d, except the
faint noise of Daubrecq's footsteps on the flagstones. Lupin considered
that the moment had come. He thrust his arm through the bars and threw
the letter in.

Daubrecq seemed thunderstruck.

The letter had fluttered through the room and lay on the floor, at three
steps from him. Where did it come from? He raised his head toward the
window and tried to pierce the darkness that hid all the upper part
of the room from his eyes. Then he looked at the envelope, without yet
daring to touch it, as though he dreaded a snare. Then, suddenly, after
a glance at the door, he stooped briskly, seized the envelope and opened
it.

"Ah," he said, with a sigh of delight, when he saw the signature.

He read the letter half-aloud:

"Rely implicitly on the bearer of this note. He has succeeded
in discovering the marquis' secret, with the money which we gave
him, and has contrived a plan of escape. Everything is prepared
for your flight.

"EUPHRASIE ROUSSELOT"

He read the letter again, repeated, "Euphrasie... Euphrasie..." and
raised his head once more.

Lupin whispered:

"It will take me two or three hours to file through one of the bars. Are
Sebastiani and his sons coming back?"

"Yes, they are sure to," replied Daubrecq, in the same low voice, "but I
expect they will leave me to myself."

"But they sleep next door?"

"Yes."

"Won't they hear?"

"No, the door is too thick."

"Very well. In that case, it will soon be done. I have a rope-ladder.
Will you be able to climb up alone, without my assistance?"

"I think so... I'll try... It's my wrists that they've broken... Oh, the
brutes! I can hardly move my hands... and I have very little strength
left. But I'll try all the same... needs must..."

He stopped, listened and, with his finger to his mouth, whispered:

"Hush!"

When Sebastiani and his sons entered the room, Daubrecq, who had hidden
the letter and lain down on his bed, pretended to wake with a start.

The huntsman brought him a bottle of wine, a glass and some food:

"How goes it, monsieur le depute?" he cried. "Well, perhaps we did
squeeze a little hard... It's very painful, that thumbscrewing. Seems
they often did it at the time of the Great Revolution and Bonaparte...
in the days of the chauffeurs. [*] A pretty invention! Nice and clean...
no bloodshed... And it didn't last long either! In twenty minutes, you
came out with the missing word!" Sebastiani burst out laughing. "