He rang the bell. The garden-gate opened and he walked to the front-door steps, where he was awaited by two tall men in livery who ushered him into an immense, cold, stone hall, devoid of any ornament. The door closed behind him with a heavy thud; and, great and indomitable as his courage was, he nevertheless underwent an unpleasant sensation at feeling himself alone, surrounded by enemies, in that isolated prison. "Say Prince Sernine." The drawing-room was near and he was shown straight in. "Ah, there you are, my dear prince!" said the baron, coming toward him. "Well, will you believe--Dominique, lunch in twenty minutes. Until then, don't let us be interrupted--will you believe, my dear prince, that I hardly expected to see you?" "Oh, really? Why?" "Well, your declaration of war, this morning, is so plain that an interview becomes superfluous." "My declaration of war?" The baron unfolded a copy of the _Grand Journal_ and pointed to a paragraph which ran as follows: "We are authoritatively informed that M. Lenormand's disappearance has roused Arsène Lupin into taking action. After a brief enquiry and following on his proposal to clear up the Kesselbach case, Arsène Lupin has decided that he will find M. Lenormand, alive or dead, and that he will deliver the author or authors of that heinous series of crimes to justice." "This authoritative pronouncement comes from you, my dear prince, of course?" "Yes, it comes from me." "Therefore, I was right: it means war." "Yes." Altenheim gave Sernine a chair, sat down himself and said, in a conciliatory tone: "Well, no, I cannot allow that. It is impossible that two men like ourselves should fight and injure each other. We have only to come to an explanation, to seek the means: you and I were made to understand each other." "I think, on the contrary, that two men like ourselves are not made to understand each other." The baron suppressed a movement of impatience and continued: "Listen to me, Lupin. . . . By the way, do you mind my calling you Lupin?" "What shall I call you? Altenheim, Ribeira, or Parbury?"