"L. M."

And M. Weber added, while Valenglay stood amazed:

"This time, our friend Lupin has found an adversary who is a match for him. While he denounces the other, the other betrays him to us. And the fox is caught in the trap."

"What do you propose to do?"

"Monsieur le President, I shall take two hundred men with me!"

CHAPTER VIII

THE OLIVE-GREEN FROCK-COAT

A quarter past twelve, in a restaurant near the Madeleine. The prince is at lunch. Two young men sit down at the next table. He bows to them and begins to speak to them, as to friends whom he has met by chance.

"Are you going on the expedition, eh?"

"Yes."

"How many men altogether?"

"Six, I think. Each goes down by himself. We're to meet M. Weber at a quarter to two, near the House of Retreat."

"Very well, I shall be there."

"What?"

"Am I not leading the expedition? And isn't it my business to find M.

Lenormand, seeing that I've announced it publicly?"

"Then you believe that M. Lenormand is not dead, governor?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Do you know anything?"

"Yes, since yesterday I know for certain that Altenheim and his gang took M. Lenormand and Gourel to the bridge at Bougival and heaved them overboard. Gourel sank, but M. Lenormand managed to save himself. I shall furnish all the necessary proofs when the time comes."

"But, then, if he's alive, why doesn't he show himself?"

"Because he's not free."

"Is what you said true, then? Is he in the cellars of the Villa des Glycines?"

"I have every reason to think so."

"But how do you know? ... What clue? ..."

"That's my secret. I can tell you one thing: the revelation will be--what shall I say--sensational. Have you finished?"

"Yes."

"My car is behind the Madeleine. Join me there."

At Garches, Sernine sent the motor away, and they walked to the path that led to Genevieve's school. There he stopped:

"Listen to me, lads. This is of the highest importance. You will ring at the House of Retreat. As inspectors, you have your right of entry, have you not? You will then go to the Pavillon Hortense, the empty one. There you will run down to the basement and you will find an old shutter, which you have only to lift to see the opening of a tunnel which I discovered lately and which forms a direct communication with the Villa des Glycines. It was by means of this that Gertrude and Baron Altenheim used to meet. And it was this way that M. Lenormand passed, only to end by falling into the hands of his enemies."

"You think so, governor?"

"Yes, I think so. And now the point is this: you must go and make sure that the tunnel is exactly in the condition in which I left it last night; that the two doors which bar it are open; and that there is still, in a hole near the second door, a parcel wrapped in a piece of black cloth which I put there myself."

"Are we to undo the parcel?"

"No, that's not necessary. It's a change of clothes. Go; and don't let yourselves be seen more than you can help. I will wait for you."

Ten minutes later, they were back:

"The two doors are open," said one of the Doudevilles.

"And the black cloth parcel?"

"In its place near the second door."

"Capital! It is twenty-five past one. Weber will be arriving with his champions. They are to watch the villa. They will surround it as soon as Altenheim is inside. I have arranged with Weber that I shall ring the bell; the door will be opened; and I shall have my foot inside the citadel. Once there, I have my plan. Come, I've an idea that we shall see some fun."

And Sernine, after dismissing them, walked down the path to the school, soliloquizing as he went:

"All bodes well. The battle will be fought on the ground chosen by myself. I am bound to win. I shall get rid of my two adversaries and I shall find myself alone engaged in the Kesselbach case ... alone, with two whacking trump-cards: Pierre Leduc and Steinweg... . Besides the king ... that is to say, Bibi. Only, there's one thing: what is Altenheim up to? Obviously, he has a plan of attack of his own. On which side does he mean to attack me? And how does it come that he has not attacked me yet? It's rather startling. Can he have denounced me to the police?"

He went along the little playground of the school. The pupils were at their lessons. He knocked at the door.

"Ah, is that you?" said Mme. Ernemont, opening the door. "So you have left Genevieve in Paris?"

"For me to do that, Genevieve would have to be in Paris," he replied.

"So she has been, seeing that you sent for her."

"What's that?" he exclaimed catching hold of her arm.

"Why, you know better than I!"

"I know nothing... . I know nothing... . Speak! ..."