undergoing trial was he, Lupin, Master Lupin, Lupin the burglar, the
leader of a gang of thieves, the forger, the incendiary, the hardened

offender, the ex-convict, Lupin the murderer, Lupin stained with the
blood of his victim, Lupin lurking in the shade, like a coward, after

sending his friends to the foot of the scaffold.
"Oh, the rascals know what they're about!" he muttered. "It's my debt

which they are making my poor old Gilbert pay."
And the terrible tragedy went on.

At seven o'clock in the evening, after a long deliberation, the jury
returned to court and the foreman read out the answers to the questions

put from the bench. The answer was "Yes" to every count of the
indictment, a verdict of guilty without extenuating circumstances.

The prisoners were brought in. Standing up, but staggering and
white-faced, they received their sentence of death.

And, amid the great, solemn silence, in which the anxiety of the
onlookers was mingled with pity, the assize-president asked:

"Have you anything more to say, Vaucheray?"
"Nothing, monsieur le president. Now that my mate is sentenced as well

as myself, I am easy... We are both on the same footing... The governor
must find a way to save the two of us."

"The governor?"
"Yes, Arsene Lupin."

There was a laugh among the crowd.
The president asked:

"And you, Gilbert?"
Tears streamed down the poor lad's cheeks and he stammered a few

inarticulate sentences. But, when the judge repeated his question, he
succeeded in mastering himself and replied, in a trembling voice:

"I wish to say, monsieur le president, that I am guilty of many things,
that's true... I have done a lot of harm... But, all the same, not this.

No, I have not committed murder... I have never committed murder... And
I don't want to die... it would be too horrible... "

He swayed from side to side, supported by the warders, and he was heard
to cry, like a child calling for help:

"Governor... save me!... Save me!... I don't want to die!"
Then, in the crowd, amid the general excitement, a voice rose above the

surrounding clamour:
"Don't be afraid, little `un!... The governor's here!"

A tumult and hustling followed. The municipal guards and the policemen
rushed into court and laid hold of a big, red-faced man, who was stated

by his neighbours to be the author of that outburst and who struggled
hand and foot.

Questioned without delay, he gave his name, Philippe Bonel, an
undertaker's man, and declared that some one sitting beside him had

offered him a hundred-franc note if he would consent, at the proper
moment, to shout a few words which his neighbour scribbled on a bit of

paper. How could he refuse?
In proof of his statements, he produced the hundred-franc note and the

scrap of paper.
Philippe Bonel was let go.

Meanwhile, Lupin, who of course had assisted energetically in the
individual's arrest and handed him over to' the guards, left the

law-courts, his heart heavy with anguish. His car was waiting for him
on the quay. He flung himself into it, in despair, seized with so great

a sorrow that he had to make an effort to restrain his tears. Gilbert's
cry, his voice wrung with affliction, his distorted features, his

tottering frame: all this haunted his brain; and he felt as if he would
never, for a single second, forget those impressions.

He drove home to the new place which he had selected among his different
residences and which occupied a corner of the Place de Clichy. He

expected to find the Growler and the Masher, with whom he was to kidnap
Daubrecq that evening. But he had hardly opened the door of his flat,

when a cry escaped him: Clarisse stood before him; Clarisse, who had
returned from Brittany at the moment of the verdict.

He at once gathered from her attitude and her pallor that she knew. And,
at once, recovering his courage in her presence, without giving her time

to speak, he exclaimed:
"Yes, yes, yes... but it doesn't matter. We foresaw that. We couldn't

prevent it. What we have to do is to stop the mischief. And to-night,
you understand, to-night, the thing will be done."

Motionless and tragic in her sorrow, she stammered:
"To-night?"

"Yes. I have prepared everything. In two hours, Daubrecq will be in
my hands. To-night, whatever means I have to employ, he shall speak."

"Do you mean that?" she asked, faintly, while a ray of hope began to
light up her face.

"He shall speak. I shall have his secret. I shall tear the list of the
Twenty-seven from him. And that list will set your son free."

"Too late," Clarisse murmured.
"Too late? Why? Do you think that, in exchange for such a document, I

shall not obtain Gilbert's pretended escape?... Why, Gilbert will be at
liberty in three days! In three days... "

He was interrupted by a ring at the bell:
"Listen, here are our friends. Trust me. Remember that I keep my

promises. I gave you back your little Jacques. I shall give you back
Gilbert."

He went to let the Growler and the Masher in and said:
"Is everything ready? Is old Brindebois at the restaurant? Quick, let

us be off!"
"It's no use, governor," replied the Masher.

"No use? What do you mean?"
"There's news.

"What news? Speak, man!"
"Daubrecq has disappeared."

"Eh? What's that? Daubrecq disappeared?"
"Yes, carried off from his house, in broad daylight."

"The devil! By whom?"
"Nobody knows... four men... there were pistols fired... The police are

on the spot. Prasville is directing the investigations."
Lupin did not move a limb. He looked at Clarisse Mergy, who lay huddled

in a chair.
He himself had to bow his head. Daubrecq carried off meant one more

chance of success lost...
CHAPTER VII

THE PROFILE OF NAPOLEON
Soon as the prefect of police, the chief of the criminal-investigation

department and the examining-magistrates had left Daubrecq's house,
after a preliminary and entirely fruitless inquiry, Prasville resumed

his personal search.
He was examining the study and the traces of the struggle which had taken

place there, when the portress brought him a visiting-card, with a few
words in pencil scribbled upon it.

"Show the lady in," he said.
"The lady has some one with her," said the portress.

"Oh? Well, show the other person in as well."
Clarisse Mergy entered at once and introduced the gentleman with her, a

gentleman in a black frock-coat, which was too tight for him and which
looked as though it had not been brushed for ages. He was shy in his

manner and seemed greatly embarrassed how to dispose of his old, rusty
top-hat, his ginghamumbrella, his one and only glove and his body

generally.
"M. Nicole," said Clarisse, "a private teacher, who is acting as tutor

to my little Jacques. M. Nicole has been of the greatest help to me
with his advice during the past year. He worked out the whole story of

the crystal stopper. I should like him, as well as myself - if you
see no objection to telling me - to know the details of this kidnapping