章节正文
logicalsequence and in accordance with their relations one to the other.
In the evening he received a telegram from Clarisse to say that things
were going badiy and that she, the Growler and the Masher were all
staying in Paris. He was much disturbed by this wire and had a less
quiet night. What could the news be that had given rise to Clarisse's
telegram?
But, the next day, she arrived in his room looking very pale, her eyes
red with weeping, and, utterly worn out, dropped into a chair:
"The appeal has been rejected," she stammered.
He mastered his emotion and asked, in a voice of surprise:
"Were you relying on that?"
"No, no," she said, "but, all the same... one hopes in spite of one's
self."
"Was it rejected yesterday?"
"A week ago. The Masher kept it from me; and I have not dared to read
the papers lately."
"There is always the commutation of sentence," he suggested.
"The commutation? Do you imagine that they will commute the sentence of
Arsene Lupin's accomplices?"
She ejaculated the words with a violence and a bitterness which he
pretended not to notice; and he said:
"Vaucheray perhaps not... But they will take pity on Gilbert, on his
youth... "
"They will do nothing of the sort."
"How do you know?"
"I have seen his counsel."
"You have seen his counsel! And you told him... "
"I told him that I was Gilbert's mother and I asked him whether, by
proclaiming my son's identity, we could not influence the result... or
at least delay it."
"You would do that?" he whispered. "You would admit... "
"Gilbert's life comes before everything. What do I care about my name!
What do I care about my husband's name!"
"And your littie Jacques?" he objected. "Have you the right to ruin
Jacques, to make him the brother of a man condemned to death?"
She hung her head. And he resumed:
"What did the counsel say?"
"He said that an act of that sort would not help Gilbert in the remotest
degree. And, in spite of all his protests, I could see that, as far as
he was concerned, he had no illusions left and that the pardoning
commission are bound to find in favour of the execution."
"The commission, I grant you; but what of the president of the Republic?"
"The president always goes by the advice of the commission."
"He will not do so this time."
"And why not?"
"Because we shall bring influence to bear upon him."
"How?"
"By the conditionalsurrender of the list of the Twenty-seven!"
"Have you it?"
"No, but I shall have it."
His certainty had not wavered. He made the statement with equal
calmness and faith in the infinite power of his will.
She had lost some part of her confidence in him and she shrugged her
shoulders lightly:
"If d'Albufex has not purloined the list, one man lone can exercise
any influence; one man alone: Daubrecq."
She spoke these words in a low and absent voice that made him shudder.
Was she still thinking, as he had often seemed to feel, of going back
to Daubrecq and paying him for Gilbert's life?
"You have sworn an oath to me," he said. "I'm reminding you of it. It
was agreed that the struggle with Daubrecq should be directed by me and
that there would never be a possibility of any arrangement between you
and him."
She retorted:
"I don't even know where he is. If I knew, wouldn't you know?"
It was an evasive answer. But he did not insist, resolving to watch her
at the opportune time; and he asked her, for he had not yet been told
all the details:
"Then it's not known what became of Daubrecq?"
"No. Of course, one of the Growler's bullets struck him. For, next day,
we picked up, in a coppice, a handkerchief covered with blood. Also, it
seems that a man was seen at Aumale Station, looking very tired and
walking with great difficulty. He took a ticket for Paris, stepped into
the first train and that is all... "
"He must be seriously wounded," said Lupin, "and he is nursing himself
in some safe retreat. Perhaps, also, he considers it wise to lie low
for a few weeks and avoid any traps on the part of the police, d'Albufex,
you, myself and all his other enemies."
He stopped to think and continued:
"What has happened at Mortepierre since Daubrecq's escape? Has there
been no talk in the neighbourhood?"
"No, the rope was removed before daybreak, which proves that Sebastiani
or his sons discovered Daubrecq's flight on the same night. Sebastiani
was away the whole of the next day."
"Yes, he will have informed the marquis. And where is the marquis
himself?"
"At home. And, from what the Growler has heard, there is nothing
suspicious there either."
"Are they certain that he has not been inside Daubrecq's house?"
"As certain as they can be."
Nor Daubrecq?"
Nor Daubrecq."
"Have you seen Prasville?"
"Prasville is away on leave. But Chief-inspector Blanchon, who has
charge of the case, and the detectives who are guarding the house declare
that, in accordance with Prasville's instructions, their watch is not
relaxed for a moment, even at night; that one of them, turn and turn
about, is always on duty in the study; and that no one, therefore, can
have gone in."
"So, on principle," Arsene Lupin concluded, "the crystal stopper must
still be in Daubrecq's study?"
"If it was there before Daubrecq's disappearance, it should be there
now."
"And on the study-table."
"On the study-table? Why do you say that?"
"Because I know," said Lupin, who had not forgotten Sebastiani's words.
"But you don't know the article in which the stopper is hidden?"
"No. But a study-table, a writing-desk, is a limited space. One can
explore it in twenty minutes. One can demolish it, if necessary, in
ten."
The conversation had tired Arsene Lupin a little. As he did not wish to
commit the least imprudence, he said to Clarisse:
"Listen. I will ask you to give me two or three days more. This is
Monday, the 4th of March. On Wednesday or Thursday, at latest, I shall
be up and about. And you can be sure that we shall succeed."
"And, in the meantime... "
"In the meantime, go back to Paris. Take rooms, with the Growler and
the Masher, in the Hotel Franklin, near the Trocadoro, and keep a watch
on Daubrecq's house. You are free to go in and out as you please.
Stimulate the zeal of the detectives on duty."
"Suppose Daubrecq returns?"
"If he returns, that will be so much the better: we shall have him."
"And, if he only passes?"
"In that case, the Growler and the Masher must follow him."
"And if they lose sight of him?"
Lupin did not reply. No one felt more than he how fatal it was to
remain inactive in a hotel bedroom and how useful his presence would
have been on the battlefield! Perhaps even this vague idea had already
prolonged his illness beyond the ordinary limits.
He murmured:
"Go now, please."
There was a constraint between them which increased as the awful day
drew nigh. In her injustice, forgetting or wishing to forget that it
was she who had forced her son into the Enghien enterprise, Mme. Mergy
did not forget that the law was pursuing Gilbert with such rigour not
so much because he was a criminal as because he was an accomplice of
Arsene Lupin's. And then, notwithstanding all his efforts,
notwithstanding his prodigiousexpenditure of energy, what result had
Lupin achieved, when all was said? How far had his intervention
benefited Gilbert?
After a pause, she rose and left him alone.
The next day he was feeling rather low. But on the day after, the
Wednesday, when his doctor wanted him to keep quiet until the end of the
week, he said:
"If not, what have I to fear?"
"A return of the fever."
"Nothing worse?"
"No. The wound is pretty well healed."
"Then I don't care. I'll go back with you in your car. We shall be in
Paris by mid-day."
What decided Lupin to start at once was, first, a letter in which
Clarisse told him that she had found Daubrecq's traces, and, also, a
telegram, published in the Amiens papers, which stated that the Marquis
d'Albufex had been arrested for his complicity in the affair of the
canal.
Daubrecq was taking his revenge.
Now the fact that Daubrecq was taking his revenge proved that the
marquis had not been able to prevent that revenge by seizing the
document which was on the writing-desk in the study. It proved that
Chief-inspector Blanchon and the detectives had kept a good watch. It
proved that the crystal stopper was still in the Square Lamartine.
It was still there; and this showed either that Daubrecq had not ventured
to go home, or else that his state of health hindered him from doing so,
or else again that he had sufficient confidence in the hiding-place not
to trouble to put himself out.
In any case, there was no doubt as to the course to be pursued: Lupin
must act and he must act smartly. He must forestall Daubrecq and get
hold of the crystal stopper.
When they had crossed the Bois de Boulogne and were nearing the Square
Lamartine, Lupin took leave of the doctor and stopped the car. The
Growler and the Masher, to whom he had wired, met him.
"Where's Mme. Mergy?" he asked.
"She has not been back since yesterday; she sent us an express message
to say that she saw Daubrecq leaving his cousins' place and getting into
a cab. She knows the number of the cab and will keep us informed."
"Nothing further?"
"Nothing further."
"No other news?"
"Yes, the Paris-Midi says that d'Albufex opened his veins last night,
with a piece of broken glass, in his cell at the Sante. He seems to
have left a long letter behind him, confessing his fault, but accusing
Daubrecq of his death and exposing the part played by Daubrecq in the
canal affair."
"Is that all?"
"No. The same paper stated that it has reason to believe that the
pardoning commission, after examining the record, has rejected Vaucheray
and Gilbert's petition and that their counsel will probably be received
in audience by the president on Friday."
Lupin gave a shudder.
"They're losing no time," he said. "I can see that Daubrecq, on the very
first day, put the screw on the old judicial machine. One short week
more... and the knife falls. My poor Gilbert! If, on Friday next, the
papers which your counsel submits to the president of the Republic do
not contain the conditional offer of the list of the Twenty-seven, then,
my poor Gilbert, you are done for!"
"Come, come, governor, are you losing courage?"
"I? Rot! I shall have the crystal stopper in an hour. In two hours, I
shall see Gilbert's counsel. And the nightmare will be over."
"Well done, governor! That's like your old self. Shall we wait for you
here?"
"No, go back to your hotel. I'll join you later."
In the evening he received a telegram from Clarisse to say that things
were going badiy and that she, the Growler and the Masher were all
staying in Paris. He was much disturbed by this wire and had a less
quiet night. What could the news be that had given rise to Clarisse's
telegram?
But, the next day, she arrived in his room looking very pale, her eyes
red with weeping, and, utterly worn out, dropped into a chair:
"The appeal has been rejected," she stammered.
He mastered his emotion and asked, in a voice of surprise:
"Were you relying on that?"
"No, no," she said, "but, all the same... one hopes in spite of one's
self."
"Was it rejected yesterday?"
"A week ago. The Masher kept it from me; and I have not dared to read
the papers lately."
"There is always the commutation of sentence," he suggested.
"The commutation? Do you imagine that they will commute the sentence of
Arsene Lupin's accomplices?"
She ejaculated the words with a violence and a bitterness which he
pretended not to notice; and he said:
"Vaucheray perhaps not... But they will take pity on Gilbert, on his
youth... "
"They will do nothing of the sort."
"How do you know?"
"I have seen his counsel."
"You have seen his counsel! And you told him... "
"I told him that I was Gilbert's mother and I asked him whether, by
proclaiming my son's identity, we could not influence the result... or
at least delay it."
"You would do that?" he whispered. "You would admit... "
"Gilbert's life comes before everything. What do I care about my name!
What do I care about my husband's name!"
"And your littie Jacques?" he objected. "Have you the right to ruin
Jacques, to make him the brother of a man condemned to death?"
She hung her head. And he resumed:
"What did the counsel say?"
"He said that an act of that sort would not help Gilbert in the remotest
degree. And, in spite of all his protests, I could see that, as far as
he was concerned, he had no illusions left and that the pardoning
commission are bound to find in favour of the execution."
"The commission, I grant you; but what of the president of the Republic?"
"The president always goes by the advice of the commission."
"He will not do so this time."
"And why not?"
"Because we shall bring influence to bear upon him."
"How?"
"By the conditionalsurrender of the list of the Twenty-seven!"
"Have you it?"
"No, but I shall have it."
His certainty had not wavered. He made the statement with equal
calmness and faith in the infinite power of his will.
She had lost some part of her confidence in him and she shrugged her
shoulders lightly:
"If d'Albufex has not purloined the list, one man lone can exercise
any influence; one man alone: Daubrecq."
She spoke these words in a low and absent voice that made him shudder.
Was she still thinking, as he had often seemed to feel, of going back
to Daubrecq and paying him for Gilbert's life?
"You have sworn an oath to me," he said. "I'm reminding you of it. It
was agreed that the struggle with Daubrecq should be directed by me and
that there would never be a possibility of any arrangement between you
and him."
She retorted:
"I don't even know where he is. If I knew, wouldn't you know?"
It was an evasive answer. But he did not insist, resolving to watch her
at the opportune time; and he asked her, for he had not yet been told
all the details:
"Then it's not known what became of Daubrecq?"
"No. Of course, one of the Growler's bullets struck him. For, next day,
we picked up, in a coppice, a handkerchief covered with blood. Also, it
seems that a man was seen at Aumale Station, looking very tired and
walking with great difficulty. He took a ticket for Paris, stepped into
the first train and that is all... "
"He must be seriously wounded," said Lupin, "and he is nursing himself
in some safe retreat. Perhaps, also, he considers it wise to lie low
for a few weeks and avoid any traps on the part of the police, d'Albufex,
you, myself and all his other enemies."
He stopped to think and continued:
"What has happened at Mortepierre since Daubrecq's escape? Has there
been no talk in the neighbourhood?"
"No, the rope was removed before daybreak, which proves that Sebastiani
or his sons discovered Daubrecq's flight on the same night. Sebastiani
was away the whole of the next day."
"Yes, he will have informed the marquis. And where is the marquis
himself?"
"At home. And, from what the Growler has heard, there is nothing
suspicious there either."
"Are they certain that he has not been inside Daubrecq's house?"
"As certain as they can be."
Nor Daubrecq?"
Nor Daubrecq."
"Have you seen Prasville?"
"Prasville is away on leave. But Chief-inspector Blanchon, who has
charge of the case, and the detectives who are guarding the house declare
that, in accordance with Prasville's instructions, their watch is not
relaxed for a moment, even at night; that one of them, turn and turn
about, is always on duty in the study; and that no one, therefore, can
have gone in."
"So, on principle," Arsene Lupin concluded, "the crystal stopper must
still be in Daubrecq's study?"
"If it was there before Daubrecq's disappearance, it should be there
now."
"And on the study-table."
"On the study-table? Why do you say that?"
"Because I know," said Lupin, who had not forgotten Sebastiani's words.
"But you don't know the article in which the stopper is hidden?"
"No. But a study-table, a writing-desk, is a limited space. One can
explore it in twenty minutes. One can demolish it, if necessary, in
ten."
The conversation had tired Arsene Lupin a little. As he did not wish to
commit the least imprudence, he said to Clarisse:
"Listen. I will ask you to give me two or three days more. This is
Monday, the 4th of March. On Wednesday or Thursday, at latest, I shall
be up and about. And you can be sure that we shall succeed."
"And, in the meantime... "
"In the meantime, go back to Paris. Take rooms, with the Growler and
the Masher, in the Hotel Franklin, near the Trocadoro, and keep a watch
on Daubrecq's house. You are free to go in and out as you please.
Stimulate the zeal of the detectives on duty."
"Suppose Daubrecq returns?"
"If he returns, that will be so much the better: we shall have him."
"And, if he only passes?"
"In that case, the Growler and the Masher must follow him."
"And if they lose sight of him?"
Lupin did not reply. No one felt more than he how fatal it was to
remain inactive in a hotel bedroom and how useful his presence would
have been on the battlefield! Perhaps even this vague idea had already
prolonged his illness beyond the ordinary limits.
He murmured:
"Go now, please."
There was a constraint between them which increased as the awful day
drew nigh. In her injustice, forgetting or wishing to forget that it
was she who had forced her son into the Enghien enterprise, Mme. Mergy
did not forget that the law was pursuing Gilbert with such rigour not
so much because he was a criminal as because he was an accomplice of
Arsene Lupin's. And then, notwithstanding all his efforts,
notwithstanding his prodigiousexpenditure of energy, what result had
Lupin achieved, when all was said? How far had his intervention
benefited Gilbert?
After a pause, she rose and left him alone.
The next day he was feeling rather low. But on the day after, the
Wednesday, when his doctor wanted him to keep quiet until the end of the
week, he said:
"If not, what have I to fear?"
"A return of the fever."
"Nothing worse?"
"No. The wound is pretty well healed."
"Then I don't care. I'll go back with you in your car. We shall be in
Paris by mid-day."
What decided Lupin to start at once was, first, a letter in which
Clarisse told him that she had found Daubrecq's traces, and, also, a
telegram, published in the Amiens papers, which stated that the Marquis
d'Albufex had been arrested for his complicity in the affair of the
canal.
Daubrecq was taking his revenge.
Now the fact that Daubrecq was taking his revenge proved that the
marquis had not been able to prevent that revenge by seizing the
document which was on the writing-desk in the study. It proved that
Chief-inspector Blanchon and the detectives had kept a good watch. It
proved that the crystal stopper was still in the Square Lamartine.
It was still there; and this showed either that Daubrecq had not ventured
to go home, or else that his state of health hindered him from doing so,
or else again that he had sufficient confidence in the hiding-place not
to trouble to put himself out.
In any case, there was no doubt as to the course to be pursued: Lupin
must act and he must act smartly. He must forestall Daubrecq and get
hold of the crystal stopper.
When they had crossed the Bois de Boulogne and were nearing the Square
Lamartine, Lupin took leave of the doctor and stopped the car. The
Growler and the Masher, to whom he had wired, met him.
"Where's Mme. Mergy?" he asked.
"She has not been back since yesterday; she sent us an express message
to say that she saw Daubrecq leaving his cousins' place and getting into
a cab. She knows the number of the cab and will keep us informed."
"Nothing further?"
"Nothing further."
"No other news?"
"Yes, the Paris-Midi says that d'Albufex opened his veins last night,
with a piece of broken glass, in his cell at the Sante. He seems to
have left a long letter behind him, confessing his fault, but accusing
Daubrecq of his death and exposing the part played by Daubrecq in the
canal affair."
"Is that all?"
"No. The same paper stated that it has reason to believe that the
pardoning commission, after examining the record, has rejected Vaucheray
and Gilbert's petition and that their counsel will probably be received
in audience by the president on Friday."
Lupin gave a shudder.
"They're losing no time," he said. "I can see that Daubrecq, on the very
first day, put the screw on the old judicial machine. One short week
more... and the knife falls. My poor Gilbert! If, on Friday next, the
papers which your counsel submits to the president of the Republic do
not contain the conditional offer of the list of the Twenty-seven, then,
my poor Gilbert, you are done for!"
"Come, come, governor, are you losing courage?"
"I? Rot! I shall have the crystal stopper in an hour. In two hours, I
shall see Gilbert's counsel. And the nightmare will be over."
"Well done, governor! That's like your old self. Shall we wait for you
here?"
"No, go back to your hotel. I'll join you later."
- telegram [´teligræm]
n.电报 (初中英语单词) - emotion [i´məuʃən] n.感情；情绪；激动 (初中英语单词)
- sentence [´sentəns] n.判决 vt.宣判；处刑 (初中英语单词)
- violence [´vaiələns] n.猛烈；暴力(行) (初中英语单词)
- counsel [´kaunsəl] n.商议；劝告；律师 (初中英语单词)
- conditional [kən´diʃənəl] a.附条件的 (初中英语单词)
- surrender [sə´rendə] vt.&n.交出；引渡；放弃 (初中英语单词)
- absent [´æbsənt, əb´sent] a.不在的 vt.使缺席 (初中英语单词)
- possibility [,pɔsə´biliti] n.可能(性)；希望；前途 (初中英语单词)
- arrangement [ə´reindʒmənt] n.整理；排列；筹备 (初中英语单词)
- handkerchief [´hæŋkətʃif] n.手帕，手绢 (初中英语单词)
- seriously [´siəriəsli] ad.严肃；严重，重大 (初中英语单词)
- retreat [ri´tri:t] v.&n.退却；撤退；放弃 (初中英语单词)
- flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
- therefore [´ðeəfɔ:] ad.&conj.因此；所以 (初中英语单词)
- crystal [´kristəl] n.水晶 a.水晶的 (初中英语单词)
- wednesday [´wenzdi] n.星期三 (初中英语单词)
- meantime [´mi:ntaim] n.&ad.其间；同时 (初中英语单词)
- illness [´ilnis] n.生病，不健康，疾病 (初中英语单词)
- enterprise [´entəpraiz] n.企业；雄心；胆识 (初中英语单词)
- criminal [´kriminəl] a.犯罪的 n.罪犯 (初中英语单词)
- energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
- revenge [ri´vendʒ] vt.报复 n.报仇；报复 (初中英语单词)
- yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
- audience [´ɔ:diəns] n.听众；观众；接见 (初中英语单词)
- republic [ri´pʌblik] n.共和国；共和政体 (初中英语单词)
- contain [kən´tein] v.包含；容纳；抑制 (初中英语单词)
- governor [´gʌvənə] n.总督；州长 (初中英语单词)
- accordance [ə´kɔ:dəns] n.一致；调和 (高中英语单词)
- appeal [ə´pi:l] vi.&n.请求；呼吁；上诉 (高中英语单词)
- bitterness [´bitənis] n.苦味；辛酸；苦难 (高中英语单词)
- concerned [kən´sə:nd] a.有关的；担心的 (高中英语单词)
- commission [kə´miʃən] n.委任(状) vt.委任 (高中英语单词)
- certainty [´sə:tənti] n.确实(性)；确信 (高中英语单词)
- infinite [´infinit] a.无限的，无穷的 (高中英语单词)
- marquis [´mɑ:kwis] n.侯爵 (高中英语单词)
- limited [´limitid] a.有限(制)的 (高中英语单词)
- injustice [in´dʒʌstis] n.不公正，不公平 (高中英语单词)
- notwithstanding [,nɔtwiθ´stændiŋ] prep.&conj.虽然；还是 (高中英语单词)
- expenditure [ik´spenditʃə] n.消费；经费；费用 (高中英语单词)
- decided [di´saidid] a.明显的；决定的 (高中英语单词)
- petition [pi´tiʃən] n.请愿 vt.向...请愿 (高中英语单词)
- logical [´lɔdʒikəl] a.逻辑(上)的 (英语四级单词)
- sequence [´si:kwəns] n.继续；顺序；程序 (英语四级单词)
- daybreak [´deibreik] n.黎明，拂晓 (英语四级单词)
- prodigious [prə´didʒəs] a.惊人的；巨大的 (英语四级单词)
- judicial [dʒu:´diʃəl] a.法庭(官)的，审判的 (英语四级单词)
- nightmare [´naitmeə] n.梦魇；恶梦 (英语四级单词)
- weeping [´wi:piŋ] a.&n.哭泣(的) (英语六级单词)
- identity [ai´dentiti] n.身份；同一性；一致 (英语六级单词)
- disappearance [,disə´piərəns] n.消失；失踪 (英语六级单词)
- demolish [di´mɔliʃ] vt.摧毁；拆除(旧房等) (英语六级单词)
- inactive [in´æktiv] a.不活动的 (英语六级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
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