"Pain is indifferent to me."

"Then here and now!" shouted Sernine. "Here and now! Ten seconds of pain and that is all... . Ten seconds and the other's life is yours... ."

He had seized him round the body and forced him down on a chair; and he now held the young man's left hand flat on the table, with his five fingers spread out. He swiftly took a knife from his pocket, pressed the blade against the little finger, between the first and second joints, and commanded:

"Strike! Strike your own blow. One blow of the fist and that is all!"

He had taken Gerard's right hand and was trying to bring it down upon the other like a hammer.

Gerard writhed and twisted, convulsed with horror. He understood:

"Never!" he stuttered. "Never!"

"Strike! One blow and it's done! One blow and you will be like that man: no one will recognize you."

"Tell me his name... ."

"Strike first!"

"Never! Oh, what torture! ... I beseech you ... presently... ."

"Now... . I insist ... you must ..."

"No ... no ... I can't do it... ."

"Strike, you fool! It means fortune, fame, love... ."

Gerard raised his fist with a sudden movement.

"Love," he said, "yes ... for that, yes... ."

"You will love and be loved," said Sernine. "Your betrothed awaits you.

I have chosen her myself. She is the purest of the pure, the fairest of the fair. But you must win her. Strike!"

The lad's arm stiffened for the fatal blow; but the instinct of self-preservation was too strong for him. His body was wrung with a superhuman effort. He suddenly released himself from Sernine's hold and fled.

He rushed like a madman to the other room. A yell of terror escaped him, at the sight of the abominable vision, and he came back and fell on his knees before Sernine, beside the table.

"Strike!" said the prince, again spreading out the lad's fingers and fixing the blade of the knife.

What followed was done mechanically. With an automatic movement, with haggard eyes and a livid face, the young man raised his fist and struck:

"Ah!" he cried, with a moan of pain.

A small piece of flesh was separated from the little finger. Blood flowed. For the third time, Gerard fainted.

Sernine looked at him for a second or two and said, gently:

"Poor little chap! ... There, I'll reward you for what you've done; and a hundred times over. I always pay generously."

He went downstairs and found the doctor waiting below:

"It's done. Go upstairs, you, and make a little cut in his right cheek, similar to Pierre Leduc's. The two scars must be exactly alike. I shall come back for you in an hour."

"Where are you going?"

"To take the air. My heart feels anyhow."

Outside he drew a long breath and lit another cigarette:

"A good day's work," he muttered. "A little over-crowded, a little tiring, but fruitful, really fruitful. I am Dolores Kesselbach's friend.

I am Genevieve's friend. I have manufactured a new Pierre Leduc, a very presentable one and entirely at my disposal. Lastly, I have found Genevieve a husband of the sort that you don't find by the dozen. Now my task is done. I have only to gather the fruit of my efforts. It's your turn to work, M. Lenormand. I, for my part, am ready." And he added, thinking of the poor mutilated lad whom he had dazzled with his promises, "Only--for there is an 'only'--I have not the slightest notion who this Pierre Leduc was, whose place I have magnanimously awarded to that good young man. And that's very annoying... . For when all is said, there's nothing to prove to me that Pierre Leduc was not the son of a pork-butcher! ..."

CHAPTER V

M. LENORMAND AT WORK

On the morning of the 31st of May, all the newspapers reminded their readers that Lupin, in a letter addressed to M. Lenormand, had announced the escape of the messenger Jerome for that date. And one of them summed up the situation, as it then stood, in very able terms:

"The horrible carnage at the Palace Hotel took place as far back as the 17th of April. What has been discovered since? Nothing.

"There were three clues: the cigarette-case, the initials L and M and the parcel of clothes left behind in the office of the hotel. What advantage has been taken of these clues? None.

"It appears that the police suspect one of the visitors who was staying on the first floor and who disappeared in a doubtful manner. Have they found him?

Have they established his identity? No.

"The tragedy, therefore, remains as mysterious as at the beginning, the gloom is impenetrable.

"To complete the picture, we are told that dissension prevails between the prefect of police and his subordinate, M. Lenormand, and that the latter, finding himself less vigorously supported by the prime minister, virtually sent in his resignation several days ago. According to our information, the conduct of the Kesselbach case is now in the hands of the deputy-chief of the detective-service, M. Weber, a personal enemy of M. Lenormand's.

"In short, disorder and confusion reign; and this in the face of Lupin, who stands for method, energy and steadfastness of mind.

"What conclusion do we draw from these facts? Briefly, this: Lupin will release his accomplice to-day, the 31st of May, as he foretold."

This conclusion, which was echoed in all the other newspapers, was also the conclusion at which the general public had arrived. And we must take it that the threat was not considered devoid of importance in high places, for the prefect of police and, in the absence of M. Lenormand, who was said to be unwell, the deputy-chief of the detective-service, M.

Weber, had adopted the most stringent measures, both at the Palais de Justice and at the Sante Prison, where the prisoner was confined.

They did not dare, for sheer reasons of shame, to suspend on that particular day the examinations conducted daily by M. Formerie; but, from the prison to the Boulevard du Palais, a regular mobilization of police-forces guarded the streets along the line.

To the intense astonishment of one and all, the 31st of May passed and the threatened escape did not take place.

One thing did happen, an attempt to execute the plan, as was betrayed by a block of tramway-cars, omnibuses and drays along the road taken by the prison-van and the unaccountable breaking of one of the wheels of the van itself. But the attempt assumed no more definite form.

Lupin, therefore, had met with a check. The public felt almost disappointed and the police triumphed loudly.