I am going to bed. And you,
my dear?"
"I shall stay and finish."
"Finish! Why, that will take you all night."
"Not at all. An hour, at the most."
She retired. Twenty minutes, thirty minutes passed. Arsene pushed
the window a little farther open. The curtains shook. He pushed
once more. Mon. Imbert turned, and, seeing the curtains blown by
the wind, he rose to close the window.
There was not a cry, not the trace of struggle. With a few precise
moments, and without causing him the least injury, Arsene stunned
him, wrapped the curtain about his head, bound him hand and foot,
and did it all in such a manner that Mon. Imbert had no opportunity
to recognize his assailant.
Quickly, he approached the safe, seized two packages that he placed
under his arm, left the office, and opened the servants' gate. A
carriage was stationed in the street.
"Take that, first--and follow me," he said to the coachman. He
returned to the office, and, in two trips, they emptied the safe.
Then Arsene went to his own room, removed the rope, and all other
traces of his clandestine work.
A few hours later, Arsene Lupin and his assistant examined the
stolen goods.
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