The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (most read books of all time .txt) đ
- Author: Gaston Leroux
- Performer: 0060809248
Book online «The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux (most read books of all time .txt) đ». Author Gaston Leroux
âI knocked at the door,â said Remy. âThey did not answer. Perhaps they are not in the office. In any case, itâs impossible to find out, for they took the keys with them.â
âTheyâ were obviously the managers, who had given orders, during the last entrâacte, that they were not to be disturbed on any pretext whatever. They were not in to anybody.
âAll the same,â exclaimed Gabriel, âa singer isnât run away with, from the middle of the stage, every day!â
âDid you shout that to them?â asked Mercier, impatiently.
âIâll go back again,â said Remy, and disappeared at a run.
Thereupon the stage-manager arrived.
âWell, M. Mercier, are you coming? What are you two doing here? Youâre wanted, Mr. Acting-Manager.â
âI refuse to know or to do anything before the commissary arrives,â declared Mercier. âI have sent for Mifroid. We shall see when he comes!â
âAnd I tell you that you ought to go down to the organ at once.â
âNot before the commissary comes.â
âIâve been down to the organ myself already.â
âAh! And what did you see?â
âWell, I saw nobody! Do you hearânobody!â
âWhat do you want me to do down there for{sic}?â
âYouâre right!â said the stage-manager, frantically pushing his hands through his rebellious hair. âYouâre right! But there might be some one at the organ who could tell us how the stage came to be suddenly darkened. Now Mauclair is nowhere to be found. Do you understand that?â
Mauclair was the gas-man, who dispensed day and night at will on the stage of the Opera.
âMauclair is not to be found!â repeated Mercier, taken aback. âWell, what about his assistants?â
âThereâs no Mauclair and no assistants! No one at the lights, I tell you! You can imagine,â roared the stage-manager, âthat that little girl must have been carried off by somebody else: she didnât run away by herself! It was a calculated stroke and we have to find out about itâŠ.And what are the managers doing all this time? ... I gave orders that no one was to go down to the lights and I posted a fireman in front of the gas-manâs box beside the organ. Wasnât that right?â
âYes, yes, quite right, quite right. And now letâs wait for the commissary.â
The stage-manager walked away, shrugging his shoulders, fuming, muttering insults at those milksops who remained quietly squatting in a corner while the whole theater was topsyturvy{sic}.
Gabriel and Mercier were not so quiet as all that. Only they had received an order that paralyzed them. The managers were not to be disturbed on any account. Remy had violated that order and met with no success.
At that moment he returned from his new expedition, wearing a curiously startled air.
âWell, have you seen them?â asked Mercier.
âMoncharmin opened the door at last. His eyes were starting out of his head. I thought he meant to strike me. I could not get a word in; and what do you think he shouted at me? `Have you a safety-pin?â `No!â `Well, then, clearout!â I tried to tell him that an unheard-of thing had happened on the stage, but he roared, `A safety-pin! Give me a safety-pin at once!â A boy heard himâ he was bellowing like a bullâran up with a safety-pin and gave it to him; whereupon Moncharmin slammed the door in my face, and there you are!â
âAnd couldnât you have said, `Christine Daae.ââ
âI should like to have seen you in my place. He was foaming at the mouth. He thought of nothing but his safety-pin. I believe, if they hadnât brought him one on the spot, he would have fallen down in a fit!...Oh, all this isnât natural; and our managers are going mad!...Besides, it canât go on like this! Iâm not used to being treated in that fashion!â
Suddenly Gabriel whispered:
âItâs another trick of O. G.âs.â
Rimy gave a grin, Mercier a sigh and seemed about to speakâŠbut, meeting Gabrielâs eye, said nothing.
However, Mercier felt his responsibility increased as the minutes passed without the managersâ appearing; and, at last, he could stand it no longer.
âLook here, Iâll go and hunt them out myself!â
Gabriel, turning very gloomy and serious, stopped him.
âBe careful what youâre doing, Mercier! If theyâre staying in their office, itâs probably because they have to! O. G. has more than one trick in his bag!â
But Mercier shook his head.
âThatâs their lookout! Iâm going! If people had listened to me, the police would have known everything long ago!â
And he went.
âWhatâs everything?â asked Remy. âWhat was there to tell the police? Why donât you answer, Gabriel?...Ah, so you know something! Well, you would do better to tell me, too, if you donât want me to shout out that you are all going mad!...Yes, thatâs what you are: mad!â
Gabriel put on a stupid look and pretended not to understand the private secretaryâs unseemly outburst.
âWhat `somethingâ am I supposed to know?â he said. âI donât know what you mean.â
Remy began to lose his temper.
âThis evening, Richard and Moncharmin were behaving like lunatics, here, between the acts.â
âI never noticed it,â growled Gabriel, very much annoyed.
âThen youâre the only one!...Do you think that I didnât see them?...And that M. Parabise, the manager of the Credit Central, noticed nothing?...And that M. de La Borderie, the ambassador, has no eyes to see with?...Why, all the subscribers were pointing at our managers!â
âBut what were our managers doing?â asked Gabriel, putting on his most innocent air.
âWhat were they doing? You know better than any one what they were doing!...You were there!...And you were watching them, you and Mercier!...And you were the only two who didnât laugh.â
âI donât understand!â
Gabriel raised his arms and dropped them to his sides again, which gesture was meant to convey that the question did not interest him in the least. Remy continued:
âWhat is the sense of this new mania of theirs? WHY WONâT THEY HAVE ANY ONE COME NEAR THEM NOW?â
âWhat? WONâT THEY HAVE ANY ONE COME NEAR THEM?â
âAND THEY WONâT LET ANY ONE TOUCH THEM!â
âReally? Have you noticed THAT THEY WONâT LET ANY ONE TOUCH THEM? That is certainly odd!â
âOh, so you admit it! And high time, too! And THEN, THEY WALK BACKWARD!â
âBACKWARD! You have seen our managers WALK BACKWARD? Why, I thought that only crabs walked backward!â
âDonât laugh, Gabriel; donât laugh!â
âIâm not laughing,â protested Gabriel, looking as solemn as a judge.
âPerhaps you can tell me this, Gabriel, as youâre an intimate friend of the management: When I went up to M. Richard, outside the foyer, during the Garden interval, with my hand out before me, why did M. Moncharmin hurriedly whisper to me, `Go away! Go away! Whatever you do, donât touch M. le Directeur!â Am I supposed to have an infectious disease?â
âItâs incredible!â
âAnd, a little later, when M. de La Borderie went up to M. Richard, didnât you see M. Moncharmin fling himself between them and hear him exclaim, `M. lâAmbassadeur I entreat you not to touch M. le Directeurâ?â
âItâs terrible!...And what was Richard doing meanwhile?â
âWhat was he doing? Why, you saw him! He turned about, BOWED IN FRONT OF HIM, THOUGH THERE WAS NOBODY IN FRONT OF HIM, AND WITHDREW BACKWARD.â
âBACKWARD?â
âAnd Moncharmin, behind Richard, also turned about; that is, he described a semicircle behind Richard and also WALKED BACKWARD!...And they went LIKE THAT to the staircase leading to the managersâ office: BACKWARD, BACKWARD, BACKWARD! ... Well, if they are not mad, will you explain what it means?â
âPerhaps they were practising a figure in the ballet,â suggested Gabriel, without much conviction in his voice.
The secretary was furious at this wretched joke, made at so dramatic a moment. He knit his brows and contracted his lips. Then he put his mouth to Gabrielâs ear:
âDonât be so sly, Gabriel. There are things going on for which you and Mercier are partly responsible.â
âWhat do you mean?â asked Gabriel.
âChristine Daae is not the only one who suddenly disappeared to-night.â
âOh, nonsense!â
âThereâs no nonsense about it. Perhaps you can tell me why, when Mother Giry came down to the foyer just now, Mercier took her by the hand and hurried her away with him?â
âReally?â said Gabriel, âI never saw it.â
âYou did see it, Gabriel, for you went with Mercier and Mother Giry to Mercierâs office. Since then, you and Mercier have been seen, but no one has seen Mother Giry.â
âDo you think weâve eaten her?â
âNo, but youâve locked her up in the office; and any one passing the office can hear her yelling, `Oh, the scoundrels! Oh, the scoundrels!ââ
At this point of this singular conversation, Mercier arrived, all out of breath.
âThere!â he said, in a gloomy voice. âItâs worse than ever!... I shouted, `Itâs a serious matter! Open the door! Itâs I, Mercier.â I heard footsteps. The door opened and Moncharmin appeared. He was very pale. He said, `What do you want?â I answered, `Some one has run away with Christine Daae.â What do you think he said? `And a good job, too!â And he shut the door, after putting this in my hand.â
Mercier opened his hand; Remy and Gabriel looked.
âThe safety-pin!â cried Remy.
âStrange! Strange!â muttered Gabriel, who could not help shivering.
Suddenly a voice made them all three turn round.
âI beg your pardon, gentlemen. Could you tell me where Christine Daae is?â
In spite of the seriousness of the circumstances, the absurdity of the question would have made them roar with laughter, if they had not caught sight of a face so sorrow-stricken that they were at once seized with pity. It was the Vicomte Raoul de Chagny.
Chapter XV Christine! Christine!
Raoulâs first thought, after Christine Daaeâs fantastic disappearance, was to accuse Erik. He no longer doubted the almost supernatural powers of the Angel of Music, in this domain of the Opera in which he had set up his empire. And Raoul rushed on the stage, in a mad fit of love and despair.
âChristine! Christine!â he moaned, calling to her as he felt that she must be calling to him from the depths of that dark pit to which the monster had carried her. âChristine! Christine!â
And he seemed to hear the girlâs screams through the frail boards that separated him from her. He bent forward, he listened, ...he wandered over the stage like a madman. Ah, to descend, to descend into that pit of darkness every entrance to which was closed to him,...for the stairs that led below the stage were forbidden to one and all that night!
âChristine! Christine!...â
People pushed him aside, laughing. They made fun of him. They thought the poor
Comments (0)