Messengers of Evil

the massive mahogany furniture, the thick carpets, the deep, comfortable chairs, the sober elegance of the window curtains b

t advanced

you want,

eur Nanteuil? I should be glad to

tendan

nal matter,

al matter

med to have been thrown so far.... Not only were the Barbey-Nanteuils the bankers of the Baroness de Vibray, but they had been present at Thomery's ball, when the attack on Princess Sonia Danido

a stately indi

an important committee meeting; but Monsieur Barbey will see you for a

see Monsieur Barbey,

bank, and passing the half-open door of Monsieur Nanteuil's offi

ldly and with a solemn bow. Fan

the object of my call.... You must be aware of the profound impression caused by the double

, in the papers, the account of the investi

eur, is it not a fact that the Baroness de Vibray was your c

details than those already published, you will be disappointed. I myself have le

statement that Madame

nal secret if I say that Madame de Vibray

ess Sonia

k she is one o

not th

ur business is a very extensive one, and neither Nanteuil, nor I,

e name of Ja

ibray, who asked me to give him a helping hand, and I willingly d

him guilty then?

do all your readers, mo

sure of Dollon's guilt, the door was flung open with violence, and Monsieur Nanteuil, out of breath, looking thoroughly upse

cried Monsieur Barbey, ris

Nanteuil, "that an abominable ro

he

!..." Still panting, he

hed from the Barbey-Nanteuil bank and ma

, a considerable crowd had flocked to the scene of the accident; but barriers had been quickly erected, and

s, and was bent on entering the stone and wood yards of the works forbidde

e big newspapers, Fandor was jostled by an individual coming out of the yards. It was a navvy all covered with mortar, white dust, and

meone had struck him a blow on the heart! The navvy had given him so strang

is reassured him; if he followed the navvy, and he had the strongest inclination to do so, he could telephone to some reporter friend who would supply him with the necessary details for his article on the accident. He had got some facts al

d with his eyes this strange navvy w

st follow the trail of this man and make him talk. It wa

y going away, he had th

e man-then there was an astonishing move on the navvy's part: he hailed a taxi and got in.

ont of you: don't let it outdistance

dea of pursuing a comrade through the crowded streets of Paris, he set off. He adroitly cut throug

he scent, kept watch over their p

and wonderful adventures, when he would follow this very route to keep some exciting appointment with his good friend, Juve. How frequent those appointments used to be, when the famous detective was alive and so actively

d this had brought him into close touch with the ups and downs of a number of crime dramas: he and Juve together had even been the voluntary,

olated, with not a soul to whom he cared to confide his perplexities

ollowed the quay for a few minutes, then rounding the Fine A

ore vividly to mind! For Juve had lived in this street; and now, a few yards further on, they would pass before the modest dwelling

y! Then Fandor, full of spirit, would come and go from room to room, unable to sit still, all fire and activity; and Juve would remain in one place, calm, full of thought, sometimes sunk in

near the rue Bonaparte for six months. It was all too painful, t

In rue Bonaparte, the former house porters had left; their place had been taken by a stout, sulky woman who gave evasive replies to Fandor's questions. He extracted from her the in

ed to stop its beating: the taxi he was pursuing had slowed down-had

ssed to his cheek. Without a moment's reflection, Fandor leapt from his taxi, flung a five-franc piece to his d

cited young journalist, who was close on his quarry's heels:

rcome by emotion, for the man entered Juve

s pursuer, but Fandor had foreseen this. He slipped throug

ed, and the two men stood face to

then, with a strangled cry, Fandor fell into the man's arms, and was crushe

uv

ndo

r arm-chairs in Juve's study. His temples and the lobes of his ears were being bathed wit

with difficulty that he could

m, gazing at him tenderly, watching his

strove to rise

rembling with emotion. "Fandor, my li

n his forehead, at the corners of his mouth, too; but it was the Juve of old times, for all that!... Juve, alert, souple, robust, Juve in his full vigour, in the prime of life! Oh,

his appearance; he had taken off his workman's clothes, and also the red beard

but he also knew the good of a keen curiosity. Now he would know why the detective had

ffection poured from Fandor's excited lips, intermingl

and gazed most affecti

st he

ave seen you repeatedly, and I know you are quite all rig

g that enigmati

Ah, this was indeed the Juve of bygone days, im

r, who was still under the influ

d, did you recognis

led himsel

intuition, a kind of interior revelation of what I had to do, and without any

ded his

or getting on to the right scent, strengthened by my teaching, has improved immensely since we parted; and, in the second place, I am delighted t

t I came across you at the very spot where the Barbey-Nanteuil load of gold had been submerge

t Fando

to say to each other, and must say. Are you aware, Fandor, that we have been drawn into a succession of incomprehensible occurrences-a mysterious network of them?... But I

or's turn t

t there's a lot I don't know yet.... What are you after, d

pause, the

ear to you the principal lines my existence has followed during the past three years or

the formidable bandit in a house at Neuilly, belonging to a great English lady, known under the name of Lady Beltham. This Englishwoman was the mistress and accomplice of the notorious Fant?mas.[9] But at the

terruptedly, for forty-eight hours, they searched among

slightly hurt, and at the end of a few days he was as well

ng to the injuries they had sustained; and, as it seemed incredible that the detective

, was not one

sh, he had been able to rise and make his escape. The distracted detective had raced away from the scene of d

escuers, and had learned that Fandor had been found, and was not dangerously hurt:

re than ever set upon catching his enemy, the detective said to himself, that if Fant?mas could feel certain

onsieur Havard; and the head of the police secret service

dy Beltham had es

ris, crossed the Channel. He then went to America. For scarcely had he arrive

ant?mas had vanished, leaving not a trace behind, and the disgusted detect

because, before his supposed death, Juve had effected the arrest of several members of a band of

d in his stead. Juve was convinced that the condemned criminal was none other than Fant?mas. Juve strongly suspected that this warder, Nibet by name, knew a great deal about this old affair. But soon Nibet passed to the Dép?t. The accomplices of Fant?mas,

's rapid narrative with

, what then?" i

, a band of smugglers and false coiners, among whom are to be found individuals already known to you, notably the Beard, the Cooper, and also that wretch of a Mother T

Fandor, "I don't in t

ant?mas has genius-took the personality of Valgrand for several hours, and dared to go to the theatre where the real Valgrand was playing. However, as Fant?mas was not capable of playing the part to a finish, he conceived the idea of making those about Valgrand believe that he had been sudden

dits treated him as one of themselves; how, as soon as they were convinced that he could not remember any

ective

ithout my being able to discover, so far, where they sell them-who makes their market. They also sell lace smuggled from Belgium; that, however, interests me but little, and I was prepared to leave to the lower ranks of the service the duty of clearing Paris of this common-place brood of criminals; already, indeed, the regular police had arrested one of the smugglers, the Cooper, a

between the Dollon affair

, my Fandor, when you learn that the Dép?t warder, Nibet, is one of the most valuabl

all this is so strange that I believe you

s head; then

o say, that I ought to apologise to you for a fairly brutal act I c

the history of the famous kick he had administered-a kick wherewith Juve had removed his frien

it! He grasped Juve's hand

red he, moved almost to tears. "If

terrupt

to me to be neglecting your work badly at this very moment, Mr. Reporter! It is already one o'clock in the afterno

eapt to

te forgotten it!... But it is of

inter

a I employed on two or three occasions, when warning you, after the assassinati

you, Juve!"

me, in future, and under what form, should occasion require it. Cranajour I am; Cranajour I remain-for the tim

inking better of it, caught him by the arm, dr

ich should be said, above all things, to be hinted at ... do you wish me to give you i

course, he had important reasons for so doing, did not say one word. He simply brought out his fount

dic

l, put this

acious

anything, but it awakens his

ri