20 
LAND & WATER 
marcn zz, lyxy 
The Golden Triangle 
By Maurice Leblanc 
[Translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos 
Yi 
CHAPTER XVIII (conHnucd) 
"OU will pay me half the two million now and 
the other half when the business is done," said 
Dr. Geradcc to Simeon after the bargain had 
been completed. " There remains the matter of 
the passport, a secondary matter for me. Still, we shall have 
to make one out. In what name is it to be ? " 
" Anv name you hke." 
The doctor took a sheet of paper and wrote down the 
description, looking at Simeon between the plirases and 
muttering : 
" Grey hair . . . Clean shaven . . . Yellow 
spectacles ..." 
Then he stopped and asked : 
" But how do I know that I shall be paid the money ? 
That's essential, you know. I want bank-notes, real ones." 
" You shall have them." 
" Where are they ? " " 
" Grtgoire had the money in his keeping, four million 
francs. It's on board the barge. We'll go there together 
and I'll count you out the first million." 
" I won't accept any of them in payment." .r ' 
" Why not ? You must be mad ! " 
" Why not ? Because you can't pay a man with what 
already belongs to him." 
Simeon shrugged his shoulders. 
" You're talking nonsense. For the money to belong to 
you, it must first be in your possession." 
•• It is." 
" E.xplain yourself, explain yourself at once ! " snarled 
Simeon, beside himself with anger and alarm. 
" I will explain myself. The hiding-place that couldn't 
be got at consisted of four old books, back numbers of 
Bottin's directory for Paris and the provinces, each in two 
volumes. The four volumes were hollow inside, as though 
they had been scooped out ; and there was a million francs 
in each of them." 
" You he ! You lie ! " 
" They are on a shelf, in a little lumber-room next the 
cabin." 
" WeU, what then ? " 
" What then ? They're here." 
" Here ? " 
'■ Yes, here, on that bookshelf, in front of your nose. So, 
m the circumstances, you see, as I am already the lawful 
owner, I can't accept. . . ." 
" You thief ! You thief ! " shouted Simeon, shaking with 
rage and clenching his list. " You're nothing but a thief ; 
and I'll make you disgorge. Oh, you dirty thief ! " 
Dr. Geradec smiled very calmly and raised his hand in 
protest : 
■' This is strong language and quite unjustified ! Quite 
unjustified ! Let me remind you that Mme. Mosgranem 
honoured me with her affection. One day, or rather one 
morning, after a moment of expansiveness, ' My dear friend,' 
she said — she used to call me her dear friend — ' my dear 
friend, when I die ' — she was given to those gloomy fore- 
bodings — ' when I die, I bequeath to you the contents of 
my home ! ' Her home, at that moment, was the barge. Do 
you suggest that I should insult her memory by refusing to 
ubey so sacred a wish ? 
Old Smieon was not listening. An infernal thought was 
awakening in him ; and he turned to the doctor with a move- 
ment of affrighted attention. 
" We are wasting precious time, my dear sir," said the 
doctor. " What have you decided to do ? " 
He was playing with the sheet of paper on which he had 
written the particulars required for the passport. S.iiuon 
came up to him without a word. At last, the old man 
whispered '• 
" Give me that sheet of paper. ... I want to see. ." 
He took the paper out of the doctor's hand, ran his eyes 
down it and suddenly leapt backwards ! 
" What name have you put ? Wliat name have you put ? 
What right have you to give me that name ? Why did you 
do it ? " 
■■ You told me to put any name I pleased, you know." 
■■ But why this one ? Wiiy this one ? '' 
" Can it be your own ? 
The old man started with terror and, bending lower and 
lower over the doctor, said, in a trembhng voice : 
■' One man alone, one man alone was capable of guess- 
ing- . . •" . J » 
In a sort of terror-stricken tone, Simeon hissed out : 
" Arsenc Lupin ! . . . Arsene Lupin ! . . ." 
" You've hit it in one," exclaimed the doctor, rising. 
Ho dropped his eyeglass, took from his pocket a httle pot 
of grease, smeared his face with it, washed it off in a basin 
in a recess and reappeared with a clear skin, a smiling, banter- 
ing face and an easy carriage. 
" Arsene Lupin !." repeated Simeon, petrified. " Ars6ne 
Lupin ! I'm in for it ! " 
" Up to the neck, you old fool ! And what a silly fool 
you must be I Why, you know me by reputation, you feel 
for me the intense and wholesome awe with which a decent 
man of my stamp is bound to inspire an old rascal hke you. . 
and you go and imagine that I should be ass enough to let 
myself be bottled up in that lethal chamber of yours ! Mind 
you, at that very moment I could have taken you by the hair 
of the head and gone straight on to the great scene in the fifth 
act which we are now playing. Only my fifth act would have 
been a bit short, you see ; and I'm a born actor-manager. 
As it is, observe how well the interest is sustained ! And 
what fun it was seeing the thought of it take birth in your old 
Turkish noddle ! And what a lark to go into the studio, 
fasten my electric lamp to a bit of string, make poor, dear 
Patrice believe that I was there and go out and hear Patrice 
denying me three times and carefully bolting the door on . 
what ? My electric lamp ! That was all first-class work, don t 
you think ? What do you say to it ? I can feel you're that 
speecliless with admiration . . . And, ten minutes after, 
when you came back, the same scene in the wings and with 
the same success. Of course, you old Simeon, I was banging 
at the walled-up door, between the studio and the bedroom 
on the left. Only I wasn't in the studio : I was in the bed- 
room ; and you went away quietly, like a good kind landlord. 
As for me, 1 had no need to hurry. I was ascertain as that 
twice two is four that you would go to your friend M. Amedce 
Vacherot, the porter. And here, 1 may say, old Simeon, you 
■ committed a nice piece of imprudence, which got me out of 
my difficulty. No one in the porter's lodge ; that could'nt 
be helped ; but what I did find was a telephone-number on a 
scrap of newspaper. I did not hesitate for a moment. I rang 
up the numb.:ri coolly : ' Monsieur, it was I who telephoned 
10 you just now. Only I've got your number, but not yoor 
address.' Back came the answer : ' Dr. Geradec, Boulevard 
de Montmorency.' Then I understood. Dr. Geradec ? You 
would want your throat tubed for a bit, then the all-essential 
passport ; and I came off here, without troubling about your 
poor friend M. Vacherot, whom you murdered in some corner 
or other to escape a possible give-away on his side. And I 
saw Dr. Geradec, a charming man, whose worries have made 
him very wise and submissive and who . . . lent me his 
place for the morning. I had still two hours before me. 1 
went to the barge, took the miUions, cleared up a few odds and 
ends and here 1 am ! " 
He came and stood in front of the old man : 
" Well, are you ready ? " he asked. 
Simeon, who seemed absorbed in thought, gave a start. 
" Ready for what ? " said Don Luis, replying to his un- 
spoken question. " Why, for the great journey, of course ! 
\ our passport is in order. Your ticket's taken : Paris to 
Hell, single. Non-stop hearse. Sleeping-coffin. Step in. 
sir 
I " 
The old man, tottering on his legs, made an effort and 
stammered ; 
" And Patrice ? 
" What about him ? " 
" I offer you his life in exchange for my own." 
Don Luis folded his arms across his chest : 
" Well, of all the cheek ! Patrice is a friend ; and you 
think me capable of abandoning him like that ? Do you see 
me. Lupin, making more or less witty jokes upon your 
imminent death w.ile my friend Patrice is i.i danger. Ol i 
Simeon, you're getting played out. It's time you went and 
rested in a better world." 
He liiteJ a hanging, opened a door and called out ; 
{(^uHtiniteU on paije Zi 
