"Go to the Ministry of the Interior, on the Place Beauvau . . . Twenty francs for yourself. . . ."
He settled himself in the taxi and continued:
"No, no, he shall not die! No, a thousand times no, I will not have that on my conscience! It is bad enough to have been tricked by a woman and to have fallen into the snare like a schoolboy. . . . That will do! No more blunders for me! I have had that poor wretch arrested. . . . I have had him sentenced to death. . . . I have brought him to the foot of the scaffold . . . but he shall not mount it! . . . Anything but that! If he mounts the scaffold, there will be nothing left for me but to put a bullet through my head."
They were approaching the toll-house. He leant out:
"Twenty francs more, driver, if you don't stop."
And he shouted to the officials:
"Detective-service!"
They passed through.
"But don't slow down, don't slow down, hang it!" roared Lupin. "Faster! . . . Faster still! Are you afraid of running over the old ladies? Never mind about them! I'll pay the damage!"
In a few minutes, they were at the Ministry of the Interior. Lupin hurried across the courtyard and ran up the main staircase. The waiting-room was full of people. He scribbled on a sheet of paper, "Prince Sernine," and, hustling a messenger into a corner, said: