For a moment, I stood motionless. Then, to Ganimard's great
astonishment, I muttered:
"What a pity that I am not an honest man!"
Such was the story of his arrest as narrated to me by Arsene Lupin
himself. The various incidents, which I shall record in writing
at a later day, have established between us certain ties....shall
I say of friendship? Yes, I venture to believe that Arsene Lupin
honors me with his friendship, and that it is through friendship
that he occasionally calls on me, and brings, into the silence of
my library, his youthful exuberance of spirits, the contagion of
his enthusiasm, and the mirth of a man for whom destiny has naught
but favors and smiles.
His portrait? How can I describe him? I have seen him twenty
times and each time he was a different person; even he himself
said to me on one occasion: "I no longer know who I am. I cannot
recognize myself in the mirror." Certainly, he was a great actor,
and possessed a marvelous faculty for disguising himself. Without
the slightest effort, he could adopt the voice, gestures and
mannerisms of another person.
"Why," said he, "why should I retain a definite form and feature?
Why not avoid the danger of a personality that is ever the same?
My actions will serve to identify me.
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