The Teeth of the Tiger | Page 7

less than sixty
nor more than ninety days after the first meeting. Then and not till then
will the definite legatee be named and proclaimed according to his
rights, nor shall any be so named and proclaimed unless he be present
at this meeting, at the conclusion of which Don Luis Perenna, who
must also attend it, shall become the definite legatee if, as I have said,
no survivor nor heir of the Roussel sisters or of their cousin Victor have
come forward to claim the bequest."
Replacing both documents in the envelope the Prefect of Police
concluded:
"You have now, gentlemen, heard the will of Mr. Cosmo Mornington,
which explains your presence here. A sixth person will join us shortly:
one of my detectives, whom I instructed to make the first inquiries
about the Roussel family and who will give you the result of his
investigations. But, for the moment, we must proceed in accordance

with the testator's directions.
"Don Luis Perenna's papers, which he sent me, at my request, a
fortnight ago, have been examined by myself and are perfectly in order.
As regards his birth, I wrote and begged his Excellency the Peruvian
minister to collect the most precise information."
"The minister entrusted this mission to me," said Señor Caceres, the
Peruvian attaché. "It offered no difficulties. Don Luis Perenna comes of
an old Spanish family which emigrated thirty years ago, but which
retained its estates and property in Europe. I knew Don Luis's father in
America; and he used to speak of his only son with the greatest
affection. It was our legation that informed the son, three years ago, of
his father's death. I produce a copy of the letter sent to Morocco."
"And I have the original letter here, among the documents forwarded
by Don Luis Perenna to the Prefect of Police. Do you, Major, recognize
Private Perenna, who fought under your orders in the Foreign Legion?"
"I recognize him," said Comte d'Astrignac.
"Beyond the possibility of a mistake?"
"Beyond the possibility of a mistake and without the least feeling of
hesitation."
The Prefect of Police, with a laugh, hinted:
"You recognize Private Perenna, whom the men, carried away by a sort
of astounded admiration of his exploits, used to call Arsène Lupin?"
"Yes, Monsieur le Préfet," replied the major sharply, "the one whom
the men called Arsène Lupin, but whom the officers called simply the
Hero, the one who we used to say was as brave as d'Artagnan, as strong
as Porthos...."
"And as mysterious as Monte Cristo," said the Prefect of Police,
laughing. "I have all this in the report which I received from the Fourth

Regiment of the Foreign Legion. It is not necessary to read the whole
of it; but it contains the unprecedented fact that Private Perenna, in the
space of two years' time, received the military medal, received the
Legion of Honour for exceptional services, and was mentioned fourteen
times in dispatches. I will pick out a detail here and there."
"Monsieur le Préfet, I beg of you," protested Don Luis. "These are
trivial matters, of no interest to anybody; and I do not see the reason...."
"There is every reason, on the contrary," declared M. Desmalions.
"You gentlemen are here not only to hear a will read, but also to
authorize its execution as regards the only one of its clauses that is to
be carried out at once, the payment of a legacy of a million francs. It is
necessary, therefore, that all of you should know what there is to know
of the personality of the legatee. Consequently, I propose to
continue ..."
"In that case, Monsieur le Préfet," said Perenna, rising and making for
the door, "you will allow me ..."
"Right about turn! Halt! ... Eyes front!" commanded Major d'Astrignac
in a jesting tone.
He dragged Don Luis back to the middle of the room and forced him
into a chair.
"Monsieur le Préfet," he said, "I plead for mercy for my old
comrade-in-arms, whose modesty would really be put to too severe a
test if the story of his prowess were read out in front of him. Besides,
the report is here; and we can all of us consult it for ourselves. Without
having seen it, I second every word of praise that it contains; and I
declare that, in the course of my whole military career, I have never
met a soldier who could compare with Private Perenna. And yet I saw
plenty of fine fellows over there, the sort of demons whom you only
find in the Legion and who will get themselves cut to bits for the sheer
pleasure of the thing, for the lark of it, as they say, just to astonish one
another.

"But not one of them came anywhere