"then he bound me....i am not allowed to die until eleven o'clock to-morrow evening.""mademoiselle," i declared, "the monster bound you...and he shall unbind you.you have only to play the necessary part!
remember that he loves you!"
"alas!" we heard."am i likely to forget it!""remember it and smile to him...entreat him...tell him that your bonds hurt you."but christine daae said:
"hush!...i hear something in the wall on the lake!...it is he!...go away! go away! go away!""we could not go away, even if we wanted to," i said, as impressively as i could."we can not leave this! and we are in the torture-chamber!""hush!" whispered christine again.
heavy steps sounded slowly behind the wall, then stopped and made the floor creak once more.next came a tremendous sigh, followed by a cry of horror from christine, and we heard erik's voice:
"i beg your pardon for letting you see a face like this!
what a state i am in, am i not? it's the other one's fault!
why did he ring? do i ask people who pass to tell me the time?
he will never ask anybody the time again! it is the siren's fault."{two page color illustration}
another sigh, deeper, more tremendous still, came from the abysmal depths of a soul.
"why did you cry out, christine?"
"because i am in pain, erik."
"i thought i had frightened you."
"erik, unloose my bonds....am i not your prisoner?""you will try to kill yourself again."
"you have given me till eleven o'clock to-morrow evening, erik."the footsteps dragged along the floor again.