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P MliPP ■^iV- ■■ ■ f , • -''v'v^^,*' " •'■.'-r-i.-' ~ -'-:r$^-- " '; . - '^ii 12 ukttilLOTTE NEWS, MAY h 19H '^^PnAl^TOM OF THE- OPERA 6y • GASTON •L.EROUX /Author Ihe My5Tery o/ The Yellow Room CTc - ^ Copyright, igii, The Bobbs-Merrill CotnoanT ~ PROLOGUE. Chagny case, who were friends of the I Chagny family, to whom I showed all In Which the Author of Thi» Singular i my documents and set forth all Work Informs the Reader How He Acquired the Certainty That the Opera Ghost Really Existed. Tlip Opera gliose really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a crea ture of the Imagination of the artists, th* supfrstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impres- Hlonnble bralnn of the young ladies of the bullet, their mothers, the box- keepers. the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearanec of a real phan tom) that is to say, of a spectral shade. When 1 began to ransack the ar chives of the National Academy of Music I was at once struck by the Burprleing coincidences between the phenomena ascribed to the “ghost” and the most extraordinary and fan tastic tragedy that ever excited the Paris upper classes; and I soon con ceived the idea that this tragedy might reasonably be explained by the phe nomena in question. The events do not date more than thirty years back; and it would not be difficult to find at the present day, in the foyer of the ballet old men of the highest respec tability, men upon whose word one could absolutely rely, who would re member as though they happened yes terday the mysterious and dramatic conditions that attended the kidnap ping of Christine Daae, the disappear ance of the Vicomte de Chagny and the death of his elder brother. Count' Philippe, whose body was found on the bank of the lake that exists in the lower cellars of the Opera on the Rue-Scribe side. But none of those witnesses had until that day . thought that there was any reason for i connecting the more or less legendary figure of the Opera ghost with that terrible story. The truth was slow to enter my mind, puzzled by an inquiry that at every moment w'as complicated by events which, at first sight, might be looked upon as superhuman; and more than onoe I was within an ace of abandoning a ta«k in which I was exhausting myself in the hopeless pur suit of a vain Image. At last, I re ceived the proof that my presentiments had not deceived me, and I was re warded for all my efforts on the day when I acquired the certainty that the-Opera ghoet was more than a mere shade. On that day, I had spent long hours over The Memoirs of a Manager, the light and frivolous work of the too- ekeptical Moncharmln, who, during his term at the Opera, understood nothing of the mysterious behavior of the ghost and who was making all the fun of It that he could at the very moment when he became the victim of the curious financial operation that went on inside the “magic envelope.” I had Just left the library in despair, when I met the delightful actlng-mana- ger of our National Academy, who stood chatting on a landing with a lively well-groomed little old man, to whom he introduced me gaily. The actlng-manager knew about my inves tigations and how eagerly and unsuc cessfully I had been trying to dis cover the whereabouts of the examin ing magistrate in the case, M. Faure. Nobody knew what had become of him, alive or dead; and here he was back from Canada, where he had spent fifteen years, and the first thing he had done, on his return to Paris, was to come to the secretarial offices at the Opera and ask for a free seat. The little old man was M. Faure him* self. We spent a good part of the eveblng together and he told me the whole Chagny case as he had understood it At the time. He was bound to conclude In fa^or of the madness of the vis count and the accidental death of the elder brother, for lack of evidence to the contrary; but he was nevertheless persuaded that a terrible tragedy had taken place between the two brothers in connection with Christine Daae. He could not tell me what be^me of Christine or the viscount, when I mentioned the ghost, he only laughed. He, too, had been told of the curious manifestations that seemed to point ^o the existence of an abnormal being, residing in one of the most mysterious comers of the Opera, and he knew the story of the envelope; but he had nev er seen anything in it worthy of his attention as magistrate in charge of the Chagny case, and it was as much as he had done to listen to the evi dence of a witness who appeared of his own accord and declared that he had often met the ghost. This witness was none other than the man whom all Paris called the “Persian” and who was well-known to every subscriber to the Opera. The magictrate took him for a visionary. I was immensely Interested by this story of the Persian. I wanted, if there were still time, to find this valua ble and eccentric witness. My luck 'began to improve and I discovered him in his little flat in the Rue de Rlvoli, where he had lived ever since and where he died five months after my visit. I was at first Inclined to be sus picious; but when the Persian had told me, with child-like candor, all that he knew about the ghost and had handed me the proof’s of the ghost’s existence—Including the strange cor respondence of Christine Daae— to do as I pleased with, I was no longer able to doubt. No, the ghost was not a myth! I haye, I know, been told that this correspondence may have been forged from first to last by a man whose im agination had certainly been fed on the most seductive tales; but fortu nately I discovered some of Christine’s writing outside the famous bundle of letters and, on comparrson between the -two, all my doubts wer» removed. I ilso went into the past history of the Persian and found that he was an up- ferences. In this connection, I should like to print a few lines which 1 re ceived from General D : Sir; I can not urge you too strongly to publish the results of yonr inquiry. I remember perfectly that, a few weeks before the disappearance of that great singer, Christine Daae, and the trag edy which threw the whole of the Faubourg Saint-Germain into mourn ing, there was a great deal of talk, in the foyer of the ballet, on the sub ject of the “ghost;” and I believe that it only ceased to be discussed in con sequence of the later affair that ex cited us all so greatly. But, if it be possible—as, after hearing you, I be lieve—to explain the tragedy through the ghost, then I beg you, sir, to talk to us about the ghost again. Mysterious though the ghost may at first appear, he will always be more easily explain ed than the dismal story in which malevolent people have tried to pic ture two brothers killing each other who had worshipped each other all their lives. Believe me, etc. Lastly, with my bundle of papers in hand, I once more went over the ghost’s vast domain, the huge build ing which he bad made his kingdom. All that my eyes saw, all that my mind perceived, corroborated the Persian’s documents precisely; and a wonderful discovery crowned my labors in a very definite fashion. It will be remember ed that, later, when digging in the substructure of the Opera, before bury ing the phonographic records of the artist’s voice, the workmen laid hare a corpse. Well, I was at once able to prove that this corpse was that of the Opera ghost. I made the acting- manager put this proof to the test with his own hand; and it Is now a matter of supreme indifference to me if the papers pretend that the body was that of a victim of the Com mune. The wretches who were massacred, under the Commune, in the cellars of the Opera, were not buried on this side; I will tell where their skeletons can be found in a spot not very far from that immense crypt which was stocked during the siege with all sorts of provisions. I came upon this track just when I was looking for the re mains of the Opera ghost, which I should never have discovered but ’or the unheard-of chance described above. But We will return to the corpse and what ought to be done with it. For the present, I must conclude this very necessary introduction by thanking M. Mifroid (who was the commlsary of police called in for the first investiga tions after the disappearance of Chris tine Daae), M. Remy, the late secre tary, M. Mercler, the late acting-mana- .Gjer, M. Gabriel, the late chorus-mas ter, and more particularly Mme. la Baronne de Castelot-Barbezac, who was once the "little Meg” of the story (and who is not ashamed of it), the most charming star of our admira ble corps de ballet, the eldest daugh ter of the worthy Mme. Glry, now deceased, who had charge of the ghost’s private box. All these were of the greatest assistance to me; and thanks to them, I shall be able to re produce those hours of sheer love and terror, in their smallet details, before the reader’s eyes. And I should be ungrateful indeed if I omitted, while standing on the threshold of this dreadful and vera cious story, to thank the present man agement of the Opera, which has so kindly assisted me In all my inquiries, and M. Messager In particular, togeth er with M. Gabion, the acting-mana- ger, and that most amiable of men, the architect Intrusted with the preser vation of the building, who did not hesitate to lend me the works of Charles Gamier, aJthough he was al most sure that I would never return them to him. Lastly, I must pay a public tribute to the generosity of my friend and former collaborator, M. J. Le Croze, who allowed, me to dip into his splendid theatrical library and to borrow the rarest editions of books by which he set great store. GASTON LEROUXi CHAPTER I. right man, incapable of inventing, a rang. la It the Ghost? It was the evening on which MM. Deblenne and Polgny, the managers of the Opera, were giving a last gala per formance to mark their retirement. Suddenly the dressing-room of La Sor relll, one of the principal dancers, was Invaded by half-a-dozen young ladies of the ballet, who had come up from the stage after "dancing” Polyeucte. They mshed In amid great confusion, others to cries of terror. Sorelll, who wished to be alone for a moment to “run through” the speech which she was to make to the resigning mana gers, looked around angrily at the mad and tumultous crowd. It was little Jammes—the girl with the tip-tilted nose, the forget-me-not eyes, the rose- red cheeks and the lily-white neck and shoulders—who gave the explanation in a tremgllng voice: ‘It’s the ghost!” And she locked the door. Sorelli’s dressing room was fitted up with official, commonplace elegance. A pier-glass, a sofa, a dressing-table and a cupboard or two provided the necessary fumiture. On the walls hung a few engravings, relics of the mother, who had known the glories of the old Opera in the Rue le Peletier; portraits of Vestris, Gardel, Dupon, Blgottini. But the room seemed a palace to the brats of the corps de ballet, who were lodged in common dressing-rooms where they spent their time singinfC quarreling, smacking the dressers and hair-dressers and buying one another glasses of cassis, beer, or even rheum, until the call-boy’s bell Sorelll was very sut>erstltIous. She shuddered When she heard little ■tory that might have defeated the ends of Justice. _ This, morecJVer, was the opinion of Jammes speak of the ghost, called her ithe TDOV serious people who, at one a “silly little fool” and then, as she time or ^er, were mixed up In thewas the first to believe in ghosts in i general, and the Opera ghost in par ticular, at once asked for details: “Have you seen him?” “As plainly as I see you now!” said little Jammes, whose legs were giving way beneath her, and she dropped with a moan into a chair. Thereupon little Giry—the girl with eyes biack as sloes, hair black as ink, a swarthy complexion and a poor little skin stretched over poor little bones— little Giry added: “If that’s the ghost, he’s very^ ugly! ” “Oh, yes!” cried the chorus of ballet- girls. And they all began to talk together. The ghost had appeared to them in the shape of a gentleman in dress-clothes, who had suddenly stood before them in the passage, without their knowing where he -came from. He seemed to have come straight through the wall. “Pooh!” said one of them, who had more or less kept her head. “You see the ghost everywhere!” And it was true. For several months, there had been nothing dis cussed at the Opera but this ghost in dress-clothes who stalked about the building, from top to bottom, like a shadow, who spoke to nobody, to whom nobody dare speak and who vanished as soon as he was seen, no one know ing how or where. As became a real ghost, he made no noise In walking. People began by laughing and making fun of this specter dressed like a man of fashion or an undertaker; but the ghost legend soon swelled to enor mous proportions among the corps de ballet. All the girls pretended to have met this supernatural being more or less often. And those who laughed the loudest were not the most at ease. W’hen he did not show himself, he be trayed his presence or his passing by accident, comic or serious, for which the general superstition hold him re sponsible. Had any one met with a f^l, or suffered a practical joke at the hands of one of the other girls, or lost a powder-puff, it was at once the fault of the ghost, of the Opera ghost. After all, who had seen him? You meet so many men in dress-£lothes at the Opera who are not ghosts. But this dess-suit had a peculiarity of Its own. It covered a skeleton. At least, so the ballet-girls said. And, of course, it had a death’s head. Was all this serious? The truth is that the idea of the skeleton came from the description of the ghost given by Joseph Bouquet, the chief scene-shlfter, who had* really seen the ghost. He had run up against the ghost on the little staircase, by the footlights, w’hich leads to “the cellars.” He had seen him for a second—for the ghost had fled—and to any’one who cared to listen to him he said: “He is extraordinarily thin and his dress-coat hangs on a skeleton frame. His eyes are so deep that you can hardly see the fixed pupils. You just see two big black holes, as in a dead man’s skull. His skin, which Is stretched across his bones lige a firum- head. Is not white, but a nasty yellow. His nose Is so little worth talking about that you can’t see It side-faced; and the absence of that nose is a hor rible thing to look at. All the hair he has is three or four long dark locks on his forehead 'and behind his ears.” This chief scene-shifter was a se rious, sober, steady man, very slow at imagining things. His words were re ceived with Interest and amazement; and soon there were other people to say that they too had met a man in dress-clothes with a death’s head on his shoulders. Sensible men who had wind of the story began by saying that Poseph Buquet had been the vic tim of a joke played by one of his as sistants. And then,, one after the other, there came a series of Inci dents so curious and so Inexplicable that the very shrewdest people began to feel uneasy. For. instance, a fireman Is a brave fellow! He fears nothing, least of all fire! Well, the fireman in question, who had gone to .make a round of in spection in the cellars and who, it seems, had ventured a little farther than usual, suddenly reappeared on the stage, pale, scared, trembling, with his eyes starting out of his head, practically fainted in the arms of the proud mother of little Jammes. (I have the anecdote, which is quite au thentic, from M. Pedro Gailhard him self, the late manager of the Opera,) And why? Because he had seen com ing toward him, at the level of his head, but without a body attached to it, a head of fire! And, as I said, a fireman is not afraid of fire. (CONTINUED TOMORROW.) I MY The Kind Ton Have Always Bonghty and wMcIi has been in use fbr over 30 years» lias bome the signatwe of and been made imdeif Ms per* saperrision since its infancy* Allow no one to deceive you M tliis* AH Counterfeits, Imitations and« Jn8t^as-good»’»re but Experiments that trifle with and endanger the health ot Infknts and Children—-ESzperience against Ibcperiment* What is CASTORIA CSastoria is s» hamdess snbstifnite for Castor Oil, Pare* Soric* I>rops and Soothing' Syrups. It is Pleasant. £t contains neither Opium» Morphine nor other Karootie substance. Its ag‘e is its gruarantee. It destroys Worms and allays Feverishness* It- cures I>iarrhoea and Wind Colic. It relieves Teethings Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency. It assimilates the Food, T*e§rulates the fitomach ahd Bowels, givings healtny and natural sleep* The Children’s Panacei^The Mother’s Friend* GENUINE CASTORIA always Bean the Signature of Tlie ElM Yoa Hare Always Bou^t In Use For Over 3Q Years. ‘Mc eaamon ^ AuiiiMT •mcrr. NSW voHK orrr> Durhanis Mw Admimstiation WASCORED By Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Compound Baltimore, Md.—“I send you here with the picture of my fifteen year old daughter Alice, who restored to health by Xydia E. Pinkham’s vegeta ble Compound. She was palo, with dark circles under her eyes, weak and irri table. Two different doctors treated her and called it Green Sickness, but she grew worse all tho time. Lydia E.Pink- ham’s Vegetable Compound was rec ommended, and after taking three bot tles she has regained her he^th, thanks to your medicine. I can recommend it for all female troubles.”—Mrs. L. A. CoRERAN, 1103 Eutland Street, Balti more, Md. 1 Hundreds cf such letters from moth ers expressing their gratitude for what Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vegetable Com pound has accomplished for them have been received by tho Lydia E. Hnkham Medicine Gompcmy, Lynn, Mass. Young Girls, Heed 'i?Iii3 Advice. Gi’s who are troubled with painful or irregular periods, backache, head-* ache, draggin^-do^ sent^tions, falnt> ing spells or indigestion, should tate immediato action and be rqstorcd to health by Lydia E. Pinkham’s Vege. table Compound. Thousands have b^i restored to health by its use. Write to Mrs. Pinlibain, liyinik Mftssu for advice^ free. 1 liii Special to The News. Durham, May 1.—At a meeting of the board of aldermen, it Is expected that the wlnding-up of this city’s busi ness, preparatory to turning it over for the Incoming democratic adminis tration will take place tonight. The date of the new administration taking over the city government has not been definitely announced. The first struggle that it will have will be over the city attorneyship. At pres ent City Attorney Chambers, who is captain of the Durham Light Infantry, Is on the Mexican border and will be there several weeks. The election will take place during his absence. He is a candidate for re-election but has opposition. Everybody is considerably Interested ir^ this matter because tbe prosecution of the blind tigers has be come such a burdensome matter In sporadic cases like the last two weeks have brought out. In this connection, there has been organized to help in the prosecutions of these cases, a law and order league with George W. Watts president and James H. Southgate, secretary. This was made necessary by a well- defined private effort to create such a public sentiment as would discount enance the work of the detetcives in breaking up the lawless traffic in whis key here. When this was seen, a body of men who believe actually in prohibition, gof together In the muni cipal building and organlzed^ They will be about, the courts during the May term and see that the juries are not filled with booze sympathizers and that the solicitor have the advantage of all faits and moral support possi ble. The league has in It such men as Julian S. Carr, Sr., George W. Watts, B. N. Duke, W. A. Erwin, J. B. Stagg, Dr. W. P. Few, James H. Southgate and other men who have prominence all over the country. There has been a great falling off of the jug trade the past two weeks and it was all caused by the* agitation of the matter in the courts. Melo Teer, a white* man, was se verely hurt Saturday night by a negro thief, whose fiight from the James H. Farley store while some one was yell ing “stop thief,” resulted In a head-on collision. The funeral services over the re mains of Mrs. J. C. Moore, the mother of Dr. R. A. Moore, of this city, were held yesterday afternoon in Orange chapel. Orange county. Mrs. Moore died Saturday afternoon on West Chapel Hill street, Durham, at the home of Dr. Moore. Mrs. N. J. King diedy yesterda morning at 12:45 after a short illness with pneumonia. Mrs. King, who liv ed with her daughter, Mrs. B. R. Tin- gen, was a native of Fayetteville, but had lived here 15 years. She was the sister of Mr. B. R. Hargrove, of Cum berland, and also of Mrs. L. R. Breece, wife of Capt. Breece, of that place. The first of a series of lectures at Trinity College will be given^ this evening at Craven Memorial Hall, Edi tor Clarence Poe, of Raleigh, making the address. Portly Mr. laft Has Slim Chance Iview York, April 29.—Wilbur F. Wakeman, manager of the American Protective Tariff League, made a des perate effort to get control of the re publican machine in New York county in the interest of Vice-President James S, Sherman, today. The fight raged until late this even ing, and will probably be continued, although at a late hour tonight it was apparent that Presideilt Taft's suppor ters- were in complete control of the situation and would carry out their original progi’am of electing Samuel S. ivoenig president of the committee to 11. vacancy caused by the resig nation of Lloyd C. Griscom, It developed that the reasons for Griscom’s retirement being guarded so carefully was that Wakeman and Sherman began several months ago to obtain control cf the local organization. The great interests represented by Wakeman in the tariff league are pre paring to fight Taft because of his position on Canadian reciprocity, and Wakeman has stated publicly that Taft “cannot be re-elected, if he should me nominated In 1912, because of his position on reciprocity.” The Wakeman candidate is J. Van Vechten Olcott, one of the supporters of Speaker Cannon in the last congress and one of the foremost champions of the “stand pat” program of the tariff league. If in some way we could Induce you to try on some of our Spring Suits we’re sure that it would result in mu tual benefit. We want you to know about the superiority of our garments, the beauty of our fabrics and the reas onableness of our prices. Our Plue Serge Suits at « $15, $18.50 and up to $27.50 are real beauties finely made; then we have the Browns, Grays and all other fashionable shades. Won’t you drop in for a few moments and sort of enjoy our new spring garments. WOULD NOT SWAP TITLE . FOR GRANDFATHER’S MONEY New York, April 29.—The real mo tive that has actuated Maurice Burke Roche, son of Mrs. Fanny Burke Roche, to resist the stipulation in the will of his grandfather, Frank Work, the eccentric millionaire, tnat he re linquish the name of Burke Roche and adopt that of Work, became ap parent today. 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The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 1, 1911, edition 1
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