"The name of the devoted friend to whom I referred has been imparted to me. It was the Grand-Duke Hermann III., reigning (although dispossessed) sovereign of the Grand-duchy of Zweibrucken-Veldenz and a confidant of Prince Bismarck, whose entire friendship he enjoyed. "A thorough search was made of his house by Count von W----, at the head of twelve men. The result of this search was purely negative, but the grand-duke was nevertheless proved to be in possession of the papers. "Where had he hidden them? This was a problem which probably nobody in the world would be able to solve at the present moment. "I must ask for twenty-four hours in which to solve it. "ARSÈNE LUPIN." And, twenty-four hours later, the promised note appeared: "The famous letters are hidden in the feudal castle of Veldenz, the capital of the Grand-duchy of Zweibrucken. The castle was partly destroyed in the course of the nineteenth century. "Where exactly are they hidden? And what are the letters precisely? These are the two problems which I am now engaged in unravelling; and I shall publish the solution in four days' time. "ARSÈNE LUPIN." On the day stated, men scrambled to obtain copies of the _Grand Journal_. To the general disappointment, the promised information was not given. The same silence followed on the next day and the day after. What had happened? It leaked out through an indiscretion at the Prefecture of Police. The governor of the Santé, it appeared, had been warned that Lupin was communicating with his accomplices by means of the packets of envelopes which he made. Nothing had been discovered; but it was thought best, in any case, to forbid all work to the insufferable prisoner. To this the insufferable prisoner replied: "As I have nothing to do now, I may as well attend to my trial. Please let my counsel, Maître Quimbel, know." It was true. Lupin, who, hitherto, had refused to hold any intercourse with Maître Quimbel, now consented to see him and to prepare his defence. On the next day Maître Quimbel, in cheery tones, asked for Lupin to be brought to the barristers' room. He was an elderly man, wearing a pair of very powerful spectacles, which made his eyes seem enormous. He put his hat on the table, spread out his brief-case and at once began to put a series of questions which he had carefully prepared. Lupin replied with extreme readiness and even volunteered a host of particulars, which Maître Quimbel took down, as he spoke, on slips pinned one to the other. "And so you say," continued the barrister, with his head over his papers, "that, at that time . . ." "I say that, at that time . . ." Lupin answered.