isappeared! The Rubens, carried away! The
tapestries taken down! The cabinets, despoiled of their jewels!

"And my Louis XVI candelabra! And the Regent chandelier!...And my
twelfth-century Virgin!"

He ran from one spot to another in wildest despair. He recalled the
purchase price of each article, added up the figures, counted his
losses, pell-mell, in confused words and unfinished phrases. He stamped
with rage; he groaned with grief. He acted like a ruined man whose only
hope is suicide.

If anything could have consoled him, it would have been the stupefaction
displayed by Ganimard. The famous detective did not move. He appeared
to be petrified; he examined the room in a listless manner. The
windows?.... closed. The locks on the doors?.... intact. Not a break in
the ceiling; not a hole in the floor. Everything was in perfect order.
The theft had been carried out methodically, according to a logical and
inexorable plan.

"Arsene Lupin....Arsene Lupin," he muttered.

Suddenly, as if moved by anger, he rushed upon his two assistants and
shook them violently. They did not awaken.

"The devil!" he cried. "Can it be possible?"

He leaned over them and, in turn, examined them closely. They were
asleep; but their response was unnatural.

"They have been drugged," he said to the baron.

"By whom?"

"By him, of course, or his men under his discretion. That work bears his
stamp."

"In that case, I am lost--nothing can be done."

"Nothing," assented Ganimard.

"It is dreadful; it is monstrous."

"Lodge a complaint."

"What good will that do?"

"Oh; it is well to try it. The law has some resources."

"The law! Bah! it is useless. You represent the law, and, at this
moment, when you should be looking for a clue and trying to discover
something, you do not even stir."

"Discover something with Arsene Lupin! Why, my dear monsieur, Arsene
Lupin never leaves any clue behind him. He leaves nothing to chance.
Sometimes I think he put himself in my way and simply allowed me to
arrest him in America."

"Then, I must renounce my pictures! He has taken the gems of my
collection. I would give a fortune to recover them. If there is no other
way, let him name his own price."

Ganimard regarded the baron attentively, as he said:

"Now, that is sensible. Will you stick to it?"

"Yes, yes. But why?"

"An idea that I have."

"What is it?"

"We will discuss it later--if the official examination does not succeed.
Bu