For an hour, Lupin walked, ran, rushed about indefatigably, with his eyes on the look-out.

When it began to grow dusk, he hurried to one of his twelve rooms on the first floor, as if he were selecting it for special reasons known to himself alone. He was rather surprised to find the Emperor there, smoking and seated in an arm-chair which he had sent for.

Taking no notice of his presence, Lupin began an inspection of the room, according to the methods which he was accustomed to employ in such cases, dividing the room into sections, each of which he examined in turn.

After twenty minutes of this work, he said:

"I must beg you, Sire, to be good enough to move. There is a fireplace here... ."

The Emperor tossed his head:

"Is it really necessary for me to move?"

"Yes, Sire, this fireplace ..."

"The fireplace is just the same as the others and the room is no different from its fellows."

Lupin looked at the Emperor without understanding. The Emperor rose and said, with a laugh:

"I think, M. Lupin, that you have been making just a little fun of me."

"How do you mean, Sire?"

"Oh, it's hardly worth mentioning! You obtained your release on the condition of handing me certain papers in which I am interested and you have not the smallest notion as to where they are. I have been thoroughly--what do you call it, in French?--_roule_ 'done'!"

"Do you think so, Sire?"

"Why, what a man knows he doesn't have to hunt for! And you have been hunting for ten good hours! Doesn't it strike you as a case for an immediate return to prison?"

Lupin seemed thunderstruck:

"Did not Your Imperial Majesty fix twelve o'clock to-morrow as the last limit?"

"Why wait?"

"Why? Well, to allow me to complete my work!"

"Your work? But it's not even begun, M. Lupin."

"There Your Imperial Majesty is mistaken."

"Prove it ... and I will wait until to-morrow."

Lupin reflected and, speaking in a serious tone:

"Since Your Imperial Majesty requires proofs in order to have confidence in me, I will furnish them. The twelve rooms leading out of this gallery each bear a different name, which is inscribed in French--obviously by a French decorative artist--over the various doors.

One of the inscriptions, less damaged by the fire than the others, caught my eye as I was passing along the gallery. I examined the other doors: all of them bore hardly legible traces of names caned over the pediments. Thus I found a 'D' and an 'E' the first and last letters of 'Diane.' I found an 'A' and 'LON' which pointed to 'Apollon.' These are the French equivalents of Diana and Apollo, both of them mythological deities. The other inscriptions presented similar characteristics. I discovered traces of such names as Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Saturn and so on. This part of the problem was solved: each of the twelve rooms bears the name of an Olympian god or goddess; and the letters APOON, completed by Isilda, point to the Apollo Room or Salle d'Apollon. So it is here, in the room in which we now are, that the letters are hidden. A few minutes, perhaps, will suffice in which to discover them."

"A few minutes or a few years ... or even longer!" said the Emperor, laughing.

He seemed greatly amused; and the count also displayed a coarse merriment.

Lupin asked:

"Would Your Imperial Majesty be good enough to explain?"

"M. Lupin, the exciting investigation which you have conducted to-day and of which you are telling us the brilliant results has already been made by me ... yes, a fortnight ago, in the company of your friend Holmlock Shears. Together we questioned little Isilda; together, we employed the same method in dealing with her that you did; and together we observed the names in the gallery and got as far as this room, the Apollo Room."

Lupin turned livid. He spluttered:

"Oh, did Shears get ... as far as ... this?"

"Yes, after four days' searching. True, it did not help us, for we found nothing. All the same, I know that the letters are not here."

Trembling with rage, wounded in his innermost pride, Lupin fired up under the gibe, as though he had been lashed with a whip. He had never felt humiliated to such a degree as this. In this fury, he could have strangled the fat Waldemar, whose laughter incensed him. Containing himself with an effort, he said:

"It took Shears four days, Sire, and me only four hours. And I should have required even less, if I had not been thwarted in my search."

"And by whom, bless my soul? By my faithful count? I hope he did not dare ... !"

"No, Sire, but by the most terrible and powerful of my enemies, by that infernal being who killed his own accomplice Altenheim."

"Is he here? Do you think so?" exclaimed the Emperor, with an agitation which showed that he was familiar with every detail of the dramatic story.

"He is wherever I am. He threatens me with his constant hatred. It was he who guessed that I was M. Lenormand, the chief of the detective-service; it was he who had me put in prison; it was he, again, who pursued me, on the day when I came out. Yesterday, aiming at me in the motor, he wounded Count von Waldemar."

"But how do you know, how can you be sure that he is at Veldenz?"

"Isilda has received two gold coins, two French coins!"

"And what is he here for? With what object?"

"I don't know, Sire, but he is the very spirit of evil. Your Imperial Majesty must be on your guard: he is capable of anything and everything."

"It is impossible! I have two hundred men in the ruins. He cannot have entered. He would have been seen."

"Some one has seen him, beyond a doubt."

"Who?"

"Isilda."

"Let her be questioned! Waldemar, take your prisoner to where the girl is."

Lupin showed his bound hands:

"It will be a tough battle. Can I fight like this?"