"Your hand high, ready to fire!" repeated Raoul's companion quickly.
The wall, behind them, having completed the circle which it described
upon itself, closed again; and the two men stood motionless for a
moment, holding their breath.
At last, the Persian decided to make a movement; and Raoul heard him
slip on his knees and feel for something in the dark with his groping
hands. Suddenly, the darkness was made visible by a small dark lantern
and Raoul instinctively stepped backward as though to escape the
scrutiny of a secret enemy. But he soon perceived that the light
belonged to the Persian, whose movements he was closely observing. The
little red disk was turned in every direction and Raoul saw that the
floor, the walls and the ceiling were all formed of planking. It must
have been the ordinary road taken by Erik to reach Christine's
dressing-room and impose upon her innocence. And Raoul, remembering
the Persian's remark, thought that it had been mysteriously constructed
by the ghost himself. Later, he learned that Erik had found, all
prepared for him, a secret passage, long known to himself alone and
contrived at the time of the Paris Commune to allow the jailers to
convey their prisoners straight to the dungeons that had been
constructed for them in the cellars; for the Federates had occupied the
opera-house immediately after the eighteenth of March and had made a
starting-place right at the top for their Mongolfier balloons, which
carried their incendiary proclamations to the departments, and a state
prison right at the bottom.
The Persian went on his knees and put his lantern on the ground. He
seemed to be working at the floor; and suddenly he turned off his
light. Then Raoul heard a faint click and saw a very pale luminous
square in the floor of the passage. It was as though a window had
opened on the Opera cellars, which were still lit. Raoul no longer saw
the Persian, but he suddenly felt him by his side and heard him whisper: "Follow me and do all that I do."
Raoul turned to the luminous aperture. Then he saw the Persian, who
was still on his knees, hang by his hands from the rim of the opening,
with his pistol between his teeth, and slide into the cellar below.
Curiously enough, the viscount had absolute confidence in the Persian,
though he knew nothing about him. His emotion when speaking of the
"monster" struck him as sincere; and, if the Persian had cherished any
sinister designs against him, he would not have armed him with his own
hands. Besides, Raoul must reach Christine at all costs. He therefore
went on his knees also and hung from the trap with both hands.
"Let go!" said a voice.
And he dropped into the arms of the Persian, who told him to lie down
flat, closed the trap-door above him and crouched down beside him.
Raoul tried to ask a question, but the Persian's hand was on his mouth
and he heard a voice which he recognized as that of the commissary of
police.