t was not
the one which we gave you, the one which you took to Box Five before
our eyes; and yet that was the one which contained the twenty-thousand
francs."

"I beg your pardon. The envelope which M. le Directeur gave me was the
one which I slipped into M. le Directeur's pocket," explained Mme.
Giry. "The one which I took to the ghost's box was another envelope,
just like it, which the ghost gave me beforehand and which I hid up my
sleeve."

So saying, Mme. Giry took from her sleeve an envelope ready prepared
and similarly addressed to that containing the twenty-thousand francs.
The managers took it from her. They examined it and saw that it was
fastened with seals stamped with their own managerial seal. They
opened it. It contained twenty Bank of St. Farce notes like those
which had so much astounded them the month before.

"How simple!" said Richard.

"How simple!" repeated Moncharmin. And he continued with his eyes
fixed upon Mme. Giry, as though trying to hypnotize her.

"So it was the ghost who gave you this envelope and told you to
substitute it for the one which we gave you? And it was the ghost who
told you to put the other into M. Richard's pocket?"

"Yes, it was the ghost."

"Then would you mind giving us a specimen of your little talents? Here
is the envelope. Act as though we knew nothing."

"As you please, gentlemen."

Mme. Giry took the envelope with the twenty notes inside it and made
for the door. She was on the point of going out when the two managers
rushed at her:

"Oh, no! Oh, no! We're not going to be 'done' a second time! Once
bitten, twice shy!"

"I beg your pardon, gentlemen," said the old woman, in self-excuse,
"you told me to act as though you knew nothing ... Well, if you knew
nothing, I should go away with your envelope!"

"And then how would you slip it into my pocket?" argued Richard, whom
Moncharmin fixed with his left eye, while keeping his right on Mme.
Giry: a proceeding likely to strain his sight, but Moncharmin was
prepared to go to any length to discover the truth.

"I am to slip it into your pocket when you least expect it, sir. You
know that I always take a little turn behind the scenes, in the course
of the evening, and I often go with my daughter to the ballet-foyer,
which I am entitled to do, as her mother; I bring her her shoes, when
the ballet is about to begin ... in fact, I come and go as I please ...
The subscribers come and go too... So