was a contrast almost between the hawk and the
mole, the warrior and the workman. Only in their eyes were they alike;
both of them had the keen, alert eyes of observers. Perhaps the most
curious thing of all was that, in spite of the fact that he had for so
much of his life been an idler, trifling away his time in the pursuit
of pleasure, except when he had made his expedition to the South Pole,
the Duke gave one the impression of being a cleverer man, of a far
finer brain, than the detective who had spent so much of his life
sharpening his wits on the more intricate problems of crime.

When Guerchard came to the end of his questions, the Duke said: "You
have given me a very strong feeling that it is going to be a deuce of a
job to catch Lupin. I don't wonder that, so far, you have none of you
laid hands on him."

"But we have!" cried Guerchard quickly. "Twice Ganimard has caught him.
Once he had him in prison, and actually brought him to trial. Lupin
became another man, and was let go from the very dock."

"Really? It sounds absolutely amazing," said the Duke.

"And then, in the affair of the Blue Diamond, Ganimard caught him
again. He has his weakness, Lupin--it's women. It's a very common
weakness in these masters of crime. Ganimard and Holmlock Shears, in
that affair, got the better of him by using his love for a woman--'the
fair-haired lady,' she was called--to nab him."

"A shabby trick," said the Duke.

"Shabby?" said Guerchard in a tone of utter wonder. "How can anything
be shabby in the case of a rogue like this?"

"Perhaps not--perhaps not--still--" said the Duke, and stopped.

The expression of wonder faded from Guerchard's face, and he went on,
"Well, Holmlock Shears recovered the Blue Diamond, and Ganimard nabbed
Lupin. He held him for ten minutes, then Lupin escaped."

"What became of the fair-haired lady?" said the Duke.

"I don't know. I have heard that she is dead," said Guerchard. "Now I
come to think of it, I heard quite definitely that she died."

"It must be awful for a woman to love a man like Lupin--the constant,
wearing anxiety," said the Duke thoughtfully.

"I dare say. Yet he can have his pick of sweethearts. I've been offered
thousands of francs by women--women of your Grace's world and wealthy
Viennese--to make them acquainted with Lupin," said Guerchard.

"You don't surprise me," said the Duke with his ironic smile. "Women
never do stop to think--where one of their heroes is co