On the second day, at a distance of five hundred miles from the
French coast, in the midst of a violent storm, we received the
following message by means of the wireless telegraph:

"Arsene Lupin is on your vessel, first cabin, blonde hair, wound
right fore-arm, traveling alone under name of R........"

At that moment, a terrible flash of lightning rent the stormy
skies. The electric waves were interrupted. The remainder of the
dispatch never reached us. Of the name under Arsene Lupin was
concealing himself, we knew only the initial.

If the news had been of some other character, I have no doubt that
the secret would have been carefully guarded by the telegraphic
operator as well as by the officers of the vessel. But it was one
of those events calculated to escape from the most rigorous
discretion. The same day, no one knew how, the incident became a
matter of current gossip and every passenger was aware that the
famous Arsene Lupin was hiding in our midst.

Arsene Lupin in our midst! the irresponsible burglar whose
exploits had been narrated in all the newspapers during the past
few months! the mysterious individual with whom Ganimard, our
shrewdest detective, had been engaged in an implacable conflict
amidst interesting and picturesque surroundings. Arsene Lupin,
the eccentric gentleman who operates only in the chateaux and
salons, and who, one night, entered the residence of Baron
Schormann, but emerged empty-handed, leaving, however, his card on
which he had scribbled these words: "Arsene Lupin, gentleman-
burglar, will return when the furniture is genuine." Arsene