d she select that one rather than the others?"

"It was you who selected him, uncle."

"At random ... because he had the biggest income...."

"No, not at random, but on the insidious, persistent and very clever
advice of your servant Hyacinthe."

The duke gave a start:

"What! Is Hyacinthe an accomplice?"

"No, not of Arsene Lupin, but of the man whom he believes to be
d'Emboise and who promised to give him a hundred thousand francs within
a week after the marriage."

"Oh, the villain!... He planned everything, foresaw everything...."

"Foresaw everything, uncle, down to shamming an attempt upon his life so
as to avert suspicion, down to shamming a wound received in your
service."

"But with what object? Why all these dastardly tricks?"

"Angelique has a fortune of eleven million francs. Your solicitor in
Paris was to hand the securities next week to the counterfeit d'Emboise,
who had only to realize them forthwith and disappear. But, this very
morning, you yourself were to hand your son-in-law, as a personal
wedding-present, five hundred thousand francs' worth of bearer-stock,
which he has arranged to deliver to one of his accomplices at nine
o'clock this evening, outside the castle, near the Great Oak, so that
they may be negotiated to-morrow morning in Brussels."

The Duc de Sarzeau-Vendome had risen from his seat and was stamping
furiously up and down the room:

"At nine o'clock this evening?" he said. "We'll see about that.... We'll
see about that.... I'll have the gendarmes here before then...."

"Arsene Lupin laughs at gendarmes."

"Let's telegraph to Paris."

"Yes, but how about the five hundred thousand francs?... And, still
worse, uncle, the scandal?... Think of this: your daughter, Angelique de
Sarzeau-Vendome, married to that swindler, that thief.... No, no, it
would never do...."

"What then?"

"What?..."

The nephew now rose and, stepping to a gun-rack, took down a rifle and
laid it on the table, in front of the duke:

"Away in Algeria, uncle, on the verge of the desert, when we find
ourselves face to face with a wild beast, we do not send for the
gendarmes. We take our rifle and we shoot the wild beast. Otherwise, the
beast would tear us to pieces with its claws."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, over there, I acquired the habit of dispensing with the
gendarmes. It is a rather summary way of doing justice, but it is the
best way, believe me, and to-day, in the present case,