The Phantom of the Opera - Page 143/178

Hearing these terrible remarks, I received an awful presentiment ... I

too had once rung at the monster's door ... and, without knowing it,

must have set some warning current in motion.

And I remembered the two arms that had emerged from the inky waters...

What poor wretch had strayed to that shore this time? Who was 'the

other one,' the one whose requiem we now heard sung?

Erik sang like the god of thunder, sang a DIES IRAE that enveloped us

as in a storm. The elements seemed to rage around us. Suddenly, the

organ and the voice ceased so suddenly that M. de Chagny sprang back,

on the other side of the wall, with emotion. And the voice, changed

and transformed, distinctly grated out these metallic syllables: "WHAT

HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY BAG?"