"Bind him! . . . Bind him, confound it! . . . What difference does it make to you? . . . Once I'm gone, you're all free. . . . Come along, have you finished? The wrists first . . . with your belts. . . . And the ankles. . . . Hurry up! . . ." The Broker, beaten and disabled, made no further resistance. While his pals were binding him, Lupin stooped over them and dealt them two terrific blows on the head with the butt-end of his revolver. They sank down in a heap. "That's a good piece of work," he said, taking breath. "Pity there are not another fifty of them. I was just in the mood. . . . And all so easily done . . . with a smile on one's face. . . . What do you think of it, Broker?" The scoundrel lay cursing. Lupin said: "Cheer up, old man! Console yourself with the thought that you are helping in a good action, the rescue of Mrs. Kesselbach. She will thank you in person for your gallantry." He went to the door of the second room and opened it: "What's this?" he said, stopping on the threshold, taken aback, dumfounded. The room was empty. He went to the window, saw a ladder leaning against the balcony, a telescopic steel ladder, and muttered: "Kidnapped . . . kidnapped . . . Louis de Malreich. . . . Oh, the villain! . . ." * * * * * He reflected for a minute, trying to master his anguish of mind, and said to himself that, after all, as Mrs. Kesselbach seemed to be in no immediate danger, there was no cause for alarm. But he was seized with a sudden fit of rage and flew at the seven scoundrels, gave a kick or two to those of the wounded who stirred, felt for his bank-notes and put them back in his pocket, then gagged the men's mouths and tied their hands with anything that he could find--blind-cords, curtain-loops, blankets and sheets reduced to strips--and, lastly, laid in a row on the carpet, in front of the sofa, seven bundles of humanity, packed tight together and tied up like so many parcels: "Mummies on toast!" he chuckled. "A dainty dish for those who like that sort of thing! . . . You pack of fools, how does this suit you, eh? There you are, like corpses at the Morgue. . . . Serves you right for attacking Lupin, Lupin the protector of the widow and orphan! . . . Are you trembling? Quite unnecessary, my lambs! Lupin never hurt a fly yet! . . . Only, Lupin is a decent man, he can't stand vermin; and the Lupin knows his duty. I ask you, is life possible with a lot of scamps like you about? Think of it: no respect for other people's lives; no respect for property, for laws, for society; no conscience; no anything! What are we coming to? Lord, what are we coming to?" Without even taking the trouble to lock them in, he left the room, went down the street and walked until he came to his taxi. He sent the driver in search of another and brought both cabs back to Mrs. Kesselbach's house.