November 23, 1916 
LAND & WATER 
The Golden Triangle 
By Maurice Leblanc 
[Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos] 
CHAPTER I 
Coralie 
IT was close upon half-past six and the evening shadows 
were growing denser when two soldiers reached the little 
space, planted with trees, opposite the Aiuste (ialliera. 
where the Rue de Chaillot and the Rue Pierre-Charron 
meet. One wore an infantryman's skj'-bhie great-coat ; the 
other, a Senegalese, those clothes of undyed wool, with baggy 
breeches and a belted jacket, in which thp Zouaves and the. 
native African troops have been dressed since the war. One of 
them had lost his right leg, the other his left arm. 
They walked round the open space, in the centre of which 
stands a fine group of Silenus figures, and stopped. Tne 
infantryman threw away his cigarette. The Senegalese ])icked 
it up, took a few quick puffs at it, put it out by squeezing it 
between liis forefinger and thumb and stuffed it into his pocket. 
Ali this without a word. 
Almost at the same time, two more soldiers came out of the 
Rue Galliera. It would have been impossible to say to what 
bran h they belonged, for their military attire was composed 
of the most incongruous civilian garments. However, one 
of then^sported a Zouave's Chechia, the other an artilleryman's 
kepi. The first walked on crutches, the other on two sticks. 
These two kept near the newspaper-kiosk which stands at the 
edge of the pavement. 
Three others came singly by the Rue Pierre-Charron, the 
Rue Brigholes and the Rue de Chaillot : a one-armed rifleman, 
a limping sappier and a marine with a hip that looked as if it 
was twisted. Each of them made straight for a tree . and 
leant against it. 
Not a word was uttered among them. None of the seven 
cripj)led soldiers seemed to know his companions or to trouble 
about or even perceive their presence. They stood behind their 
trees or behind the kiosk or behind the group of Silenus 
figures without stirring. And the few wayfarers who, on that 
evening of the 3rd of April 1915, crossed this unfrequented 
square, which received hardly any light from the shrouded 
street-lamps, did not slacken pace to observe the jiien's 
motionless outlines. 
. A clock struck half-past six. At tliat moment, the door of 
one of the houses overlooking the square opened. A man 
came out, closed the door behind him, crossed the Rue dc 
Chaillot and walked round tlie open space in front of the 
museum. It was an officer in khaki. Under his red forage 
cap, with its tliree lines of gold braid, his head was wrapped 
in a wide linen bandage, whicli hid his forehead and neck. 
He was tall and very slenderly-built. His right leg ended 
in a wooden stump with a rubber foot to it/ He leant on a 
stick. 
Leaving the square, he stepped into the roadway of the 
Rue Pierre-Charron. Here Ik turned and gave a leisurely 
look to his surroundings on every side. This minute in- 
sjjection brought liim to one of tlie trees facing the nuiseum. 
With the tip of his cane he gently tapped a protruding stomach. 
The stomach pulled itself in. 
Tiie ofticer mo\-.'d ofl^ again. Tliis time he went definitely 
down the Rue Pierre-Charron towards the centre of Paris. 
He thus came to the Avenue des Champs- Klysees, which he 
went up, taking the left pavement. 
Two hundred yards further on was a large house, which had 
been transformed, as a flag ]m)claimed, into a hospital. The 
officer took up his position at some distance, so as not to be 
seen by tliose leaving, and waited. 
It struck a <piarter to seven and seven o'clock. A few more 
minutes passed. Mx'e persons came out of the house, followed 
by two more. At last a lady ajipeared in the hall, a nurse 
wearing a wide blue cloak marked with the Red Cross. 
" Here she comes," said the officer. 
She took the road by wliich he liad ai'rived and turned 
down the Rue Pierre-Charron, keeping to the right-hand 
pavement and tlius making for the space where the street 
meets the Rue de Chaillot. Her walk was fight, her step 
easy and well-balanced. Th(- wind, buffeting against lier as 
she moved (juickly on her way, sw<'lled out tlie long blue veil 
floating aroutid her sliouldeis. Notwithstanding' the width 
of the cloak, the riiythmical swing of her body and the youth- 
fulness of lier figure wc^re re\-ealed. The oft'icer kejH behind 
her and walked along with an absent-nunded air, twirling his 
stick, Hke a man taking an aimless stroll. 
At this moment, there was nobodj' in sight, in that part cf 
the street, except him and her. But, just after she had 
crossed the Avenue Marceau and some time before he reached 
it, a motor, standing in the avenue started dri\'ing in the 
same direction as the nurse, at a fixed distance from her. 
It was a taxi-cab. And the officer noticed two things : 
first, that there were two men inside it and, next, that one of 
them leant out of the window almost the whole time, talking 
to the driver. He was able to catch a momentary glimpse 
of this man's face, cut in half by a heavy moustache and sur- 
mounted by a grey felt hat. 
Meanwhile, the nurse walked on without turning round. 
The officer had crossed the street and now hurried his pace, the 
more so as it struck him that the cab was also increasing its 
speed as the girl drew near the space in front of the museum. 
From where he was, the officer could take in almost the 
whole of the little square at a glance ; and, however sharply 
he looked, lie discerned notliing in the darkness that revealed 
the presence of the seven crippled men. No one moreover ' 
was pa.ssing on foot or driving. In the distance only, in the 
dusk of the wide crossing avenues, two tram-cars, with lowered 
bhnds, disturbed the silence. 
Nor did the girl, presuming that she was paying attention 
to the sights of the street, appear to see anything to alarm 
her. She gave not the least sign of hesitation. And the 
behaviour of the motor-cab following her did not seem to 
strike her either, for she did not look round once. 
The cab, however, was gaining ground. When it nearcd 
the square, it was ten or fifteen yards, at most, from the 
nurse ; and, by the time that she, still noticing nothing, had 
reached the first trees, it came closer yet and, leaving the 
middle of the road, began to hug the pavement, while, on the 
side opposite the pavement, the left-hand side, the man who 
kept leaning out had opened the door and was now standing 
on the step. 
The o-licer crossed the street once more, briskly, without 
fear of being seen, so heedless did the two men now appear 
of anything but their immediate business. He raised a 
whistle to his lips. There was no doubt that the expected 
event was about to take ])lacc. 
The cab, in fact, pulled up suddenly. The two men leapt 
from the doors on either side and rushed to the pavement of 
the square, a few yards from the kiosk. At the same moment, 
there was a cry of terror irom the girl and a shrill whistle 
from the officer. And, also at the same time, the two men 
caught up and seized their victim and dragged her towards the 
cab, while the seven wounded soldiers, seeming to spring 
from the very trunks of the trees that hid them, fell ujion the 
two aggressors. 
The battle did not last long. Or rather there was no 
battle. At the outset, the driver of the taxi, perceiving tliat 
the attack was being countered, made off and drove away as 
fast as he could. As for the two men, reaUsing that their 
enterprise had failed and finding themselves faced with a 
threatening array of uplifted sticks and crutches, not to a 
mention the barrel of a revolver which the ofhcer pointed at 
them, they let go the girl, tacked from side to side, to prevent 
the officer from taking aim, and disappeared in the darkness 
of the Rue Brignoles. 
" Run for all you're worth, Ya-Bon," said the officer to 
the one-armed Senegalese, "and bring me back one of them by 
the scruff of the neck ! " 
He supported the girl with his arm. She was trembling all 
over and seemed ready to faint. 
" Don't be frightened. Little Mother Coralie," he said, 
very anxiously. " It's I, Captain Belval, Patrice Belvai." 
" All, it's you, captain ! " she stammered. 
" Yes ; all your friends have gathered round to defend you, 
all your old patients from the hospital, whom I found in the 
convalescent home." 
" Thank you. Thank you." And she added, in a quivering 
voice, " The others ? Those two men ? 
" Run away. Ya-Bon 's gone after them." 
" But what did they want with mc ? And what miracle 
brought vou all here ? 
" We'll talk about that later, Little Mother Coralie. Let's 
sjx^ak of you lirst. Where am 1 to take you ? Don't you think 
you'd better come in here with me, until you've recovered 
and taken a little rest ? 
Assisted by one of the soldiers, he helped her gently to the 
