Why could I not return it to the
lady who had befriended me? I must confess that I had taken from
it everything that possessed any interest or value, leaving there
only a shell comb, a stick of rouge Dorin for the lips, and an
empty purse. But, you know, business is business. And then,
really, her husband is engaged in such a dishonorable vocation!
The man was becoming conscious. What was I to do? I was unable to
save him or condemn him. So I took his revolver and fired a shot
in the air.
"My two acolytes will come and attend to his case," I said to
myself, as I hastened away by the road through the ravine. Twenty
minutes later, I was seated in my automobile.
At four o'clock, I telegraphed to my friends at Rouen that an
unexpected event would prevent me from making my promised visit.
Between ourselves, considering what my friends must now know, my
visit is postponed indefinitely. A cruel disillusion for them!
At six o'clock I was in Paris. The evening newspapers informed me
that Pierre Onfrey had been captured at last.
Next day,--let us not despise the advantages of judicious
advertising,--the `Echo de France' published this sensational item:
"Yesterday, near Buchy, after numerous exciting incidents, Arsene
Lupin effected the arrest of Pierre Onfrey.
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