them carefully and ship them to me, charges prepaid, to the
station at Batignolles, within eight days, otherwise I shall be
obliged to remove them myself during the night of 27 September;
but, under those circumstances, I shall not content myself with
the articles above mentioned.

"Accept my apologies for any inconvenience I may cause you, and
believe me to be your humble servant,
"Arsene Lupin."

"P. S.--Please do not send the largest Watteau. Although you
paid thirty thousand francs for it, it is only a copy, the
original having been burned, under the Directoire by Barras,
during a night of debauchery. Consult the memoirs of Garat.

"I do not care for the Louis XV chatelaine, as I doubt its
authenticity."

That letter completely upset the baron. Had it borne any other
signature, he would have been greatly alarmed--but signed by Arsene
Lupin!

As an habitual reader of the newspapers, he was versed in the
history of recent crimes, and was therefore well acquainted with
the exploits of the mysterious burglar. Of course, he knew that
Lupin had been arrested in America by his enemy Ganimard and was
at present incarcerated in the Prison de la Sante. But he knew
also that any miracle might be expected from Arsene Lupin.
Moreover, that exact knowledge of the castle, the location of the
pictures and furniture, gave the affair an alarming aspect. How