Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes Read Free Page A

exclaimed Mon. Gerbois before the same reporters.
    “Let him prove it!” replied Lupin.
    Such was the entertaining comedy enacted by the two claimants of ticket No. 514; and the calm demeanor of Arsène Lupin contrasted strangely with the nervous perturbation of poor Mon. Gerbois. The newspapers were filled with the lamentations of that unhappy man. He announced his misfortune with pathetic candor.
    “Understand, gentlemen, it was Suzanne’s dowry that the rascal stole! Personally, I don’t care a straw for it … but for Suzanne! Just think of it, a whole million! Ten times one hundred thousand francs! Ah! I knew very well that the desk contained a treasure!”
    It was in vain to tell him that his adversary, when stealing the desk, was unaware that the lottery ticket was in it, and that, in any event, he could not foresee that the ticket would draw the grand prize. He would reply:
    “Nonsense! of course, he knew it … else why would he take the trouble to steal a poor, miserable desk?”
    “For some unknown reason; but certainly not for a small scrap of paper which was then worth only twenty francs.”
    “A million francs! He knew it; he knows everything! Ah! You do not know him—the scoundrel! … He hasn’t robbed you of a million francs!”
    The controversy would have lasted for a much longer time, but, on the twelfth day, Mon. Gerbois received from Arsène Lupin a letter marked “confidential,” which read as follows:
    “Monsieur, the gallery is being amused at our expense. Do you not think it is time for us to be serious? The situation is this: I possess a ticket to which I have no legal right, and you have the legal right to a ticket you do not possess. Neither of us can do anything. You will not relinquish your rights to me; I will not deliver the ticket to you. Now, what is to be done? “I see only one way out of the difficulty: Let us divide the spoils. A half-million for you; a half-million for me. Is not that a fair division? In my opinion, it is an equitable solution, and an immediate one. I will give you three days’ time to consider the proposition. On Thursday morning I shall expect to read in the personal column of the Echo de France a discreet message addressed to  M. Ars. Lup , expressing in veiled terms your consent to my offer. By so doing you will recover immediate possession of the ticket; then you can collect the money and send me half a million in a manner that I will describe to you later.
    “In case of your refusal, I shall resort to other measures to accomplish the same result. But, apart from the very serious annoyances that such obstinacy on your part will cause you, it will cost you twenty-five thousand francs for supplementary expenses.
    “Believe me, monsieur, I remain
your devoted servant,
ARSÈNE LUPIN.”
    In a fit of exasperation Mon. Gerbois committed the grave mistake of showing that letter and allowing a copy of it to be taken. His indignation overcame his discretion.
    “Nothing! He shall have nothing!” he exclaimed, before a crowd of reporters. “To divide my property with him? Never! Let him tear up the ticket if he wishes!”
    “Yet five hundred thousand francs is better than nothing.”
    “That is not the question. It is a question of my just right, and that right I will establish before the courts.”
    “What! Attack Arsène Lupin? That would be amusing.”
    “No; but the Crédit Foncier. They must pay me the million francs.”
    “Without producing the ticket, or, at least, without proving that you bought it?”
    “That proof exists, since Arsène Lupin admits that he stole the writing-desk.”
    “But would the word of Arsène Lupin carry any weight with the court?”
    “No matter; I will fight it out.” The gallery shouted with glee; and wagers were freely made upon the result with the odds in favor of Lupin. On the following Thursday the personal column in the  Echo de France  was eagerly perused by the expectant public, but it contained nothing