"
Raoul, still standing up in the amphitheater, had uttered a cry.
Count Philippe had sprung to his feet in his box. People looked
at the stage, at the count, at Raoul, and wondered if this
curious event was connected in any way with the paragraph in that
morning's paper. But Raoul hurriedly left his seat, the count
disappeared from his box and, while the curtain was lowered,
the subscribers rushed to the door that led behind the scenes.
The rest of the audience waited amid an indescribable hubbub.
Every one spoke at once. Every one tried to suggest an explanation
of the extraordinary incident.
At last, the curtain rose slowly and Carolus Fonta stepped
to the conductor's desk and, in a sad and serious voice, said:
"Ladies and gentlemen, an unprecedented event has taken place and
thrown us into a state of the greatest alarm. Our sister-artist,
Christine Daae, has disappeared before our eyes and nobody can
tell us how!"
Chapter XIV The Singular Attitude of a Safety-Pin
Behind the curtain, there was an indescribable crowd.
Artists, scene-shifters, dancers, supers, choristers, subscribers
were all asking questions, shouting and hustling one another.
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