Before following the commissary into the manager's office I must

describe certain extraordinary occurrences that took place in that

office which Remy and Mercier had vainly tried to enter and into which

MM. Richard and Moncharmin had locked themselves with an object which

the reader does not yet know, but which it is my duty, as an historian,

to reveal without further postponement.

I have had occasion to say that the managers' mood had undergone a

disagreeable change for some time past and to convey the fact that this

change was due not only to the fall of the chandelier on the famous

night of the gala performance.

The reader must know that the ghost had calmly been paid his first

twenty thousand francs. Oh, there had been wailing and gnashing of

teeth, indeed! And yet the thing had happened as simply as could be.

One morning, the managers found on their table an envelope addressed to

"Monsieur O. G. (private)" and accompanied by a note from O. G. himself: The time has come to carry out the clause in the memorandum-book.

Please put twenty notes of a thousand francs each into this envelope,

seal it with your own seal and hand it to Mme. Giry, who will do what

is necessary.

The managers did not hesitate; without wasting time in asking how these

confounded communications came to be delivered in an office which they

were careful to keep locked, they seized this opportunity of laying

hands, on the mysterious blackmailer. And, after telling the whole

story, under the promise of secrecy, to Gabriel and Mercier, they put

the twenty thousand francs into the envelope and without asking for

explanations, handed it to Mme. Giry, who had been reinstated in her

functions. The box-keeper displayed no astonishment. I need hardly

say that she was well watched. She went straight to the ghost's box

and placed the precious envelope on the little shelf attached to the

ledge. The two managers, as well as Gabriel and Mercier, were hidden

in such a way that they did not lose sight of the envelope for a second

during the performance and even afterward, for, as the envelope had not

moved, those who watched it did not move either; and Mme. Giry went

away while the managers, Gabriel and Mercier were still there. At

last, they became tired of waiting and opened the envelope, after

ascertaining that the seals had not been broken.

At first sight, Richard and Moncharmin thought that the notes were

still there; but soon they perceived that they were not the same. The

twenty real notes were gone and had been replaced by twenty notes, of

the "Bank of St. Farce"![1] The managers' rage and fright were unmistakable. Moncharmin wanted to

send for the commissary of police, but Richard objected. He no doubt

had a plan, for he said: "Don't let us make ourselves ridiculous! All Paris would laugh at us.

O. G. has won the first game: we will win the second."




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