The Mystery of the Louvre
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~~'ORLU\\ mr I'CBLJEIILNU C ovr \\ i iq 'L:I~1~14 80 i)rill:r the hit-hnonn lio\c.ls uf Ll~e norld ~sitliin tile iach of the rnillioils, by prcsc.r,t~rl,o ilt ttt. lorre\.t powihlc pricc per copy, in cn,iT.l~!:aitsi~e, on ~..cfcllentpaper, with bc:wlii'[il ud duld~le birlrlinq, n long seric~lof storicr, .cl hi( :I el crylbody tins hc:~rd of :rnd could desire to re.d Nc.vrr Iwfnrc 1m It I~c~tlporsiiilc tu pllieni books of the v;orld's most, fnrriorls 11vir19 :r~~tl~orr at sr~clla bmnll price. To render it possible now it will be nert'w~ry th~tcnch rolrln~c should haye a sale of hundreds of thous:incls of copicr and that many volumes of tlic serics diotild in due course iind their wry into nearly ever-/ home, however Inmlble, in thc U~litedStuies and G,~nada. The publisher> hew %he utn~oslooniideim that thi8 c1~1will he achieved. Th(.novels of Wonm WIDE Pbnr I~HI\GCox- PANY will be selected by one of the movt dls. tingwslled of living mcn of letters, nntl II short biog~npl~icaland bibliogruphical notc on the author hnd bir works will I)(* nppc.ndrd lo cnch vulrlmr. THE LOUVR i,:ir~~-l-i)j;~\i~i~ojs1.5 visitcil f):,ris is f,~r~~i[i:irwith !lie Louvre. O~~t~vnrdlyit i:; a lo~ry;,l.?i:lgy, ::!.irn-looking builtling ni sombre grey s,tcmcJ.., that i'! o\irns~nenacin~lyoil to the rue de Rivoli. I Lic~e :,r.ison-liI;e wnlL i~o;r-e\lclr enclc,se a beai~tifuk j-D,~l;:ccthat, belore the Rc'i'olutio!~,was one of the ,?:i.nlr reid~~iicc;~of t1:c Kings of I.'racce. To-d:ly i; i; one of the richest mrwums in the .,odd, ro:~t:linirigpricelc:::: &$113S ill the sl3;:pe of pii't!u-:::i ;:nil sculpt urc. PJanjr great \~.riic,rsof talcs of m!rstcr!f :d. ac1vcntu:e h2.w chnsi~;~~ell-lii:~)\\~11pui:lic 1r::iltl- iiigr; as a scttil~c;for their stories. ic'l~l~c!-111i1(:11- hack of Notre Dame" 11~1 Victor Hugo is ill: o:~tstancling T;~.iwhcx~lnplc;\;.llile in E~iglis!: ore have "The Tower of London " and "O!:l St. C'n~~l's,"two of I-Iarrisnn Ains\vorth's 12est and noct exciting no\~cls. Internrovi-n into th:. !)lot iiwe is very often n threxl of trne fact Some j.)opuiar I~i!,t~ric;~lcllaracter or son]? ~,-(:ll-!:\:ow~i c-vcnl: is introcluccd ~vhicl~lend.; an aclt1c.d air of reality to tiic 'i.\rllulc ~m-ralivc. LIoi-isiei~r r I , ilie ce1cbr::iicci frei-~;:liantilor \\,lie has u.ritrc~l "l'hc Rljlstcry <,I: !.~)l,r.i-~,"!Ins .:!:(;sen ',.*LaI>-4.L ,..-tb o~~u-w~~~d.1.' C.- .-- ;;lC~7~!!/;1~?1:~/i.f~!Ol'/q/~l!fo!, fllc 5ctting Or tl~isCiL- t,-tmel\. C~CXTI-:I,!I,: Here, on the inaorning of ihe 17th of May, 1925, the extraordinary new was circulated that a ~nysteriousghost had been seen in 'The Room of the Barbarous Gods." An att;.ndnnt named %:barat asked permission to be nllo\ved to pass the fallowing night in thi5 particular gallery and .~ntchlor the ghost's appenr,ince. The next morning the poor fellow ftiuild dead, lying tn front sf tlic statue of Be!plicgx, the God of the Moabites, mysterious as a .;pil;nx, as disturb- LII~as a wicked archangc!-a veritable Lucifer! 4 he whole circumstance; were nlost perplexing, Who could have committed suc-11 a dastardly c rime? \\'as it the nork of a hlma~ror QE supernatural Land 3 \iVl~:~twas the rnotivc ? Why was it done? 'The book deals with the elucidation of this ;!, xplicablc mystery which for a long time Ihnfies both the museum authorities and the jock sf the French cletectivcc;. 'There Is always a. subtle anc! magnetic fascina- rim h.i 3. tale with a secret. It i. a type of story rhnt never fails to attract 311 sorts and conditions a f men with intellects fiom the wry highest to the vely humblest. Undoubtedly one great r:<15on ier this is because it mal.;es a direct appeal :o the gambling instinct that lies buried deep ,&wn in the heart of every living soul. Evcn the perfemid Purit,~nor the .tiictcst Church- ;.mar, WJIO ~vouldbe justly shocktcl if you were tc ~~~ggestthat he is a gxnbler or s betting man, is frcqua:t]y svcrcome by ar ~-:nii:;tible desire (: t1A$'Y ER T TXE E!3081 01; l1iL UAb:L.~l:ri'i.~I)!? US~':\'ILILl:I) GIJDS '.SI~EREis a ghost ;ti il~eLou\.r~:! 5u(:Ii ~7;~sI:I<~ ~L;,!:I:;I: TLIII~OIII.~l~ich,1111 the 1i101.11ifl: of the 1;.i11 .':i.11., 1,.;2,i,\v;is ~circu!;~tcdill our gl-c,:; ns~ion:~!- pi~tui-c:;;ill, 5. ~vcry~vI:i:rc-in Ilii: vcstil)~~leu,in 111~Irissages, on tllc st;;irca.?cs-onc s:;w cmlv people r;:~:iierc(l iogutllcr: frixlitcncil oats and i~~crctlil~lciinrs, \v!io co~iln!c.ntccl oil the stiLi~ig~2nd ii1nt:lstic iic\l:s. in the ah\-e-mei~:ioned rooin, ill !'lmi?t of the LC:(,- braid picture "'Tlic ('on,n.~:ioil 01 K,.l>,,lc:,n," il.i~i kccxper-; wo~-ct;alltiii: iuii~i~;~t~~tliya.t~oiilt1.c qiroqt siory Shortly, the c!c,incrs-wno, oil this CL.::, o:iIy cliti I!:;:r uor!i ill a r!i~lra!.:cil ~nanner-npp~~;~ii'!,(l tl:!.~il in c,rtic~ to Iistcn to tiieir con~.c'i's~lion\vl~ic'il ~,~JLIII!II~JL f.1i1 LC ,11icrcst tli~lll. ''I ttell yon that ir is ;I g!io.;t," :;;tit1 o:ic ~~1'tl!c !.:,,cj>ec;. ,. !he otlicr Ixqm [,i~:: ; OLI: ~LII?!I;II~,;L:I,i >,;irt.,~:;,t I his shoulcler:. " G~utra~sl~asSI-c.11 ~t!.'~ii(l IIC I,.: li'ii: n jolter or a coward! He \+-en: to repori it lo llie Cc~ti- scrvator." In the office 01 this high ofic~:.l, I'll-r-1-1,(;,rat!-xi<, a gailant, rciiiust fellow wilh SIIULLI-esho~~lclcrs and 3 '~.:iik face, reported the incident ti) 1:;s sapl ior, iil. Lave i ;i:c, wl~osat in front oP I~isclcslc nritll his co!!t.;~$-ue:in(! i.wrc- t:iry and lislened to him in nfrimdly but r~ithcrsc~i.i,iii~:~l n1;inner. " I haye seen him as I scc yo~anow! I cut oi! pri\, 11catl r,itlicl- tlnn deny it-.!' "?'c!i me, Gnutrak, yoia bad not bccn t1rinliil;g a little ten TXL!C.:!I ? " &served M. L:~~~iq!~e. "Oh, sir, you know well that I mvel- get rips!;,'' ' Thcn you 11ni.c li;itl .I halluc-iilatiorr.'" =. 13 [ 1.1fi; ~~~~-].$~~.~\~91,. ,[j lii ,9:h f?,l is\:!: c,r --- -- "Oh, no, sir. H was ;-cry much niv,ik:: -:l!iit;. rn:!yt:.r of mysi:lf." "At what 51no did this ~,iiino~c.no:i;irow it ;:I!:>" :~s!i~tlthe Assist:tnt.-&onscrvi~t~>i', "Chic o'clock it; the n-~orning,M. iti~t,~~wfi,"r::pId the Itceper. "1was just ~naliingniy round in the rtx-mr 011 tlic ground floor which Iook out on Irl tl~c:walcr, ivi:::!~ -all of a sudden--on arriving in t!~e 'Kooa: of ti:,? 13arbarous Gods,' I perceivcd a hunxri I'o.rio who, roll6.d in a black shroud and wcaring a. iii~ltlof lioorl, turnctl 11,; back un me and ~ntand stood close to :tie sl:lt~c.of Belpllcgor. "Seizing my revolver, 1 shot ill its dircctiorm. T s.>iv it at the moment where, after having nlounLcd tilo steps, it reachcd the landing and, le:.elling my wenp,c~ at him, I said, 'Halt or I shall shoot!' But scsrccijr had I put my finger to tl~ctrigger than the gl~ortmxle a jump sideways and tlisnppcared as if he had ~ni.ltc,tl into darkness." LTisiblyimpressed by the sincerity oE the keeper, n.htlrn everyone highly respected, 31. Lavergile looked from 0110 to the other of his colleagues who appcnred scarcciy less troubled than he by the story which they had ji1:;t: heard. Then, getting up, he said: "Ah, well! we are going ! see; fo!!ow me, Gautrais." They reached the "Room 01 the Eorbnrous God:;,'" where a group of ernployecs were talliillg in front nf the statue of Helphegor, As soon as they saw the new arsir.als, they I~ussicdlyrriovctl awn.)-, with thc esccptioir of the chief kce~~rr,Jean Sabarat, a kruat: big utliiclic: sort of man. Rcspcctfully taking off his cap, Snl::tut turned tow;~.rdsthe Conservator and said; "SIS,WIII~ traces have bean discovered here," M. Laverpie approached and examined the s1at1.1~ eloscly. He saw some quite deep scratches wl~icla loolred as tbough they had just been done and which appeared to have been made with tho aid od i$ ccM~ ch~srl. Troublcd by this divmrwy, t!!c Coneermt~rsnit!: "This semis unusual. Is it possible that o burgla: bas got int~the building ? " h[. J4avergne dttciti~dthat he wc;uld infnrni the polici?. EIo )vent a7.vay with ilia :d!cguec, hot Snbrrrnt, nc itlc,~.