The remainder of the dispatch never reached us.
On the second day, at a distance of five hundred miles from the French coast, in the midst of a violent storm, we received the following message by means of the wireless telegraph: ”Ars`ne Lupin is on your vessel, first cabin, blonde hair, wound e right fore-arm, traveling alone under name of R.” At that moment, a terrible flash of lightning rent the stormy skies. Ten, twenty others sent gay or somber words of parting to other passengers. During the first day of the voyage, we felt that we were being followed, escorted, preceded even, by that distant voice, which, from time to time, whispered to one of us a few words from the receding world. No, the mystery is even more inexplicable, more romantic, and we must have recourse to the wings of the air in order to explain this new miracle. We know full well that the message is not transported by the medium of a hollow wire. That bond is the wireless telegraph, by means of which we receive news in the most mysterious manner.
A bond united them, even in the very heart of the watery wastes of the Atlantic. The little floating island is now attached to the world from which it was once quite free. But, during the past few years, a new sensation had been added to Have you ever stopped to consider how much originality and spontaneity emanate from these various individuals who, on the preceding evening, did not even know each other, and who are now, for several days, condemned to lead a life of extreme intimacy, jointly defying the anger of the ocean, the terrible onslaught of the waves, the violence of the tempest and the agonizing monotony of the calm and sleepy water? Such a life becomes a sort of tragic existence, with its storms and its grandeurs, its monotony and its diversity and that is why, perhaps, we embark upon that short voyage with mingled feelings of pleasure and fear. We enjoyed the pleasant sensation of being separated from the world, living, as it were, upon an unknown island, and consequently obliged to be sociable with each other. The charm of new acquaintances and improvised amusements served to make the time pass agreeably. The passengers constituted a select and delightful society. The transatlantic steamship ‘La Provence’ was a swift and comfortable vessel, under the command of a most affable man.
The Arrest of Ars`ne Lupin e It was a strange ending to a voyage that had commenced in a most auspicious manner. The Extraordinary Adventures of Ars`ne Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar e Table of Contents: I.
THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ARSENE LUPIN - GENTLEMAN-BURGLAR
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