At last, he tossed his head and made up his mind to act. He slipped between the set piece and the scene from the Roi de Lahore , with Raoul close upon his heels. With his free hand, the Persian felt the wall. Raoul saw him bear heavily upon the wall, just as he had pressed against the wall in Christine’s dressing-room. Then a stone gave way, leaving a hole in the wall.
This time, the Persian took his pistol from his pocket and made a sign to Raoul to do as he did. He cocked the pistol.
And, resolutely, still on his knees, he wiggled through the hole in the wall. Raoul, who had wished to pass first, had to be content to follow him.
The hole was very narrow. The Persian stopped almost at once. Raoul heard him feeling the stones around him. Then the Persian took out his dark lantern again, stooped forward, examined something beneath him and immediately extinguished his lantern. Raoul heard him say, in a whisper:
“We shall have to drop a few yards, without making a noise; take off your boots.”
The Persian handed his own shoes to Raoul.
“Put them outside the wall,” he said. “We shall find them there when we leave.”
He crawled a little farther on his knees, then turned right round and said:
“I am going to hang by my hands from the edge of the stone and let myself drop into his house . You must do exactly the same. Do not be afraid. I will catch you in my arms.”
Raoul soon heard a dull sound, evidently produced by the fall of the Persian, and then dropped down.