Germaine crossed the hall quickly to the gap in the line of
pictures.

"I'll show you," she said.

She drew aside the piece of tapestry, and in the middle of the panel
over which the portrait of the Duke had hung he saw written in chalk
the words:

ARSENE LUPIN

"What do you think of that autograph?" said Germaine.

"'Arsene Lupin?'" said the Duke in a tone of some bewilderment.

"He left his signature. It seems that he always does so," said Sonia
in an explanatory tone.

"But who is he?" said the Duke.

"Arsene Lupin? Surely you know who Arsene Lupin is?" said Germaine
impatiently.

"I haven't the slightest notion," said the Duke.

"Oh, come! No one is as South-Pole as all that!" cried Germaine.
"You don't know who Lupin is? The most whimsical, the most
audacious, and the most genial thief in France. For the last ten
years he has kept the police at bay. He has baffled Ganimard,