The Teeth of the Tiger | Page 8

near Perenna. The chap whom we
nicknamed d'Artagnan, Porthos, and de Bussy deserved to be classed
with the most amazing heroes of legend and history. I have seen him
perform feats which I should not care to relate, for fear of being treated
as an impostor; feats so improbable that to-day, in my calmer moments,
I wonder if I am quite sure that I did see them. One day, at Settat, as we
were being pursued--"
"Another word, Major," cried Don Luis, gayly, "and this time I really
will go out! I must say you have a nice way of sparing my modesty!"
"My dear Perenna," replied Comte d'Astrignac, "I always told you that
you had every good quality and only one fault, which was that you
were not a Frenchman."
"And I always answered, Major, that I was French on my mother's side
and a Frenchman in heart and temperament. There are things which
only a Frenchman can do."
The two men again gripped each other's hands affectionately.
"Come," said the Prefect, "we'll say no more of your feats of prowess,
Monsieur, nor of this report. I will mention one thing, however, which
is that, after two years, you fell into an ambush of forty Berbers, that
you were captured, and that you did not rejoin the Legion until last
month."
"Just so, Monsieur le Préfet, in time to receive my discharge, as my five
years' service was up."
"But how did Mr. Cosmo Mornington come to mention you in his will,
when, at the time when he was making it, you had disappeared from
view for eighteen months?"
"Cosmo and I used to correspond."
"What!"

"Yes; and I had informed him of my approaching escape and my return
to Paris."
"But how did you manage it? Where were you? And how did you find
the means? ..."
Don Luis smiled without answering.
"Monte Cristo, this time," said M. Desmalions. "The mysterious Monte
Cristo."
"Monte Cristo, if you like, Monsieur le Préfet. In point of fact, the
mystery of my captivity and escape is a rather strange one. It may be
interesting to throw some light upon it one of these days. Meanwhile, I
must ask for a little credit."
A silence ensued. M. Desmalions once more inspected this curious
individual; and he could not refrain from saying, as though in
obedience to an association of ideas for which he himself was unable to
account:
"One word more, and one only. What were your comrades' reasons for
giving you that rather odd nickname of Arsène Lupin? Was it just an
allusion to your pluck, to your physical strength?"
"There was something besides, Monsieur le Préfet: the discovery of a
very curious theft, of which certain details, apparently incapable of
explanation, had enabled me to name the perpetrator."
"So you have a gift for that sort of thing?"
"Yes, Monsieur le Préfet, a certain knack which I had the opportunity
of employing in Africa on more than one occasion. Hence my
nickname of Arsène Lupin. It was soon after the death of the man
himself, you know, and he was much spoken of at the time."
"Was it a serious theft?"
"It was rather; and it happened to be committed upon Cosmo

Mornington, who was then living in the Province of Oran. That was
really what started our relations."
There was a fresh silence; and Don Luis added:
"Poor Cosmo! That incident gave him an unshakable confidence in my
little detective talents. He was always saying, 'Perenna, if I die
murdered'--he had a fixed notion in his head that he would meet with a
violent death--'if I die murdered, swear that you will pursue the
culprit,'"
"His presentiment was not justified," said the Prefect of Police. "Cosmo
Mornington was not murdered."
"That's where you make a mistake, Monsieur le Préfet," said Don Luis.
M. Desmalions gave a start.
"What! What's that? Cosmo Mornington--?"
"I say that Cosmo Mornington did not die, as you think, of a carelessly
administered injection, but that he died, as he feared he would, by foul
play."
"But, Monsieur, your assertion is based on no evidence whatever!"
"It is based on fact, Monsieur le Préfet."
"Were you there? Do you know anything?"
"I was not there. A month ago I was still with the colours. I even admit
that, when I arrived in Paris, not having seen the newspapers regularly,
I did not know of Cosmo's death. In fact, I learned it from you just now,
Monsieur le Préfet."
"In that case, Monsieur, you cannot know more about it than I do, and
you must accept the verdict of the doctor."
"I am sorry, but his verdict fails to satisfy me."

"But look here, Monsieur, what prompts you to make the accusation?
Have you any evidence?"
"Yes."
"What evidence?"