ff his hat, he revealed a forehead white as
wax. The rest of the horrible face was hidden by the mask.

The Persian rose to his feet as Erik entered.

"Murderer of Count Philippe, what have you done with his brother and
Christine Daae?"

Erik staggered under this direct attack, kept silent for a moment,
dragged himself to a chair and heaved a deep sigh. Then, speaking in
short phrases and gasping for breath between the words:

"Daroga, don't talk to me ... about Count Philippe ... He was dead ...
by the time ... I left my house ... he was dead ... when ... the siren
sang ... It was an ... accident ... a sad ... a very sad ... accident.
He fell very awkwardly ... but simply and naturally ... into the lake!
..."

"You lie!" shouted the Persian.

Erik bowed his head and said:

"I have not come here ... to talk about Count Philippe ... but to tell
you that ... I am going ... to die..."

"Where are Raoul de Chagny and Christine Daae?"

"I am going to die."

"Raoul de Chagny and Christine Daae?"

"Of love ... daroga ... I am dying ... of love ... That is how it is
... loved her so! ... And I love her still ... daroga ... and I am
dying of love for her, I ... I tell you! ... If you knew how beautiful
she was ... when she let me kiss her ... alive ... It was the first
... time, daroga, the first ... time I ever kissed a woman ... Yes,
alive ... I kissed her alive ... and she looked as beautiful as if she
had been dead!"

The Persian shook Erik by the arm:

"Will you tell me if she is alive or dead."

"Why do you shake me like that?" asked Erik, making an effort to speak
more connectedly. "I tell you that I am going to die... Yes, I kissed
her alive ..."

"And now she is dead?"

"I tell you I kissed her just like that, on her forehead ... and she
did not draw back her forehead from my lips! ... Oh, she is a good
girl! ... As to her being dead, I don't think so; but it has nothing to
do with me ... No, no, she is not dead! And no one shall touch a hair
of her head! She is a good, honest girl, and she saved your life,
daroga, at a moment when I would not have given twopence for your
Persian skin. As a matter of fact, nobody bothered about you. Why
were you there with that little chap? You would have died as well as
he! My word, how she entreated me for her little chap! But I told her
that, as she had turned the scorpion, she had, through that very fact,
and of her own free will, become en