rassed, smiled. It seemed to him something quite
abnormal to hear Fantomas mentioned in this gathering, so simple, so
natural, so commonplace.

Surely, this criminal, his adventures, the police, and even reporting,
must partake of the fantastic, the imaginary--it must all be Greek to
such conventional people.

Nevertheless, as Monsieur de Naarboveck spoke, Mademoiselle Berthe
drew close to the journalist and gazed at him with curiosity.

"But tell me, Monsieur, may I ask you a question? Perhaps it is my
turn to be inquisitive--but then, so were you just now!"

Fandor laughed. Decidedly this young and pretty person was charming.

"I am certainly bound to reply to you as you wish, Mademoiselle!"

Nodding with a mischievous look, and casting a glance at the Baron
asking his approval--he signified his consent by a nod--she demanded
with an innocently curious air:

"Do tell me, Monsieur, who this Fantomas is?"

Fandor stood speechless.

Ah, this question, which this young woman had asked so naturally, as
if it referred to the most simple thing in the world, how often had he
asked himself that same question? During how many sleepless nights had
his mind not been full of it? And he had never been able to find a
satisfactory answer to "Who is Fantomas?"

Fandor had been asking this question for years. He had, after a
fashion, vowed his existence to the search for this mysterious
individual. How often, and often, in the course of his investigation,
in the midst of his struggles with criminals during his long talks and
conferences with Juve, had he not thought that he had run the bandit
to earth, identified him, was going to drag his personality out into
the broad light of day--and then, suddenly, Fantomas had disappeared.

Fantomas had made a mock of him, of Juve, of the police, of everybody!

For weeks, for months, all trace of him was lost completely; then one
fine day he would produce a drama, it might be a big drama, which took
public opinion captive, it might be a drama in appearance
insignificant, and then each one saw and followed traces which were
more or less normal and ordinarily probable. Fandor and Juve, Fandor
alone, or Juve isolated, following the indications which only their
perspicacity enabled them to discover, still and always felt the
presence, the trace of this monster, this being so enigmatical, so
indefinable, who was terrorising humanity.

Then implacable and dangerous pursuits, redoubtable