Призрак Оперы

           Wemustmakeourselvesasinvisibleaspossible."

           Bearingagainstthemirror,afterashortsilence,hesaid:

           "Ittakessometimetoreleasethecounterbalance,whenyoupressonthespringfromtheinsideoftheroom.Itisdifferentwhenyouarebehindthewallandcanactdirectlyonthecounterbalance.Thenthemirrorturnsatonceandismovedwithincrediblerapidity."

           "Whatcounterbalance?"askedRaoul.

           "Why,thecounterbalancethatliftsthewholeofthiswallontoitspivot.Yousurelydon’texpectittomoveofitself,byenchantment!Ifyouwatch,youwillseethemirrorfirstriseaninchortwoandthenshiftaninchortwofromlefttoright.Itwillthenbeonapivotandwillswinground."

           "It’snotturning!"saidRaoulimpatiently.

           "Oh,wait!Youhavetimeenoughtobeimpatient,sir!Themechanismhasobviouslybecomerusty,orelsethespringisn’tworking...Unlessitissomethingelse,"addedthePersian,anxiously.

           "What?"

           "Hemaysimplyhavecutthecordofthecounterbalanceandblockedthewholeapparatus."

           "Whyshouldhe?Hedoesnotknowthatwearecomingthisway!"

           "Idaresayhesuspectsit,forheknowsthatIunderstandthesystem."

           "It’snotturning!...AndChristine,sir,Christine?"

           ThePersiansaidcoldly:

           "Weshalldoallthatitishumanlypossibletodo!...Buthemaystopusatthefirststep!...Hecommandsthewalls,thedoorsandthetrapdoors.Inmycountry,hewasknownbyanamewhichmeansthe’trap-doorlover