"Have you their cards?"

"Yes."

The Prefect of Police took the five visiting cards which his secretary
handed him and read:

"Mr. Archibald Bright, First Secretary United States Embassy; Maître
Lepertuis, Solicitor; Juan Caceres, Attaché to the Peruvian Legation;
Major Comte d'Astrignac, retired."

The fifth card bore merely a name, without address or quality of
any kind--

DON LUIS PERENNA

"That's the one I'm curious to see!" said M. Desmalions. "He interests me
like the very devil! Did you read the report of the Foreign Legion?"

"Yes, Monsieur le Préfet, and I confess that this gentleman
puzzles me, too."

"He does, eh? Did you ever hear of such pluck? A sort of heroic madman,
something absolutely wonderful! And then there's that nickname of Arsène
Lupin which he earned among his messmates for the way in which he used
to boss them and astound them! ... How long is it since the death of
Arsène Lupin?"

"It happened two years before your appointment, Monsieur le Préfet. His