30 
LAND & WATER 
March 8, 1917 
The Golden Triangle 
By Maurice Leblanc 
[Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos) 
T; 
CHAPTER XVII (continued) 
(HAT'S your father's writing, is it not ?" asked 
Don Luis. 
Yes," said Patrice, in bewilderment. " And 
it is also the writing of the letters which he 
.iddressed to his friend \'acherot. Oh, it's too hideous to be 
true ? What a man ! What a scoundrel ! " 
Simeon mi)\'ed. His eyes opened and closed repeatedly. 
Then coming to himself entirely, he looked at Patrice, who 
at once, in a stifled voice, asked : 
" Where's Coralie ? " 
And. as Sinn' on, still dazed, seemed not to understand and 
sat gazing at him stupidly, he repeated, in a harsher tone : 
" Where's Coralie ? What have you done with her ? 
Where' have you put her ? She must be dying ! " 
Simeon was gradually recovering hfe and consciousness. 
He mumbled : 
" Patrice. . . . Patrice. . . ." 
He looked around him, saw Don Luis, no doubt remembered 
his fight to the death with Ya-Bon and closed his eyes again. 
But Patrice's rage increased : 
" Will you attend ? " he shouted. " I won't wait any 
linger ! It'll cost you your life if you don't answer ! " 
The man's eyes opened again, red-rimmed, bloodshot eyes. 
He pointed to his throat to indicate his difficulty in speak- 
ing. At last, with a ', isible effort, he repeated : 
" Patrice ! Is it you ? . . . I have been waiting for 
this mon ent so long ! . . . And now we are meeting as 
enemies ! ..." 
" As mortal enemies," said Patrice, with emphasis. 
" Death stands between us : Ya-Bon's death, Coralie's per- 
haps. . . . Where is she •? You must speak, or. . . ." 
" Patrice, is it really you ? " the man repeated, in a whisper. 
The familiarity exasperated the officer. He caught his 
adversary by the -lapel of his jacket and shook him. But 
Simi'on had seen the pocket-book which he held in his other 
hand and, without resisting Patrice's roughness, whined : 
" You wouldn't hurt me, Patrice. You must have found 
•^ome letters ; and you now know the link that binds us 
together. Oh, how happy I should have been. . . . ! " 
Patrice had released his hold and stood staring at him in 
horror. Sinking his voice in his turn, he said : 
" Don't dare to speak of that : I won't, I won't beheve it ! " 
" It's the truth, Patrice." 
" You lie ! You lie ! " cried the officer, unable to restrain 
himself any longer, while his grief distorted his face out of 
all recognition. 
" Ah, I see you have guessed it ! Then I need not ex- 
plain. . . ." 
" You lie ! You're just a common scoundrel 1 ... If 
what you say is true, why did you plot against Coralie and 
me ? Why did you try to murder the two of us ? " 
V" I was mad, Patrice. Yes, I go mad at times. All these 
tragedies have turned my head. My own Coralie's death . . 
and then my life in Essares' shadow . . . and then . . 
and then, above all, the gold ! . . , Did I really try to 
kill you both ? I no longer remember. Or at least I remem- 
ber a dream I had : it happened in the lodge, didn't it, as 
before .'' Uh, madness! What a torture 1 I'm like a man in 
the galleys, I have to do things against my will ! . . . Then 
it was in the lodge, was it, as before.' And in the same 
manner ? With the same implements .' . . . Yes, in my 
dream, I went through all my agony over again . . . and 
that of my darling. . . . But, instead of being tortured, 
1 was the torturer. . . . What a torment 1 " 
">Hc spoke low, inside himself, with hesitations and inter- 
vals and an unspeakable air of suffering. Don Luis kept 
his eyes fixed on him, as though trying to discover what he 
was aiming at. And Simeon continued : 
" My poor Patrice ! . . . I was so fond of you ! . . 
And now you are my worst enemy ! . . . How indeed 
could it be otherwise ? . ... How could you forget ? 
. . . Oh, why didn't they lock me up after Essares' death ? 
It was then that I felt my brain going . . ." 
" So it was 3'ou who killed him ? " asked Patrice. 
" No. no, that's just it : somebody else robbed me of my 
revenge." 
" Who ? " 
" I don't know . . . The whole business is incom- 
. Don't speak of it . . . It 
have suffered so since Coralie's 
. As for little Coralie, 
. , . She ought not to 
in agony. 
prehensible to me . . 
all pains me ... 1 
death ! " 
" Coralie ! ^' exclaimed Patrice. 
" Yes, the woman I loved . 
I've suffered also on her account 
have married Essarte." 
Where is she ? " asked Patrice 
" I can't tell you." 
" You mean she's dead," cried Patrice. 
Simi'on stopped and gave a glance at Don Luis : 
" Tell him to go away," he said. 
Don Luis lauglied. 
" Of course ! Lit le Mother CoraHe is hidden in the same 
place as the bags of gold. To save her means surrendering 
the bags of gold." 
" Well ? " said Patrice, in an almost aggressive tone. 
" Well, captain," replied Don Luis, not without a certain- 
touch of banter in his voice, "if this honourable gentleman 
suggested that you should release him on parole so that he 
might go and fetch your Coralie, I don't supp se you'd 
accept ? ' 
" No." 
" You haven't the least confidence in him, have you ? 
And you're right. The honourable gentleman, mad though 
he may be, gave such proofs of mental superiority and balance, 
when he sent us trundling down the road to Mantes, that it 
would be dangerous to attach the least credit to his promises. 
The consequence is . . ." 
;; WeU ? " 
" This, captain, that the honourable gentleman means to 
propose a bargain to you, which may be couched thus : 
' You can have Coralie, but I'll keep the gold.' " 
" I presume that you won't raise any opposition. It's a 
matter of a woman's Hfe." 
" No doubt. But, on the other hand, it's a matter of 
three hundred million francs." 
" Then you refuse ? " 
" Yes," said Don Luis, preserving his coolness. " Yes, 
Captain Belval, I refuse this bargain, which I consider absurd. 
Wh}^ it's the confidence trick ! By Jingo ! Three hundred 
millions ! Give up a windfall Hkc that ? Never ! But I 
haven't the least objection to leaving you alone with the hon- 
ourable gentleman. That's what he wants, isn't it ? " 
" Yes." 
" Well, talk it over between yourselves. Sign the compact. 
The honourable gentleman, who, for his part, has every 
confidence in his son, will tell you the whereabouts of the 
hiding-place ; and you shall release your Coralie." 
" And you ? What about you ? " snarled Patrice, angrily. 
" I ? I'm going to complete my little enquiry into the 
present and the past by revisiting the room where you nearly 
met your death. See you later, captain. And, whatever 
you do, insist on guarantees." 
Switching on his pocket lamp, Don Luis entered the lodge 
and walked straight to the studio. Patrice saw the electric 
rays playing on the panels between the walled-up windows. 
He went back to where Simeon sat : 
" Don't waste time," said Patrice, impatiently. " Get to 
CoraUe." 
" I've told you, Coralie was alive." ' 
" She was alive when you left her ; but since then . . .'* 
" Yes, since then . . ." 
" Since then, what ? You seem to have your doubts." ' 
" It was last night, five or six hours ago, and I am 
afraid . . ." 
Patrice felt a cold shudder run down his back. He would 
have given anything for a decisive word ; and at the same time 
he was almost strangling the old man to punish liim. He 
mastered himself, however : 
" Don't let's waste time," he repeated. 
to go." 
" No, we'll go together." 
Tell me where 
" You haven't the strength. 
it's not far. Only, 
" Yes, yes, I can manage 
only, Usten to me . . ." 
The old man seemed utterly exhausted. From time to time 
his breathing was interrupted, as though Ya-Bon's hand 
( Continued on page 2 2j 
