Привид Опери

           But,ifitbepossible—as,afterhearingyou,Ibelieve—toexplainthetragedythroughtheghost,thenIbegyousir,totalktousabouttheghostagain.

           Mysteriousthoughtheghostmayatfirstappear,hewillalwaysbemoreeasilyexplainedthanthedismalstoryinwhichmalevolentpeoplehavetriedtopicturetwobrotherskillingeachotherwhohadworshipedeachotheralltheirlives.

           Believeme,etc.

           Lastly,withmybundleofpapersinhand,Ioncemorewentovertheghost’svastdomain,thehugebuildingwhichhehadmadehiskingdom.Allthatmyeyessaw,allthatmymindperceived,corroboratedthePersian’sdocumentsprecisely;andawonderfuldiscoverycrownedmylaborsinaverydefinitefashion.Itwillberememberedthat,later,whendigginginthesubstructureoftheOpera,beforeburyingthephonographicrecordsoftheartist’svoice,theworkmenlaidbareacorpse.Well,IwasatonceabletoprovethatthiscorpsewasthatoftheOperaghost.Imadetheacting-managerputthisprooftothetestwithhisownhand;anditisnowamatterofsupremeindifferencetomeifthepaperspretendthatthebodywasthatofavictimoftheCommune.

           Thewretcheswhoweremassacred,undertheCommune,inthecellarsoftheOpera,werenotburiedonthisside;Iwilltellwheretheirskeletonscanbefoundinaspotnotveryfarfromthatimmensecryptwhichwasstockedduringthesiegewithallsortsofprovisions.IcameuponthistrackjustwhenIwaslookingfortheremainsoftheOperaghost,whichIshouldneverhavediscoveredbutfortheunheard-ofchancedescribedabove