instant, the man remained beside the bed, motionless, standing straight up. Would he make up his mind to strike? M. Lenormand underwent the agony of the crime which he could so easily prevent, but which he did not want to forestall before the very last second.
A long, a very long silence. Suddenly, he saw or rather fancied that he saw an arm uplifted. Instinctively he moved, stretching his hand above the sleeper. In making this gesture, he hit against the man. ”

“ I already have a suspicion. Do you, on your side, keep your eyes open and watch. And, above all, not a word to Mrs. Kesselbach. . . . It is no use alarming her. . . ."
He went away.
Pierre Leduc, taken aback and upset, went back to the castle. On his way, he saw a piece of blue paper on the edge of the lawn. He picked it up. It was a telegram, not crumpled, like a piece of paper that had been thrown away, but carefully folded: obviously lost.
It was addressed to "Beauny," the name by which Lupin was known at Bruggen. And it contained these words:
"We know the whole truth. ”

“ Pierre Leduc loved Dolores! And he was looking at her as a man looks at the woman he loves.
Lupin felt a murderous instinct rise up within him, blindly and furiously. That look, that look of love cast upon Dolores, maddened him. He received an impression of the great silence that enveloped Dolores and Pierre Leduc; and in silence, in the stillness of their attitude there was nothing living but that look of love, that dumb and sensuous hymn in which the eyes told all the passion, all the desire, all the transport, all the yearning that one being can feel for another. ”

“ But I have great hopes of this Pierre Leduc affair of which I told you. What a strange story it is! Have you found the man I mean? Where do we stand? I am most anxious to know.' The letter is signed, 'Steinweg.' The first of June," continued M. Lenormand, "is to-day. I have ordered one of my inspectors to hunt me out this Steinweg. I have no doubt that he will succeed."
"Nor I, no doubt at all," cried Valenglay, rising from his chair, "and I make you every apology, my dear Lenormand, and my humble confession: I was on the point of letting you slide . . . for good and all! ”

“ Kesselbach, your instructions to Barbareux were that he should find a man hidden somewhere in the slums of Paris who bears or used to bear the name of Pierre Leduc. The man answers to this brief description: height, five feet nine inches; hair and complexion, fair; wears a moustache. Special mark: the tip of the little finger of the left hand is missing, as the result of a cut. Also, he has an almost imperceptible scar on the right cheek. You seem to attach enormous importance to this man's discovery, as though it might lead to some great advantage to yourself. ”

“ According to my information, it will not be a difficult matter. But this Grand-duke Hermann. . . ."
"His Royal Highness is at present staying at Bruggen Castle, under the name of Pierre Leduc. I will supply all the necessary proofs of his identity."
That same evening, Lupin took the road back to Paris, with the intention of actively hurrying on the trial of Malreich and the seven scoundrels.
It would be wearisome to recapitulate the story of the case: the facts, down to the smallest details, are in the memory of one and all. ”

“ Suddenly, a flash of light. . . . The man had pressed the spring of an electric lantern; and Pierre Leduc was lit full in the face, but the man remained [Pg 126] in the shade, so that M. Lenormand was unable to see his features.
All that he saw was something that shone in the bright space; and he shuddered. It was the blade of a knife; and that thin, tapering knife, more like a stiletto than a dagger, seemed to him identical with the weapon which he had picked up by the body of Chapman, Mr. Kesselbach's secretary.
He put forth all his will-power to restrain himself from springing upon the man. ”

“ And, at once, he had the intuition, the certainty, that there was a man there, at the moment when he himself arrived, and that perhaps the man was there still, hidden somewhere. . . .
Pierre Leduc? No, Pierre Leduc did not smoke. Then who?
Dolores murmured:
"Be quick, please."
"Yes, yes, but first . . . would it be possible for you to tell me . . . ?"
He interrupted himself. What was the use of asking her? If there were really a man in hiding, would she be likely to tell? ”

“ Kesselbach had to find Pierre Leduc in order to be able to accomplish that scheme; and, secondly, Arsène Lupin, because Arsène Lupin is pursuing the same object."
"Splendid! Pierre Leduc is the bait which you are throwing to the enemy."
"And the fish is biting, Monsieur le Président. I have just had word that a suspicious person was seen, a short time ago, prowling round the little villa where Pierre [Pg 121] Leduc is living under the protection of my officers. I shall be on the spot in four hours."
"And the third trump, Lenormand?" ”

“ I always pay generously."
He went downstairs and found the doctor waiting below:
"It's done. Go upstairs, you, and make a little cut in his right cheek, similar to Pierre Leduc's. The two scars must be exactly alike. I shall come back for you in an hour."
"Where are you going?"
"To take the air. My heart feels anyhow."
Outside he drew a long breath and lit another cigarette:
"A good day's work," he muttered. "A little overcrowded, a little tiring, but fruitful, really fruitful. I am Dolores Kesselbach's friend. I am Genevieve's friend. ”

“ We know just a part of the Kesselbach scheme and of the story of Pierre Leduc. . . . He's the only one who has the answer to the riddle. . . . Oh, he'll speak all right; that I'll answer for . . . this very night, too . . . If not . . . What? . . . Well, what can we do? Anything rather than let him escape! Do you want [Pg 189] the prince to bag him from us? As for the prince, we shall have to cook his goose in three days from now. . . . You have an idea? . . . Yes, that's a good idea. . . . Oh, oh, excellent! I'll see to it. . . . When shall we meet? Will Tuesday do? Right you are. ”

“ A footman came from the castle with the telegram which he had told Doudeville to send him and which the postman had just brought. He opened it and put it in his pocket.
A little before twelve o'clock, he met Pierre Leduc in one of the avenues and said, off-hand:
[Pg 399] "I am looking for you . . . things are serious. . . . You must answer me frankly. Since you have been at the castle, have you ever seen a man there, besides the two German servants whom I sent in?" ”

“ Motor-cars were awaiting outside the door and two [Pg 165] men were walking up and down, as though mounting guard.
In the garden, near Mrs. Kesselbach's house, he saw Geneviève sitting on a bench with Pierre Leduc and a thick-set gentleman wearing a single eye-glass. The three were talking and none of them saw him. But several people came out of the house: M. Formerie, M. Weber, a magistrate's clerk, and two inspectors. ”

“ So, on Tuesday next, Altenheim and the Palace Hotel murderer have an appointment at Garches, in a house with the telephone number 38. On Tuesday, therefore, I shall hand over the two criminals to the police and set M. Lenormand at liberty. In the evening, it will be old Steinweg's turn; and I shall learn, at last, whether Pierre Leduc is the son of a pork-butcher or not and whether he will make a suitable husband for Genevieve. So be it! ”

“ Personal advertisements in the French newspapers are charged by the line, not by the word; and consequently nearly every word is clipped down to two, three or four letters.—Translator's Note.
"Steinweg!" exclaimed Gourel. "But that's the very man whom Dieuzy is bringing to you!"
"Yes, yes," said M. Lenormand, to himself, "it's the man whose letter to Mr. Kesselbach I intercepted, the man who put Kesselbach on the track of Pierre Leduc. . . . So they, too, want particulars about Pierre Leduc and his past? . . . ”

“ In a moment the deck was swarming with a crowd of niggers. Those who could not find arms seized the bars of the capstan or the oars of the gig. The fate of the white men was already sealed; a few sailors made a show of resistance on the quarter-deck, but they lacked weapons and resolution. Ledoux, however, was still alive, and had not lost any of his courage.
Seeing that Tamango was the soul of the revolt, he hoped that if he could kill him short work might be made of his accomplices. So he sprang forward, sword in hand, calling to him at the top of his voice. ”

“ The fact that children go half-price and take up half-room in railway carriages crossed the captain's mind. So he accepted three children, but said he would not take one more. Tamango, seeing himself left still with seven slaves on his hands, seized his rifle and took aim at the nearest woman. She was the mother of the three children.
"Buy her," he said to the white man, "or I'll fire. Half a glass of brandy, or she dies."
"But what the deuce am I to do with her?" asked Ledoux. ”

“ I don't believe she ever would alone, Laddie, or at least not for a long time yet."
"I saw that, and understood it perfectly," said Laddie. "Thank you, Little Sister." He picked me up and hugged me tight. "If I could only make you see!"
"But Laddie, I do! I'm not a baby! I know how people love and make homes for themselves, like Sally and Peter are going to. If it is with you about the Princess as it is with father and mother, why I do know."
"All right! Here we are!" said Laddie.
He parted the willows and we stepped on the Magic Carpet, and that minute the Magic worked. ”

“ Please don't object to my beginning this morning."
"You try yourself all winter to get as far as you have, and then upset the bowl like this?" cried mother.
"Softly, mummy, softly!" said Laddie. "What am I to do? I've definitely decided on my work. I see land and life, as you and father taught me, in range and in perspective far more than you've got from it. You had a first hand wrestle. The land I covet has been greatly improved already. I can do what I choose with it, making no more strenuous effort than plowing; and I am proud to say that I LOVE to plow. I like my feet in the soil. ”

“ Pryor, pushing Laddie away and sitting up: "Think how I shall enjoy wringing the last drop of blood from that craven's body with these old hands!"
What a sight he did look to be sure! Sick, half-crazy, on the very verge of the grave himself, and wanting to kill a poor man already dying. Aren't some people too curious?
Laddie carefully laid him down, straightened him out and held him again. Mother always said he was "patient as Job," and that day it proved to be a good thing.
"You're determined to keep yourself well supplied with trouble," laughed Laddie. ”

“ When he found that father was hitching the horses to send Leon for Doctor Fenner, Laddie rode back after Sarah Hood and spoiled her washing. It may be that the interest he always took in me had its beginning in all of them scaring him with their weeping; even Sally, whom father had to telegraph to come home, was upstairs crying, and she was almost a woman. It may be that all the tears they shed over not wanting me so scared Laddie that he went farther in his welcome than he ever would have thought of going if he hadn't done it for joy when he learned his mother was safe. ”

“ That day Captain Ledoux seemed in the best of tempers. Contrary to his usual habits, he pardoned a cabin boy who had incurred a flogging. He congratulated the officer of the watch on his seamanship, told the crew he was pleased with their work and promised to give them all a gratuity at Martinique, which they would reach very soon. All the sailors at once began to amuse themselves by making plans as to how they would use the gratuity. Their thoughts were of brandy and of the swart women of Martinique, when Tamango and his fellow—conspirators were brought up on deck. ”