On the second day thereafter, the Echo de France, which had apparently become the official reporter of the exploits of Arsène Lupin,—it was said that he was one of its principal shareholders—published a most complete account of this attempted escape. The exact wording of the messages exchanged between the prisoner and his mysterious friend, the means by which correspondence was constructed, the complicity of the police, the promenade on the Boulevard Saint Michel, the incident at the café Soufflot, everything was disclosed. It was known that the search of the restaurant and its waiters by Inspector Dieuzy had been fruitless. And the public also learned an extraordinary thing which demonstrated the infinite variety of resources that Lupin possessed: the prison-van, in which he was being carried, was prepared for the occasion and substituted by his accomplices for one of the six vans which did service at the prison. 

 The next escape of Arsène Lupin was not doubted by anyone. He announced it himself, in categorical terms, in a reply to Mon. Bouvier on the day following his attempted escape. The judge having made a jest about the affair, Arsène was annoyed, and, firmly eyeing the judge, he said, emphatically: 

 “Listen to me, monsieur! I give you my word of honor that this attempted flight was simply preliminary to my general plan of escape.” 

 “I do not understand,” said the judge. 

 “It is not necessary that you should understand.” 

 And when the judge, in the course of that examination which was reported at length in the columns of the Echo de France, when the judge sought to resume his investigation, Arsène Lupin exclaimed, with an assumed air of lassitude: 

 “Mon Dieu, Mon Dieu, what’s the use! All these questions are of no importance!” 

 “What! No importance?” cried the judge. 

 “No; because I shall not be present at the trial.” 

 “You will not be present?” 

 “No; I have fully decided on that, and nothing will change my mind.” 

 Such assurance combined with the inexplicable indiscretions that Arsène committed every day served to annoy and mystify the officers of the law. There were secrets known only to Arsène Lupin; secrets that he alone could divulge. But for what purpose did he reveal them? And how? 

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