Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-08-21
'RaOuIf RaoUIi"

/ on either side OF the wall Christine
/ sObbed; she was not sure that she
would find NJ. de Chagny alive The
monster had been terrible, il seemed,
| had done nothing but rave, waiting
| for her to give him the yes" which
1 she refused. And yet she had prom
! ised him that yes" if he would take
! her to the torture-cbamber But he
| had obstinately declined, and mad ut
| tered hideous threats against all the
! members OF the human race, At last,
| after hours and hours Of that hell, he
had that moment gone out, leaving
| her alone to reflect for the last time.
| Hours and hours? What is the
time now? What is the time, Chris
! tine?"
1T is eleven O'Clock. Eleven O'Clock.
/ all but five minutes"
| But which eleven o'clock"
The eleven o'clock that is to de-
/ eide life or death. He told
me so just before he went.
/ He IS terrible. He is quite
mad he tore off his mask and his
yellow eyes shot flames! He
/ did nothing but laugh, He
said, 4 give you five minutes to spare
your bushes! Here, he said, taking
a key from the little bag OF life and
| death. here is the little bronze key
that opens the two ebony caskets on
/ the mantelpiece in the Louis Philippe
| room. In one of the caskets,
| you will find a scorpion, in the other,
| a grasshOpper, both very cleyerIy i'm
| itated in Japanese bronze: they will
| say yes or no for you. If you turn
| the scorpion round, that will mean
| to me, when | return, that you have
| said yes. The grasshOpper will mean
no. And he laughed like drunken
demon. | did nothing but beg and
entTeat him to give me the key of the
torture-chamber, promising to be his
wife if he granted me that request
. But he told me that there was
no future need for that key and that
he was going to throw it into the
lake. And he again laughed
like a drunken demon and left me.
Oh, his last words were. The grass
hopper! Be careful OF the grasshop-
per! A grasshopper does not only
turn: it hops! 1t hops. And 1t hops
jolly Hight"
The five minutes had nearly elapsed
and the scorpion and the grasshopper
were scratching at my brain. Never
theless. | had sufficient lucidity left to
understand that, if the grasshopper
| were turned. it would hop
/
man race! There was no doubt but
that the grasshopper controlled an
| electric current intended to blow up
| the powder-magazine
| NJ. de Chagny, who seemed to have
! recovered all his moral force from
/ hearing Christines voice, explained to
/ her, in a few hurried words the STU
/ alton in which we and all the opera
were. He told her to turn the scor-
pion at once.
There was a pause.
Christine" l cried. where are
your"
BY the scorpion"
Don't touch it,"
The idea had come to me-for
knew my Erik-that the monster had
| perhaps deceived the girl once more.
| Perhaps it was the scorpion that
would blow everything up. After all,
why wasn't he there? The five min
utes were long past and he
| was not back. -. Perhaps he
had taken shelter and was waiting for
| the eXplOsiOni Why had he
not returned? He could nor
really expect Christine ever to con-
sent to become his voluntary prey!
Why had he not returned?
Don't touch the scorpion." l said.
Here he comes cried Christine.
Il hear him! Here he is"
We heard his steps approaching
the Louis-P Philippe room. He came
up to Christine, but did not speak.
/ Then | raised my voice:
Erik! 1t is I! Do you know me?"
With extraordinary calmness. he at
! once replied:
: so you are not dead in there?
| Well, then. see that you keep quiet.
/ | tried to speak, but he said coldIy:
Not a word, daroga, or | shall blow
| everything up" And he added. The
! honor rests with mademoiselle. :.
/ Mademoiselle had not touched the
! scorpion"-how deliberately he spoke!
! -"mademoiselle has not touched the
! grasshopper' that composure,
but It is not too late to do the
| right thing. There. l open the Baskets
without a key, for l am trap-door
! lover and | open and shut what 1
7 please and as | please. open the
/ little ebony caskets; mademoiselle,
| look at the little dears inside. Aren't
! they pretty? Ii you turn the grass
! hopper. mademoiseIle. We shall all be
/ blown up. There Is enough gun
powder under our feet to blow up a
whole quarter of Paris. If you turn
the scorpion, mademoiselle, all that
powder will be soaked and drowned
! Mademoiselle. to celebrate our we'd