rik's name is mentioned?"

And the young man impetuously seized the Persian's hands. They were
ice-cold.

"Silence!" said the Persian, stopping and listening to the distant
sounds of the theater. "We must not mention that name here. Let us
say 'he' and 'him;' then there will be less danger of attracting his
attention."

"Do you think he is near us?"

"It is quite possible, Sir, if he is not, at this moment, with his
victim, IN THE HOUSE ON THE LAKE."

"Ah, so you know that house too?"

"If he is not there, he may be here, in this wall, in this floor, in
this ceiling! ... Come!"

And the Persian, asking Raoul to deaden the sound of his footsteps, led
him down passages which Raoul had never seen before, even at the time
when Christine used to take him for walks through that labyrinth.

"If only Darius has come!" said the Persian.

"Who is Darius?"

"Darius? My servant."

They were now in the center of a real deserted square, an immense
apartment ill-lit by a small lamp. The Persian stopped Raoul and, in
the softest of whispers, asked:

"What did you say to the commissary?"

"I said that Christine Daae's abductor was the Angel of Music, ALIAS
the Opera ghost, and that the real name was ..."

"Hush! ... And did he believe you?"

"No."

"He attached no importance to what you said?"

"No."

"He took you for a bit of a madman?"

"Yes."

"So much the better!" sighed the Persian.

And they continued their road. After going up and down several
staircases which Raoul had never seen before, the two men found
themselves in front of a door which the Persian opened with a
master-key. The Persian and Raoul were both, of course, in
dress-clothes; but, whereas Raoul had a tall hat, the Persian wore the
astrakhan cap which I have already mentioned. It was an infringement
of the rule which insists upon the tall hat behind the scenes; but in
France foreigners are allowed every license: the Englishman his
traveling-cap, the Persian his cap of astrakhan.

"Sir," said the Persian, "your tall hat will be in your way: you would
do well to leave it in the dressing-room."

"What dressing-room?" asked Raoul.

"Christine Daae's."

And the Persian, letting Raoul through the door which he had just
opened, showed him the actress' room opposite. They were at the end of
the passage the whole length of which Raoul had been accustomed to
traverse before knocking at Christine's door.

"How well you know the Oper